| Page Views: 2,251 Last Visit to Beijing: September, 2004 | Awe-inspiring... Asia's great City by amambaw - last update: Mar 13, 2005 |
5000 years of history in five days Was I up for the challenge? You bet!!!
I've always wanted to visit China. Pictures of the Great Wall have always tugged at my stomach, and the ensuing butterflies told me it was a great place that I would have to see. My first trip is over, but I think the love affair may have just begun. |
|  | The Itinerary - Day 1&2 DAY 1
Fly from Busan to Beijing. (2 hours)
- Enjoy mystery meat dish aboard Air China.
Arrive in Beijing and make it through customs without being quarantined for my nasty cough (1.5 hours).
Drive from the airport to the Temple of Heaven waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay on the other side of the city (1 hour).
Tour the Temple of Heaven grounds, including the main temple, the Echo Wall, and the Altar of Heaven (1.5 hours).
Watch an amazing Chines acrobatic show, including lion daning, contortionism, martial arts and other feats (1 hour).
Eat Beijing (Peking) duck in a giant restaurant, and get to know the eccentricities of my fellow tour mates (1 hour).
Head back to the hotel to drop off our bags and have a shower (1 hour or so).
Go out for beer (well, maybe more than one) with some new tour friends.... I forget how long that one took.
DAY 2
Get up obscenely early for a vacation, shower and have breakfast, including the first real bacon I've had in 4 months.
Hop on the bus, and drive to the outskirts of Beijing. (1 hour)
Take a long walk under the watchful eyes of the Guardians of the Ming Tombs. (30 mins)
Visit the largest of the Ming Tombs. Spend 45 mins exploring the grounds.
Visit a Jade factory. Get herded through the show room to the store. Receive a very brief lesson in how to identify real jade. (45 mins)
Go for lunch and visit a Friendship Store. Learn how Chinese enamelware is made. Eat a light (well, light for Chinese) lunch and look around at all the overly priced crafts.
Take the bus for about 30 mins to the Badaling site of the Great Wall of China.
Stand in awe at the bottom of the Great Wall. Hike, climb, crawl to the top and take in the view. Strain every fiber of my thigh muscles coming down. (2 hours)
Head into town for Mongolian Hot Pot. Hear war stories of my fellow tourists conquering the Great Wall.
Go for an excrucatingly painful foot massage, and have a little Chinese guy beat the crap out of me. |
| | Day 3, 4 & 5 DAY 3
Get up exceptionally early. Fight the groginness of hangover. Eat breakfast.
Head out to the Summer Palace. Have a quick look around, and I mean quick, run down the longest corridor, get picture taken at the marble boat, then leave, all in about 1 hour!
Visit a Freshwater Pearl Factory. Buy Christmas gifts for mom.
Go for a quick lunch before visiting the Forbidden City. Walk straight through from back to front. Take many many pictures of the various courtyards.
Pass through the gates of the Forbidden City out into Tianenmen Square. Get my picture taken with Mao. Relish in the space of the biggest public square in the world. (15 mins!)
Head to the silk market! Make some good purchases and some bad ones. Flex my bargainning skills once again in the wild market.
Go for Mongolian style dinner. Enjoy stories of purchases made and deals won. Enquire about favorite sites so far.
Head to the hotel, turn in early.
DAY 4
Get up late. Have breakfast on our own steam and catch a cab downtown.
Head to Mao's Mauseleum. Realize that due to the holiday, getting in will be a nightmare and skip it.
Go south to a Silk Store. Debate about buying 10 m of raw silk, then decide against it... Where would I put it?
Stumble upon an excellent tea shop. Make the sales girl's day by buying about $100 worth of tea. Make our own day by realizing we would pay $700 for the same amount at home.
Back to the silk market. More shopping for Christmas.
Catch a cab to the Lama Temple. Meet up with some friends and explore together. Sacrifice some incense in appreciation of Buddha.
Go buy tickets to the Peking Opera. Have a tasty dinner among a room full of Chinese. Visit the Opera and enjoy.
Head back to the hotel. Throw an impromptu engagement party for friends and drink beer till early in the morning.
DAY 5
Get up late. Walk to Subway for breakfast (what a treat!).
Check out of the hotel, then hop on the bus and head downtown for one last site: the park behind the Forbidden City.
Back to the hotel to pick everyone up, then to the airport for the flight home. |
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| Pros: | "History in every place, kind people around every corner" | | Cons: | "That's not fog, no matter what they tell you" | | In A Nutshell: | "Go, go now, don't wait. And go for longer than five days... you'll need it." |
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 Comments for amambaw about Beijing | | | | |
Greywolf23 Wed Apr 25, 2007 20:08 UTC
I am traveling to Beijing next month and would like to know who you used for your tour guide and how I can get in touch with her. thanks, Greywolf23 | nepalgoods Tue Oct 26, 2004 06:27 UTC
Lovely new page about Beijing, my favourit city! |
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