1 day in Beijing
 

I was just checking out one of the "fox's" ;) stickies and noted that "1 day in Beijing" had yet to be created.

For starters, Beijing warrants more than one day, but since many people like to do that 23 hour TWOV thing, I suppose this is a relevant topic.

Furthermore, I often entertain business guests who only have one free day during their travels, and I have developed a nice routine.

I either ask them to sleep in or go to Wangfujing and meet me at "Made in China" for lunch. We typically order a duck, a beggar's chicken, and a few other side dishes (their Hainan chicken is also quite good). This really isn't very expensive.

Next, we walk to Tiananmen, but don't cross the street; you can see the square perfectly well from Tiananmen itself.

I've done the Forbidden City 50+ times and am sick of it. However, it's certainly worth seeing once... so I continue to bring people there. I like to do it in one hour because I feel that anything more deprives my guests of the chance to experience Beijing culture (imo, modern Beijing is more worthwhile than a replica of a Beijing 500 years ago).

After that, we head to Beihai Park. Some people thing Jingshan Park is better because it is due north of the Forbidden City (nice view), but I prefer Beihai because it is a really nice place (to the extent that is almost a proxy for the Summer Palace), and because it's possible to walk through it.

The north gate of Beihai is directly across the street from Houhai (similar to Beihai, but with lots of restaurants/bars). Sometimes I go there straight away (Yan Dai Hutong is worth a look-see), but I usually prefer to explore the nearby hutongs instead. I recently started a thread about the area, based on a Time Out article; there are lots of interesting places to see in the neighborhood.

By this point in the day (5p), my guests are typically exhausted, and just want to drink beer. However, sometimes I tack on 798 or Wudaokou.

Apart from my dislike for morning adventures, the main reason I don't start out early is that this drill entails a lot of walking.

Nice drill. ^

You should collect some fee as a effective tour guide. :D

Thanks moondog, I'll update the FAQ. PS, please use my FT handle. ;)

I personally would not do the forbidden city if you only have 24 hrs or so in Beijing, but that is just my opinion. The park north of it is nice though and is probably the park you mention here. There is a nice funfair park on line 1 I think the station is Baijiaoccun with some great rollercoasters. However I could barely manage to hold on at one of the rides there. Luckily that was a small sized ride. How I ventured into that? Well it was Monday and the military museum was closed and I saw on the map on metro that it was marked fun fair park at that station. So I just took line 1 out there. There were hardly any people there!

Great leap forward?
 

Moondog

I know you mentioned some 'adventures' trying to find the great leap forward brewery as an appropriate finish for your day-trip in a previous post.

I was just wondering whether a non-mandarin speak completely unfamiliar with China has any chance of finding the place? (i.e. after WFJ, the FC and BeiHai park.)

Well, I think the article I posted contained maps; if you print the Nanluoguxiang map, you should not have any major problems. I feel somewhat embarrassed that I had such a hard time finding it during my second attempt, but I will take responsibility for that (mistakenly assumed that my taxi driver at the time was capable of reading maps and/or grasping the "N/S/E/W" concept). The maps alone should be sufficient for any of us (IQ>100) folks to navigate the area.

Different thread.
 

Aha- I had been looking at a thread about combining the brewery with your FC tour - which only contained a link to the www.greatleapbrewing.com site.

I found your 'hiddem hutongs' thread and link to the very helpful timeout article, thanks.

Ok, linked to main faq, now to start populating this thread.

TimeOut link is another "current" resource to refer to. -- I am busy working on travel plans. Hoping to return to BJ & possibly SH in November with in-laws some who have yet to visit BJ...maybe a 6/4 split.

I wouldn't either, but almost all of my guests from foreign lands disagree, so I try my best to accommodate. Furthermore, they tend to like it (pretty much unanimously). The admission fee is only y60 and it fits nicely into my aforementioned plan, so why not pass through it? To me, it's just part of the "walk", but my visitors definitely appreciate the opportunity to experience it, so I usually comply.

I would be happy to craft an "alternate day in BJ" post for those that are interested. This would likely focus more on the Summer Palace, Wudaokou, and 798. But, as far as walking tours are concerned, the OP is honestly the best I've been able to muster (I've done it many times).

Why not? I'm putting together my 36 hour itinerary and figured a walk through would be part of it.

Takes too much time?
Nothing good to see?
Likely to be standing in line rather than seeing stuff?

I thought getting a sense of the place and its scale was impressive. But the individual halls/ rooms not so much. Unless you plan to sprint from one end to another, you'll need a couple of hours to just walk through.

tb

While I wouldn't say that I sprint through it, my average time there is under an hour per visit. As I've suggested many times before, the vast majority of people that I bring to the Forbidden City are actually more impressed by Beihai Park (we often spend 2+ hours there when the weather is nice).

Please post your details when you finish! I will be there for 2 1/2 days in October and trying to get my details sorted out!

I plan on renting a driver for one day to head to the wall and tombs. I would also like to try the toboggan sleds down the hill!! :)

If you've never been, just visiting the complex is impressive enough. I think you should do it. I pushed a group through in July in just over an hour. :p Didn't get to see anything inside the buildings, but a few of my group did manage to take a couple of snapshots of the buildings, since I did see some photos they posted on their FB pages. :D

I'm there from 4:30pm on Monday to 3:30pm that Wednesday at the end of October so I may be looking for your details. ;)

Basically just the one full day in town so no trip to the wall or tombs. I'm guessing an hour or two in the Forbidden City will be enough just walking through; I'm not much into museums anyways.

Are those arrival and departure times?

I don't see any reason why you can't go see the wall....I think any visit to BJ warrants a visit to that....

Make sure you have some kind of a plan of what you see before you go - everything is a lot further apart than you will expect and it helps to have some sort of plan, especially if you're on a tight schedule. Meaning - it will take you 2 hours to see the Forbidden City, but factoring in transportation and walking around will add more time than you think

How does this work for late Nov? 2+ hours in the park? I have almost 3 days on the ground and if you recommend the walk for colder weather, I'm game

Cheers -

It shouldn't be super cold then. Shortly after posting my remark about winter already setting in yesterday, I walked outside and experienced 85 degree weather. You'll be fine (very low chance of precipitation and count on temperatures between 45 and 65 degrees).

Alternate plan (for the hipsters among us)
 

I arrived in BJ late Friday night (after a 6 day, 6 city blitz in the US/Canada/HK), and was planning on chilling in Shuangjing for the weekend. But, then my little cousin showed up, and I felt compelled to do stuff with him.

On Saturday, we attended a polo match near 798, which we followed up with a b'day party near sanlitun. This was really cool.

Sunday morning, my cousin woke me up and asked me to bring him to a park. My first thought was Chaoyag Park because it is big and nice. But, he got on the internet and implored me to go to the old Summer Palace (圆明园). We entered from the south gate (near the subway station), circumabluated the stuff we're supposed to care about, and headed west.

As we progressed, "culture" became increasingly displaced with roaming through baron fields. We ended up climbing a fence and hailing a cab on a fast moving highway, which we directed to our beloved "Great Leap".

In short, it was a great day. If any of you fancy to replicate this journey, you'll have a good time, but I liked most about it is that it reminded me that Beijing is a really interesting place... the city itself is infinitely cooler than the history that lies behind it. People that stick to the straight and narrow are depriving themselves of it.

I'm staying very close to the Forbidden City so transit on that front shouldn't be a problem.

Do you think it makes sense to try to tourist in town a bit on Monday night and Wednesday morning and get the Wall in on Tuesday during the day?

would this day trip work in early January? ! we'll be there 1/1/2014 to 1/3/2013 with one full day (1/2)..

It really depends on the weather. If the Siberian winds happen to be cranking during your visit, I would certainly trim a bit of the fat off, but January weather can also be somewhat mild (I wouldn't bet on it, but it does happen on occasion).

You might want to craft a backup plan that focuses more on indoor activities like eating and massages... just in case.

And a hot pot lunch! Nothing better on a cold windy Beijing day than hitting a steamy hot pot place.

any specific place in mind that is a 'must' eat during the visit? :D the beijing day is the last leg of our trip and we may just pick few things and relax as we will arriving the night before from phuket and then a long flight to JFK the next day. i do want to make the best out of the day ! i am actually trying to see if i can extend my award ticket to another day but i am not finding saver flights ;/ well i did a few weeks ago but i didn't take advantage of it in time ...so for now it is ONE day !

Looking for ideas for most of a Saturday before my evening flight leaves - mid Oct.

I've been to all(?) the "major" sights (FC, SP, Tiananmen, Mutianyu Wall, Beihai, Temple of Heaven, Lama Temple, Olympic Park). Looking for new ideas for a morning to mid-afternoon before going to airport.

How about the university area (and, maybe zhongguancun)?

Possible specifics:
-walk beida/tsinghua campuses
-join pick up basketball game
-coffee shop
-chances are, you will meet some really smart people along the way

If you decide to go this route, plan it in a manner that does not require backtracking (e.g. arrange driver).

Panjiayuan? Xiang Shan? The Botanical Garden?

Dong Yue Miao 东岳庙

No.141 Chaoyangmen Street, Chaoyang District

100020朝阳区朝阳门外大街141号

This temple is worth to visit for 1-2 hours (but not to hang around for longer).

Do not try to go to Xiangshan (or Botanical Garden which is in the same area) on an October Saturday. Traffic jams are a nightmare, with half of Beijing trying to get there to see the autumn leaves.

Panjiayuan only if into markets/shopping. 798/Caochangdi Art Districts if you're into that.

--Central area: Zhihua Temple then Ancient Observatory then Dongyue Miao. Onsite needs are 1 hour, 1 hour, and 1.5 hours. Transport between the first two could be done on foot, then subway one stop up + a walk between the 2nd two.

--Near SW side: Fayuan Si, Ox Street Mosque area, then Tianning Si (oldest building still left in Beijing, Liao dynasty), Yuyuantan Park, and either Military or Capital Museums. All of this could be done in a circuit fitting your time frame.

--The newish Automobile Museum, SW part of city. If into cars.

Thanks for the tips everyone! I've been to the ancient observatory already, but the two temples mentioned look worth a visit. Xiangshan sounds like a great place to go except for the crowds! Such is life.

Did the first and last of these three, and enjoyed both. Walked from Zhihua to Dongyue, which was a bit long but partly through hutongs so at least got that. A nice morning.

Heading to Beijing with a co-worker for meetings next week. We're taking Wednesday for playing tourist (and will have Thursday morning too, as our return flight is at 15:30). Given the cold temps (at least last week and this week - I've been checking to see how to pack:p) and the short days, we weren't thinking of trying to get to the Great Wall. Presumably we'd do Forbidden City. Is it possible/desirable to do Summer Palace and Forbidden City on the same day? I know they close early this time of year as well. Or should we spring for a driver and get to the Wall, not knowing when either of us could get back to Beijing?

For "shopping" (neither of us really big shoppers, and I did run through the crowded/fun/cheesy Silk Market on my last & only trip to Beijing, which was just a solo day in transit) would it be "enough" to just roam Wangfujing Street?

I would either go to summer palace or fc but not both the same day.
Summer palace is a huge area to visit and i would take the time to see it in no hurry.

Do the Wall on your day of departure. You need a driver in any case and he can keep your luggage.
On your full day, try to start the day at the Temple of Heaven before going to the Forbidden city. If you have time, you can continue on to the Lama Temple and or the Drum Tower area and have dinner at the Dali Courtyard.
I am not a big fan of the Summer Palace, especially in winter and it is out of the way.

I actually like the Summer Palace myself, but not in the winter, and Beihai Park (very close to the north gate of Gugong) really is quite similar.

Thanks for suggestions!!

When you visit Forbidden City and leave it through the north gate.
Cross the street and enter Jingshan Park.
Looking from the peak, you have a full view over FC.

2 more questions....

1. Co-worker wants to get guide (her sister used in the past) - fine, I know we could do on our own but I'm ok with a guide (not just a driver) because I love history and details. We had planned 1 day - Temple of Heaven & Summer Palace (to do Forbidden City on our remaining half day on our own). Co-worker now wants to do Great Wall as sister says we must and it's not that far. So - next week, is it crazy for us to do Temple of Heaven in the morning and then the Great Wall (geez, I haven't even checked to see which section is the closest/most common from Beijing - Mutianyu?) in the afternoon? (or vice versa if the guide recommends - he's quite opinionated ;-)

2. Dinner on Sunday, our flight lands at 16:00, we'll have major jet lag but co-worker wants to go out to dinner. Recommendations near National Library subway? Feasible to take a taxi to Drum Tower area for dinner and not be out too late?

Thanks!!

[QUOTE=Hoyaheel;25809922]2 more questions....

Are you staying near National Library? If so, my answers would be very different than if Chaoyang or downtown. In Beijing, it's especially important (and not that hard) to take geography and logistics seriously at all times.

Doing Temple of Heaven and the Great Wall in the same day strikes me is a silly idea unless you're staying close to ToH (it's a good early morning attraction).