Weekend in Beijing

On Friday, Rachel, Melissa and I took Spring Airlines at 10pm to Beijing. This was my first time with this airline and I guess it's a typical budget airline but much better than the standard in Europe. The flight was around 2.5 hours, during which it was something different to experience the air hostess leading exercise routines in the aisle.

We arrived in Beijing around 12.30am and took a taxi to the Ibis hotel. The man at the desk saw 3 adults and told us we would have to pay an extra 40RMB a night because the family room was for 2 adults and 1 child. I really had never heard of such a thing!

The Ibis is very standard, no fuss hotel. The bathroom is more like a porta-loo thing but the shower is pretty powerful. Toiletries are included, slippers, towels. However, rooms are small and don't have cupboard or tables. There is a tv and heating/air con. Breakfast buffet costs 30RMB but don't expect much western food.

We were picked up at the hotel and driven to the ski resort which was about an hour away from the hotel. The roads seemed very small and dangerous but somehow we made it in one piece. It was so cold! In total we paid 500RMB which included a deposit, ski boots and ski rentals, locker, entrance free.

When arriving in the ski resort we were greeted by a long line of ski instructors who came to help us with the procedure of picking skis etc. When we finally got ready and headed outside I felt so nervous! It suddenly became very real that I would actually have to ski and not just play in the snow. With all the instructors watching and nobody giving any tips or explanations, the next thing I knew I was falling down the slope and landing on my back! It happened so fast I was totally dazed. After being helped up and my hat handed back to me I tried once again and I fell over. I was so scared and even 3 instructors offered a hand to help me up I was tempted to just give up and go inside and wait. But one of the instructors said he would give me lessons for 200RMB so after A LOT of persuasion, I finally agreed.

The instructor was very nice and I got to practice my Chinese with him. Listening to instructions in Chinese was a challenge though. So he taught me where to place the ski poles, how to take big steps, how to stop, how to fall down. I practiced stopping a lot but I end up going at such a speed my instructor had to catch me! The hour went by fast and I managed 3 times up the ski slope.

We then went to have lunch in the Greenhouse restaurant which felt more like a jungle. Food was reasonably priced and we had our own room. It seemed each room was themed. We then head back to the van and were driven back to the hotel where we showered and got ready for a duck dinner!

We met Rachel's friend and we spent a long time trying to get a taxi. It was freezing cold outside in the night and unfortunately the metro by our hotel wasn't working this day. With no luck we went to the Novotel and managed to get a taxi. Beijing taxi's are really different and hard to see in the night. Shanghai taxi's have green signs on the roof you can easily see from a distance but there isn't any in Beijing, only a small red light under the driver's mirror.

The restaurant was called Da Dong and most famous for Beijing duck. It was a huge restaurant and even the front entrance if you were waiting for a table you could have tea and even oysters! The duck was really good and presentation of food was amazing. Apart from having pancakes, there was another kind of bread (like pita) which were toasted and could be opened to fit the duck in. It was something different but I'd stick with pancakes! Also like many restaurants the pancakes got cold quick, unlike in Quanjuede where they have a special plate that keeps the pancakes moist and hot.

After dinner we had to walk a long way to an open metro station to go to the Olympic area. Unfortunately we missed the last train and had to take a fake taxi to the place. There seem to be many of these and he hides his red light. There was also one with a taxi sign above and he removes it when he has a passenger.

The Olympic roads were closed as it was so late and the buildings didn't have lights on which was a shame. We then took a taxi back to the hotel and finally took a rest.

Sunday

We had breakfast again in the hotel and today the metro was working so we went to the Temple of Heaven. We were able to use a student card to get a discount. The park surrounding the temple was full of people all busy with different things. Some people singing, dancing, playing cards, dominos, knitting. The temple in the middle you couldn't go inside but you could peek inside. There is a museum which gives the process for sacrifice. There are also a few other temples around.

Afterwards we headed to the Summer Palace where you are constantly harassed by people trying to sell cheap tickets. It was very frustrating as they actually kept following you. We stopped in McDonalds for a quick lunch before we went to the palace. Again we could use the student card for a discount. The palace is huge and we spent a few hours here. The lake had frozen over and many people were climbing onto it. I felt too scared but my friends did it so I waited for them.

Then we headed back to where the hotel is but as we were early we stopped at the shopping centre and found a chocolate and coffee place which is a Korean brand called De Chocolate. It was really tasty! Nice chocolate is so hard to come by in China. We went to the hotel and picked up our luggage and took a taxi to the airport. This time we flew with Shanghai Airlines which was much nicer and they even gave us some food during the flight.

The weekend was tiring but really amazing to experience. I'm not sure I'd go back to Beijing in the winter though! Now I'm scared about going to Harbin in January!

Quanjude, famous Beijing roast duck

I met up with Jorge and Joseph and we went to Dongchang Lu which is over in Pudong to go to the cinema to watch Batman, The Dark Knight Rises. When we arrived we were told we would have to wait 4 hours for the next showing which cost 120RMB or we could wait 30 minutes and pay 140RMB for a VIP showing. Since we had dinner plans to go to Quanjude we decided to go for VIP.

It was a small private screen with about 10 other people. The seats fully reclined and were really comfy!

I saw the movie in England already but I really enjoyed it and wanted to see it again. It's also interesting to watch with Chinese subtitles.

Afterwards we walked to the ferry and saw the Shanghai Tower getting windows put in. I have been seeing it for the past year and it's progressing really fast and expected to be completed in 2014.

We then took the bus to Shanghai Railway Station where Quanjude is located.

The roast duck is really lovely, much better than any roast duck I had before and I highly recommend it! The service was pretty good too compared to another duck restaurant I'd been to (Duck King). The duck gets carved at the table and they serve the chest meat which is apparently very important and recommend it is dipped in sugar and garlic. I actually didn't like it much as it is quite fatty but the manager stood over us to see our reaction at eating it so we had to enjoy it!

The rest of the duck on the bones they ask how you would like it served and we had ours put into soup. The duck meat we ate with pancakes and we also ordered a few other dishes. In total for 3 people it came to around 300RMB.

After dinner we headed to The Bund as it was such a beautiful clear night it was perfect for some photos. We also managed to stop by and see the World's biggest sofa...

Beijing

At 8pm on the 28th I met with Hannah at Shanghai Railway Station and we took the overnight sleeper train to Beijing.

As we boarded the train we were surprised to find 3 people already in our cabin and they explained they wanted one of us to switch with them so three could be in the same room! I told them we were together and not wanting to split up so two of them eventually left. It was rather frustrating to find they'd opened and used things like slippers left in the room for us to use.

The cabin fits 4 people, two in the top bunk and two in the bottom. There is a table in the middle with a kettle for boiling water. At the foot of each bed is a tv which plays 4 different channels. I was excited to see Inception was showing only to find it dubbed annoyingly in Chinese. Bedding is supplied as well as slippers and there are various plug sockets for charging devices. It was a little strange to be travelling sideways as it were, and also sharing a room with strangers of which the man was snoring really loudly throughout the journey....

Culture here is very different and it seems entirely normal to wander carriages in your pajamas and slippers and brush your teeth next to a stranger who is spitting up in the sink next to you. The journey time was about 11hours and 30 mins. Arriving in Beijing Railway Station it was very chaotic and we got away as fast as possible from the crowds.

Google maps in China are entirely inaccurate and showed the hotel as being in a completely different location! We walked a long way and I feel I asked about 10 different people for directions. Beijing people I find are friendlier than in Chengdu. Eventually when we found the hotel I made the stupid mistake of booking for yesterday! Luckily it wasn't very busy and we were able to get a room at the same rate. For 300RMB for two of us it wasn't too bad for a 2 star hotel and within walking distance to the Forbidden City.

After dropping off our bags we walked back to Beijing Railway Station to take the metro to Jishuitan Station. From there we walked to Deshengmen Arrow Tower to take the bus to Badaling gate of the Great Wall. By now it was already 11.30am and so many people. We paid 12RMB to take the bus which took just over 1 hour.

Entry to the Great Wall was 45RMB and was extremely crowded, I didn't walk much of it as it got rather steep and I feared my safety. At 2.30pm we started to leave and the queue for the bus back was so very long. We didn't board until 3pm and at this point we tried to use our ticket back but as it was a slightly different shade of blue many buses wouldn't let us on so we had to buy more tickets just to get back. The traffic was so bad we didn't arrive until 5pm.

Taking the metro we headed to Tiananmen Square and walked along until we got to a small paved area with lots of shops and cafes and a trolley car. We ended up eating in a Japanese restaurant before walking back along Tiananmen Square which had lots of lights on. Walking back to the hotel we stopped by Dairy Queen and had some good desserts ^^

The next day we got up super early and got to the Forbidden City by 8.30am which was when it opened and was so surprised just how busy it already was! We bought tickets and went in and was amazed at the size of this palace. We didn't have much time to detour and just stayed in one straight path. The garden was very beautiful and we got to see the golden throne. We then made a move to the Beijing South Railway station and the 5 hour journey back felt so much longer as there were so many stops.

I want to visit Beijing again for a bit longer as we were disappointed there wasn't a bus tour like there is in Shanghai. I'd recommend the sleeper train is a great way to travel, you get to your destination so very early and don't need to pay for a hotel.