An Itinerary and Some Tips for Visiting Beijing, ChinaOct 22 '03 Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line Beijing is such a wonderful place to visit, but be careful and prepared! This will be a specific itinerary for Beijing, China, since any person visiting this city should spend more than a few days here. It also gives some advice for survival, as China is a Communist country and still third world in many respects. I spent a little over two weeks here at one of their universities and in some ways, got to experience life as a native. SIGHTS So many sights, sights, and more sights! There is much to see in Beijing, such that it can’t be done in just one day! Tienammen Square is definitely worth stopping by. Not only is it famous for the student protests, but this is where many government buildings and Communist statues are situated at. One of the buildings also houses Mao’s body, which has limited entry times. There will be loudspeakers telling people not to step on the grass or the statues. Take a few pictures, walk into the underground tunnel without having to cross the street, and you’ll find yourself on the outskirts of the Forbidden City. No longer its previous grand self, you can see the remnants of where the ruling family in China lived. Note that much of the palace itself is empty. This is because right before the Communist took power, Chiang Chi-Shek (leader of the Nationalists) took all the treasures and now they are located in The National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan, which is also a wonderful museum if you are heading over to Taiwan. But the Forbidden City stands spectacular on its own. Courtyard after courtyard, it’s a long walk. There are also sub-courtyards which housed those individuals from servants to concubines. These are not as interesting. I would suggest just walking straight, which leads you from one courtyard to another. Spend some time in the Imperial Garden, especially stopping by the Hill of Collecting Elegance, where the Emperor used to make announcements. It’s good to purchase an audio guide. The English version is narrated by Roger Moore (yes, Mr. 007), and surprisingly, it’s quite good, but the quality of the headphones is poor. If you have your own, bring them. A place which can be visited the same day is the Temple of Heaven. If you don’t visit the accompanying gardens, it should be pretty quick, meaning you can finish the sight in about two hours. The Emperor used to come to this temple to pray for a good crop for the coming season. It is said he used to communicate with the gods. There is somewhat of a whimsical feeling to the place, where much of the marble carving consists of clouds. The Summer Palace is a must see if you have the time. Situated on an island and surrounded by a man made lake, you must first take a ferry to the Summer Palace. Ordered to be built by the ruthless Empress Cixi, there are some items leftover which have not been looted or destroyed. There are numerous items such as haircombs, photos, and one room still houses the carriages and cars of the Imperial family. It is impossible to finish the Summer Palace in one day, but there are a few sights of particular interest which cannot be missed. The Marble Boat is spectacular and was just refurbished a few years ago. It is famous, as Empress Cixi spent so much money on the boat instead of outfitting the Chinese navy’s ships and it is entirely made up of marble. Also, you should try to scale the temple atop of the hill if you can. It involves a lot of walking uphill and on little steps, but the views are definitely worth the trip. Furthermore, one cannot visit Beijing without heading over to the Great Wall of China. It is indeed a great wall. Although it is about an hour and a half bus ride away from the center of Beijing, the trip is worth it. The public restrooms here are atrocious, and be sure to bring your own toilet paper because there is a fee to enter the restroom and another fee for toilet paper, which is not provided. The views provided by the Great Wall are spectacular. The Wall itself is huge – long, big, and simplistic. Climbing the Wall itself is not hard. It is getting to the wall which is the harder part, since it consists of many little steps. If you don’t see yourself scaling the numerous and sometimes seemingly neverending steps, you can purchase a ticket to get to the wall by cable car. However, you don’t get the full experience and you can’t really brag that you climbed the Wall. Leaving the Wall is fun! You can take the cable car, or you can take the luge. I opted for the luge. Think of the luge in the Winter Olympics except you’re in China. Constructed by a German company, the operators do not provide any helmets nor seatbelts. You sit on this small disc-like seat with little wheels on it, and slide down this pathway. You control the speed by pulling on the brake. It’s pretty dangerous if you think about it, and I definitely would have gone even faster had I had a helmet. You can see the skidmarks on the side of the pathway, and boy some people were adventurous! Have dinner, tea, and entertainment at the famous Lao She Tea House. The food is so-so but the entertainment is excellent. It consists of little skits, magic shows, and acrobats. It might not be as funny since the entire show is conducted in Mandarin, but see if you can attend with a Mandarin speaker who can translate for you. But there are definitely skits which need no translation to be enjoyable. Wang Fu Jing is a strip of stores and eateries. These are higher end stores in a metropolitan area, but you can bargain at these stores as well. A lot of the eateries are catered to the younger crowd, which means you don’t get genuine, authentic Chinese food. There is also a street market where there are vendors and a street food court. This was the only place I ate off the street and that was because I had a native friend tell me these vendors provided clean food. You can get everything from porridge to spicy squid on a stick. One cute thing you can buy from the street vendors here is handmade paper cut outs, which look good framed. SHOPPING While on the subject of shopping, it can be an adventure. The best place to get real jewelry, well made tea sets, and Mandarin CDs and DVDs is Wang Fu Jing. Be aware of vendors touting their wares are authentic!!! Don’t trust the vendors! You are safer at Wang Fu Jing, but caveat emptor! Silk Alley is a dream for intellectual property lawyers. Here, the vendors sell everything from North Face to Burberry to Louis Vuitton items – all counterfeit, of course. I would not recommend buying these items because they break and tear very easily. There are some cute purses, shirts, and chi pao (the traditional Chinese women’s dress) with Chinese patterns, but again, the quality is so-so. However, if you cannot resist buying one or two things, your starting price should be 25% of the vendor’s asking price. Often when they see foreigners they will up the price and tell you it’s a special price. Be firm and find some middle ground. BUT! You don’t want to bargain to death because after all, it is a third world and Communist country and these people are not as well off where they can up and go on vacation anytime. There is also the indoor Pearl Market that some people like, but I didn’t think it was such a big deal. Housed in one building, you can also bargain big time here. Many of the vendors sell counterfeit watches, counterfeit purses and bags, jewelry, and household items. Although the jewelry looked nice and was plentifully displayed, I don’t think any of the items were real. The household items are worth some looking at. Most of these are coasters, banners, pillowcases, etc. with Chinese embroidery and designs on them. TRANSPORTATION Do not, I repeat, do NOT take public transportation in China unless you are adventurous and would like to get your money stolen. Often, the buses in Beijing are over crowded with people, which is also a perfect opportunity for others to “accidentally” bump into you and steal your wallet. Cabs work out fine – the conversion rate is such that the price of a cab is very minimal. The Chinese government has mandated that all cab drivers must learn English by the time the Olympics are held, so don’t be surprised if you step into a cab and hear the drivers listening to “Learning English” tapes. In all cars the drivers have a metal cage separating them from the rest of the car, so it actually looks like the driver is in a mini-jail. Note that the cab drivers own their own cars and are responsible for servicing them themselves, but must obtain a permit from the government. Therefore, there are different numbers representing how nice the cabs are, and how much the trip will cost. The 1.20 cabs usually are smaller cars, but these are ones which are not as well kept and there is basically exhaust blowing in your face. However, the fares these cabs are really cheap. The 1.40 cabs are much like the middle class line, and the fare is still very decent, considering the exchange rate. And the numbers go up from here. However, beware – if you think the cab driver is doing something funny, then make him stop the cab and get another driver. Some cab drivers wish to make more money and will take you on a winding route first; others do the same and never take you to your destination, but take you to a remote spot and demand money. FOOD The food is more salty in Beijing than in other parts of China. If you are a vegetarian, do not have any of the soups because the soup tastes good partially because they use meat stock. But definitely DO NOT EAT ANYTHING OFF THE STREET FROM THE STREET VENDORS!! It is extremely easy to catch food poisoning! Just in case, you should bring some anti-diarrhea medicine with you. I know it sounds gross, but many times when our table ordered vegetables they tasted kind of weird and we determined they hadn’t been washed properly, and you just don’t want to take any chances in a foreign country. I never felt sick, since I never bought anything off the street nor drank anything that wasn’t pre-packaged, except for that one time at Wang Fu Jing (see above). Also, I would recommend never asking for water at restaurants or drinking tap water. I always ordered some type of beverage that came pre-packaged. Soft drinks such as Sprite and Coke are big there are always available. If you don’t drink soft drinks like me, ask for a bottled water or beer. If you are lucky, the restaurant will have some type of juice. Just a tip about beer: if you want beer, be sure to say “cold beer” and not just “beer.” If you just ask for a beer, they’ll hand you a lukewarm one and it’s the same price as a cold one. BATHROOMS Last but not least – awwww, the bathrooms. There is a different concept of public bathrooms in Beijing. Many times it is simply, to put it nicely, a Turkish toilet, which consists of a big hole in the ground you squat over. If it’s a nice one, then it has running water to wash away everything. If it’s not, boy you’re going to have to hold your breath for a long time! If you’re really, really lucky, you’ll get an American toilet. Basically, do this: I brought lots of those portable tissue packets from the States and always carried one with me. I also always carried a hand sanitizer with me. Another helpful item is a small vial of perfume. I would spray it on my wrist and would be able to endure the stenches better. I know it sounds gross, but I want others to be prepared as well. Oh yeah, and if you are wearing long pants, I would definitely roll them up before going to the bathroom. Have fun! And hope all of this helped – let me know if it did! I tried to be as thorough and helpful as possible.  |
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