The previous post was about my arrival to Beijing. It was a relatively problem-less journey. This time we look at places you might want to consider when you go to Beijing.

Some Ground Rules

Before you start your journey around Beijing, here are some traveller tips for you :

1. Always have a guide book of the place you want to go. For us, we got ourselves a Lonely Planet Beijing Guide. Make sure it is an updated version too. Ours was not an updated version so there was a slight difference between the book and the real thing.

   

2. Similar to any tourist city, there are a lot of sales to be made and not all people are honest. Be wary of people that are strangely nice to you, they might want to sell something to you and always bargain at least half of the retail price when you are buying something from a souvenir shop/stall.
3. Not many can speak English, not even hotel staff (except for the multi star hotels). Try searching for youth hostels to stay in because the chances of having English speaking staff is better.
4. You can actually bargain to get a better hotel rate. This is more likely in privately owned hotels and hotels with low occupancies either due to non-peak seasons or simply because bad location. The theory is the more rooms empty the more they are willing to give discounts.
5. While on trips, don’t keep different sources of funding in the same place. For example don’t keep your money together with your credit card. If you loose your money, chances are you still have the credit card, vice versa.
6. Don’t bring your whole budget (in cash) along with you. If you have a visa debit card, you can use the ATM machines in China that have a “Visa” logo to withdraw money from your account in Malaysia. Charges are usually RM 10 per transaction, so use the service wisely.

Alleys around Beijing always hide good hangout places and hostels. Spend some time to explore.

Getting around

Beijing was built in a block structure, just like US cities. So, it’s pretty easy to find places. If the place you are looking for is within a 1 or 2 km radius, its easy to just walk to your destination than taking a taxi. Besides, you might bump into something you like.

The cheapest way to get around is by subway. At 1 Yuan per entry, you can travel throughout the entire subway network. Most tourist attractions are near the subway too.

For buses, make sure you know which bus to take. Your guide book will be a lot of help in this area. But unless you can speak Chinese, its pretty hard to actually know where you going when you take the bus. Asking staff at the hotel/hostel might help.

Taxis are not really that expensive so if you are a bit lost or too tired to walk, don’t hesitate to take the taxi.

Places of interest

The Forbidden City – The Palace of the former Emperor of China

Tiananmen Square – Large square in the centre of Beijing with cultural significance.

Niu Jie Mosque – One of the oldest mosques in Beijing

Temple of Heaven – The Emperors alter to the gods

Yonghegong Temple – One of the largest and most important Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in the world.

The Bell Tower – A giant bell tower used to tell the time in the old ages.

The Summer Palace – The Emperors Summer retreat

The Olympic Sports Complex – National sports complex used during the 2008 Beijing Olympics

The Great Wall of China – The only wall that can be seen from the moon.

In the next post I will share some of my experiences in the places mentioned above. So, stay tuned.…