Luckily, September is the nicest time to visit Beijing because it is Autumn by then! Not too hot, and not too cold.
We left in the evening of September 11 from Manila. It is a 5-hour flight so we arrived at 12:30 am September 12.
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| Beijing Airport |
My travel buddy's cousin stays in Chaoyang, so we were lucky enough to stay there for free. I cancelled my hotel reservation (which I booked via hostelworld.com) for convenience - in the morning, in order to save time, we should all leave from one place. So there, we all stayed in Li shui Garden, Liu Litun, Chaoyang.
In the morning of September 12, we had heavy breakfast at Jamaica Blue Coffee shop along yaojiayuan road. Then we set off going to Summer Palace.
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| Jamaica Blue Cafe, Chaoyang, Beijing |
Now please forgive me as this was my first travel abroad. I do not have much details on how to get to places. We mostly hired cabs to bring us to a place then fetch us at a set time. We mostly split the bill of 100-200 RMB for the taxi. Hiring a cab was a bit tricky since we do not know how to pronounce the places well. Our host would ask someone to write down the place in Chinese characters, then give this paper to the cab driver. For the most part of our trip, that was the way we traveled around.
Okay so no matter what, don't ever miss the Summer Palace (Entrance Fee: 30 RMB + 10RMB for the Tower of Buddhist Incense). This is a place that just amplifies the goodness of Autumn! It's a huge park so you need a whole day for a leisurely trip.
Every trip to Beijing is not complete without visiting the Great Wall of China, so here we go! Get ready when you visit. Autmun might be the best time but up at the Great Wall, it was really hot. You are right so close to the sun with no shade to run for cover.
What i did not know, because I did not make any research, is that a cable car (60 RMB) brings you up to the Great Wall, so cool!
After the cable car ride, you pay another 45RMB to enter the Great Wall. This is where history begins! We did tekken jump shots!
We still had time for the afternoon. So after a really nice chinese lunch by our host, we headed to Olympic village to see the bird's nest and the water cube. Guys, the bird's nest is one awesome structure! We spent 3 hours taking photos in front of it!
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| The Bird's Nest |
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| The Water Cube |
After dinner, we went to The Village at Sanlitun. This is also the place where you find the Apple store.
We already had dinner, but we cannot get enough of the chicken in McDonald's Beijing! The chicken wings have a different taste, not your ordinary fried chicken wings. They have the oriental flavor! See the chicken on the right as the left one would be the nuggets:
Day 3: Tian'anmen Square and Forbidden City
As usual, breakfast at Jamaica Blue. I know i know we should be appreciating Chinese food, but Jamaica Blue is such an adorable place. Not to mention, our host treats us there, so it is free breakfast, yay!
On our way to Tian'anmen, we passed by the Beijing Opera
We proceeded to Tian'anmen Square. I actually did not stay long because it was hot. I think the square is much nicer at night time.
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| Tian'anmen Square |
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| Forbidden City |
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| Forbidden City |
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| Sanlitun Clothing Market |
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| She's a very nice Chinese girl who sold us many items on prices we asked for =) She is also awed by huge dark eyes =) You may buy souvenirs at Sanlitun Yashow Clothing Market |
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| The Village |
So after shopping, it was time for dinner before we leave... It was the birthday of one of my travel buddies so we had some cake and a wonderful dinner at our host's lovely home while watching Angelina Jolie's movie "Salt".
Beijing is totally a nice experience. Like a nice first trip abroad. Surely, nothing beats the tekken shots! :)
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