Beijing Tours | Beijing Excursions
Travel Guide to Beijing tourist destinations
What to do in Beijing | Things to do in Beijing
Beijing is the capital city of china and has a history going back some 3000 years, and as the seat of power of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, the city is rich in traditional Chinese arctitecture as well as being a sprawling modern metropolis on a scale which is extraordinary.
Beijing is a city of superlatives. With a population of 72 million, and a city with an inner circumference of around 70 sq kilometres this doesn't come as a surpise. Tourists in Beijing, will quickly become aware that the city's appetite for excessive splendour also extends to just about every plaque on every Beijing historical building, monument, temple and exhibit, some with more justification than others - expect to see words such as splendid, magnificent, almost perfect, perfection, paradise and equisite etc etc bandied around everywhere. While often true of Beijing's historical attractions the self-proclaimed grandeur can start to wear thin after a little while. Tourist Propaganda aside, Beijing should be somewhere near the top of everyone's wishlist of must see travel destinations.
Tianammen Square at night
The Summer Palace
The Summer Palace makes for a terrific day out in Beijing. In the low season, the Summer Palace is a great place to get away from the crowds and relax. You will find that you share many of the main tourist attractions with a swarm of other visitors being led around in fast moving tour groups, which makes looking at anything in detail almost impossible, as the tourist production line moves from one exhibit to the next. The quiet to be found in the Summer Palace though makes a refreshing change from the hustle and bustle of other popular Beijing destinations.
The views of the Summer Palace across the water are truly spectacular, and you should also explore as deep into the gardens as you can, since their are many scenic gems tucked away. A taxi from the centre of Beijing or downtown Beijing will cost you as little as 60 RMB (roughly £6.00).
The Summer Palace
Badaling Great Wall (The Great Wall of China Badaling section).
The Badaling section of China's Great Wall is one of the most popular parts of the Great Wall to visit. The climb is worth it, and you can also get cable cars or a type of slow train/roller coaster to take you part of the way. Expect the wall to be very busy in high season.
Take the opportunity to feed the black bears at the bottom of the Wall. The black bears are natural comics and will do almost anything for a peice of apple, and for 3 Yuan, you can have yourself a lot of fun with them - which is great value for money; although you'll need to put the ethics of keeping these wonderful bears in captivity out of your mind while doing so; although it must be said that these bears look much happier than the ones kept in Beijing Zoo.
An 8 to 9 hour tour will cost around 300 RMB (approx £30.00) with other excursions included in the price. Chair lift prices not included. Generally cheaper to book through your hotel otherwise expect to pay 350 RMB for the same Great wall trip.
The Great Wall Badaling section
If you go on an organised tour to the Great wall, it is probable that you will also have to visit a few government compulsory destinations along the way, that aren't necessarily very well advertised in the tour guide. On the Badaling Great wall tour which we took, this included a Jade factory and a Chinese medicine research center. Be warned in advance that the jade, even for grade A quality is vastly over-priced, and that you will be strongly encouraged to undergo a pseudo medical examination at the research center, which generally involves a doctor in a slightly less than white coat feeling your pulse and telling you that your blood pressure is too low in order to sell you 450 RMB worth of Chinese medicine. The experience feels a little like you've just become part of the Dharma Initiative and if you expect doctor patient confidentiality then you won't feel comfortable being examined in front of an audience of other tourists. This also applies to the Mutianyu Great Wall section.
Mutianyu Great Wall (The Great Wall of China Mutianyu section)
The views on the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall are more spectacular than those on the Badaling section of the wall, and this area of the Great Wall is much less crowded with tourists, which makes it almost a must see destination if you are staying in Beijing. The climb is steeper and you will need to bring good walking shoes, but the climb to the 20th tower is well worth it for its breathtaking views out across the great wall, warning beacons and surrounding mountains.
The Great Wall Mutianyu section
The Ming Tombs
Of the 13 tombs of the Ming emperors, only three of the Ming Tombs are open to the public. We visited the tomb of the third emperor (De Ling) and also a tour of the Spirit way. the Spirit Way is the paved approach to the tombs and lined with statues of officials, soldiers, animals and mythical beasts, all of which have symbolic significance. To be honest, the Ming Tombs were a bit of a disappointment. Neither tour really provided enough information or enough to see. A tour to the Ding Ling (11th emperor's) tomb would have been much more rewarding, since this is the only one that has been excavated and openned to the public.
The Ming Tombs Spirit Way
Lama Temple
It's really nice to be able to visit an attraction in Beijing that is still in use. Budhists come to the Lama Temple enmasse to pray and burn incense every day, and while you need to bear in mind that you must respect their privacy, this also adds a lot to the experience. The gates open at 9 am and this is when the majority of those their to pray will arrive in order to avoid the crowds of tourists which descend upon the place during the day. We did find it slightly disturbing that Tibetans appeared to be required to show their passports in order to gain entry, although we are unsure if this gained them free access or not.
Lama Temple Incense burning
For other shorter excursions in Beijing also check out the Confucious Temple, the Drum and Bell Tower, and the Olympic Stadiums (the Bird's Nest Stadium is particularly popular)
The Hutongs in Beijing
Take a pedicab (like a tuk tuk or motorised rickshaw except by bicycle power and without a roof) around one of Beijing's many Hutongs. These are the older parts of the city and a great way to see the old city. Perhaps the best place to do this is from around the Forbidden City, the guides are very well informed and you will learn a lot about the history and culture of the city from these maverick rickshaw drivers, perhaps more than on any organised tour, if you have someone to translate for you. Be prepared for a hair-raising dash through the busy Beijing city streets weaving in and out of traffic before you reach the relative quiet of the Hutongs.
Eating in any of the food stalls inside the hutongs is also recommended.
Beijing Zoo
Beijing Zoo is a place you have to visit in Beijing if you want to see giant pandas. The best time to visit is in the morning when the pandas at the zoo are at their most active. This can be a real treat, since if you are lucky to find that one of the pandas is in the mood he might just be a real show off and treat you to a display of ungainly acrobatics and comic antics. This is much more fun than just watching pandas eating or sleeping which they tend to do an awful lot of the time.
Giant Pandas at Beijing Zoo
Shopping in Beijing
Be prepared to shop around for everything in Beijing because the prices are erratic, and what costs 20 RMB on one street might cost 40 RMB on the next. In small shops, and street-side shops, also be prepared to barter and haggle. Usually offer around 1/3rd of the price. In larger shops, the attention of the shop assistants can be overly intrusive and you really need to steel yourself for the experience in order not to make a purchase under what feels like duress.
Shops and stalls in the Hutongs are usually the cheapest for everything, and the business will be really welcomed by the shop and stall holders. Cigarettes that cost 100 RMB for 200 on the main streets might be found for as little as 50 RMB in one of the shops in the Hutongs.
Chinese Jade
The Chinese are renowned for jade and you should be able to find some very good examples in Beijing. beware of fakes or imitations though made out of glass or marble. Common designs include statues of galloping horses (symbollising success) and fish bowls with decorative fish around the side (symbolising happiness/ joyfulness). For the best prices don't buy anything on organised tours. You can pick up grade A jade cheaper online than in these places.
Dining out in Beijing
Eating out in Beijing | Restuarants in Beijing
You will never go short of somewhere to dine out in Beijing and the food is generally excellent. There is very little to worry about having to wade your way through menus of food unsuited to the western palate, and you will find less of the exotic wildlife on the menu that you would in southern China (although it is still to be found), just good wholesome traditional Chinese food. Vegetarians should also find eating out in Beijing quite easy, since in many restaurants it is simple just to order vegetarian dishes from the menu. If you're stuck just look on the pictures in the menu.
The traditional Korean restaurants also come highly recommended. In our experience the quality of the food was exceptional, the portions very generous, the prices inexpensive and the service helpful without being intrusive. The tempura (deep fried vegetables) were particularly good, and the traditional Korean food (cooked in front of you over a charcoal burner) a real treat.
Beijing crispy duck (Peking Duck) is a speciality in Beijing, and highly recommended. For the best duck go to one of the Beijing Duck restaurants that looks biggest, brightest and cleanest and you can't go far wrong. The duck is carved in front of you and if you watch the waitress you'll soon learn how to put a pancake together using your chopsticks, although it can be rather messy at first. Avoid having Beijing crispy duck anywhere that doesn't specialise in the dish, since you might find that you end up with something greasy and cold rather than hot and crispy and it won't cost you any less than the duck at one of the speciality restuarants where you are almost guaranteed a gourmet dining experience in Beijing.
Wangfujing Street | Wangfujing Snack Street
The food stalls on Wangfujing street are highly recommended for an opportunity to sample some excellent Chinese food in Beijing at very reasonable prices as well as many unusual and more adventurous dishes such as snake on a stick, fried silk worm, or sheep's testicles, fried scorpian as well as many that are less exotic and very tasty. If you are looking for some of the best Chinese style dumplings that Beijing has to offer then Wangfujing street is definitely a place to check out - for 8 RMB (approx 80p) you can get a steaming hot dish of mixed dumplings with pork and ones with seaweed and garlic that have been boiled and then fried.
Wangfujing Snack Street
For vegetarians there is plenty of fried apple, fried banana and noodles on offer which are all excellent.
Some of the food stalls on Wangfujing street will try to con you out of small amounts of money so check your change carefully and don't let them pass off Yuan as RMB when they give you your change.
Wangfujing Street starts to get going at around 5 PM and starts to die down by about 10 PM.
High Class Restaurants in Beijing
One of the great things about Beijing is that you will be able to afford to dine out in some of the most exclusive restaurants without breaking the bank. The service is usually exceptionally good when it isn't over-helpful. We tried the Ying Yang restaurant on Zhushikou Xi Dajie street, among others - Chinese meatballs, chicken in Starch, beef and mixed vegetables and a few other dishes that escape me came to around 14 RMB and was more than plenty for 2 people. There was a single oyster on the menu priced at 880 RMB, but we gave that a miss.
Coffee in China | Coffee Houses in Beijing
If you are looking for a coffee shop in Beijing you may struggle a little at first, and caffiene fiends might have a hard first few days in Beijing. Remember that China is a tea-drinking country and coffee is not a good seller here. There are coffee shops if you know where to look for them, and even ones that aren't part of chains. Coffee is often quite expensive, but there are places that are very reasonably priced such as the Coffee Shop on Wanming Lu Street (the one over the road which is part of the Dongfang hotel is rather expensive). The staff are very friendly and helpful indeed, expect non-stop Dolly Parton background music though. Coffee shops in Beijing are also great places to get away from the crowds in low season as you will find many of them almost empty - you could very well forget that you are in a city of 70 million people.
The feelings of the Chinese about coffee can be pretty much summed up by the removal of a Starbucks from the Forbidden City, since it was deemed to be untraditional and not in keeping with Chinese culture.
Prices are erratic and range anywhere between 4 RMB and 50 RMB.
If you are struggling for coffee in your hotel, then you should be able to find a small shop somewhere nearby where you can buy sachets of Nescafe (don't expect jars) - 24 sachets should cost you around 45 RMB or about £4.50. In some places hot cans of coffee can also be purchased - these are kept in boiling pots of water, and it is often a good idea to be wearing gloves when trying to drink out of these so as not to burn your fingers.
Beer in Beijing
Beer in Beijing is also erratically priced. Generally speaking stick with the local beers (such as TsingTao or Zhu Jiang), but even then expect to pay anywhere between 15 RMB and 50 RMB depending upon where you are.
Getting aournd Beijing | Transport in Beijing
By far the easiest way to get around Beijing is by taxi. It is possible to hail a Beijing taxi from just about any Beijing street within one or two minutes. You can get the 30 or so kilometres from Beijing airport for just 100 RMB. the 15KM to the Summer Palace for just 59 RMB. Most taxi drivers in Beijing do not speak English, but you can make it really easy for yourself by bringing along a map and a guide book with pictures. Having the name of your hotel written down in Chinese will also help - get them to write it down for you at reception, or even pick up a napkin or sugar sachet with the hotel name written on it. With just a little Chinese and some sign language you should also be able to make yourself understood and even share a joke with your taxi driver.