Beijing Tourist Trap Tips by Lemonita

Chinese Minorities Park Amusement Parks Review

The Chinese Minorities Park is dedicated to the different minorities in China, it's supposed to be a cultural park where you see how (kind of construction/house) and where (geographically) each minority lives.

The Park is situated right next to the Olympic Center, south of the North Fourth Ring Road.

It's very expensive to go there, there are two parks and it's about 45 RMB to visit each one of them.

The first time I passed by, I thought that this park looked like some kind of Disney Park and I just went there out of curiosity and to accompany a friend. I thought that this is the kind of park that Chinese people really like.

Unique Suggestions: This is not the kind of park I like. I just have the impression everything is fake.
But if you go there, it would surely give you an idea of all the minorities' and where they live in China. Houses, nature and famous scenic spots are rebuild here...

Ming Tombs Ming Tombs Review

From what I read on travel guides, I didn't plan to go visit the Ming Tombs, situated in the North West of Beijing. I still went to accompany a friend who wanted to go.
It was like what I expected it to be : disapointing.

Ming Tombs (Shisan Ling) is the place where 13 of the 16 Qing Emperors are buried. It's not easy to get there by public transport.

The tombs are all spread out so you would save time if you hire a car. Discuss the price with the driver before getting on the car. If I remember it correctly, we paid around 40 RMB to visit the only 3 tombs (Zhao Ling, Ding Ling and Zhang Ling) that are open to the public and to get back to the bus station.

Furthermore, the entrance to each tomb is very high, around 30/40 RMB. We were lucky that it was half price because of SARS.

Unique Suggestions: Zhang Ling is one of the biggest tomb and this is where we can go underground to see the the actual tomb of the Emperor who is buried here (sorry, I forgot his name !).

If you go there, you can enjoy the mountains' landscape as it is rare to see mountains inside the city.

There are also small museums (jewellery collection, clothes etc.) that make the visit more cultural and interesting.

Fun Alternatives: We didn't have time to see tombs other than the 3 open to the public. I heard that we can drive to the entrance of the other tombs and catch a glimpse of them. Since they haven't been renovated, they must have preserved their authenticity...

Mao's Mausoleum Mao's Mausoleum Review

Mao's Mausoleum (Mao Zhuxi Jinian Tang) is situated on Tiananmen Square, between Qianmen and the statue of the Revolution's Heroes.

Personnally, I haven't been inside because I'm not interested in seeing a dead guy's corpse.

Furthermore, my family has been part of a tour group and the visit to Mao was of course included. They can't bring in anything. Everything went really fast : when they entered the room where his body is shown, they cannot stop and have to keep on walking while watching. They have been in the room for no more than 1 minute.

Going to the airport by taxi Taxis/Rickshaws Review

When you go to the airport by taxi, we have to go through the airport toll (10 RMB) and it is the passenger who has to pay for it. So, the taxi driver would just pay and then add 10 RMB to the taxi charge.

BUT some dishonest taxi drivers would ask 20 RMB saying that they have to go back downtown. Argue with them !!! They should only get 10 RMB !!!