My Great Adventure To The Great Wall

Beijing, when someone mentions that, what is the first thing which comes to mind? Well the Great Wall of course! Early September, I decided to venture north to the land of the People's Republic of China on my own "free and easy" trip.This is the story of the trip.

My flight there was a rather bumpy one. Reached the airport at 2AM and we took a "cab" to the hotel. I say "cab" because when we arrived at the arrival hall, he promised us 300RMB for all 4 of us to the hotel, so we agreed, and then he took us 1 floor down and he pulls out this card which states that its "580RMB" to the city which is where we're heading, so OK, FINE, at 2 in the morning, we weren't in any state to argue with this guy, so we agreed to this new price. And then surprise, surprise, when we reached our hotel, he insisted that we give him an EXTRA 100RMB! So here is a piece of advice, once reaching the arrival hall, FOLLOW THE SIGNS WHICH DIRECT YOU TO THE TAXI STAND. Although I have no idea if there were any real taxis out at that hour, if there were, they would have followed the meter and it would probably cost you less then what these FAKE taxis offer.

So we check-in to the hotel and all 4 of us try to get some sleep. I didn't manage to get much pictures of the hotel, but let me just say this, DO NOT TRUST TRIPADVISOR 100%!!

The courtyard leading up to the rooms

This is the view from the lobby. Tripadvisor gave them 4 stars. The reviews said the rooms were clean(partial lie,furniture in the room was old), staff spoke english (a big fat LIE) and that it was a "good" stay. Well here is what I have to say about the Imperial Courtyard Hotel. Firstly, it is located very strategically. Near the ever famous Nanluoguxiang hutongs, as well as other hutongs and also near the Andingmen subway. Only ONE staff could speak and UNDERSTAND English. The rest will look kinda lost when you ask them questions so don't bother. If you are staying at another hotel, always remember to get the staff there to write the destinations of which you are planning to visit that day on a piece of paper with both languages; English and Chinese so that in case you get lost, you can show it to the locals for directions as almost ALL of them do NOT speak English. This hotel is more of a HOSTEL rather than a HOTEL. But nevertheless, they gave an OK service to us, and for that, I am grateful.

If you decide to travel there like me, free and easy, the subway is your BEST FRIEND. Its RMB2 for 1 way (I didn't really check for weekly pass) which is equivalent to RM1 and is just like our LRTs here. Their stations are all interconnected and you can get down at respective stations and change to the preferred line. Do avoid rush hour because traffic in Beijing is CRAZY! I was told by a local that on certain days, only certain cars can enter the city based on their license plate, and even with that in consideration, traffic was crazy. 

So what did I do on Day 1? I walked to Lama Temple. Another word of advice, when the locals say "Oh, you can walk there its near", please take note that its NOT NEAR. For people like me, who drives everywhere, its what I would call "driving distance". But bear in mind, not everyone owns a car here, and the people here use other means of transportation such as the subway, buses and bicycles/motorbikes alot. So we walked to the Lama Temple, and you would actually have to walk pass the Confusion Temple which served as a school in the olden days and some other museum as well. Along the way, you would pass many shops which sell more of religious souvenirs.

Looks like the streetfood "Rolling Donkey"

Since it was my first day in Beijing, I decided to avoid the street food as I need to take care of my stomach to ensure that I would be able to climb up the great wall. :D

The beautiful garden inside the Lama Temple

I must highlight that one of the things which I loved the most about Beijing is the landscape. The gardens just calm your soul when you look at them. Although my picture doesn't capture that, when you are there, you will know what I'm talking about.

Entrance fees include a bunch of joss sticks which you can choose to light up and pray if you want

I was really fascinated by this huge door and also the Chinese architecture

One thing I noticed during my trip is the Chinese architecture and how they build their houses

For Day 2 & 3, I decided to hire those One-day tours to take me to the Great Wall as it was quite far from the city and it would be a hassle to take the subway and bus there, and also a guided tour to the Ming Tombs, Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace and also the magnificent Forbidden City! It costs around RMB280/person/day and this includes 1 meal as well as entrance fees into these places which I think is not too bad.

One more thing off my bucket list! :D

We visited the Mutianyu part of the Great Wall which is approximately 2 hours drive from Beijing. We avoided Badaling as it was not advised by the locals which we spoke to, and based on the research I did, that part of the wall would have been very crowded with tourists as it is the nearest to the city. We had to get on the cable car which took us up to a certain point, where from there on, we had to walk up and down the stairs of the Great Wall. The view was stunning, and it had a calming effect on my soul. On the way down, we had an option to get on the cable car or the toboggan (which looked fun) but unfortunately, it started to drizzle (or so we were told) and hence, they closed it, leaving us with no other option but to get on the cable car.

Yes, I took a selfie while on the cable car. 

The Forbidden City was full of history and it was HUGE. Like seriously HUGE. I walked pass one gate and I thought, "Hey, I'm in!" And they you keep walking, and walking..and walking. But I had a good tour guide so that was great.

Another selfie in the Imperial Garden..hehe

Temple of Heaven was a place the Emperor used to go and make offerings to the Gods. Story goes that the Emperor would live in the Temple for a few days (I forgot what the tour guide said :p)

Summer Palace, was built by one of the Emperors for his mother to live in. It overlooks a beautiful lake and the lake is surrounded with willow trees which was very scenic!

We were not Photobombed, but they just wanted a picture of us. :p

During our stay there, we also visited the Beijing Zoo to have a look at their Pandas. Once again, I found my self taken up by the willow trees.

We also visited Behai Park. The ONLY English speaking staff at the hotel volunteered to take us around on her off day, which I thought was very sweet of her. At Behai park, I got to see the other side of Beijing, the relaxed side. All the senior citizens in this city can be found at the nearest park relaxing with their friends/ grandchildren. I find that truly amazing. As I walked through Behai Park, I found many of them dancing or performing Opera and even singing Karaoke during the day with their friends and enjoying their life! That is one stress free life I dare say!

The Jade Island in Behai Park

The Chinese Muslim community performing their cultural dance at the Jade Island 

Local yogurt. Sweeter than the normal supermarket yogurt and apparently is made fresh daily, so I had to give it a try

Nanluoguxiang is Beijing's version of Jonker street. You can do some shopping here but beware of the price. They also have some interesting eateries along this street so basically even if you don't plan on shopping much, you should just drop by and have a look around.

Pastry infused with rose. I tried it and I must say, it tasted weird. Good thing is that they bake it fresh for you. I got mine hot right out of the oven!

 What those cakes looked like before I tried them.

A Starbucks outlet in an old building! Surprise!!!

Qianmen street

Qianmen street is THE place that I would recommend for you to go shopping. Its HUGE and the starting prices here are WAY lower than Nanluoguxiang which is why I would recommend this place for shopping! :)

Look what I found at Qianmen Street

Local street food being sold at Qianmen Street

So the list of places I managed to cover while I was in Beijing includes:

1. The Great Wall

2. The Ming Tombs

3. Forbidden City
4. Temple of Heaven

5. Summer Palace
6. Lama Temple

7. Behai Park

8. Nanluoguxiang

9. Qianmen street

10. Beijing Zoo (Feel free to skip this place, I kinda regretted spending my time there)

Places which I missed:

1. Tianamen Square ( It was closed when I went)

2. Wangfujing street

3. Ghost street

I also managed to watch the Chinese acrobats which was pretty cool as its not something that you normally get to see. So I would recommend that you try to go for it as well. 

Another thing I should warn you about these "tours" is that they also take you to places like the jade factory, the silk factory, tea shop etc, and the staff there can be pushy and would try to force you to buy their merchandise so remember to be firm and No means No. :)

After that extremely long post on Beijing, to sum things up, I would say that I enjoyed my visit there. The language barrier was a challenge but it created so many fond memories and you'll be amazed at how good you are at sign language when you want something. 

I'm not going to say much about their toilets except that you will have to experience it yourself! :p

Cheers!