Beijing, China

23 things we did in Beijing
May 20-27, 2012

1. Checked in at Holiday Inn Express Temple of Heaven
2. Went to a Hutong.
3. Lama Temple
4. Panda House
5. Dr. Tea
6. Olympic Park
7. Watched an acrobatic show.
8. Summer Palace
9. Beijing Pearl Market
10. Temple of Heaven
11. Tian'anmen Square
12. Forbidden City
13. Ming Tombs in Underground Palace 
14. Jade Gallery
15. Mutianyu Great Wall
16. Dongwu Silk Market
17. Ming Tombs in Chang Ling
18. Badaling Great Wall
19. Wangfujing
20. Longqing Gorge
21. Ate at Quanjude Peking Duck Restaurant
22. Taoranting Park
23. Food Trips

Photos

Trip Notes

• The tour was arranged by Beijing Xinhua International Tours.

• Tour Cost - US$1,185 for 3 pax

• We made a 50% deposit and paid the remaining 50% upon arrival.

• We're in a group tour the whole trip.  Private vehicle to Longqing Gorge.

• Our round trip ticket via Cebu Pacific Air is P7,107 each.

• I recommend to take a tour package for a Beijing trip.  Only tour guides can speak English, not even the tour driver.  At restaurants, no English, no spoon and fork, no English menu, no ice.  Food on menus looks different than actual.

• Chinese Embassy-Manila is located at The World Center Building, 330 Gil Puyat Ave., Makati City.  Visa fee is P1,400 for 3 months single entry. Visa application form.

• Settle your tour package first to get your tour confirmation before you apply for a visa.

• RMB 1 = PHP 7.

May 20
Flight to Beijing, arrived at midnight. Airport hotel transfer. Stayed at Holiday Inn Express Temple of Heaven.

May 21 (B, L)
Hutong, Lama Temple, Panda House, Dr. Tea, Olympic Green and watch acrobatic show.

• Hutong is called to the narrow streets and alleys in Beijing.  We took the rickshaw to negotiate the narrow streets and had our lunch in one of the houses of the locals whom also cooked for us.  The food is fairly good.

Beijing Olympic Park

May22 (B, L)
Tian'anmen Square, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven and Summer Palace

• Terrible tour lunch at this restaurant.  
• Put on your most comfortable foot wear 'coz you'll walk for hours at a time, especially at Tian'anmen Square and Forbidden City.  

Forbidden City

May 23 (B, L)
Jade Gallery, Mutianyu Great Wall, Ming Tombs in Underground Palace and Silk Store

• Another terrible tour lunch at this restaurant.
• Had a great time in Mutianyu Great Wall, very few people in the area. Nice photo opps.
• Took the chair lifts from the parking lot up to the great wall.  Going back, you have the option to take again the chair lifts or take the toboggan for an adventure ride.  Round trip ticket is RMB80.  
• You only have 30 minutes free time at the Great Wall.  If you plan to stay longer and hike up and down, get a private tour.

Mutianyu Great Wall

Mutianyu Great Wall Toboggan

May 24 (B, L)
Jade Gallery, Badaling Great Wall, Chang Ling in Ming Tombs and Silk Store.

• I got to say, we had our best tour lunch at Jade Gallery, got a variety of dishes and the food really tastes good.
• The Badaling Great Wall is as beautiful as Mutianyu, only too much people visits the place, it's really crowded considering it's a weekday.  Thanks to fellow Filipinos on the tour who took some of my pictures 'coz I can't set up my tripod.
• Took the cable car from parking lot to the great wall.  The ticket is included in the package.
• You only have 30 minutes free time at the Great Wall.  If you plan to stay longer and hike up and down, get a private tour.

Badaling Great Wall

May 25 (B)

We took a private vehicle to go to Longqing Gorge.

Longqing Gorge

• Travel time to Longqing Gorge from Beijing took us 3 hours.  We can only use our vehicle for only 8 hours, that's why I missed the bungee because we only have 2 hours to spare for the park.  Then I realize we should have stayed for 2 days because it's so far and there's so much to do at the park.
• Parking lot to Park shuttle - RMB5
• Park entrance - RMB40
• Boat tour - RMB100
• Toboggan - RMB20
• Bungee Jump - RMB150 (which I failed to try because of limited time)

Longqing Gorge

 Longqing Gorge Toboggan Ride @3:35

May 26 (B)
Checked out at noon.  Free time.  We went to Wangfujing and Taoranting Park.  Hotel airport transfer.  Flight to Manila at midnight.

• Taxi to Wanfujing from our hotel is around RMB30 only by meter.  It's easy to take a metered taxi from your hotel, but it's a different story the other way around.  For tourists, it's RMB100 to RMB170 fixed price.  A private car offered us RMB60 so we took it.
• Wangfujing is one of  the most famous shopping streets in Beijing.  It is located in Dongcheng district.  You can also find there the exotic street snack where insects, scorpions and spiders are served as delicacies.  We also tried the best Roast Duck in Beijing at Quanjude Restaurant, which is also nearby.
• After my food adventures at Wangfujing, I went to Taoranting Park to kill some more time before our flight back to Manila.
• Entrance fee to Taoranting Park is RMB2.

Wangfujing Street

Wangfujing Exotic Food