Beijing advice
 

Will be in Beijing in mid April, quick trip as also a mileage run. I've booked the Grand Hyatt which seems to be in walking distance of Forbidden City and Tienamen(sp?) Square so I plan to visit on my own, no tour. I assume I'll be able to see these sites adequately on my own?

I'm also going to want to see the Great Wall. I don't really want to do a tour there as well, would like to do on my own as well if possible. What kind of transportation options would exist to go out there? Uber, taxi, public transportation options? Planning to Blacklane to and from the airport but assume that wouldn't make sense. How long to get to the Great Wall from my location?

I'm only going to have one full day and half a morning before leaving so these will have to be quick excursions. I hear too many stories of the tours ending up wasting a bunch of time taking you places to sell you stuff. I don't have time to deal with that.

You could ask the hotel for a private car, but my experience is that they are generally very pricey and 3x-5x more than what a private taxi or didi drive will do.

At least in Shanghai I can't recall a time where a taxi driver or DiDi ( china uber ) weren't interested in earning that kind of $, but their quality / reliability would be YMMV

The other when you use DiDi App you can solicit both Taxi as well as private drivers. I highly recommend the private drivers as their cars are better and they are very reliable as their customer ratings are critical. For the private drivers I found that payment from US CC works while for taxi's I never figured out how to make the app work with CC and getting a China bankaccout is difficult.

Good luck

Yes the Forbidden city is walkable from this hotel. You can visit on your own. You can rent an audio guide or hire a guide at the entrance. Bring your passport to buy a ticket. Note that it closes on Mondays.
For the Great Wall there are many sections. Badaling is one hour away and reachable by bus. As a result of being easy to reach, it is the most crowded section. Mutianyu is 1.5 hours away by car. You can hire a driver for the day. Cost is about 600-800RMB. He can drop you at another site afterwards such as the Lama Temple or Summer Palace (depending on time of day). You can find a driver here (much cheaper than at the hotel) Newest Classifieds posted today | the Beijinger In the past I have used Mark: Mark's Mutianyu great wall Tour ,Beijing tour guide, English speaking driver, Beijing private tour,

Good advice offered already.

If you have 1.5 days, assuming one of them is not a Monday, I suggest GW in the early morning with a private driver: avoid Badaling if possible since it's too crowded -- Mutianyu is a decent compromise choice: it's restored, not _as_ crowded and has the novelty option of a toboggan ride on the way down. In the afternoon, just check out Tian'an'men, Wangfujing etc, or if no smog, Jingshan park just before sunset for a spectacular view of the Forbidden City. Forbidden City itself can be "done" in about 2-3 hours so can leave to the 'half day" assuming it's a morning. There is a cap to the number of visitors, so arriving in the afternoon can mean tickets are sold out...

Alternatively, if flight back is mid to late afternoon, could go to Mutianyu upon check-out of hotel early morning, and then straight to the airport, since Mutianyu is sort-of that side of town. Drivers are pretty honest and reliable. The drive to Mutianyu from centre of town takes from 70-120 minutes depending on traffic (assuming you are not arriving during QingMing, when those travel times could double).

tb

Thanks everyone and no I'm not arriving at QuingMIng festival time, thankfully. I'm using Blacklane for airport transfers. When you say private car, a service like that? Or a service that would drive me, wait and drive me back? I'd assume I could book two one ways with Blacklane or similar but I wonder about the pick up, is that easy to figure out? I don't mind spending a few bucks to make it easy and reliable as possible.

There is a massive thread in this forum on Beijing drivers that you might want to check out.

Half a day for the forbidden city si enough, so you can spend one day for the GW.
For the forbidden city it's NECESSARY to book the visit through a website by paypal. I don't remember the website but you can easily find it. If you don't book in advance, be sure to be at the ticket office of the FC very early. In august, at 8.30am it was already closed, but i booked the last ticket of the day during my last day in Beijing.
For the GW i went to Mutyanyu and i highly recommend it to you. Few people and there is also a part of the wall not restored, so you can see both. If you have a day you can go there by bus from Donzgzhimen, if i remember well

Paypal? Did you mean to say alipay?

I personally haven't been to the FC for many years, but I'm surprised by this advice. Having sent many visitors to the FC over the last few years, never having booked tickets in advance, none have failed to get in. None arrived at 08:30 in the morning. It's possible that things have changed, but I would honestly be surprised. There certainly are reports of days when visitors have been turned away. And whilst the FC received a very impressive 16 million visitors a day, that equates to about 45k/ day on average, which is well below the 80k cap. All I can surmise is that perhaps you visited on a holiday day which was extraordinarily busy?

tb

https://en.dpm.org.cn/visit/tickets/

The Palace Museum is limiting the daily number of visitors to 80,000, and recommending both individual visitors and tourist groups book tickets in advance online (booking address: http://gugong.228.com.cn). For detailed information and instruction, please refer to the "ticketing notice". Foreign visitors are required to provide passport numbers during the online booking.

The problem is that you need a chinese credit card to buy tickets. You need to use different websites that allow you to buy tickets by paypal.

While they might recommend booking in advance, I've also never failed to get in on a walkup basis, and I always go after lunch. I didn't bother attempting to complete a purchase on that website, but I'd be shocked if they didn't accept WeChat and Alipay.

They only hit the limit during golden week. One just gets a ticket at the entrance. Chinese need to buy online but they can do so at the entrance with their phone by scanning a QR code. As a tourist, you just bring your passport and pay at the ticket counter.

When did you go last time? Because it's from October, 2017, if i remember well, that things changed
I went in August, 2018, and i've been lucky to go before 8.30am

Nothing has changed.

I went there once last summer, but I had no problem with the walk up ticket drill That having been said, I'm sure that your heads up on advance ticketing for certain dates is well received. We welcome your continued input here.

Note that they don't even issue tickets any more. You pay at the ticket counter (with your passport) and you just show your passport when you get in.

1. By "pick up point", I assume you mean the taxi queue? Immigration at PEK T2 usually isn't horrible, even if you don't have APAC or eChannel, but afternoons can be a bit slow (i.e. 20 minutes). That having been said, if it does take 20 minutes, the good news is that your bags will probably beat you to baggage claim. Assuming an ontime arrival, I think 3p is a fairly safe bet.

2. I generally aim to get to T2 at T-70 (v T-90 for T3), and I would allow 50 minutes for that taxi ride because you're getting close to rush hour. One tip here is, that if traffic on 2nd/3rd ring is heavy, let the driver use 5th ring. This adds a bit to the fare, but is usually much less congested.

While we all have different tastes, Made in China is my personal favorite. And, since you're staying at the GH, it's a no brainer for you.

Thank you for your compliment. One other thing; if you desire (almost) real time service, join our Wechat group. We mostly talk about mindless banter, but are also capable of answering questions about pretty much anything. If you add me (moondogsh) as a contact, I can invite you to our group. Be sure to mute notifications after you're in.

I don't know "black-lane" but presuming it's a premium car service (since you don't want to take a cab), then surely give them your airline arrival details (which is the LAX-PEK and return from the timings) and let them worry about waiting around for you. As stated, immigration at T2 is much faster than T3 in general. I'm assuming you know that you need a visa, even though you are on a short stay..

With regards to the other queries raised:

1. Driver to GW: US$134 is a decent rate. Make sure it includes tolls and parking (although that only adds tens of dollars). You're getting a car service from the airport, so you aren't a bargain hunter. Yes, you may be able to get a driver for 800RMB instead of 900RMB, but it's not worth the hassle if the GH can really get you a driver for that rate (the driver I used to use for visitors has recently retired, so no personal recommendations).

2. You can get food at Mutianyu, but it's all Chinese options at the wall area itself. The whole area has been upgraded significantly last few years, with more options -- that cater to the 98% of tourists that are Chinese. The "Schoolhouse" at Mutianyu no longer offers a restaurant option, more bespoke catering I believe (and it was never that great imo).

3. You can do Mutianyu on the day of departure: it opens from 08:00 or even sl. earlier in the morning. If you get there before 09:00 that would beat the majority of the crowds. You should account for at least 2 hours there for a visit, and if you want to climb up to the top, an additional hour. It will take c. 2hrs to get there from the GH in traffic (and can be more). Mutianyu is closish to the airport. BUT you need to check if your hotel-arranged driver is happy to drop you there instead of the hotel (they certainly shouldn't charge more, since it's a much shorter trip).

4. I haven't been to Made in China for a few years since the last time I went I found it over-priced and not as good as many of the other options in Beijing and the service had dropped off, however, could be that things are fine now. BUT, since you're staying at the GH, it makes perfect sense: ONLY if you confirm that you can order a half-duck. Otherwise, it will just be way too expensive for a single diner. Lots of other duck restaurants do half-duck orders, which make much more sense for solo travellers if MIC doesn't.

5. For a first time visitor, I think md's timings to the airport and how much earlier to get there are optimistic. Even for T2, I think you should aim to get there 90+ minutes in advance. If you have status on AA, the CA lounge, whilst not super, is reasonably pleasant for a short stay. And don't under-estimate traffic from Dongcheng to the airport. I would leave at least 1hr to get there, and it can take 90+ minutes on occasion. So I would typically suggest leaving 3 hrs prior to flight: in that case, if you take 90 minutes to get there, you won't arrive in a total panic. If you do NOT have status on AA, leave at least 20 minutes just to check-in: they are super slow at checking in at PEK for some reason, and it can be quite a wait.

Enjoy!

tb

There are many drivers advertising here: http://www.thebeijinger.com/classifieds/cars-drivers
Never read negative feedback about any of them. I have used Mark a few times. found him on thebeijinger many years ago. He has a website: Mark's Mutianyu great wall Tour ,Beijing tour guide, English speaking driver, Beijing private tour,
Made in China is among the best duck that I had in Beijing.
You'll find that spending 1.5 hours to 2 hours on the Wall is plenty.

Agreed. Based on its cheesy name, and location inside an American branded hotel, many people will tell you Dadong is better. While I like Dadong a lot, I give Made in China a slight edge because I love the environment, and the Beggars Chicken is simply cool. FYI, we have a long thread on Peking Duck here; no recent posts, but there are also aren't any recent entrants to the market, as far as I know.

I'm guessing your trip is before `10/1, but that's when AA plans on moving to Daxing; currently, they are at PEK T2. The lounges honestly aren't worth dwelling over; however I don't know of any good restaurant options either.

In an earlier post you didn't sound too adventurous wrt Beijing Duck: which is the least adventurous food item in Beijing. As such, it's possible that eating at the GW may be "a little" challenging. I wouldn't worry about it: just play it by ear. Prices will be extremely reasonable. I think fitting in Mutianyu on your departure day makes perfect sense and you will have plenty of time assuming you leave the hotel at a decent time.

As EXP you will be fine wrt lines for check-in etc. There's no status-based security fast-track, but T2 is generally fine anyway. The lounge is an Air China lounge: it's nothing special, but better than the average Chinese lounge.

For your first day/ arrival, I recommend walking to Tian'anmen in the afternoon and around Wangfujing in the evening if you're not too tired, but not much more than that. You'll then have a couple of days to plan out the rest of your visit. Enjoy!

tb

When I did an extended stint in Peking a few years ago, Dadong and Quanjude were the best places for Peking Duck. I tried Made in China but didn't order the duck there - will give it a go next time.

Great Leap Brewery

Is this still going? I visited it a good few years ago and it was just a conservatory at the back of a house in a Hutong somewhere near Sanlitun. I remember thinking at the time that I was getting lost in the Hutong when I came across a gate with "Great Leap Forward" on it.

No shoes off; this is a US thing. Everything else is the same. Just do not pack extra battery in your check-in luggage.

China is one (the only I can think of off the top of my head) where they ALWAYS want to see my laptop cords. Even when I try to keep them neat! So my last couple trips I made sure they were just easy for security to get to ;-)

Also YES on the battery - one time my husband came with me and he left a camera battery in his checked luggage. They came to find us before we'd finished checking in and leaving the area because they scanned checked bags so promptly! (we just carried the battery on, no other problems - he intended to and just forgot).

Oh, is it still no bottles of water etc at boarding the plane (eg secondary searching)? It's been a couple years since the end of my last China project :-( So I'm not sure if that's the most recent info.....

No, this is only the case for flights to the US. This is a US regulation actually. I never had this issue traveling to other countries out of China.
And they never asked me to take anything out of my backpack other than my laptop and extra battery (not even my iPad).

Thank you all for this thread. I have a MJ coming up soon so this was very helpful. Since it's so similar to OP's timeframe I thought to piggyback and see if you have feedback/ideas with my plans.

Arrive Sat via UA at 14.30. Take airport express to Park Hyatt. Go see Temple of Heaven that afternoon (enough time since they close at 17.30?) or walk around, massage at hotel. Dinner at Dadong or hotel recommended 1949 Duck de Chine or someplace else given duck Sun.

Sunday take Mark's Tian'anmen Square, Forbidden City & Mutianyu Great Wall private tour (his link, trip advisor link), dinner at Made In China at 19.00 (reservation set).

Depart Mon via UA at 16.00. I can go to Temple of Heaven this day too. Where else should I visit this day? I do want to get some decent chopsticks and as non tacky as possible souvenirs for my son. Take airport express back to PEK and leave hotel area at 13.00.

Thoughts?

Taxi is a better bet since the AEX doesn't go to the Park Hyatt, and traffic is usually pretty light on Saturday afternoons.

I'd be tempted to push the GW to Monday (no, ToH is not worth visiting twice), and get dropped off at the airport on the way back. This would give you more time to explore on Sunday, which is already entails around 10 km walked, based on my experiences.

Regardless of whether you cap off Sunday at the GW or Houhai (having skipped the GW), going back down to Made in China strikes me as suboptimal from a logistics standpoint. As noted in one of the old Beijing threads (maybe even this one), I like to slot in Made in China for lunch before hitting the Forbidden City.

As for duck, while I happen to like the idea of trying two ducks over the course of 3 days in Beijing, I just want to warn that not all stomachs are in agreement. But, if you're up for the challenge, I'd pick Dadong over Duck de Chine myself...really just a matter of personal preference though (if you check out the duck thread, you'll note many opinions).

Thanks Moondog. You're a wealth of info on the China forum! I'll plan on a taxi Saturday and will pass on duck two days in a row and try something closer to the hotel Saturday night. Any recommendations, maybe dumplings or great leap brewery? Also, where would you recommend I shop for semi decent products or just assume (as has been written here many times) that all is fake and lower quality and just buy something at anyplace I see?

Assuming you don't try to cram the Great wall into the Sunday plan, the original great leap brewing location (number 6) could fit in nicely. There are also lots of decent restaurants in the area.