Beijing

Hi Everyone;

   I just booked a flight yesterday for Beijing and would like some suggestions on what to see while there.  Any suggestions would be welcome!

Thank-you!

I've seen every major tourist attraction in Beijing except Mao's mausoleum, which I regret skipping.  It's in Tiananmen Square, so you won't miss it.  Take 25 minutes to visit Uncle Mao.

There's also a church that worships Scandinavian Jesus, worth a visit for the pictures.  I forget exactly where it is.  I believe it's on Gold Street, a common shopping destination.

hohai is a good place to get food and drinks... I went to the beijing national library and looked around in the card catalogue for a while. Interesting stuff.  Go see some pandas at the zoo.  Olympic Park was beautiful.  There are so many places to check out the great wall.. I recommend Mutianyu, there is a ski lift to the top and then you can hike for 3 hours and take this awesome slide down... worth it!  Check out a Kungfu show at the red theatre, it will blow your mind!  Lastly, the Wangfujing Street Food Market was pretty cool... I tried some bizarre food... such as scorpion and ostrich... but they also have normal delicious food.  Eat the street food, it might look dirty and poorly made, but it sure is good. 

ps.  I don't remember where it is exactly but we went to a silk market which is basically a huge indoor independent vendor mall where you can haggle and name your own price.  Start low! Very low!  It was 2 subway stops away from Sunlitun. 


Hope that helps! 

Do all the touristy stuff (Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City) but I personally would not recommend the Ming Tombs. They were not horribly exciting.

I blogged about my trip here: http://cocoinkorea.wordpress.com/2010/08/21/beijing-china/

Hi,
i just returned from a trip to Beijing yesterday. There are many beautiful palaces and the downtown area is amazing. I went to many of the touristy spots such as Tianneman Square and the Forbidden City as well and I would like to warn you of a scam that you might come across in these areas. I was walking down Chinese Street with my husband when 2 Chinese girls came over and started chatting with us. They spoke almost perfect English and were very friendly. After a while, they invited us for tea in a nearby Tea House. Thinking nothing of it, we accepted and had tea with them and some nuts. When the bill came, it was only handed to us and the price was 650 Chinese yuan. Since we had just arrived in China, we weren't exactly sure how much that was, but figured it couldn't be too high because we only had tea and some nuts. Well, I just checked my credit card balance today and the cost was $100.00 for that tea! I searched online and found that this is a common scam there. Some people have even been charged $500.00 for their tea. I just wanted to give you a heads up as I wish I would have known about this before I went there.

Sorry to hear you fell for this scam. However it has been well known for at least 30 years. Another common one is come and see our art works. I guess it is worth reading up about such things before you visit any country. For instance in Thailand it is selling you arre gemstones etc. Such things are common knowledge amongst travellers, so read up before you go and you will save money abd be safer.

I get fed up weith foreigners who say how safe Korea is. Have they never crossed a road, or seen all the bars on the lower floors of apartments? Its not safe in Korea, but you are safer if you know the dangers and the scams.


Adam