Anyone spent any time in Beijing/Shanghai
- Thread starter CocoPops
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I love both cities, and spent many weekends away in one or the other when I was over that side of the world. Shanghai does seem to just make me haemorrhage money though, I feel I sometimes spent an entire day in my hostel and still managed to spend £70.
What sort of trip are you looking for? Being a student, I was mostly on a budget, so stayed at places towards the backpacker end of the scale. In Beijing at least though, that means staying in places in the hutongs, little winding alleys that make up the old parts of the city, and tend to be great for meeting people and getting ideas/help for excursions. You also basically stay right amongst the Chinese families who still live there
I'm a rubbish tourist, it took about 5 trips to Beijing before I actually got round to the great wall/forbidden city etc, but I think I've pretty much managed to get it all in now. Really quite easy to get around since the Olympics, and a very interesting city - great fun, and an interesting contrast between ancient and modern.
Anyway, feel free to fire me any specific questions about transport/entertainments/sights/language/whatever
What sort of trip are you looking for? Being a student, I was mostly on a budget, so stayed at places towards the backpacker end of the scale. In Beijing at least though, that means staying in places in the hutongs, little winding alleys that make up the old parts of the city, and tend to be great for meeting people and getting ideas/help for excursions. You also basically stay right amongst the Chinese families who still live there
I'm a rubbish tourist, it took about 5 trips to Beijing before I actually got round to the great wall/forbidden city etc, but I think I've pretty much managed to get it all in now. Really quite easy to get around since the Olympics, and a very interesting city - great fun, and an interesting contrast between ancient and modern.
Anyway, feel free to fire me any specific questions about transport/entertainments/sights/language/whatever
Well, the Terracotta Army's in Xi'an, which is a 12 hour train journey away from Beijing - or a 2 hour flight - so I'd probably stick that in the list of things to do generally in China rather than Beijing specifically!
Go to the Temple of Heaven. It's incredibly impressive in itself, but I especially loved how it's still full of Chinese people just playing cards or music along the walkways in there, and it's a great little haven away from the city.
Go wander around the hutongs and get yourself completely lost. I'd recommend the streets just to the south of Yonghegong Temple (which has its own tube stop, and is worth a visit in itself if you've nothing else on - peaceful temple on an 8 lane ring road sums up China for me), or Nanluoguxiang slightly to the west of that, which is an interesting street of boutiques and art shops, and seems to be a sight to see in itself for many Chinese tourists. The Bell and Drum towers are around there too, though I've only been past them. Hutongs are basically just old style Chinese courtyard housing, still in use today, with their own little shops and communities. They're not much to look at as buildings, but you can lose yourself in there for hours - awesome for buying chuanr too (barbecued meat on a stick for about 10p).
I guess the Olympic venues should be on the list too - I assume they're still being lit up at night, but I've not been there for a few months now. They're big.
For nightlife, I tended to go out in Chaoyang, but the most typical (I guess) places are Houhai and Sanlitun. Plenty of decent bars all over the place, and I'd recommend CityWeekend to look up anything specific going on.
Regarding the Great Wall, think about which bit you head to - there's several different sections which people get recommended to visit. I went to Mutianyu, which was brilliant, and almost empty when we visited, as the holidays had just finished. Somewhere like Badaling has been nicely restored, but it's the most heavily touristed, as it's closest to the city, so it's harder to just step back and appreciate the scale. There's also a number of different walks you can do depending on how adventurous you feel, over parts which haven't been restored (around Simatai, I think - my friend had twisted her ankle, so this wasn't really an option for us).
Do you plan to go anywhere else in China, or just stick around Beijing? There's plenty to do in the city itself, and the sheer number of people everywhere can make things a bit tiring, but there's a lot more to the country too
Go to the Temple of Heaven. It's incredibly impressive in itself, but I especially loved how it's still full of Chinese people just playing cards or music along the walkways in there, and it's a great little haven away from the city.
Go wander around the hutongs and get yourself completely lost. I'd recommend the streets just to the south of Yonghegong Temple (which has its own tube stop, and is worth a visit in itself if you've nothing else on - peaceful temple on an 8 lane ring road sums up China for me), or Nanluoguxiang slightly to the west of that, which is an interesting street of boutiques and art shops, and seems to be a sight to see in itself for many Chinese tourists. The Bell and Drum towers are around there too, though I've only been past them. Hutongs are basically just old style Chinese courtyard housing, still in use today, with their own little shops and communities. They're not much to look at as buildings, but you can lose yourself in there for hours - awesome for buying chuanr too (barbecued meat on a stick for about 10p).
I guess the Olympic venues should be on the list too - I assume they're still being lit up at night, but I've not been there for a few months now. They're big.
For nightlife, I tended to go out in Chaoyang, but the most typical (I guess) places are Houhai and Sanlitun. Plenty of decent bars all over the place, and I'd recommend CityWeekend to look up anything specific going on.
Regarding the Great Wall, think about which bit you head to - there's several different sections which people get recommended to visit. I went to Mutianyu, which was brilliant, and almost empty when we visited, as the holidays had just finished. Somewhere like Badaling has been nicely restored, but it's the most heavily touristed, as it's closest to the city, so it's harder to just step back and appreciate the scale. There's also a number of different walks you can do depending on how adventurous you feel, over parts which haven't been restored (around Simatai, I think - my friend had twisted her ankle, so this wasn't really an option for us).
Do you plan to go anywhere else in China, or just stick around Beijing? There's plenty to do in the city itself, and the sheer number of people everywhere can make things a bit tiring, but there's a lot more to the country too
Soldato
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Is it 'safe' to go to China? Especially for a westerner?
I was there for the Games last year. The Olympics were excellent but I wasn't that impressed with the sightseeing. The wall at Mutinayu is great but I found the Temple of Heaven and Forbidden City fairly dull. I'm sure they're great if you're into that sort of thing but it didn't yank my crank.
I don't think you'll have any problems with safety.
I don't think you'll have any problems with safety.
I thought it was a bit boring to be honest, same for the forbidden city, as did the other 30 odd people I was with, but then the group was made up of students all around 20 years old or so
China is huge, there will be some areas worth avoiding no doubt but I'd be very surprised if there were any threats in tourist areas.
http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and...ntry/asia-oceania/china?ta=travelSummary&pg=1
Hey, I'm a 22 year old student, I just like my temple-y things Forbidden City can wear a bit thin with the endless mini galleries down one side hosting various exhibitions, but it probably did help that I studied Chinese history and have a general interest. Also, anything i do in a group of 30 people gets very tedious, very fast I actually far preferred Beijing once the Olympics had rolled out of town, though their departure didn't spare me from a year of constant reminders of when China did something useful. Every advert and TV channel has a little sense of "Hey, remember, we had the Olympics, so everything's awesome!"
I never felt threatened anywhere, to be honest, keep within the laws and you should be fine. There is crime, of course, but it's rarely targeted towards foreigners, and you're far more likely to end up being scammed or pickpocketed than have anything violent happen to you. Westerners are the target for a lot of things (especially outside first tier cities), but violent crime doesn't feature highly on the list - pointing and staring are much more like it!
Forbidden City can wear a bit thin with the endless mini galleries down one side hosting various exhibitions, but it probably did help that I studied Chinese history and have a general interest. Also, anything i do in a group of 30 people gets very tedious, very fast I actually far preferred Beijing once the Olympics had rolled out of town, though their departure didn't spare me from a year of constant reminders of when China did something useful. Every advert and TV channel has a little sense of "Hey, remember, we had the Olympics, so everything's awesome!"I never felt threatened anywhere, to be honest, keep within the laws and you should be fine. There is crime, of course, but it's rarely targeted towards foreigners, and you're far more likely to end up being scammed or pickpocketed than have anything violent happen to you. Westerners are the target for a lot of things (especially outside first tier cities), but violent crime doesn't feature highly on the list - pointing and staring are much more like it!
Thanks for the replies
Will deffo be asking more questions fufiov (can't remember spelling, typing on phone, apologies).
Looking at landing in shanghai on 26th dec, leave beijing on 11th jan. What happens in the middle... To be decided lol!
Need to get visa's sorted asap I guess.
Gonna book flights monday hopefully.
Quite looking forward to it, certainly a bit different to your average holiday.
Will deffo be asking more questions fufiov (can't remember spelling, typing on phone, apologies).
Looking at landing in shanghai on 26th dec, leave beijing on 11th jan. What happens in the middle... To be decided lol!
Need to get visa's sorted asap I guess.
Gonna book flights monday hopefully.
Quite looking forward to it, certainly a bit different to your average holiday.