My Summer began the day after school finished. I was on a flight straight out to Beijing Daxing International Airport to begin my summer. This is Beijing’s new airport and its incredibly fancy. It also has an easy to use airport express that will take you straight onto the local subways. I used this to reach my hotel in the Forbidden City area. But this trip had complications due to the 100 year ceremony happening on 1st July.
Before you ask… no. I didn’t take a trip to the Great Wall (I’ve already been to a part of the wall and I didn’t feel like seeing another section) and Forbidden City and Palace Museum areas were closed when I visited due to the 100 year celebration coming up.
From the airport…
As I said above, the Daxing Airport has a useful airport express service that will take you into the central subway system. I paid ¥40 (£4) to enter this. My end station was on Line 5 Dongshikou station. Just a short walk away was the Novotel Peace Beijing Hotel, a particularly nice hotel and easy enough to travel between sights.
Day 1 –
Airport Express
China World Mall
Midas Mercado
I arrived in Beijing from Ningbo around 6pm. From the airport I used the public transport options as Beijing airports are quite far out. Once I arrived at my hotel, I checked in (very easy although I did have additional paperwork to complete compared to the chinese guest who arrived at the same time). After a quick change, I headed back to the subway to line 1 Guomao station costing 3RMB (30p equivalent). After the subway, its about 5 minutes walk to the China World Mall. I went here with one intention, rooftop bar with a view!
The 7th floor of the China World Mall in Beijing is where you find Migas Mercado, delicious tapas available as well as larger meals. The drinks menu is interesting, I opted for a ‘Puerto Rico’ which came in a pineapple cup. Cocktails range from 70RMB – 100RMB (£7-£10) which is about average for cocktails in China that have decent alcohol used in them. One issue with Beijing is DiDi’s take forever! I think I was in a queue waiting for a car for around 30 minutes.
Day 2 –
Temple of Heaven
Beijing Fun District – Page One Bookstore
Qianmen Street
Forbidden City
Jingshan Park
Yin Bar
Wangfujing Street
Early start for Day 2, I arrived at Temple of Heaven at 8am when it first opened. Again I used the subway to arrive, line 5 from near the hotel down to Tiantandongmen (3RMB) this brings you out next to the temple and I walked around to the North Gate to enter. I had already bought my ticket through WeChat and it cost 35RMB (£3.50) to enter all parts of the park area. The temple area was fairly quiet and I could easily take photos without hassle. At one point, I did ask a local to take my photo and he offered stories of the history to this temple area. My chinese isn’t amazing so I couldn’t completely follow everything he said but it was really nice to see this man share his knowledge with a complete stranger. It made me feel good.
From Temple of Heaven, I jumped into a DiDi to Beijing Fun District. Here I was unfortunately greeted by a Manchester United shop (ewww) but also a quirky area filled with interesting restaurants, shops, and cafes to check out. I came here to see Page One Bookstore as I had heard about their English section, and I absolutely love a good bookshop!
Quite close to the Beijing Fun area is Qianmen Street, a popular pedestrian walking street. I chose to have a brief walk down this street just to see what it was like. It didn’t disappoint, old style buildings mixed in with newer brands such as Starbucks. After a walk through this street, I headed back to the hotel as it was ridculously hot and 1pm.
After a break, and a visit to the hotel’s swimming pool, I went out for a walk in the evening heat (around 5pm).
I decided to walk to Jingshan Park, this was around 25-30 minutes away from my hotel. On the way, I stopped at the lake surrounding Forbidden City. As Forbidden City was closed, I knew this might be my only chance for photos there, but I also enjoyed watching the photoshoots going on for weddings at the same place.
Jingshan Park was just across the road from this view. It cost 2RMB to enter the park which was amazing value. Inside the park, there are different levels. On the lowest level you can go through some older style buildings and grassed areas. It’s quite a large but peaceful park, and at that time, not many people remained in the park. As you walk around you will start to notice stone paths carved out to walk up, these lead up to pagodas. I walked up to the first pagoda, here I saw the steps that led higher up the hill. On my way up the hill, I saw an older man sat painting what he could see, the skill he put into his drawing was beautiful. Further up, another pagoda, very similar in style to the first one. Continuing up you reach a final pagoda, here the view is breath-taking. You can see out over Forbidden City, seeing all of the buildings in line with each other, showcasing their distinctive brown roofs.
I chose to leave Jingshan Park after seeing the view and head in a DiDi to New World Hotel, I could have walked but I was hungry and thirsty so I took the lazy option. I had to head somewhere else as a private function was happening in my chosen destination, so I walked for 10 minutes down to the Blue Frog restaurant nearby, here I had dinner. After dinner, I could head back to the New World Hotel and visit Yin Bar on 12th.
After Yin Bar, I wanted to walk through the nearby area to find Wangfujing Street. Instead I ended up walking through a high street with many popular stores and eventually came to a small side street with an interesting entrance which I assumed to be what I was looking for. After this, I walked back to my hotel and rested for the final day.
Day 3 –
Lama Temple
Wudaoying Hutong
Andingmen Street
South Luogu Lane
Shichahai
798 Art District
Again I started out early, around 9am this time. I took the line 5 subway to Yonghegong and arrived at Lama Temple. It was a dull start to the day, so luckily walking around the temple grounds was quite pleasant. From the temple, you are besides the Hutongs. In particular Wudaoying Hutong. If, like me, you want to see more hutongs, travel a little down the main road from the Temple and you can walk through Guozijian Hutong, Fangjia Hutong, Jianchang Hutong and Guanshuyuan Hutong (this one is tiny and a dead-end). Each one is slightly different and gives a different vibe. What I did find is that the locals living here are rather welcoming to foreign visitors, possibly because they appreciate our visit.
From Wudaoying Hutong, I walked towards Andingmen Street. Here I knew I was looking for Cafe Zarah for my lunch. This cafe is a foreigner hotspot, the menu is great and the choices for drinks is unusual but tasty.
Next I headed to South Luguo Lane. This was a smaller hutong area that had numerous temples and small shops inside. By walking through here, I could make it to Bell and Drum Towers (again these were closed due to the 100 year celebration). Here there were many people stood in the road taking wedding shots or just taking photo opportunities. By following the road from here, I ended up in Shichahai. This is a large lake with some scenic areas surrounding it. Following the lake round, you can see lines of shops and houses that reflect the old style of Beijing. Once I reached the end, I walked back towards Wudaoying Hutong for a coffee.
Wudaoying Hutong: This whole street is filled with coffee shops and food places, its the best place I found in Beijing (for me). I had coffee at Metal Hands, a quirky cafe with a different style of drinks. I also met friends at a vegetarian restaurant called ‘The Veggie Table’. I wish I had chance to try out the mexican food at ‘Pebbles’, I’d heard really good things about this place but it was closed while I was there. Another coffee shop that stood out for me was ‘Quaffers’ this looked really cool and fun, but there’s only so much coffee you can drink!
After a brief stop at the hotel to change and freshen up, I spent my last evening searching through the 798 Art District. I took the subways there but had a 30 minute walk after to reach the Art District. For me, I didn’t find it overly exciting in that area, it did remind me a little bit of home however, with some parts looking similar to Manchester’s Industrial areas.
Ending my trip was another visit to Migas Mercado, this time with a new friend to compare Beijing experiences!
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