Out On a Date: China

Showing posts with label China. Show all posts

02 October 2010

BEST OF BEIJING - 11

BEST TIPS I COULD SHARE

Bulol at The Great Wall of China

Wear your most comfortable shoes. There’ll be a lot of walking. We designed our own itinerary and commuted our way through Beijing. We averaged almost 50,000 steps each day (J’s watch has a pedometer).
September is Autumn in Beijing. Weather ranged from 13-16C (Pinoys, it's like Baguio weather). You can survive with only one layer of clothing. But if you're lamigin, like me, best to bring a jacket / coat. It gets ice cold when it starts pouring (good thing I brought gloves and scarves).
Check the weather forecast on-line. It was accurate from Sept 18-22, 2010. Thank God we brought umbrellas.
If you're exploring on your own, bring your own map. Unlike in HK, SG and Shanghai, there were no free Beijing maps when we arrived at the Central Airport Terminal 2. Good thing our Frommer's book came with a free map, that’s what we used the entire trip.
Pay public toilets are everywhere. Warning: they could be very stinky. And ladies, be ready to squat.
Don’t ride the rickshaws. We heard they charge gold!
Politely walk away from strangers approaching you for photos, tours, tickets, etc. These could be scams.
You need at least five days to get around. Our trip was super bitin – only three days of pasyal (the other days were for flying). We didn’t get to see The Summer Palace and The Temple of Heaven; and there was no time for serious mall window shopping for me (hehe). More reasons to go back? *wink*
The locals are helpful in their own sungit way.
It helps to know a little Chinese. (J's taking Mandarin classes.)
For the major attractions, we printed out their names in Chinese and English (you can access these on-line). The print outs made it easier to ask for directions.

This is a personal list from our recent trip (September 18-22, 2010) to Beijing. Best to make your own list if you don’t agree with me.

BEST OF BEIJING - 10

BEST "FEELING LIKE A LOCAL" EXPERIENCE

While walking through Hutong Inn’s neighborhood, I noticed a man with a bag full of yummy-looking egg tarts. “Where’d he get those?” Then J saw a bakeshop right across the street – a really small stall with a long line of locals. We crossed the street and lined up.

I was 16^th in line.

But in less than five minutes (in fairness, the line was fast-moving)...

...I had my egg tarts!

Only RMB1 (or PHP6) per piece!

I ordered ten.

They were good.

But Beijing KFC tarts were better.

I know egg tarts are more associated with Macau. Wish we could go back to Macau to try the original Lord Stow’s (didn't have time for it during our Day Trip five years ago).

25 September 2010

BEST OF BEIJING - 9

BEST KITSCHY BUY

A reproduction of Wang Guangyi’s** artwork. My eco-friendly shopping bag costs only RMB70 or PHP413, from a stall in Yandai Byway (shopping area near the Drum Tower).

BEST DUMPLING

I had dumplings and noodles every chance I got. The steamed pork soupy dumplings from one of the food stalls at the Oriental Plaza are THE BEST! (RMB 18 or PHP106.2 for six pcs.)

BEST SHOPPING MEMORY

An almost empty H&M at Qianmen Avenue. There were only around ten shoppers per floor (this branch had three floors) when we were there. There were no lines in the fitting room, at the cashier...Happiness!

Entrance to the Qianmen shopping area...

Lovely lamp along Emperor's Avenue...

**Wikipedia: Wang Guangyi (1956), is a Chinese artist known for being the leader of the New Art Movement circles that erupted out of China after 1989 and for his Great Criticism series of paintings, using the images of propaganda from the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and contemporary brand names from western advertising. As an example, Artinfo notes that one of Wang Guangyis’s Great Criticism paintings “responds to the recent influx of advertising by juxtaposing the Coca-Cola logo with an image of a Chinese soldier, appropriating the visual iconography of both the Chinese Cultural Revolution and American pop art.”

BEST OF BEIJING - 8

BEST MEMORIES FROM THE 798 ART ZONE

In one of the galleries, while paying fo
r our purchase...

Chinese Man:

Where are you from?

Me:

(UH-OH. I looked at J. I was too scared to answer.)

J:
We’re from the Philippines.

A:
(Will he shout at us? Kick us out of his gallery?

Blame us for th
e August 23 bus bloodbath? My heart was beating too fast!)

Chinese Man (as translated by J):
You look Chinese ("zhong guo ren," literally China person). She very pretty ("hen piaoliang").

A:
Oh. Xie xie. (“Thank you” in Chinese.) *blush*blush*
(Big sigh of relief. Kuya, tinakot mo naman ako!)

But you can't blame me for being paranoid.
Saw this banner at the entrance of one of the galleries...

We didn't enter the HK Art Museum. I didn't feel "welcome," hehe.

Still, next to The Great Wall, the 798 Art Zone was the other Beijing attraction that got me really excited. I loved it here! It's a haven of creativity -- rows and rows of art galleries, bookstores, cafes, dress and souvenir shops. Art installations abound!

Above: Italian Gallery

Above: inked cherub

Above: caged giant

Above: Hang tough, Mister!

Above: red lipstick

Above: A Red Guard?

Above: Emperor & Empress?

Above: one of the Cafes

Above: concrete car

We had lunch at the Timezone 8 Bookstore & Cafe, as recommended by Frommer's (the only book I brought for this trip)...

Above: My pink passport holder with "Beijing Day by Day"

J had the Art Book Lover's Burger with salad and fries. It was very good.

I had Chicken Satay with Salad and Green Tea Smoothie. Yummy!

This is one of our dream business ventures, a bookstore cum cafe... (Sarap mangarap!).

798 Art Zone: Definitely a must-see!

Address: 798 Art Zone, Dashanzi Art District, JiuXianQiao Road

Commute: Get off the Dongzhimen Subway Station, proceed to the Public Transport Hub, take Bus No. 401.

Bus fare is only RMB1 each (Php6 each). Bus Ride is approximately 30 minutes, with traffic.

BEST OF BEIJING - 7

BEST MEMORY FROM THE OLYMPIC VILLAGE

It was raining too hard and we got to the Village too late (closing time na). We weren’t able to explore the area, giving us another reason to go back -- someday soon.

The Bird's Nest

Beijing's National Stadium

(We were taking photos from the tents because of the heavy downpour.)

The Water Cube

Beijing's National Aquatic Center

Thanks to J's monopad, we can take 2-shots ourselves. =)

BEST OF BEIJING - 6

BEST MEMORIES FROM THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA

We took the wrong bus going to Badaling! As shared from my Ano'ng Trip Mo blog entry, getting lost is part of the fun when designing our own itinerary.

So here's what happened: As per our web research, we’ll have to go down at the Deshengmen subway station and take Bus No. 919 to Badaling.

But apparently, buses with the No. 919 do not share the same route. You still have to check their destination by asking the driver / ticket lady or reading the sign (in Chinese and English) on the bus / bus stop. We didn’t do either, our bad! (The wrong bus was off to Nan Kou!)

Good thing the Bus Ticket Lady was kind enough to suggest that they’ll just drop us off at a stop near Badaling, to catch the correct Bus No. 919. She even wrote down directions in Chinese – something we’re supposed to hand the driver.

So on a lonely bus stop, somewhere in the mountains to The Great Wall, we finally got into the correct Bus No. 919.

Confession: The view of The Great Wall from the bus got me teary-eyed. I was overwhelmed by excitement and awe! Dun pa lang, alam ko na, the trip (and all the aberya that came with it) was worth it.

The forecast was correct: it'd be rainy that Monday morning, Sept 20.

Bulol on a Watch Tower at Badaling, The Great Wall of China

We didn't mind the rains.

Who would complain with this amazing view?!

Wet weather at The Wall.

We're here! We're actually here! The rain didn't dampen our spirits.

I’ll never get tired of saying this – if a couple can lovingly hold hands and laugh while being lost during a rainy day, in a foreign land, they must really be meant to journey through life together.

*sniff*sniff*

We made it up to only six towers. It was too slippery. Maybe we could have climbed higher if it were sunny. As a mountaineer, J wishes to scale all (or at least most) of The Wall's sections. So we made a pact to go back -- one day soon.

Some practical info:

Total travel time from the city to The Great Wall is approximately two hours via bus. (Should have been less if we took the correct bus, hehe.) Bus fare: We paid RMB6 (Php36) each for the Wrong Bus. Plus another RMB8 (Php48) each for the Right Bus. Total fare: RMB28 or Php168.

Badaling Entrance Fee: RMB45 (PHP265.5) each