watching you, watching me: Photography

So SJ and I visited China for the first time in our lives earlier this summer. Instead of boring you with lots of history and things about landmarks that you can easily google, here's a short traveller's guide to Beijing, which is meant to be useful to those who intend to visit Beijing in future! In between the photos are travel tips that you may/may not find in travel guides. Hopefully this makes it more fun to read. Enjoy (:

Background

Dates: 30 May to 8 June 2010
Duration: 10 days
Season: Summer
Weather forecast: Sunny with light showers

General Advice

Wear good shoes, but even if you don't, you can easily purchase fake crocs for 2元
Travel in pairs - bring out one day pack to share between 2 people and you get to experience the city without having to lug around water bottles and barang barang for at least part of the day!
In summer, walking around in berms and tshirt is great. Leave your jeans at home :p
Bring a laptop - there is internet available via LAN in all the hotels we stayed in, and wireless in most major malls. Having a laptop was extremely useful in finding out last minute things, or making restaurant bookings, in addition to backing up photographs along the way (:
The air in Beijing is generally of poor quality, given that cigarette smoking is the national pasttime. If you have a sensitive respiratory tract, bring sufficient medicines (lozenges, antihistamines, cough medicines etc) for a more enjoyable trip.

Accomodation

"For every hotel that is rated X number of stars, you should always minus at least 1 star..."

The first hotel we stayed in was Redwall Hotel (rated 4 stars), at which we got a free upgrade to some sort of a superior deluxe room or something. Redwall was superb for its location, being walking distance from the Forbidden city itself and many other attractions, and right beside a food street that had cheap and very local breakfast fare. A downside was that it was not exactly walking distance from any subway station. Save for some remnant smokey smell in the room that we got rid off after the first day, I thought Redwall was really value for money.

The second place we stayed at in Shanhaiguan was called Gloria Holiday Villas, which is a terrible place to stay at. It was run down, dubious and the staff were not very helpful. The phone was spoilt as well. -_- So...no photos there.

We decided to treat ourselves better for the final 2 days of the trip, and booked places at the Grand Metropark Hotel (Yuantong), rated to be a 5 star hotel. It was pretty nice, though further out of the city centre as compared to Redwall. The concierge was great, though that same smokey hotel smell lingered so we aired the room on the first day again. :p Notably, there is free internet everywhere in Beijing, though you inevitably encounter the Great Firewall of China whenever you log on.

#1 Redwall Hotel

#2 Grand Metropark Yuantong

Touristy Stuff

"Let a hundred flowers bloom." Mao Zedong

I think we did all the possible touristy things that anyone can do in Beijing. They are all so touristy you can just google them and find out about them yourself. Attractions are generally cheap, some of them with student discounts so bring your card along (though often they only accept students in Chinese universities). Lots of walking to be done, so bring good shoes and water. (: It is really quite amazing though, how Beijing has got architectural achievements sitting right beside very old oriental heritage sites, making the contrast all the more stark!

The worst attraction we visited was the Lama Temple, which was engulfed in a cloud of incense smoke. If you don't intend to go there and pray, it would be a good idea to give it a miss. I think my lungs aged by about 10 years after a 30minute walk inside. If you're asthmatic, wear an N95 mask.

#3 National Theatre AKA Bird Egg 鸟蛋 (I am just kidding)

#4

#5

#6 Outside Gate of the Heavenly Peace where the big Mao face is
Travel Tip: It's free to walk through! Though some guide books say you need to pay 10 元

#7 The Forbidden City

#8 Forbidden City

#9
#10 Spot the tourist.

#11

#12

#13 Inside Lama Temple - when in temple, take photo with a row of monks!

#14 Devotees
Travel Tip: Wear a mask if you're asthmatic/have COPD.

#15 Stairway to the Drum and Bell Tower (super high zomg...ok it doesn't look that high here)

#16 Drums (Fake and new looking)

#17 Drum (Authentic and really kiam chye)

#18 En Route to the Mutianyu Great Wall - Up the ski lift, down the toboggan
Travel Tip: Take bus 936 from Donzhimen and it'll cost you less than 15 元 travelling there and back! The journey itself is about 2.5 hours each way.

#19 The great wall! Best attraction! 不到长城非好汉

#20

#21 When SJ got bored of take touristy photos at touristy places...

#22

#23 Epic photo.

#24

#25 Travel Tip: Only 1 of the watch towers allows you to climb up. It's near the end closer to the ski lifts so look out for it!

#26 Temple of Heaven

#27 At Qinghuangdao's 老龙头, where the great wall meets the Bohai Sea. Supposed to look like a dragon's head.
Travel Tip: If you intend to visit Qinghuangdao, just spend 1 day there. It's a small town with nothing much to do and where people weigh fruits using the balance stick. O_O

#28

#29

#30

#31

#32 Within the Great Wall Fortress

#33 The year 1986, when this brick was made.

#34 天下第一关, the first fortress of the Great Wall with strategic military significance
#35 I ♥ the 长城

#36

#36 The Bird's Nest. It is NOT translated as 鸟窝. Go find out what it is yourself.
Travel Tip: The Bird's Nest and Water Cube light up every evening, but it is only after sunset which does not occur at a fixed time. In summer it happens at about 7:30pm to about 8:00pm.

#37 The Summer palace.
Travel Tip: When visiting the Summer Palace, buy the half priced ticket! The other entrance fees are quite useless and you'll probably be so shagged to walk through all of them. )

#38

#39
#40 When in China, find the bamboo. Bamboo is awesome.

#41
#42 A scenic lake in 北京大学. Speaking of 北大, at the back of some classrooms is this huge red and yellow banner (like the Hwa Chong type) that says 自强不息! 努力奋斗! and another 8 words that I can't remember now. So communist scholarly!
Travel Tip: Outside the university itself, there may be people selling really cheap English books eg. The Lost Symbol for 15 元. They are probably pirated books with some small printing errors, but if you don't mind that then good for you.

Food, glorious food

"If you want to know the taste of a pear, you must change the pear by eating it yourself. If you want to know the theory and methods of revolution, you must take part in revolution. All genuine knowledge originates in direct experience." Mao Zedong

Food, food, food. When you travel with SJ, that has to be the highlight of the trip. Lots of research went into finding the best peking duck in Beijing, the most value for money, the juciest, leanest and yummiest. We ate so much roast duck until...actually we could still eat summore la. :p Restaurant food in Beijing is priced like our zichar dinners here, so eating is mostly without much reservation, at least on the days we felt like we wern't eating ourselves broke (: We went to this place called Sunshine Kitchen which was so good we went back again for more.

#43 Food street along Wangfujing

#44 Restaurants serve real tea leaves, and not tea flakes like they do at Crystal Jade here. -_-
Travel Tip: Some restaurants serve by pot and others by glass. It usually is a bit more expensive if they serve by glass so check it out before your order.

#45 Tofu, which was rather dubious

#46 This began our quest to find the best roast duck in Beijing. First up - Jingzun Roast Duck @ 68 元 for an entire duck. The verdict? The wrap was a bit too thick/stiff and the duck skin was not crispy enough. The duck meat itself was soft, not too fat and in good portions. (:
Travel Tip: The staff will ask you if you want to use the duck bones to make duck soup with vegetables for 10 元. Don't bother, it is not that great, unless you're in dire need of fibre.

#47 Breakfast in a local coffeeshop equivalent.

#48 炸酱面, 5 元
Travel Tip: Beijingers eat in a lot bigger portions than Singaporeans. When in doubt, order a small portion.

#49

#50 SJ and the best youtiaos in the world. 0.50 元

#51 Gigantic ice kachang equivalent, without yucky gula melaka or colouring. yay! Think it was pretty expensive like 30 元

#52 Tea in a tea house. The green tea tasted a bit like grass.
Travel Tip: If you would like a tea house experience, visit Maliandao, which is the tea street where the whole salers have their stores. If you want to walk into any random tea shop, make sure there is a non-smoking section or you might die.

#53 小龙包. Beijingers eat this for breakfast. 1 龙 per person. that is crazy! Anyway, 1 龙 costs only like 4.5 元.

#54 Peking Duck candidate 2! At some restaurant in Oriental Plaza, Wangfujing. Cut before your very eyes by the table side. It was on offer, so about 65 元 thereabout for 1 duck.

#55 The wrap was much nicer than the first one we tried, and the condiments included beetroot, which was something different. The duck was fatty! Skin still not cripsy but again portions were big.

#56 In a real time tea house, where we sat down to try the various teas and chatted with the 老板 for over an hour.

#57 We settled for a toastbox breakfast one morning. :p

#58 The final and most reputed peking duck candidate - DaDong Restaurant, reputedly the best peking duck in Beijing. It came with a nice set of condiments which included sugar (yummy!), garlic and some pickled gingers. Price - 99 元 for half a duck

#59 Again, cut before your very eyes. The skin is really awesome. Check it out!

#61 Finally! Cripsy skin, tender meat, very lean and went well with freshly steamed wrap. SJ complained that the duck was too lean though.

#61 Soup? Yummy yummy soup.

#62

#63 Tofu with brocolli (:

#64 Complimentary dessert - rice dessert with sugar and cherries.

City Sights
"There is in fact no such thing as art for art's sake, art that stands above classes, art that is detached from or independent of politics. Proletarian literature and art are part of the whole proletarian revolutionary cause." Mao Zedong

#65 Random 象棋 print on the subway floor (:

#66 We were so tired from walking around we just sat by the fountain one evening to wait for dinner. Love the ball seats that were surprisingly very comfy (:

#67 Communist looking signs

#68 Riding on a real time Chinese tuktuk! 1 元 per ride.

#69 A pavillion in a park.

#70 Beijing Subway
Travel Tip: Buy an IC card from the ticketing counter for taking public transport in Beijing. It lets you ride a bus for 0.40 元 per ride, but the subway rides are at the usual price of 2 元 per ride. For cabs, if they ask for a price before you board the cab, leave immediately. They are trying to fleece you. Offical cabs charge by the meter - 10元 for the first 3km with a 2元 increment for each subsequent km.

#71 Beijing by night

People in China

"The people, and the people alone, are the motive force in the making of world history. " Mao Zedong

Before I left for China, people warned me that the Chinese in China were notoriously rude, brash and very unfriendly. We encountered some of that pushing and speaking in lousy voices on some days, but also met with very helpful people in Beijing. On the first day, some taxi driver tried to fleece us, but another local saved us and taught us how to take the cab and get charged by the meter. Saved our asses for the rest of the trip!

Also, the Beijingers were very impressed with our spoken mandarin! I kid you not. Despite the occasional boo-boo (SJ wanted to say that the Great Wall was very run down and ended up saying 那里的长城很烂!), we managed to have decent conversations with some locals, and found some of them really nice! Of note would have to be SJ's tailors at D&J Tailoring, at which he tailored a suit and shirts for very affordable prices.

#72 June and Ding, SJ's tailors!
Travel tip: If you intend to tailor clothes in China, source them out and read reviews before going. This will give you a better idea of how much they should cost and minimize your risk of getting fleeced.

#73 June measuring SJ's butt...or lack of :p

#74 Fabrics

#75 Suit fitting

#76 Hotel Sales Manager who met us and treated us to coffee because SJ complained about something pricing error earlier on haha

#77 This photo illustrates a phenomenon that is seen all over Beijing in Chinese boys. See if you can spot it. It is really quite ingenious.

#78 Single eyelid, slitty eyed Chinese boys! We saw so many little boys, and very few little girls, and figured they were either aborted or had tragic fates.