My trip to Beijing
| Labels: China | Posted On Friday, July 10, 2009 at 10:48 AM
This was my first time on mainland China, spending almost 10 days in the big city of Beijing.
Beijing is definitely a place to visit for anyone going to China. There are some great attractions and really historical places to see. Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City, Temple of Heave among many others.
The highlight for me was the Great Wall. Such an amazing feat of engineering for that time. The Wall was built, rebuilt and maintained between 5th and 16th century. Imagine that!
The Great Wall stretches approximately 6,400 km. We visited the Badaling section of the Wall, which is 80km from Beijing.
I also dropped by the Olympic Green to see the National Stadium (or more commonly known as the Bird's Nest). Although I did pay to go in to see the inside of the Stadium, but it wasn't worth the money. There was construction going on for the summer concert. I think the beauty of the place lies outside, with the view of the structure of the Stadium and the other buildings, like the National Aquatic Center (or Water Cube).
I was told that Water Cube was open to public from Thursdays to Sunday. Apparently, you need to pass a test before they will let you into the pool. The test involves a 200m swimming and 30secs of water treading. I would have liked to have done this, but my timing was wrong. It was closed when I had the chance to visit the place.
I also had a great time at the Beijing Acrobatics Show. The acrobatic acts were top-notch. You just can't imagine how the human body can be so flexible.
The best act was these 2 guys running inside 2 cylindrical wheels that see-saws round and round. Exactly like the Cirque du Soleil's Wheel of Death (see video below). Man, my palms were sweating when they start running on the outside of the wheels, juggling, blindfolded. They were always on the verge of losing their balance but they always manage to stay on. Simply breath-taking!
A place that I didn't like was the Silk Street Market. This is where you can find all sorts of things and you're expected to bargain with the sellers.
They really jack up the prices! They were selling "souvenir" tee-shirts for 150RMB each. After much bargaining and stress, I managed to bring the price down to 55RMB. Later I found the same set of tee-shirts at a souvenir shop at the main Beijing shopping belt going for 19RMB! If you're like me and you can't take the stress of heavy bargaining, avoid the place! It is for the good of your sanity!
Another thing to note about moving around in Beijing is to pay attention when you cross the road. Cars just don't obey traffic lights! But, the converse is true also, people cross the road without looking. It's a white knuckle experience just to see people cross a 4 line junction! Like our tour guide said, traffic lights are just decoration in Beijing.
Anyway, Beijing is a great place to visit! Best if you have chinese speaking folks with you, or you'll really be taken for a ride.
Beijing is definitely a place to visit for anyone going to China. There are some great attractions and really historical places to see. Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City, Temple of Heave among many others.
The highlight for me was the Great Wall. Such an amazing feat of engineering for that time. The Wall was built, rebuilt and maintained between 5th and 16th century. Imagine that!
The Great Wall stretches approximately 6,400 km. We visited the Badaling section of the Wall, which is 80km from Beijing.
I also dropped by the Olympic Green to see the National Stadium (or more commonly known as the Bird's Nest). Although I did pay to go in to see the inside of the Stadium, but it wasn't worth the money. There was construction going on for the summer concert. I think the beauty of the place lies outside, with the view of the structure of the Stadium and the other buildings, like the National Aquatic Center (or Water Cube).
I was told that Water Cube was open to public from Thursdays to Sunday. Apparently, you need to pass a test before they will let you into the pool. The test involves a 200m swimming and 30secs of water treading. I would have liked to have done this, but my timing was wrong. It was closed when I had the chance to visit the place.
I also had a great time at the Beijing Acrobatics Show. The acrobatic acts were top-notch. You just can't imagine how the human body can be so flexible.
The best act was these 2 guys running inside 2 cylindrical wheels that see-saws round and round. Exactly like the Cirque du Soleil's Wheel of Death (see video below). Man, my palms were sweating when they start running on the outside of the wheels, juggling, blindfolded. They were always on the verge of losing their balance but they always manage to stay on. Simply breath-taking!
A place that I didn't like was the Silk Street Market. This is where you can find all sorts of things and you're expected to bargain with the sellers.
They really jack up the prices! They were selling "souvenir" tee-shirts for 150RMB each. After much bargaining and stress, I managed to bring the price down to 55RMB. Later I found the same set of tee-shirts at a souvenir shop at the main Beijing shopping belt going for 19RMB! If you're like me and you can't take the stress of heavy bargaining, avoid the place! It is for the good of your sanity!
Another thing to note about moving around in Beijing is to pay attention when you cross the road. Cars just don't obey traffic lights! But, the converse is true also, people cross the road without looking. It's a white knuckle experience just to see people cross a 4 line junction! Like our tour guide said, traffic lights are just decoration in Beijing.
Anyway, Beijing is a great place to visit! Best if you have chinese speaking folks with you, or you'll really be taken for a ride.