I recently came back from a 21 days trip to China!
Was it good, well let’s say I had the time of my life! I wanted to see China since I was a kid and now that I have been there I can’t wait to go back to see more.
I spent 4 days in Beijing and there is so much to see and experience that I would suggest you to spend a little bit longer than that. If you are like me, and by this I mean very energetic during holidays and with constant appetite for more, you could be fine with 4 days.
No many people speak English there (I have not met one!) so you better have a plan. Make sure you have a Beijing map with you. You can buy one for little money from the newspaper kiosk in the street. Of course if you have a tour guide with you it will be easy, but still take a map with you just in case. I was with a Chinese friend and we used taxis and busses, very cheap and better to learn more about the local people.
Beijing itself as a town is nothing special at all. It simply does not look nice. Most streets have a sense of decay attached to them, for example broken pedestrian edges, dirty streets etc… The central area is nice with large and clean roads, big and nice buildings. But you do not go to Beijing to see the town itself, you go to Beijing to see what it once was. And under this aspect it is a fantastic place.
You can spend a day in the Tiananmen Square area. At the Square itself you can have plenty of walk around and enjoy the open space, plenty of kites flying around and the famous monuments that are there. You can come back here in the evening between 6 and 8 pm to witness the lowering of the Chinese Flag. So what can you do before it gets time to see the Flag going down?
You can walk from the square to Tiananmen Gate which also takes you to the Forbidden City. You can spend some hours around the Gate area. You can see the King museum (no bags allowed, you can leave them to the bag holding office and metal detectors used to scan you). Other little traditional attractions are present around the walls, but then do go to the other side of the Gate and enter the Forbidden City. It is a place you have to see, even if very repetitive, it is extremely interesting at the same time. In the Forbidden City you can also enjoy the view of the Dragon Claw Tree, this tree was only allowed to be planted in the Kings’ gardens and it is very unique, I have never seen anything like it before. Soon it will be time to go back to the Square and see the military ceremony to lower the National Flag.
Go and enjoy Beihai Park. Rent a little boat to spend some time in the lake and then on foot to walk around the big park and to go to the Yong An Temple White Pagoda. Lovely place to see this park is.
NOTE: at Tiananmen Gate we had a good deal to rent a car and driver, (she also was an experienced tour guide) for the whole of the day after. It was a good deal for 200RMB about £20 or $30 (compared to other asking between 400 and 800 RMB)
Thanks to this Driver in one day we saw: The Great Wall, Shisanling Waxworks Palace Of Ming Dynasty (only good if interested in the history of Ming Dynasty), The 13 Tombs (NICE), tasty lunch, big shopping place with in house production (NICE, always negotiate the price), and a small but beautiful garden of a Prince. Drive around the traditional old Beijing streets(NICE) and some more…..
Remember always negotiate on prices whatever you are buying. And ask the hotel for discounts on your internal flights, during those 3 weeks I have gone from Shenzhen to Beijing to Shangay back to Shenzhen always managing a 40% discount on flight tickets!
Food: You have to try the Beijing Duck! But only go to one of the famous Duck Restaurants, ask the hotel for which one they suggest. If you are around the Tian An Men Square area, there is a Duck Fast Food place which has the name of one of the famous restaurants, do not go there! Food is very bad. Go to the main restaurants and you will be fine.
Hotel: I stayed at the Gongxiaodasha Hotel, it was ok, but the food was very average. I’m comparing their food to the food I was enjoying when needed at the Xili Hotel in Shenzhen, very good cooking at the Xili hotel and decent prices.