Beijing People & Culture

You gotta see the Forbidden City and venture out to see the Great Wall. It might be better now, but when I was there 5 years ago nobody spoke any English and everyone wanted to take pictures of us cause we looked so different. It can be a bit off putting at the start but you find out that the locals are really friendly. I recoomend finding an English speaking local tour guide and get them to introduce you to people. After that it's great!

If you are a light-haired westerner, do not be surprised if Chinese locals come up asking to have a photo taken with you! I am blonde and was asked to pose with families, children, infants, and individuals quite often. I found that people wanted the most photos around the Tianamen Square area.

The Capital city of the Middle Kingdom boasts the most concentrated relics in the communist nation. In Beijing, the people are friendly and proud. It is very inexpensive to visit Beijing.

For shopping, avoid the Silk Market and Ya Show. I'd highly recommend Xidan instead.

Eat anywhere! (Except those yucky places that tour guides take large groups)
The Drum and Gong on Nanlousguxiang is one of my favorite eateries for inexpensive fusion of many Chinese provinces.
Hai Di Lao has the BEST hot pot service in town.

Take the subway. It's cheaper than the taxi an FASTER.

If on a budget, stay in the Hutongs at Downtown Backpackers. It's clean, convenient and safe. The service is excellent and many tours are offered from there.

If you want to stay in a nice Chinese hotel near the forbidden city i can recommend the Beijing Fu You Jie Hotel.
From RMB160 for a double room..
Summer Palace was the most impressive i have been and i was impressed by the friendliness of the Chinese people!

The silk Market in Beijing is the best place to go shopping (better than Silk Street) because it is much much bigger and, of course, has lots of beautiful and cheap pearls. You must be firm while bargaining and know what each of the objects you want to buy should be worth before you og in. The shop people who all speak english perfectly will tell you their goods are worth thousands of yen buut do not pay much more than one hundred for any thing. Although they are banned from touching you the shop keepers no every trick in the book and are desperate to make a sale. If you walk away they will grab you back. Do not ask the price of anything if you don't want to buy it. The fake walk away if a price is too high trick should usually work as well.

When shopping at the markets (and you must shop at the markets) remember bargaining is necessary. A good rule of thumb is to kindly force the vendor to make the first offer, and then counter with 10% of the figure. Work your way up from there - try not to pay more than 20% of the original offer. The best price is always the one that is fair to both the vendor and you.
Also, make a point of visiting old Beijing (hutong). It is the only place still existing where you can get a sense of real Beijing life and culture.

The world's most explosively growing city. Try to get in touch with the locals to find the good restaurants. Driving is a challenge and not without risks. The great Chinese cultural siteseeing places are worthwile visiting

absolutely wonderful city.well worth the effort.so much culture and history in one city, 7 days was not long enough

Lots of fun. Great culture and food for cheap. Hang on to your wallets though, although unlikely, it's safer to have your wallet in your front pocket than your back pocket. Check out San Li Tun Nan Lu. It's an area with great night life and restaurants. One of the restaurants is called Bellagio and there's great shaved ice desserts. It's also open till 3 or 4am. Also the main gay club there is across the street from Bellagio. It's called Destination.

In beijing, close to the business district: 798 Space is a new rising, avant-garde and trendy space that hosts high-level cultural, artistic and commercial activities.
http://www.798space.com/index_en.asp

Nothing against Taxi in china, they are honnest as long as you heard the music from the meter (never seen any attempt on cheating about that). Two differents prices according to the car, it's written on sticker easily visible from outside.

Everyone knows you need to see the Great Wall while in Beijing. Not all parts of the wall are the same. I like SiMaTai the best. The wall is more rugged there. If you are a bit more athletic, have your taxi drop you off at JinShanLing and walk along the wall 10km to SiMaTai. It takes about 4 hours hiking along many steep and unreconstructed parts of the wall. MuTianYu is a bit closer and the trees grow right up to the wall. It has a completely different feel. You do not have to be part of a formal tour to go to the wall and you do not need a guide. The taxi will take you and wiat for you at the entrance to the wall. Your hotel will be happy to arrange it for you. All you have to do is buy a ticket and run the gauntlet of souvenier vendors.

I like to bike bicycle I like the Great Wall I like the Olimpic Stadium I don't like the food.

The restaurant that i am went to was in Wangfujing. Make sure your get there before 2030 though as I believe that this was the last time that they would allow customers going in! I had duck (of course!) which was carved at my table, and battered fish in sweet and sour sauce. I would definitely recommend to visit here. It is supposed to serve the best duck in Beijing City. I would say it is more expensive here than eating in a 'normal' restaurant in Beijing, but the prices were match with what you get it here!

The great wall is of course one of the 8 wonders of the world and of all of them that I've have had the pleasure to see this is by far the most intriguing. It has the most amazing view. Although, you better wear your hiking shoes, because being as old as it is, it doesn't exactly have stairs, but more like random broken pedastole things you have to climb. It goes on for miles and it's a little challenging. So not really something you would want to take your grandma or 4 year old nephew to...heh...

Bike is essential! Even if you are there for one day, you should rent one. Try to find rent-a-bike place without any taxi-driver help - you will pay much less.

Always carry a card with the name of your destination and name of your hotel written in Chinese to show taxi drivers. Almost none of them will speak English.

You gotta see the Forbidden City and venture out to see the Great Wall. It might be better now, but when I was there 5 years ago nobody spoke any English and everyone wanted to take pictures of us cause we looked so different. It can be a bit off putting at the start but you find out that the locals are really friendly. I recoomend finding an English speaking local tour guide and get them to introduce you to people. After that it's great!

Always barter, unless in a proper shop. A great way to get the price you want is to show them the money you want to pay. Money talks

Place must go-- The Great Wall (长城) The Forbidden City ( 紫禁城) Tian'anmen Square (天安门广场）The Palace Museum (故宫）Summer Palace (颐和园）Temple Of Heaven (天坛公园）The Ming Tombs (明13陵）Lamasery Of Harmony of Peace (雍和宫）Big Bell Temple (大钟寺）Gardens (北京园林）

If you are a light-haired westerner, do not be surprised if Chinese locals come up asking to have a photo taken with you! I am blonde and was asked to pose with families, children, infants, and individuals quite often. I found that people wanted the most photos around the Tianamen Square area.

This tips is for any place in China: Student ticket prices...

Entry fees into any attraction in China are going up astronomically and are not controlled by the government, thus making it impossible for the average local, or budget traveler, to afford seeing China. If you have any ID (preferably an old student ID, but a driver's license will work), many times you can get the cheaper ticket price by saying "xuesheng piao". Some places require that the ID be a Chinese student or local student ID, but most do not. Most ticket sellers cannot read/speak other languages and look at the card out of curiosity. If you go to a museum (especially in places like Shanghai, Macau, etc.), make sure to use only a student ID since most ticket sellers can read/speak English at these places in Eastern China. The further west one goes, the easier it is to use this trick.