First time Beijing
#1
Original Poster
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 449
First time Beijing
It will be my 1st time to beijing as well as to china ( HK doesnt count) I have many questions and im hoping i can get some help here. First off we want to be in Beijing no more than 6 Nights, i dont even know the areas in Beijing. Looking for a nice location as well as a nice hotel for around 80-100 USD per night. Besides the general sites ( tianeman square, great wall etc) what to do in Beijing? What to see? where to go? also ive been told that taxis are pretty cheap is that true? Any other advice or info please feel free to share
#2


Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: MSP
Programs: LH, DL
Posts: 1,757
Bundi, you'd be well served to do a search and you should find more than enough information. To get you started though, I'll list places you can go/see in Beijing (in no particular order).
Great Wall (do the hike from Jingshanling to Simitai, driving there and back along with the hike will take a whole day and its the best way of seeing the wall), Tiananmen Sq, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, Hutongs (near and around Liqun Duck Restaurant are amongst my favorites), Yonghegong Lama Temple, The Houhai/Qianhai lakes (hutongs that are gentrified, have some kitchsy shops along with tacky ones, ditto for bars and restaurants, though on a normal day if you walk around you'll see plenty of ordinary people playing chinese chess/cards), Beihai park, 798 Art District, Ming Tombs (never been myself), Military Museum...
That should be a start.
Great Wall (do the hike from Jingshanling to Simitai, driving there and back along with the hike will take a whole day and its the best way of seeing the wall), Tiananmen Sq, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, Hutongs (near and around Liqun Duck Restaurant are amongst my favorites), Yonghegong Lama Temple, The Houhai/Qianhai lakes (hutongs that are gentrified, have some kitchsy shops along with tacky ones, ditto for bars and restaurants, though on a normal day if you walk around you'll see plenty of ordinary people playing chinese chess/cards), Beihai park, 798 Art District, Ming Tombs (never been myself), Military Museum...
That should be a start.
#3
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: LAX
Programs: Thai silver(expired), Eva Gold(expired), SPG Gold (expired), MR gold, AA Exp 1MM, UA platinum.
Posts: 404
Beijing
It will be my 1st time to beijing as well as to china ( HK doesnt count) I have many questions and im hoping i can get some help here. First off we want to be in Beijing no more than 6 Nights, i dont even know the areas in Beijing. Looking for a nice location as well as a nice hotel for around 80-100 USD per night. Besides the general sites ( tianeman square, great wall etc) what to do in Beijing? What to see? where to go? also ive been told that taxis are pretty cheap is that true? Any other advice or info please feel free to share
Take public transportation after rush hours, it's cheap & convenient. Taxi is reasonable compare to south east asia, cheap if compare to London. However it's hassle to deal with bad driver who takes you for a ride into traffic streets...it can cost you easily 10USD or more go from east to west.
Where to go? Go to major 5* hotel and ask for Beijing map, they are free. Then look at the pictures on the map & pick the place you want to go (places that the previous post mentioned). Beijing has too many places that you can visit. 6 days is a short time for Beijing. If you go to see greatwall, take a metro then connect with a bus ride..it cost you <4USD round trip. Don't take the tour from Wangfujing, they take you to tourist shoppings. It's waste of time & costs you 80-100USD.
#4


Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: MSP
Programs: LH, DL
Posts: 1,757
Agreed on the pricing. If you can get up to 130/night or even 150 then your options increase exponentially and great values can be had.

