alian Summer Research Program 2005
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Beijing
Getting Around
Taxis are usually best in Beijing, although they can be a little hard to find. Don't let them not use the meter. The only other transportation we tried in Beijing was the subway, which was surprisingly clean and punctual, if a little crowded. This was especially useful when we were going to Tiananmen area; from the Howard Johnson, change at Jianguomen to the red line.
A subway map: http://www.urbanrail.net/as/beij/beijing.htm
Tour: Great Wall and Ming Tombs
The Great Wall is very touristy, but definitely worth doing. Hung Tao got us on a package tour for the Wall and the Ming Tombs, so if he asks you whether you want to do it or not, try to get onto it. The tour takes you to several tourist traps, where you can get a lot of information, but should definitely, definitely not buy anything because it will be too early to have a concept of Chinese prices. Tour stops included:
-Jade Warehouse
-Vase-making Factory
-Teahouse
-Eastern Medicine Clinic
Time required: All day; plan on being there from 9am until 5pm.
Tour: Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, and Summer Palace
Forbidden City
Temple of Heaven
Summer Palace
The Temple of Heaven was under renovations at the time we went there. The Forbidden City was absolutely worth the experience, and the Summer Palace was gorgeous. I highly recommend the tour, but there were some dissenting opinions; if historical sites aren't your thing you might think about not doing it, but I think it was very much worth it. The additional tour stops were informative, but not really worth buying anything. Additional tour stops included:
-Silk-making factory
- Pearl warehouse
Time required: All day, we went 8am to 5pm.
Zhong Shan Park
Zhong Shan Park was a very pretty garden-y area to the north and west of Tiananamen Square. It's worth it to spend a few hours there. We got rained out of the park early, so I'm not sure how far into it we got. You may walk quickly through it during the tour of the Forbidden City, take a look and decide if you want to explore more.
Cost: Y3 to get in, Y3 to take the subway there.
Bei Hai Park
This park was surprisingly pretty, a lot like the Summer Palace but with a lot less people. It basically consists of a path around a lake, with some old-styled buildings. There are also boats for rental in the lake and a lot of pretty flowers and trees.
The cost was about Y15 to get in. It took about 3 hours to get the full experience. The actual path around the lake was probably about an hour long if you're walking fast. To get there take a taxi, which should be under Y30.
Mao Mausoleum
A mausoleum for the corpse of Mao Zedong is a huge building in the middle of Tiananmen Square. You can probably recognize it by the ridiculous line. It's worth going to if corpses interest you. The staff there will try to push you through as fast as they can.
Random thoughts: This place (and the baggage window) closes from about 12-1:30pm. It's probably best to get there early in the morning to beat the crowd and be able to get through and get your bags back before everything closes. It might be a good idea to hold onto wallets, just in case.
The cost was free, except for baggage check, which was about Y35 for seven of us. We also paid a highly-suspect push-us-to-the-front-of-the-line “tip” to one of the guards of about Y20, but you shouldn't count on that. The time required was 2 hours, including transportation and the ridiculous line. To get there, take the subway (Y3). From the Howard Johnson, take the blue line subway to Jianguomen, change to the Red Line, get off at Tiananmen (there are two stops for it, East and West. It doesn't matter which one you choose, they will both be alright).
Shopping
Ghost Market
The Ghost Market was possibly the coolest shopping in Beijing. It was basically a huge field of vendor stalls, mostly with traditional-Chinese-looking items. There were a lot of Jade products, communist memorabilia, tea sets, jewelry, etc. It was especially good for gift shopping, especially if you're looking for cheap Chinese-looking things at the last minute.
The morning is the best time to go to this market. We spent a couple hours there. Hung Tao took us there, by cab. Try to see if you can get him to take you.
Pearl Market
The Pearl Market was an indoor mall full of vendor's carts. There were a lot of interesting little shops around for a wide variety of things. There were a lot of Chinese items, but a lot of practical things like interesting electronics, underwear and lighters. The vendors there usually spoke enough English to get to talk about their products, but if you try to barter in Chinese, they might give you a more substantial discount. There was a pretty significant number of foreigners there when we went, but despite that, the prices weren't foreigner prices. There were apparently multiple floors there, so don't forget to look upstairs.
Taxi is best way to get there. It was about Y20, and the name is on the back of the Howard Johnson hotel cards.
Wang Fu Jin
Shopping was a little expensive in this area. The main reason to go there was the night market with snack stands. They have every kind of possible food there. The most interesting foods we ate there: scorpion on a stick, starfish, frog on a stick, and crickets. They also had more normal food including fried dumplings and Chinese donuts and fruit.
It's only open at night, we got there a little after 7pm. To get there, take the subway since this is near one of the stops. You might also take a taxi since I don't think it should cost over Y15. Look about two blocks down for the red lanterns.
Nightlife
San Li Tun
This is a bar and dance club street, about the best night life we found in Beijing. We went to the New Moon club on that strip, and it was pretty nice. There were maybe 20 places in the area, and a lot of foreigners.
The cab there was about Y30, and the price of the drinks will probably vary by the place. I think we were paying around Y15 for beers. As far as we know, the only way to get there is by cab.
Hou Hai
The concierge at the hotel recommended this area to us. It was a lot more upscale than the San Li Tun area, and apparently a lot of foreign visitors go there. We thought it was over-priced and obnoxious, and left in about 10 minutes. There were a lot of restaurants. The only bar we went to was underground.
It was Y50 for a beer in the bar we found. Take a cab to get there.