Things to do in Beijing, China?

[Xno Kappa]

Going to take the wife there for about a week in two months. The hotel we're staying is next to the Subway 2 line from what I've read. A lot of things I want to do, obvious sites like Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, etc., seem to be within cab/subway distance but it sounds like the Great Wall is a good hour+ away. Anyone have any advice for this and anything else specific I should check out from their experience?

[Meat]

real talk? the only thing to do in beijing is to catch a flight to hong kong. Mainland china is grimey, beijing is like the asian new orleans

[Abandon]

stomp chinafolk and eat shrimp fried rice.

[SamanosukeShiva]

Go eat the original peking duck while you're there

[Restrat]

The hotel probably has their own great wall service, or if not will set up a driver for you. The markets (pearl market, silk market) are fun if you like yelling at 12 year old girls and rude European tourists, but its still an experience to have! If you go right before they close the workers will be too tired to bargain and will sell to you for whatever you ask. There is one place called the Ghost Market or Dirt market, its only in the morning, and its where people sell all the Chinese souvenir items to people who then sell it at the more touristy markets. So you can get all your jade Buddhas, prayer rings, painted or carved trinkets, those dog statues, Daoism geocompass, that kind of thing, for really cheap. The most fun I had in Beijing not counting the tourist spots was getting to eat at really fancy restaurants for cheap! Try as much food and different restaurants as you can. If you know any chinese/japanese just point to the "chicken" character on the menu and get that if there aren't pictures or translations. A great place is Chaoyang park's west gate (say to the taxi "chaoyang gongyuan xi mer"), there are a bunch of nice restaurants of all different kinds, and a pretty cool dance club. The park itself is huge and very cool too.

[damet]

http://internationalsexguide.info/fo...play.php?f=233

Honestly I can't think of anything better to do than that.

[notorious bum]

Wow, dude a week is way too long for a concrete jungle like Beijing. Its like staying in NYC for a week to experience American culture. You've pretty much listed the most interesting spots already that would probably entertain you for the first 2 days. The only thing that I would suggest is to avoid the nasty "mystery meat on a stick" food stands, unless you enjoy spending half your vacation sick.

My brother moved to the jing last year, but it wasn't from being seduced by its pretty images after watching the Olympics. Probably the best reason for going there is to find employment, which why he is still there due to the whole "tough economic times"-thing going on over here.

Funny how Beijing is one of the most expensive places to live, yet, its a non-issue when the cost of living is a joke. I would never live there long-term though due to shitty air quality and its a boring ass city filled with sweaty asians to the brim!

unless you're into that kinda thing


that website had me sold once I read the title: "Money is the world's greatest aphrodisiac."

[Demosthenes11]

god fuck I wish my memory were better but I'll try to remember the good stuff.

My favorite thing I did in Beijing was see the great wall. I know it's cliche, but it's really fucking cool. Just DO. NOT. go to the really touristy part. The part we went to was a little farther of a drive (2 hours from beijing or so) but had very few people and way better views. There were so few people that we could go way past the "do not enter" signs and follow the wall for miles if we had wanted (we only went about a half mile).
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y25...nes11/wall.jpg
To get up to the wall there you had to take a ski lift kinda thing and to get down, there was a sweet little track that zigzaged down the hill. You went through it on one of those things that just has a brake. Fun as hell.

Forbidden city / mao mausoleum is worth it to go to but it's not super amazing or anything. Honestly my favorite part of that was just walking around tiananmen square and imagining 1989. If you know anything about that massacre and what happened there, I think you will find it pretty powerful just seeing where the students stood in protest and the tank man street (obviously none of this is marked or alluded to there). I get teary eyed just thinking about it all though so maybe it's just me.

The silk and pearl markets are very fun and very frustrating. The shopkeepers are professional barterers - that can't be stressed enough. MANY of these people speak several languages (I saw one lady speak 8 different languages over the course of a few hours). If you look at all western, prepare to have an uphill battle. Never think of prices in terms of the american dollar either - you might be getting what you think is a deal because you are doing the conversions in your head but chances are, you are getting ripped off in chinese terms. Prepare for several minutes of bartering for everything, needing to walk away to get prices reduced, etc. It's fun if you let yourself have fun - especially if you are a student of chinese. There are lots of goodies for cheap, but when you get ripped off it rips off every foreigner that comes through there, so don't make me angry!

I can't remember what this street was called but there is a street in downtown that is known for the weird ass food. There is probably a row of stands about...200 yards long that just sells things like silk worm larvae, sheep penis, starfish, scorpions, etc along with normal street food like meat, noodles, and even deepfried ice cream. I had a lot of fun there with my gf and buddies trying different things and drinking some beers - all trying to one up each other. If either of you doesn't have a strong stomach I'd pass on it, though.

Make sure to eat at one of Beijing's famous duck places as well. There is one establishment in particular that, iirc has been serving duck for over 150 years in the same style and at the same location. Beijing duck is fucking delicious so at least make sure to eat some before you go.

Again my memory fails but one of the bar districts was especially fun. Good mix of westerners and beijingers with cheap as fuck drinks ($1.50 for a cocktail on the expensive side). With street food waiting outside even at 5 am, it's kinda like heaven. Fucking miss street food ;(

Most of my experience was in Nanjing though (4 months) so I only had a short time in beijing. If you are looking for somewhere else to go, our favorite spot was chengdu. It's where most of the pandas are, it's a fun city (stay at sim's cozy guest house), and just a little bit away is emei shan, a buddhist holy mountain where you can stay in actual buddhist monasteries for next to nothing and spend a few days climbing the mountain and playing with monkeys.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y25...11/monkeys.jpg

not sure if this is your first time in china but the country is a blast. I'm very jealous; have fun!

[Kerberoz]

http://internationalsexguide.info/fo...play.php?f=233

Honestly I can't think of anything better to do than that.

Holy shit this site is a goldmine of lulz

[Abandon]

http://internationalsexguide.info/fo...play.php?f=233

Honestly I can't think of anything better to do than that.

rofl.

[Komm Suesser Tod]

http://www.tamaratemple.com/wp-conte...otesto-001.jpg

[Atreides]

Forbidden City is great, a lot of the museums and shit are right in the center of town there too. Summer Palace is alright too, although after a few palaces they all start to look the same lol. I thought the great wall was fucking lame, but I was a heavy smoker in beijing during the middle of summer so maybe that's why.

Nightlife (for foreigners) used to be San Li Tun (dunno if it still is), a road that runs next to all the embassies lined with bars that sell overpriced drinks to unsuspecting foreigners. During the day you used to be able to go and it'd be a lot quieter, you could sit and have a drink while people came up to your table with garbage bags FULL of bootleg CDs/DVDs to buy. I'm sure there's lots of good restaurants/bars, just ask other foreigners or something when you get there.

Shopping in China is probably one of the best things you can do. There's a market (I forget the name, maybe "Dirt Market"?) that sells all that kitschy asian stuff-- pearls and small jade figurines, ornate boxes, carved dragons, etc. Basically all the knock-off antiques that make GREAT souvenirs. There are open air markets for clothes too, where you can buy imitation (and real!) name brand stuff or random engrish/orympics tshirts for very cheap. As with all open air markets, bartering is expected. You can usually get things for half of what they originally offer, and you're still gonna get ripped off because you're a foreigner. I know there's tech markets where you can buy gadgets and knockoff software too, but keep in mind most of them don't let you return things.

Some of the girls on the trip with us went to visit a traditional tailor and had Qi Paos (those traditional dresses) made. Someone else tried to go to a traditional chinese doctor and it didn't work out so well. Avoid "factory" trips or buying anything as part of a tour/exhibit. Sometimes you can even find vendors selling cheaper souvenirs outside museums than the gift shop itself. If you're looking to buy clothes but don't want to buy stuff in stores, you can find malls with both western (although I doubt they're much cheaper) and hong kong brands, although Chinese sizes are really weird.

Beijing is fun... for about a week, after which you're museum'd/palace'd out and . Shanghai on the other hand is fucking awesome.

edit: yeah it's called Dirt Market/Pan Jia Yuan, I don't know if there's any better places to buy stuff now but this was my favorite shopping trip when I was in beijing
http://www.gluckman.com/BeijingMarket.html

[Kuya]

What about the chinese jews?

[Atreides]

for that you'd have to go to shanghai to see the old synagogue from the 1940s, or Kaifeng but I have no idea if there's even anything to see there

[Awoir]

Sit in a traffic jam for 9 days?