So, you’ve decided to head to Beijing but now what? With a city full of
11.5 million people and thousands of things to do and see how do you narrow it
down? Well for one we decided to stay at stops all close to the metro and
within a reasonable area, minus The Great Wall of course because that is just a
requirement of China.
So here is how we divided up our four day trip based on a winter adventure.
Season: Winter, January 2015
Time: Wednesday Night through Sunday Night.
Hostel: The Three Legged Frog
(Good
location and the hostel was decent but the people were incredibly rude and
unhelpful. We would not stay there again. Make sure your hostel is near a metro
stop.)
Cost: $218
4 Day Schedule:
Budget:
- Hostel:
117 Y total 3 nights
- Food:
35 Y a day
- Great
Wall Transportation: 92Y bus, ski lift, slide 138 Y
- Forbidden City: 20Y
- Temple of Heaven: 30Y
- Lama Temple: 25Y
- Metro:
20Y a day
- Train:
$40 for hard sleeper, $73 bullet train home
TOTAL: $218, American Dollars
Night 1: Board
the 10pm night sleeper train. You can buy tickets at chinaguide.com but you
will have to pay fees so instead we went to the train station. Keep in mind you
can only buy them 4 days before you are leaving though and you will need
passports in order to go and pick them up. When on the train make sure to keep
your ticket handy at all times. You will need it to get on the train, during
the train, and to get out of the train station. Do not loose this ticket.
P.S. Pay the tiny bit extra to take the hard sleeper and
actually have a chance at sleep. You do not want to start your vacation in a
sleep deprived cranky state.
Tips: Take ear plugs,
an eye mask, water, Dramamine if you get sick, toilet paper, face wipes,
breakfast, and keep your toothbrush and paste handy.
Day 1: Arrival.
-Check into hostel.
-Eat. (Seriously. People always forget to eat or skip meals
to save money but don’t do that. You need to eat. Being hangry is never fun for
anyone. Tip: I always keep trail mix on me at all times for emergency hangry
monsters)
-Tiananmen Square (1
hour) cost: Free
The metro stops in Beijing always have the
big touristy things labeled. Tiananmen Square
and The Forbidden City and right next to each other and if you get a hostel in
walking distance that’s even better because it is a very central location.
-Forbidden City (3-5
hours) cost: 20Y
Give yourself time here to see everything. This place is
very big and the more you explore the more you find. Make sure to locate the
gardens.
Tips: Wear comfortable
shoes and when you pay get the student discount. Bring a guidebook or do
research before hand so you know what you are looking at. You can rent an audio
guide for 40Y.
-Malls near night market. Wangfujing Street
Directions: Take subway line 1 and get off at Wangfujing,
exit from A
This is an upscale fun shopping area. Are you deprived of
H&M, Zara, Sephora? Head to the mall just to explore. Many of the shops
open up outside to cute streets.
-Night Market (1 hour) open 6-9pm Cost: 10Y-80Y
Name: Donghuamen
Location: north
of Donganmen Street,
Dongcheng District Right by malls
Fancy eating scorpion? How about chomping on a spider? Well
if food on a stick is what you desire head to the market and you won’t be
disappointed. Walking down all the stalls and being mesmerized and disgusted by
what you are seeing is always an experience. For those less adventurous they
have candy dipped fruit, fried bananas, chow mien, dumplings and other street
foods. For those who want to get their crazy on you can find baby sharks,
centipedes, scorpions, tarantulas, grasshoppers, sea horses, starfish and so
much more. Average cost: 80Y tarantula, 50Y huge scorpion, 15 Y baby scorpion,
20Y starfish, 15 Y fried bananas, 10Y fruit on a stick. You can barter here but
they won’t go very low. However at the end of the night right before closing
they are a little more willing to negotiate.
Day 2:
-Great Wall: Mutianyu Cost: 138Y (bus, ski lift,
entrance, toboggan) Travel: 84Y
You can book a tour with your hostel from 250-300Y per
person but w chose to do it on our own. This is how: Take a metro to the bus
hall, get on bus 916 and tell them you are going to Mutianyu. We got lucky and
the man on our bus took us to his mini van and drove us to the wall entrance.
We negotiated 30Y per person each way. He then waited there for us to be done
and then took us back to the bus stop. The price for a shuttle up to the ski
lift, the ski lift, the entrance to the wall, and the toboggan down was 138 Y
on a student discount. Do the toboggan, it is the coolest experience ever. Don’t
cheap out.
Tips: Bring lunch and
have a picnic on the great wall. Wear sneakers or very comfortable shoes this
part of the wall is almost all stairs. Bring water and a backpack full of food.
-Dinner
-Explore Houhai Hutongs/ Shichahai Lake
This is a fun place to walk around at night and get lost in
the lights and charm. We were there in winter and the lake is frozen solid. You
can ice skate and even ice bike on the lake.
Day 3:
-Temple
of Heaven 30Y
Location:
Subway
Line 5: get off at Tiantan Dongmen Station, Leave from Exit A and
you'll find the East Gate of the Park.
Temple
of Heaven is right across
the street from the Peal Mart. It is a beautiful temple up on a slight hill
with views of the city. It is a large park as well where you can walk around
different gardens and explore. You cannot go into the temple but you can peek
inside through viewing area.
Tips: The 30Y ticket
is a combination ticket that lets you into multiple places. We didn’t know this
when entering and only did the Temple.
So check which ticket you want before you purchase.
-Lunch at Pearl Market
The food court at the Pearl Market is incredible! It is the
best food we’ve had in China.
The way it works is you first go to the card counter and give them money and
they will give you a card with that amount on it. We put 100Y bills on it so
that we could get change back. Then you use the card at the food place of your
choice. When you are done eating you take the card back to the card place and
they will give you your remaining balance. Eat here. Just do it. Price:
10Y-40Y. We spent 16 Y for big plates of noodles or rice.
-Pearl Market (shopping)
Location: Across street from Temple of Heaven.
The Pearl Market is not just pearls, do not let the name
fool you. It is an enormous building full of shopping so be prepared to spend
hours here. There are also ATM’s on the bottom floor for when you need to spend
more but I would suggest going with a budget. The bottom floor is electronics,
scarves, make up, and ties. The middle floor is purses, shoes, suits, and clothing.
The top floor is pearls, knick knacks, and jewelry. The whole place is
indoors.
Tips: See the price list below for the best deals
we found. Do not be afraid to walk away. You will not hurt their feelings and
you will find the same thing again and 5 other stalls. Always look around and
feel out prices from multiple stalls before buying! The worst is when you think
you got a good deal and then find out you could have gone way lower. Speaking
of which once you buy something accept it. Accept what you paid for it and move
on.
Explore night Hutong
At night we just picked an ally to explore. The small little
alleys are called Hutongs and are so fun to walk down and explore. There are
little shops and markets as well to buy fun things.
Day 4:
Lama Temple Cost: 25Y
Location: Subway Line 5: get off at Yonghegong Station, and get out of the station
from Exit C (Southeast Exit).
The Lama
Temple is a beautiful
temple to walk around and explore. Make sure you get all the way to the back
because inside is a Guinness World Record Buddha that stands at 26m high and is
carved all from one tree. We got lucky the day we went and they were having an
incense ceremony which was an amazing cultural experience.
-Olympic Park Cost: 50Y
Location:
Take Subway Line 10 to Beitucheng then switch to Subway Line 8 (Olympic Special Line): get
off at Olympic Sports Center Station, get out of the station from Exit B1
(northwest exit) or Exit B2 (northeast exit), and walk north to it.
We headed to Olympic Park for a quick walk. We did not go
into any of the buildings but just had a quick look around.
-Train Home
Again, remember to keep your train ticket on you at all
times. We took the fast train home and it was only about 4 hours instead of 12.
Make sure you have some snacks, especially if you have not eaten dinner.
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-Summer Palace (didn’t go but heard it’s beautiful) Beihai Park
– looks incredible but we did not have time to go here either.
Pearl Mart Prices
(Spring 2015):
Beat Pill: 70 Y
MK Purse: 150-220 Y
Beat Headphones: 40-80 Y
Toms: 60 Y
Converse flat top: 60 Y
Converse High Top: 80 Y
Cheap pearl earrings: 15 Y
Middle pearl earrings: 70 Y
Pearl necklace low quality: 80Y
Scarves: 10-20 Y
Ties: 20-40 Y
32 GB thumb drive: 20Y
North face Jacket: 150Y
Custom Suit: 720 Y
Robes: 30 Y
Beanies: 20-30 Y
Look at that! It looks fake! At this park there were also natural slides. I took a chinese kid down one. 
If you come to China you should come to southern China. After this we headed to Perdestrian Street. Here there are tons of shops and a giant food court. I got pineapple fried rice in a pineapple bowl. But I sat by a real pizzeria with actual pizza made by a white guy. He was big and bald and Rollin dough, he reminded me of my pops. Boy did that pizza smell good! 
After dinner this happened. Why? I'm still not sure. I did it. I survived. I wasn't happy about it. Who thinks hey let me get a fish tank and put some big and small fish in there and then stick my feet inside. Yeah. That sounds like a great idea. Infact it will release toxins, be a massage, and those fish will eat all your dead skin. Now take a bunch of Americans and sit them down. Listen to them shriek and scream and yell. We counted to three, no one put their feet it. 
I couldn't do it but I knew I needed to so I though maybe if I put my feet in someone else's bowl then there will be lots of feet and less fish. 
Gearing up. Yes I cried. 
One foot. Then the lady came over, grabbed my feet and shoved them into my own bowl. She held my knees down and smacked them until I stopped squirming which is next to impossible because there and fish sucking and licking your toes. 
As you can see I never got use to it and I never enjoyed it. It was ___. Go to China and find out. 
Hannah! But I only got to see her for like ten minutes bc them my group left. Too bad we have so mucky to catch up on! 
