Traveling in Beijing for 5 nights

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  hello007 on 08/02/2014 - 09:14

  Be more adventurous and jump on the high speed trains from Beijing to multiple destinations.

  Spoke to my friend in China the other day - he was riding a high speed train - about 300kmh - from Shanghai to Wuhan in six hours for about $50aud.

  Maybe it was an advance purchase fare.

  Here's some links on the high speed trains in China:
  http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&source=androi…

  Beijing to Tainjin for a short fast ride:
  http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&source=androi…

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  flywire on 08/02/2014 - 10:46

  Safety: This part of Asia is very safe. Travel light to reduce your chance of losing things.

  Food: Why would you travel and eat hotel food? Eat local food. Look for locations where it is turning over and not left lying around. People normally fall sick from the water so drink bottled water or beer and if you are absolutely careful then you will not fall sick. Don't be so paranoid though that you miss the experiences and do not enjoy your trip.

  Spending: Plenty of advice on this forum as to what cards to use etc. Carry as much AUD as you are comfortable with as it can be easily changed in banks.

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  hello007 on 08/02/2014 - 12:02

  Advice from my Chinese friend who studied university in Beijing.

  1. Make sure you both carry either an English-Chinese translation book.
     Or the free translation apps on iTunes or play store. (I once spent an hour trying
     to find someone to tell me where I can get bottled water because I had left
     my translation dictionary in my hotel) So take it with you everywhere and you can just point at words (if there's no English speaker) and you will be ok.

  2. Many young people in China - high school and university students now speak
     Good English and they will be very happy to practice their English with
     you and help.

  3. Safety: just relax and being normal, you will be fine. Any act in Chaser,s war on everything is strongly not recommended on your to-do list (although it is one of my favorite oz shows) . If you got any problem, ask someone who speaks English (lots of young people speak English). They will be happy to help. If it is a emergency, ask them to call 110.

  4. Hotel: if you just want somewhere clean and nice to stay instead of fancy swanky luxury 5 stars hotels, economic chain hotel is a nice choice for you. There are some main economic chain hotels in China and all of them got branches in Beijing. Such as 7 days inn, home inn, hanting, I'm sorry but I don't think they got English site. You can book your room online or on iPhone/android app if you can do Chinese. Or just call the hotel branch directly to book it. Some of the branches got family room, got two separate rooms, not very expensive ( depends on location of it). Please note: not every Chinese hotel is qualified to have foreigners, make sure to confirm that with them. Maybe you also need the hotel to give you a file for your visa (maybe you don't need the file depends on your visa type).

  5. Larger hotels generally have English speaking staff so feel free to call them.

  Here's some hotel links. These hotels are similar
  to the Hotel Formule 1 chain in Australia.

  Some have English language only websites. You can
  email or call them to enquire about bookings. Some of
  these are corporate head office contact details.

  Make friends with some Chinese students in your area. I'm sure they
  would be happy to help.

  http://english.ctrip.com/hotels/beijing-hanting-inns/hotels-…

  http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=203641&p=irol-ho…

  WWW.7daysinn.cn Investor Relations email: [email protected]

  Also try:

  WWW.hotelscomparison.com
  WWW.hostelbookers.com
  WWW.hostelbookers.com
  WWW.hotelscombined.com

  Search for Beijing subway on Google. See maps and find hotels
  near the city's excellent subway network. Easy to get anywhere.

  7, Food: Beijing roast duck in Quan Ju De is a must try. Dou Zhi, please note is a MUST NOT try. There is all sorts of fast food chain stores in Beijing. Pizza Hut, McDonald's, KFC, however, there are no Oporto and Hungry Jack's in Beijing.

  8. Visit the silk market in Beijing for great bargains. Take empty Suitcases
     you can easily fill them with lots of bargains.
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  obses2ion on 09/02/2014 - 10:53

  It was my first visit to China about 2 months ago. I can only advise on the hotel I stayed at, as it was definitely refreshing after spending days sardined with people on trains and facing language barriers.

  I booked the hotel based on TripAdvisor recommendations, and chose the Beijing Double Happiness Hotel (it's either ranked #1 or #2 as top rated hotels in Beijing). The reviews are 100% correct and it's a great base to explore the city (via metro, walking and tours). The day tours offered by the hotel are amazing too, we did one to the Great Wall and another to the Forbidden Palace.

  Main tourist spots: I absolutely despise tours, but I found them necessary for the Great Wall etc (it's quite far, but it is possible to do on your own). Other than that, getting around via metro is fine if you're familiar with how a metro system works (swapping trains, buying tickets etc - it sounds stupid, but it can be daunting in other countries). Beijing metro tickets are the cheapest I've seen anywhere and signs are in English.

  Can't really say much else, I only spent 4 days there and was pretty knackered after 3 weeks of mostly China so had a very chilled few days in Beijing.

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  Pumpkin_rrr on 15/02/2014 - 16:34

  We went to Beijing two years ago in January, minus 20 degree! I can write tons and tons if I want to….

  Safety: hubby is Oz and I am Chinese, no problem walking at 9PM at night in Beijing. In fact being a woman, I feel much safer there than Brisbane. I wont walk in Brisbane city just the two of us at that time of the night. I later found out that apparently there are "People Police" amongst the crowd, which could be a 80-year old lady! Bear in mind the punishment there is pretty scary and I believe the crime rate is not all that high.

  Hotel: we have Accor membership and stayed in Novotel; very close to subway. But we avoided it because it was just too packed. Lots of friendly stares to hubby and I think they like his green/blue eyes and ski coat :-)

  Food: we enjoyed those little restaurants in the little land (hutong). Never had any bad food. Of course that would depend on how much you know/accept Chinese food, taste-wise and stomach-wise. I normally bring/drink some Oz drinking water for the first few days. Went to JuanJiDe Peking Duck-too over-rated, paid too much. Not much fun if it just 2adults and 1child.

  Tourist spots: a lot of them require a lot of walking as they are MASSIVE: palace, museum, bookstore…
  Great wall - a few different spots, driving distance vary and yes, you do need to walk.
  Credit card - I use it extensively and did not have any problem at all. I dont like travellers cheque. So it's either cold hard cash or c/card.

  Other stuff- we love the acrobatic show.

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  lisss on 18/02/2014 - 18:14

  Safety: Being Australian is there anything I need to aware of while our stay in Beijing

  Be aware of the usual hazards eg pick pocketing in crowded places. Overall we felt very safe.

  Hotel: Medium range hotel is OK for 3 of us. Is it recommended to have food in hotel or have our own?

  We ate at numerous restaurants (both larger and smaller) around our hotel and were fine.

  Food: Any advise is appreciable. Particularly what to avoid for not falling sick?

  Just your general rules of thumb: make sure it's fresh, looks clean etc.

  Main tourist spots: In 5 days what to see in a relaxed way? Is Great wall a tiring tour?

  I would advise going to one of the further away Great wall spots (eg Mutianyu), which are a lot less crowded than the closest one (Badang). It is a tiring day with a lot of walking, but once you've ascended the wall you can go as far along it as you want. If you have older/immobile people in the group, you will probably need to go to Badang as it has the best access. We went to Mutianyu and it was fine for us, we are not fit or particularly adventurous.

  Spending: Should I use travelers card or use credit card? Is it safe to use Credit Card? Carrying some cash?

  We mostly withdrew money from atms and used cash. Also paid via credit cards at major shopping malls etc and had no problems. The usual rules apply - don't let them take the card out of your sight, check atms for skimming devices, cover your pincode etc.

  Have a great trip!

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  petersumpters on 03/03/2014 - 19:07

  Beijing is a pretty safe place, and you can enjoy a pleasant and secure time.

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  mrjames on 04/03/2014 - 10:20

  I was somewhat naive when I was in Beijing and fell for the tea scam. Basically I was wondering around Tiananmen Square and was approached by a Chinese guy asking if I spoke english, we basically spoke a bit and said he knew a nice bar and we should go get drinks. Long story short I ended up paying $50 for a beer and a cup of tea. I met up with another backpacker who go done $300 for a couple of cups of tea.

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  Smiley82 on 06/03/2014 - 17:35

  Download the 'Beijing on a budget' app - maps, translations, directions for taxi drivers - it had everything we needed for our trip.