My Travel Journal - Beijing, China
DAY 1
Arriving into Beijing, I was extremely nervous; excited nervous to experience a completely different culture, and nervous nervous due to it being a Communist country and knowing there would be strict rules. As a tourist, I knew I couldn’t be too careless or relaxed in this sensitive city.
I got a taste of how different it was when on our descent into Beijing, the Steward made an announcement repeating information about “foreigners” (us) and the People’s Republic of China”. It was very scripted and robotic. We were also told we would have to scan our finger prints at the fingerprint machine before heading over to customs.
Sometimes when you arrive into an airport abroad, it is difficult to tell it’s a different country but with China, you could tell straight away. It was extremely humid, and everywhere you looked were security staff and hints of communist China. After scanning my fingerprints at the machine, we went through border control and you guessed it, we had to scan our finger prints again!
For the record, from the London China Visa Application Centre until arriving into Beijing, we had scanned our fingerprints 3 times. This surprised me because I was hardly likely to have had fingerprint surgery in between those times. Is that even a thing!? I also saw remnants of print smudges from other passengers and wondered whose germs I was carrying on my fingers; whilst making a mental note to sanitise my hands at the earliest opportunity.
After checking into our hotel, we didn’t have the energy to make the most of our day due to poor sleep on the plane (standard turbulence in Russia - I blame Putin). After a quick afternoon nap, we popped out to the local Sanlitun area and decided to have some dinner. We went to a Beijing Duck Restaurant (after all this is the signature dish of this city), and though the food was nice, communication was so difficult with the staff. What we were about to find out was that this would be the common theme of our trip.
Though my husband can speak basic Mandarin and is fluent in Cantonese, no-one could understand Cantonese or English (obviously). It’s the first time in a long time where I’ve felt like an alien. The Chinese couldn’t understand why fellow yellows, couldn’t speak their language. There were lots of awkward body language (pointing, circling, flailing arms in general). At one point, I was tempted to do the Y-M-C-A and call it a day.
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DAY 2
Today would be a full on day as we had a full day of touristy stuff planned for us. We had booked our tour with a trusted tour guide company in Beijing and this was very necessary as we later realised. Our schedule was to visit Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Great Wall of China.
Our tour guide “Angela” (all given English names to make it easier for the foreigners to pronounce I suppose) was a friendly tour guide with a good grasp of English. She had learnt the language through her English and tourism course. It turned out we were the same age, with our birthday in the same month and the only child of our parents. Kindred spirits indeed! Ang as I liked to call her (very Chinese I know!), took us to Tiananmen Square first which was quite a hairy experience.
Firstly, there were so many people, which then coupled with the heat and scary security staff, made the experience very overwhelming. At one point Ang walked through a gate first, and as I were about to walk through, the security lady hit my hand/ lower body with her megaphone shouting something in Mandarin. I had to shout out for Angela who hadn’t realised the commotion. She soon came back to find out what was going on, when the security “lady” (word used in its loosest term) barked more Mandarin pointing at my bag. She wanted to see inside for security reasons but I’m sure she didn’t check others who had gone ahead of me including Ang. Hmmm. Anyway, after checking and realising I wasn’t a terrorist, she let me go. Nothing says “welcome to Beijing” quicker than being hit in the vagina with a megaphone.
Soon after, we were greeted by the world famous picture of chairman Mao smiling at (or mocking?) us. We were told that his portrait, much like Mona Lisa’s meant his eyes would look at you whichever direction you were staring at him from. How creepy. I didn’t expect so many security, police and military personnel to be present in the Square and beyond. When I asked why there was such a heavy presence, Ang told me it was in case of rebels entering and engaging in activities against the government.
Creepy picture of Chairman Mao
We had to scan our passports and go through a security machine, like a mini airport security lane. After a short walk to the entrance of the Forbidden city we had to, you guessed it, clear security again. After securing the 2nd round of security teams, I was already mentally exhausted and ready to go home. But... we had persevered until now so we continued and I’m glad we did. The Forbidden City was the home of the emperors from the Ming to the Qing dynasty. It was home to thousands including the royal families, concubines, high officials and all their staff. 72 hectares of land housed over 8000 rooms - can you imagine the cleaning!?
Though the emperor only had one empress, he would often have 3000 concubines. Some unfortunately would start out very young and many once entering the forbidden city, couldn’t leave. Some died there naturally and others, murdered. The Forbidden City was named so because of all the rules within the confines of the city. There were so many things you could not do and if rules were broken, you would be punished. Also like many tragic historical stories, there were many tales of betrayal, jealously, love triangles and murder.
As we left, Ang asked if we were emperor, how many partners we would have. My husband said “one” out of loyalty to me but in reality, I’m sure he’d love to have a few women pandering to his wishes. As for me, I said one. I couldn’t imagine any man putting up with 3000 women. Any simple man would think that’s a lot of women to sleep with but can you imagine x3000 times worth of nagging and x3000 worth of periods. Hell to the no.
Just before hitting the Great Wall of China, we ate at a local restaurant which was part of the package. The food was very nice, homely and a generous portion. We thought Ang would eat with us but she was on a diet of fruits. She kept walking around with a bag of fresh fruits saying that she wanted to lose weight - she was already slim - and seemed to answer the query of my heavily raised brow when adding that the beauty ideals in the East were different to the West. I nodded somewhat sympathetically whilst shoving Kung Pao chicken in my mouth. Sorry Hun, can’t relate!
Our next mission was to reach the Great Wall of China. For some bizarre reason, I had visions of driving up all the way, getting out, walking a bit of the bridge, taking some pics with oohs and aahs and then getting back in the car again. But it wasn’t to be. First we had to purchase our preferred choice of journey up the mountain and the choices included chairlift (like you see on skiing holidays), cablecar or toboggan. Obviously toboggan is only available on the way down and not up. We decided to go on the chairlift all the way up and back down again. Though the toboggan looked fun, the queues were ridiculously long and due to all the people getting on, you wouldn’t be able to freely enjoy it due to a build up of people on the slide. We chose the chairlift even though my husband has a fear of heights, because he was convinced this would be better than the cablecar. How wrong he was.
My husband’s worst nightmare - the chairlift at the Great Wall of China
Firstly there is no “floor” in the chairlift, and your feet literally dangle mid-air. Secondly, it is open air and very exposed; going up and down a mountain…I think he forgot that fact. Needless to say, there was high tension, scrunched up eyes, silent prayers and a lot of “oh God, oh God, oh GODS!!”. So much so, I had to check his lower body to make sure he hadn’t given birth…
When we reached the Great Wall... I expected a choir of angels singing “aaaaahhhhh”... well that moment never happened. Yes it was grand and almost ethereal but at the same time, it was dare I say it *whispers* a little bit of a let down. I know, I know, it’s great blasphemy in China! But, I think it’s because I worked it up in my mind so much beforehand! There are a lot of tourists (obviously) and surprisingly, graffiti. If you’re an excellent photographer/ videographer and/ or have a drone, you would most certainly get beautiful pictures or footage from it.
After a long day of sightseeing, queuing, traffic and assaults on my vagina, I was ready to call it a day. I was happy to see my hotel again, like a long lost friend. I would highly recommend these historical tourist sites if visiting Beijing but please do it with a tour group or private tour guide like we did, otherwise you will literally end up in the mountain wilderness of the Great Wall and being dinner to a hungry bear.
At dinnertime, we decided to head to one of the more finer restaurants called Duck de Chine, previously known as 1949. Though we managed to make a reservation, getting our hotel concierge staff to understand the restaurant name, and having to spell “D-U-C-K” 10 times became somewhat tiring. Eventually they booked a taxi for us which I imagine was through an app similar to Uber but our taxi car smelt like arse. Not just ordinary arse but a hairy, farty arse, that had been sweaty all day.
After riding in the taxi from hell, we realised he had dropped us off at the wrong street. Through some common sense, we managed to walk to and find our restaurant as it had an illuminated 1949 sign. Even then, we were wary and wanted to make sure it was Duck De Chine. Though we asked all the door staff (there were about 5), they couldn’t understand, stared at us blankly and then ushered us through the doors. It was not until we reached the reservation desk, did the woman at the front desk confirm we were at the correct restaurant. There were absolutely no signs whatsoever (probably all in Mandarin) until we were given a menu with the blessed words ‘duck de chine’ inscribed on the front.
Not only is it a fancy in terms of decor, it is also a large restaurant. We ended up ordering obviously their signature dish of Beijing Duck. Every Beijing Duck Restaurant likes to create a bit of flair but this one went the extra mile because after the Duck chef skilfully sliced and served the tender meat, the waiter came along and hit the gong (for God knows whatever reason but maybe) to announce dinner was ready.
The food was incredible, especially the moist duck. I’ve had Beijing Duck plenty of times but one thing I’ve learnt is simple is best. Succulent duck + quality hoisin sauce + homemade aromatic chilli oil = bursts of happiness in the mouth. The whole Duck, with two other sides dishes and a whole bunch of drinks came to £80. If we ate at an equally high end restaurant in London and had the same quality food, the bill would have easily amounted to £200 or more. I couldn’t believe how cheap the restaurants/ food were in Beijing! My belly always does a happy dance with food but when it’s cheap, even happier!
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DAY 3
Due to a heavy schedule the day before, we decided to take it easy with a day spent in the local area. For a late lunch/ early dinner, we decided to head to a hot pot place with excellent reviews. Luckily, the one that was highly recommended was only two minutes from our hotel.
Upon entering the restaurant, again we could tell the quality was great, and restaurant upmarket. We were handed a menu that looked and felt no less than the Argos catalogue and our mouth salivated whilst looking at the fresh ingredients. With hot pot, the idea is to choose ingredients to emerge into a boiling soup with the soup itself, flavouring the ingredients.
We chose beef, platter of different mushrooms and vegetables, as well as prawns and a side portion of homemade dumplings. We also got to choose our soup with two different flavours, with the concept of yin and yang. The first soup was a creamy and beautiful yam soup and the second, a fiery (literally) mouth numbing Szechuan chilli soup.
Whilst flicking through the menu, we also saw ingredients you wouldn’t normally find on a western menu such as stomach, intestines, webbed duck’s feet and brain. Who’s brain I don’t know but regardless, no thank you. When the waiter suggested cow’s stomach saying it was their speciality, I had to put on my best smile and say “no thank you” with as much grace as I could muster. There was no way any innards were going in my soup, I only like the outards (not a real word, I know).
With any Chinese restaurant of calibre, you always tend to have one server who is dedicated to your table. This person will literally stand by, sometimes unnervingly watch you eat, and cook and prepare your food for you. It’s excellent service really, except for the fact that our waiters were literally laughing at us the whole time. This was due to the fact we didn’t know what we were doing and everything we did was clearly comical. However we didn’t feel offended because, it wasn’t done maliciously; more like “haha, look at those foreigners dipping their beef in the wrong sauce... how hilarious!”
After sweating our butts off due to the hot and spicy soups, we headed to the local Sanlitun area and came across a cat cafe. Cat cafes are common in Asia (now there is a UK one too) but they normally try to over-egg it with the cat theme. When we entered, it was a very chilled environment with around 20 plus cats in one place. You can just enjoy a drink/ food whilst playing with the cats or even buy them food. Kittens were on sale too and though I would have loved to have bought all of them, I don’t think the security staff would have been too impressed with a heavily loaded meowing suitcase.
After living my best life in the cat cafe, and literally naming and becoming BFFs with every single one, we headed to a mini fruit stall. Anyone that knows me, knows I love fruits. Asia have the best fruits in terms of variety and sweetness. One fruit I haven’t tried is Durian, nicknamed ‘king of fruits’. This is the one fruit my husband had been dying for me to try and knew it would be either hit or miss for me. Anyone who has heard of Durian will also be familiar with its other nickname or title of being the “smelliest fruit in the world”.
Due to having a weak stomach, this fact didn’t sit well with me but hey, I love fruit, I’m in Asia and I thought “if I don’t try now, I never will”. Anyone who has visited China town in London will have smelt this weird sewage smell, well it’s not the sewer, it’s Durian. I do not lie. When we purchased the Durian and though it was in three layers of plastic packaging, I could still smell it.
Just to give you an idea of how strong the smell is, this fruit is banned on public transportation in Thailand, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore. It’s even banned in hotels in Malaysia.
Having opened the package, the smell became more pungent and a close up sniff confirmed it smelt like China town, or more accurately, a sewer. I’ve heard plenty of people describe the taste as many things but the most common opinion is sweet onions. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and put a small amount in my mouth. The first taste that hit me was raw onions (which I hate), then the second stronger wave was the taste of sewage or rubbish (no joke).
When I got the second hit, I had to swallow it fast, otherwise I knew I would spit it out. I didn’t want to spit anything out in a communist country and end up being punished for eating a Durian which was enough of a punishment in itself. As I swallowed the last bit, the last note was nail polish (as in acetone or alcohol).
This was clearly my husband’s revenge for the years of nagging and the chairlift ride to the Great Wall. I asked him if this batch was particularly bad or maybe it was rotten? He just laughed and happily ate the rest of the fruit. I watched him with bewildered eyes, as if I were watching a feral animal on Animal Planet. For a short moment, I questioned who I had married for in that moment, he was a smelly fruit eating monster. Needless to say, I forced him to brush and rinse him mouth several times before giving me a kiss goodnight.
Would I try it again? The immediate thought would be to say hell no but I know Malaysia has sweeter varieties therefore if I’m crazy enough, I may try it once more in Malaysia before making my final decision on this fruit. Who knows, I might fall in love with it, declaring it the best fruit in the world or maybe I will throw it back at the fruit seller’s head cursing him in Malay.
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DAY 4
We decided to make the most of today after a relaxed day yesterday. We wanted to wing it like locals and there’s nothing more local than grabbing the subway. Though Beijing has an extremely sophisticated metro system, again there are hints of Communism control everywhere. Literally every single metro station we entered, had a security lane we had to go through. This meant putting our bags through the x-ray machine, having to walk through a metal detector and even having our bodies and water bottles scanned. Crazy.
The metro is super super cheap and most single journeys will cost you 30p per person, per journey. I remember the good old days when I used to pay 20p to get on the bus in my high school years! After jumping on the super modern metro train, we arrived at Panjiayuan market. The PM is primarily famous for selling antiques (of every kind), Jade (and other semi-precious stones) and Chinese art.
If I lived in and owned my own place in Beijing, I would frequently visit Panjiayuan market to buy products to decorate my place, especially the art pieces. Since I don’t live in Beijing, I didn’t want to buy clunky items and therefore just purchased art in the form of beautiful wall hangings. The key to Chinese markets is haggling like your life depends on it; always start low and you can work your way up but never just pay the price they give you.
After PM, we headed to the famous (or rather infamous) Silk Market. The SM is a famous market in Beijing for selling silk yes, but also fakes. I read up a lot on the market before I went, which was primarily warnings on what I’d be facing and how to haggle. It’s the first place I visited where (a) I saw other tourists like me and (b) market sellers spoke English. Most of the locals stay away from this place, and since the majority of visitors are foreigners, the sellers all speak English and some other European phrases.
I knew they would try to rip us off, compliment us like there was no tomorrow and be aggressive pushy sellers all at the same time. The SM is an indoor market with individual shops and 7 floors, including a food court on the top floor. Each floor sells different products but the basement floor selling fake designer goods was the floor I was mainly interested in. I hadn’t ever been to a place that sold fakes and normally I’m not interested in fakes but I heard this market’s reputation for selling authentic looking fakes.
As you walk down the aisle of shops, sellers are standing at the entrance and everyone greets you, calling out for your attention. It can feel overwhelming and the second you agree to step into a store, the attention becomes even more intense. They try to see what designer brands you’re interested in and try to gauge your level of interest judging your facial and body expressions. I had read in a forum somewhere that when visiting the Silk Market, people should dress modestly, with minimal expensive jewellery. I followed this advice, with the only designer item being my subtle black Gucci ‘Disco’ bag. It sounds stupid but I even wore it the wrong way around (to hide the label) but the sellers cottoned onto it, and told me they knew it was genuine straight away, due to the details such as stitching. I was equally impressed and disgusted by their sly techniques. Honestly, the sellers are probably some of the world’s best unqualified psychologists.
Another key tip is to look disinterested even if you like a piece they’re showing you. I saw a Chanel bag which they initially asked £500 for, which compared to a real Chanel is dirt cheap. However, by the time we left, they had bargained down to around £150 and probably would have been willing to drop lower but I wasn’t interested. Though the Chanel looks real to an untrained eye, I myself could tell that it was a fake. Like my conwoman friend said, it’s all in the details.
The seller kept whinging that we were ripping her off and that £150 is cheap for a Chanel and though I had agreed with that, I also reminded her that £150 was expensive for a fake. In the end, I settled on a Louis Vuitton Neverfull bag which normally sells for over £900. It is pretty authentic looking and very close to the real thing. They initially asked for around £300 but in the end, we ended up paying around £95. We probably could have gone lower, but by then, it would have been nightfall and I would have had no more hair left from the psychological to-ing and fro-ing. Haggling can be fun on one end but at the same time, it can be mentally exhausting! I was happy to take my Lewis Vuitton and call it a day!
After a long day of battle of the minds, we made our way to a Korean BBQ ‘Iki BBQ’, literally opposite our hotel. Again we went with little expectation but the food ended up being amazing. The meat grilled in our own personal wooden grill, was so delicious and again we had our own server. After divulging in a huge meal, we only paid £35 which was ridiculously cheap for the standard of food and restaurant. Again there were weird ingredients on the menu like cow tongue but if you can get past that, it is honestly worth it
After heading back to our hotel, we enjoyed the complimentary jazz/ live singer at our hotel lounge. The singer looked like Nicki Minaj from a distance but instead of singing “my anaconda...” she sang classics from Alicia Keys, Ed Sheeran, to the Carpenters and Lauren Hill. It was literally the perfect ending to the perfect day and I loved drinking my favourite Japanese whiskey whilst bobbing my head along to the music.
“Nicki Minaj’s” performance at Chao Sanlitun Hotel in Beijing
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DAY 5
We wanted to experience the Hutong or otherwise known as alleyways of Beijing. It sounds weird to a Westerner’s ear but normally the Hutongs house traditional restaurants, bars and shops. Being a Sunday, the crowd levels were intense. It was clearly an area for families and the rain didn’t put anyone off from spending a day in the Hutongs. Every other building was a place selling food, drinks or snacks and they were literally the busiest places compared to the shops. I think the food stalls were primarily for the locals and the shops for the tourists.
I, being a tourist, enjoyed several stores but the best were “My Petite Paris” which is a jewellery franchise store in Beijing, full of dainty affordable jewellery and “Jingfan”. Jingfan was the type of store I was looking for, throughout my holiday. I am really into artisanal oriental art, folding fans and makeup brushes, with a recent desire to start collecting these pieces. Jingfan is the perfect place to buy fans, with some customisable and authentic pieces. They’re not cheap and it’s not a place you can haggle but quality is what you pay for and get. In the end, I left Jingfan with three customised fans for around £250. I can’t wait to display them on my mantelpiece at home and/or use them as a weapon to slap someone really annoying (only if necessary).
For dinner, we headed to a nearby seafood restaurant which specialises in steamed seafood. Again, it was an upmarket restaurant in Sanlitun and for the quality, we paid very little money. We ordered seafood platters of clams, abalone, prawns, crab, oysters, scallops and a separate tray of dumplings. I loved the steaming concept and again, we had help from the servers who catered to our every whim. Thank God, the staff managed to find someone who spoke English but I’m not even sure he worked for the same restaurant! Either way, communicating in make believe sign language is always fun…
Steamed Seafood that made us very sick!
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DAY 6
The only (and big) problem was, after being very cautious on our entire holiday of not eating at shabby places or drinking non-bottled water, we got caught out by the seafood. I’m not sure exactly what it was but we have a feeling it may have been the oysters that were either not the freshest or were parasitic. The next day, my husband and I came down with a case of bad boo boo belly. What didn’t help was that whilst we were out, Beijing primarily has hole in the floor toilets (if you know, you know) and it is neither the cleanest, or the most elegant way to relieve yourself.
Before boo boo belly really kicked in, we miraculously found strength to make our way to Beijing Zoo. Beijing Zoo is listed as a top attraction but for a Monday, it was bloody manic and full of children clearly on school holiday. Thank God we only paid around £10 for two adults because otherwise it would have felt like a huge let down. The biggest redeeming factor was seeing the pandas. If you are able to withstand a massive crowd, with lots of elbowing, pushing and shoving, it is worth it to see these giant balls of cuddliness. I even bought a souvenir cuddly panda from the panda shop (everything was panda themed) and named her Peggy or Pegs for short.
My best baes! <3
After Beijing Zoo, the plan was to head to the Aquarium (which you access through BZ) but our food poisoning had really kicked in by now and through united cold sweats, we decided it would be best to head back to the hotel. This was a real shame as the Aquarium is supposed to be the largest in the world! I would say “oh well, there’s always a next time” but I’m not sure there will be…
Don’t get me wrong, we did enjoy our holiday in Beijing, as there were many things to like. There was such an abundance of delicious restaurants at such a low price, but with high quality. Though there were some unfriendliness/ aggressiveness in the form of security personnel, we found more examples of friendliness from the locals. So many occasions, we needed help with directions and though the majority of people couldn’t understand us, they tried their best to help us; sometimes even leading us to the relevant place. For that, we were so grateful and touched.
If you want to experience Asia, I wouldn’t recommend Beijing as the first destination. I myself have travelled to South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore and even then, I had a huge culture shock in Beijing. I would suggest the former for your first time in Asia (including Japan) before heading to a country like China. I would definitely recommend Beijing but with warning as it isn’t for the faint hearted. If you want to really experience a different culture, go for it! I have compiled a list of to-dos and don’ts and other anecdotes from our trip below.
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Other Notes For Survival in Beijing
Visa
When travelling to mainland China, you DO need a visa. The form needs to be completed online (not by hand) and you then need to book an appointment with the London China Visa Application Centre. You cannot submit the application online, and have to head over in person; submitting photographs, and finger prints. Normal visa applications take 4 days to process (apparently) for approx. £150 pp but we chose the express service which was approx. £180 pp. This would guarantee your visa to be approved within 3 days, which it was.
Vaccinations
Before travelling, you need to be vaccinated and can do this either privately or through the NHS. We got immunisations from Hep A, Polio, Tetanus and Typhoid as a minimum but you can be vaccinated for Hep B, Rabies, and more.
Health and Safety
Our nurse warned us not to drink any non-bottled water, including ice whilst on holiday. This is the most common way to get sick in any country. It also includes being cautious of salads as it is often washed with their tap water.
Do NOT approach any stray dogs or cats whilst in China because if you’re not vaccinated and they either bite or scratch you, there is a real chance of getting rabies.
Take lots of mosquito repellant with you, especially one with a high concentration of DEETS; 30% minimum. It will be stinkier but the higher the concentration, the better.
We were wanted not to publicly speak negatively of China. As simple as.
Whilst out in China, do NOT expect Google or anything related to Google or American websites to work. This includes Youtube, Netflix or Google maps (obviously). Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook were also quite difficult to use, especially when we were connected to their Wifi.
Toilets
Like I mentioned earlier, hole in the floor toilets are a thing in Beijing. Obviously if you go to the department store, there will normally be “normal” toilets but anywhere else, expect to do a lot of squatting. It’s often not the cleanest but if you have to go, just hold your nose and do your business. You will also need to take your own pocket tissues, and wet wipes. You aren’t allowed to throw the tissue into the hole itself and will need to deposit it, in the bin kindly provided next to the toilet.
Passport
In China, you have to literally carry your passport with you at all times. It’s for the purpose of buying tickets, so that they can identify you at all times and also because your visa is contained in the pages of your passport. Very Big Brother indeed! Yes, it’s annoying and you have to be super careful you don’t misplace it but it is required. If you want to enter big sites such as Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Great Wall, you need your passport. We didn’t need it for Beijing Zoo.
Beauty Products
Beauty is so cheap in China, if you can stock up on at least masks. I wouldn’t necessarily recommending purchasing other skincare unless you know how to use it and what’s inside as everything is written in Mandarin. I popped to one store, which I believe is originally Japanese, called Miniso and their beauty products were cheap cheap. I bought face masks, pocket tissues, wet tissues, sponges, eye masks and nose pore strips, with all 86 products totalling approximately £30. That works out to around 40p per item!
Etiquette
People WILL shove you or push, but this is not them being rude, it’s just a way of life. If you shoved someone back, they wouldn’t necessarily react because it’s normal to them. Get prepared for a lot of this, snatching things out of your hand and people looking at you like you’re an alien when speaking English. Don’t take it personally, as it is just the culture. Like I said earlier, there were plenty of gracious and polite people too.
English
English is not a thing in China so if you don’t speak Mandarin, your travels will be very difficult without the use of a translator or tour guide. If you can, use a translator app like Google Translate or iTranslate which helped us immensely when we were there. You can also approach the younger people for directions as often they learn English at school and therefore at least know the basics.
Traffic
Being in the car and/ or crossing the roads in China, is a very hairy experience. You cannot expect to cross safely just because the ‘green man’ is lit up. You have to be constantly alert as cars will still attempt to drive through the red light, and with mopeds and bicycles coming from every single direction. The mopeds are the worst as they are also allowed on the pavements and on quite a few occasions, I nearly had a heartattack.
When in taxis, we said silent prayers a few times, with quite a few ‘out of body’ experiences. You know that feeling when you’re so shit scared, your body goes cold for a few seconds…yes well, that experience!
Taxis are extremely difficult to grab in China, so you will either have to ask your hotel or restaurant to arrange one for you at a premium price or just take the metro. Even if you can grab a taxi, the traffic in Beijing is absolutely bloody ridiculous and it’s constant, without a break from it at all. Plus, some of them smell like arse so I would definitely recommend the subway over taxis. It’s quick, cheap, modern, and well air-conditioned.
Funnily enough, even with all the aggression, cutting in and weavers (in and out of lanes), very rarely did I experience road rage. No-one shouted at each other, let alone raise an angry fist. This is the complete opposite of me, as I’m sure I would explode daily if I drove in Beijing.
Don’t expect your taxi driver to make small talk because well, they can’t communicate with you but also because they have a strong ‘give no fucks’ attitude. Sometimes I prefer it this way because you can just concentrate on the views outside.
Hotel
If I haven’t put you off from visiting Beijing, I would 100% recommend the hotel that we stayed at in the Sanlitun, Chaoyang area. The hotel Chao Sanlitun Beijing Hotel is extremely modern and has the quality of 5* without any of the pretentiousness. The breakfast was freshly cooked and made to order, the staff were all very welcoming and helpful, and the location was excellent. There are many shops and restaurants in the local area, as well as the cat cafe if you’re interested ;)
The hotel itself is gorgeous with a very contemporary feel, the room spacious, two restaurants on site, a gym, a gallery and free live singing every night. We loved the singer that we saw (changes almost everyday) who sang beautifully and had a fantastic band to back her up.
One random fact to leave you with, since the number 4 is considered very bad luck in Asia (as it signifies death), the elevators do not have floors with the number 4, or even a 13th floor. Random but true!
Until next time xo
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All pictures in this post are my own (with the exception of the thumbnail image).
