We landed at PEK and were through immigration quickly and in a taxi to the Conrad. Once arriving at the Conrad we spent the couple hours in the lounge cocktail hour and turned in for the evening since we were both pretty tired.
Conrad Beijing
Since we’d be here 6 nights, we paid cash for the first night and redeemed points for 5 nights to get the 5th night free. I booked 2 double beds, which almost always kills your chances for a good upgrade since those are usually King size beds. The property isn’t quite as luxurious as other Conrads I’ve stayed in like Seoul or Hong Kong, but it is also a fraction of the price. That said it maintains it’s fairly signature Conrad style and luxurious features.
The room is a good size, while the bathroom and walk in closet are larger than needed! The embedded heating in the marble bathroom floor was a welcome and unexpected touch.
The executive lounge here was really nice, with views of the 3rd Ring Road, and looking back towards central Beijing. The staff were all wonderful as well.
Heading out on morning one after having breakfast in the restaurant, we took the 1 subway line to Tiananmen Square and walked around taking in the sights. We didn’t get out of the hotel early enough to manage to visit the Forbidden City in the same day, so tabled that for tomorrow. The jet lag also was catching up by late afternoon and headed back toward to the hotel. A respectable lounge happy hour sufficed as dinner this evening and we turned in early.
The Square
Historic gate at the south end of the square
Buildings on the west side (does anybody know the significance or meaning of having a solitary Chinese flag and plain red flags flying along side, as opposed to having all Chinese flags?)
The first of many entertaining English translations:
Afternoon sweets in the Conrad Exec Lounge
View looking south onto the 3rd Ring Road
Up early the next day we were at the Forbidden City and through the first security check by about 10. I opted to buy tickets in person rather than try to work the Chinese language website, though once we got to the ticket check line, a flash of our Canadian passports was enough for the ticket checker to not want to go through the effort to type in our passport numbers and just waved us in.
Past the first security check, and making our way inside:
The controlled chaos of trying to get into the Forbidden City. Fact time: they sell a maximum of 80,000 entrances per day to the Forbidden City. There are 24 security/ticket turnstiles. You do the math. The lines are long.
We learned that the more animal figurines on the corner of the buildings, the more important it was deemed to be
On Friday, I had arranged a full day tour out to the Muitanyu section of the Great Wall and to the Ming Tombs. Our wonderful guide Helen, and driver Mr. Ma, met us at the Conrad promptly at 8:30 and we hit the road. She was full of interesting and useful info and within a couple hours we were up at the Muitanyu Wall.
Incredible views and not crowded at all today
Me on the wall (insta worthy)
Mom and I
Yet another fun failed translation…
Here you can see the restored part of the wall, with the dark bricks being relatively new in the last couple of years.
One final pic from the walkway back to the cable car:
On the way back down (BTW I really dislike heights unless I’m in a building)
Down from the wall, we stopped at a local restaurant of unknown name where we were the only Caucasians in the joint. OMG it was delicious. Helen ordered us a mini feast of pork and chestnuts, kung pao chicken, pancakes, local fresh vegetables, and some local beer and tea. The chicken was to die for and the vegetables were so tasty and fresh.
After lunch we were off to the Ming Tombs with Mr. Ma navigating the twisty mountain roads. The clear blue skies allowed us to see various of the tombs off in the distance.
You can see 2 of the tombs in at roughly your 1 and 11 o’clock positions.
Some very tasty sounding chips at the food/drink shop near the exit:
