Beijing! What's good?
July 6, 2016 5:56 AM Subscribe
Mr Fig and I will be headed to Beijing in November. The last time we were there was January 2012 for a few days for our honeymoon. The last time before that, I did a semester-long study abroad in 2002. This time, we will be there for roughly a week. What should we do? Are there any good restaurants/bars we should check out?
Please assume I am aware of all of the big things (Pearl Market, Tiananmen, the awesome food court in the Wangfujing Mall, Summer Palace, Lama Temple, the Great Wall, the Olympic venues, etc etc etc). Our Mandarin skills are just enough to get by, probably quite a bit less than conversational but not non-existent; if that matters here.
Bonus question: Do you have any good day trips from Beijing? We are considering taking the high-speed train to Shanghai for a day or two, but if there's anything interesting that is closer, that would be great.
Please assume I am aware of all of the big things (Pearl Market, Tiananmen, the awesome food court in the Wangfujing Mall, Summer Palace, Lama Temple, the Great Wall, the Olympic venues, etc etc etc). Our Mandarin skills are just enough to get by, probably quite a bit less than conversational but not non-existent; if that matters here.
Bonus question: Do you have any good day trips from Beijing? We are considering taking the high-speed train to Shanghai for a day or two, but if there's anything interesting that is closer, that would be great.
For restaurants, I assume you already know this, but... the place to get Peking Duck is in Wangfujing, at the Quanjude restaurant. The others are all "knock-offs".
We are considering taking the high-speed train to Shanghai for a day or two, but if there's anything interesting that is closer, that would be great.
Personally, I do not find Shanghai very interesting. It's a large city with a ton of economic activity, but it's also very modernized. If you're willing to travel a bit more, I'd recommend Hangzhou (which is historically considered "heaven on earth") or Suzhou. Both are more historic and picturesque, if you're into the more classically Chinese stuff. The main thing in Hangzhou is West Lake and you can also visit the rebuilt Leifeng Tower. Suzhou has several different parks and they all have their own flavor. Both can be done as day trips.
posted by ethidda at 12:25 PM on July 6, 2016 [1 favorite]
We are considering taking the high-speed train to Shanghai for a day or two, but if there's anything interesting that is closer, that would be great.
Personally, I do not find Shanghai very interesting. It's a large city with a ton of economic activity, but it's also very modernized. If you're willing to travel a bit more, I'd recommend Hangzhou (which is historically considered "heaven on earth") or Suzhou. Both are more historic and picturesque, if you're into the more classically Chinese stuff. The main thing in Hangzhou is West Lake and you can also visit the rebuilt Leifeng Tower. Suzhou has several different parks and they all have their own flavor. Both can be done as day trips.
posted by ethidda at 12:25 PM on July 6, 2016 [1 favorite]
Have you been to Badachu? Forested hills, temples, pagodas, monasteries, and even a slide down the mountainside.
posted by mono blanco at 6:31 PM on July 6, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by mono blanco at 6:31 PM on July 6, 2016 [1 favorite]
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