Beijing anyone?

No, this will be our first trip.

Not sure if we'll get in the bike ride, but I'm going to try to make that red braised pork belly happen! Thanks for the links!

Then I'll share my China wisdom, not specific to Beijing. 

1.  The first time I went to China was the first time I realized that no, you cannot just buy something if you forget it. I was looking for earplugs and good cold medication (preferably with pseudophed) and couldn't buy either.   So, I suggest taking a very hard look at your toiletry bags and consider what you've got for basic first aid and comfort items.  Of course clothes, electronics (esp earbuds, etc), cell phone cases, sunglasses, etc. are easy to find and cheap.

2.  Lines don't exist in regular life (maybe at tourist places) and you will be shoved out of the way by normal looking adults.  I was once still in a bathroom stall while another woman was entering.   The lesson here is that it's fine to stand up for yourself - hold your ground   If you let people go first, or hold a door for instance, you might wait forever. This is particularly important on the subway, especially if you're with other people.   Stick together or prepare to have a backup plan.

Really it's an incredible place to visit.  Have fun!

 

Edited by BikerGrrrl 2016-11-18 9:18 AM

Thanks for the tips Emily. My wife hit the store yesterday and made a first aid kit that should cover all bases short of broken bones! I'd heard about the lack of 'personal space' especially when it comes to queues. I've witnessed this line jumping tendency from Asians on previous travels, particularly by older Asian women and assumed it was a priviledge gained from age or social status. One of my co-workers has been there a few times and he has been warning me of this too. I'll have to keep the door thing in mind as I'm one of those people that holds doors for women and seniors.

LOL I'm glad someone broke it to you. I lived in Beijing for almost a decade in the 1990's (until 2003); always thought that there should be a sign on the airport expressway into town that says, "Welcome to Beijing. Sharpen elbows now." I came there as a polite young woman from a small town in the midwest; I left probably more than qualified to be a New Yorker. Basically, don't expect anyone to follow any kind of rules, ever, and don't take it personally when they don't. Plus maybe don't breathe?? The air is just as bad as its reputation!

That being said, it's a fascinating place. Just not an easy one to live in long-term. I'm not sure what visitor suggestions I can give as I have not been back to Beijing for over a decade now. In the event there is a medical issue that your first aid kit won't solve, Beijing Family United (near the Lido on the airport road) was a good choice back in the day--probably saved me from death by asthma more than once.

Be ready for cold, blustery weather. November can be nice and sunny, but the temperatures can turn on a dime and it can get quite windy. The Great Wall is definitely worth a look but expect it to be considerably colder and windier out there than in town.

I really enjoyed walking through and photographing the traditional neighborhoods called "hutong", but a lot of them have been destroyed or gentrified; not sure what is still there. The area behind Coal Hill (across street from the Forbidden City) was always interesting, as was the neighborhoods around the Dongsishitiao subway stop, and east of Wangfujing (the main shopping street downtown). But they may well just be high-rises now.

There used to be an amazing teahouse above a bookstore just west of the Xidan/Chang'an Avenue intersection called San Wei Shu Wu (Three Flavors Book Room) that was my refuge for sanity; spent many peaceful hours there reading, writing, and hanging out with friends. But no idea if it is still there.
Finally, if you get desperate fora quiet run, try the Old Summer Palace early in the morning--I used to live out near there, and that was the other way I kept some shred of sanity!

Thanks Hot Runner. You aren't kidding about cold. Looking for a high of 28 for our trip. Spent a couple nights in San Francisco and day trip to Santa Cruz first. Just got here this afternoon. Tomorrow sight seeing Forbidden City and whatever else pops up. I'll definitely post up some photos when I get a chance. That 16 hour time change is about to kill me. Better hit the sack. Everyone else bagged out and snoring already!

Enjoy! The cold wind is a pain, but I always felt like Beijing was at its most atmospheric in winter. At least back in the day, it had a real historical ambiance that showed itself best in the harsh light and monochrome colors then. I'd guess 90% of my hutong photos were taken in winter. It's just not a summer or spring-type city, since there's not a lot of natural greenery. The local food also tastes a lot better when it's cold--pretty heavy, stick-to-your ribs stuff with lots of noodles, dumplings, beef and lamb dishes. I don't think I could get it down here in Saigon, but it was nice there. The beef noodles, chao bing (stir-fried flatbread with meat and veggies), jiaozi (dumplings) and the various cold veggie dishes that go with them, Muslim food like lamb shiskebab, were all very good. Poor you if vegetarian--not much of a place for that!

BTW I realized Forbidden City is sandwiched between several streets. Coal Hill (Jingshan Gongyuan in Chinese) is not just a hill but a park--on a good day, you can get an awesome panoramic shot of the Forbidden City from the top. That park, as well as Beihai Park and, north of that, the historic (but gentrified) Shichahai and Houhai neighborhoods, are across and northwest (respectively) from the north entrance, not the southern one on Chang'an Avenue at the north end of Tiananmen Square. Maybe check a map first! But all within walking distance of the north entrance, if you like to walk. The neighborhoods should have plenty of street food and little cafes.

I know all about the 16 hour time change. I do a 15-hour one at least four times a year! Try to get onto the local time schedule as much as you can; do whatever it takes (caffeine, food, walking around) not to crash super-early.

As for what to avoid, I don't know if this scam is still going on, but DON'T go with anyone who wants to go to cafe to practice English, or an art gallery. Trust me, it's a scam and you will end up with a large bill. The "students" liked to strike up a conversation on the street and ask you about your job. My friend and I used to say that we worked for Mossad and Al Quaeda, respectively. No one EVER got it. A common response was, "Really? My cousin works for Motorola." They liked to approach around Tiananmen Square and Wangfujing, where there is lots of security around to eavesdrop. The police are probably still looking for the foreign odd couple!

Edited by Hot Runner 2016-11-22 7:13 AM

Really enjoying those dumplings. almost bought fried scorpions on a stick but chickened out at the last second.. My daughters were rock stars today at Forbidden City. One being 5' 11' the other 6' added to the rarety of seeing Westerners. Everyone kept asking for pictures with them. They really had a blast interacting with everyone. We had people just walking up and staring at us when we stopped. A smile and hello broke the ice for most of them, then they knew they were good to go on the photo op! Beautiful weather today, just really cold.

Beware the scorpions! I've never had any violent allergic reactions, except for the time I almost tried scorpion in China. I hadn't swallowed, even chewed, just touched my lips or tongue to it, and my mouth and lips started seriously swelling. Luckily someone had Benadryl handy, and I never actually ingested any scorpion, or it might not have had a happy ending. Not sure if I had some kind of allergy to the scorpion itself, it wasn't properly cleaned of venom, or what. Eating them would be like playing Russian roulette.

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Ok, here's some pics on the way over.

Are these showing up for anyone?

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It's just showing up as a bunch of code, not a picture. Anyway, hope you are having a good time in Beijing!

Hmmm. I'll try to figure it out tomorrow. And we're actually back home already!

First pic is over north eastern China. Second is the family enjoying one of the best percs associated with my job! Outside Tiananmen Square, flying over Russia, touchdown in Beijing, approach to beijing and North east China again. Notice the relative clarity of the air around Beijing. We had three beautiful days of clear air. The day we left it was so nasty that there was a haze inside the airport terminal! Sorry about the dysfunctional order of this group of pics, they got out of order when I uploaded them. More to follow.

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Roof eave in Forbidden City. Tiananmen Square. Entrance to FC with pic of the Chairman! DSC2343, notice the wary fellow on the left. Our guide told us a lot of the people had never seen a foreigner before and that we were a curiosity for them. I walked over and smiled and said hello and he instantly warmed up. Visiting Bejing is a once in a lifetime dream for a lot of the Chinese people so we just added to their vacation excitement. Wood work inside the temples.

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Outside the hotel. Beijing is very modern. Off the beaten path, grubs, scorpions and snake on a skewer. My girls were rock stars. At 6 foot and 5’11’’ they were constantly getting stopped for pictures! Yao and KFC. Roasted pigeon . Snake and scorpions!

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Great pics! Looks like the Beijing I remember! It looks like you were lucky enough to arrive right after a cold front blew away a lot of the pollution. (The winds tend to come from the northwest in winter and most of the factories are southeast of the city. A few days of no wind and the stagnant glop will settle back in. So actually the bluest skies are usually on super-cold, windy winter days.) My mom was lucky enough to visit in similar conditions during a Christmas break. BTW What the sign at the food stall says is, "Deep-fried LIVE scorpion". Yikes!

Sorry, nope. I think I have eaten snake, but not sure if in China and it definitely wasn't on a stick. Actually I think it was rattlesnake in the US. When I was younger, I worked hard to overcome a tendency to picky eating that I've had since infancy, because I thought it made me look immature. So I made myself try a lot of crazy things, including (almost) the scorpion, trying to look sophisticated with the expat crowd. The worst in China would have been dog meat, pig ears, and fish eyeballs. Neither of the latter two stayed down, and I don't recall actually liking anything exotic that I tried. I guess I just don't have the guts, in any sense to be an adventurous eater. I'm better with seafood--I suppose for some Americans, grilled squid or octopus on a stick is exotic. It isn't to me--I do eat that, as do most of my 5th graders here. My best friend when I was a kid was Japanese American, so to me that seems normal.

Sometime around age 30, after a couple of cases of dysentery or food poisoning, decided I'd proved myself to myself enough, and reverted back to living on the usual diet of rice, noodles, a couple kinds of meat, fish, veggies, fruits, and peanut butter sandwiches. Some of the cafeteria workers at school here joking call me the "fish, rice, and vegetable girl" because of my very predictable and oddly non-Western eating habits, and at our school in China, my nickname was "Greens and Tofu". It's from a character in a famous movie--a pretty girl from a rural village who marries into a rich family. No matter what delicacies they serve, she always asks for greens and tofu, so that becomes her nickname.

Had to share this one, though I've never eaten it--some of those "stuff on a stick" stalls sell whole fried tiny birds (baby sparrows??) on a stick. My friend (the "Mossad agent") and I used to call them, "Cheep-cheep."

On the plus side, in the winter, you can get excellent "chestnuts roasting on an open fire", all over Beijing and northern China. At least you used to. Now that is some good eating!


Edited by Hot Runner 2016-11-28 7:21 AM

The wall at Badaling. Subway shop at the wall. ;( . Sad to see so much America in China, but the Chinese seem to enjoy it. Last pic…yup, that's an outlet mall outside Beijing!

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