It all started last May when PAL had these crazy promos on their international fares. I was asking my friend Jane about Australia visa requirements and found out it will be too expensive for me still. I asked her instead to go to Macau but ended up joining her and her sisters and their friends to Beijing.
It's the farthest from home that I have been to. When we got there, I was quite disappointed that we did not land in the newest airport that was shaped like a dragon. Although I didn't feel too down since the view of China was already amazing from the plane. We sort of got lost in the subway trying to get to the hotel and it's quite a challenge asking for directions since not so many people speak English. After what felt like ages we got to Beijing Oriental Culture Hotel. During this trip I found one way that you can save on hotel rates. Check http://www.agoda.com/ for the lowest rates. After a really heavy Chinese lunch in our area, we headed to the Forbidden City. I didn't expect that the walk was really far. The said it was built that way so that energy flows into the Forbidden City based on yin yang. I guess they never thought that it also requires energy to get to the gate from Tienanmen Square. We ended up not being able to get inside since it was almost closing time.
We then visited the Egg, the cultural center in Beijing. The architecture was amazing and since it was sunset when we got there, our pictures looked fantastic as well.
The next day we were on a tour bus to see The Great Wall. It was quite a challenge to listen to the tour guide with his heavy accent although he was a good tour guide. We visited the Ming Tombs where we learned more Chinese customs during the Ming Dynasty.
We finally got to the Badaling Section of the Great Wall sometime after lunch. There were really a lot of people in this part of the wall and it was really crowded. I didn't really care since what mattered was being on the wall. Although a friend told me afterward that when they went to Beijing they went to a different section farther from Badaling.
We visited the Olympic park on our last day. The architecture of the Bird's nest stadium was just amazing. I wasn't able to get in though. I found the Water Cube quite cute as well. It would have been more beautiful at night when both stadiums are lighted up. I got a bit excited also when we saw the athletes residences and where my football idols stayed.
On our last night, we headed to 1949 near Sanlitun for dinner. We were not aware that the Peking Duck was by reservation so we ended up having hand pulled noodles. It was really good even if I'm not a fan of noodles. We stayed in their bar after dinner. I ordered their Mojito and it was one of the best I had. I saw how they made it from scratch and saw how fresh were all the ingredients as well. If given the chance to go back to Beijing, I would definitely visit this place again.
Overall, Beijing is an amazing place to visit. Their structures were a wonder, food is great and shopping...excellent. Just make sure you have visuals for the taxi drivers though so they would know where to take you. Have a map ready, point where you are going, if that is not enough, have images ready in your ipod or digital camera or better yet, have the names of the places you are going to written in Mandarin. This place is a must-see.
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