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Visit on the seaside – Go to Shanhaiguan

May 17, 2012 in Shanhaiguan Pass with 0 Comments

July is one of the hotter month in Beijing with really high temperatures. We wanted to avoid this climate during one weekend and go to the seaside for a quick swim.

Our inital plan was to go to Qingdao city which is really well known due to the Tsintao brewery but we had to change our destination after experiencing some troubles with the local railway company – let’s go to Shanhaiguan in Heibei province for 2 days!

First problem: we can’t buy our returning tickets in Beijing. You need to be on the departure station to be able to buy tickets from this station. As soon as we arrived in Shanhaiguan, we went to the ticket office to be sure that we can have tickets for Sunday night. We wait in a long queue during more than 30 minutes to learn as the end that all seat tickets have been sold. We got only stand-up tickets – like in the subway during 2h30… :(

Second problem: there is only one hotel which accept foreigners in this city. They used to have expensive prices for low quality rooms (what’s a good business). We bargained during 40min to find a deal at 300 RMB / night for a 3 beds room. As we were 4, we shared our beds for this night :(

First day – Shanhaiguan discovery

As the sky was grey, we decided to go to the beack on Sunday and go for a tourist discovery on Saturday. We went to Laolongtou, most famous place in Shanhaiguan (Ticket: 50 RMB) where the Great Wall met the Sea. The legend says that the Great Wall continued into the sea for more than 25m. We were not able to confirm as everything has been rebuilt couple of years ago.

I didn’t recommend the Great Wall museum in front of Laolongtou. It was boring and each piece were in laminated wood. A tourist trap for 30 RMB…

Our night was divided into two main activities: we had a dinner first in the streets of Shanhaiguan then we moved to the neighbor city called Qinghuangdao to discover night life. We were a bit disappointed as we only found a crossroads with 3 open bars. We selected the only one with music band and enjoyed our night.

Second day – enjoying the sea and visit to an amusement park

As we failed to find a cab to go to the beach, we had the time to visit some hutongs in our hotel area. After 1 hour walk, we got one and asked him to drive us to a big aquatic park that we discovered on an ad the day before. The driver seemed a bit confused on our choice and we finally understood that this place was more than 70km away from Shanhaiguan. New plan, we decided to go to the local Amusement Park. :)

It was a good choice as our day was really great and sunny with some aquatics games (water slides, waterfall, swimming-pools…), a nice afternoon on the beach and some amusement attractions (roller-coaster and high sensation ride). No picture are available as we stayed all day in swimsuits… :)

Our way back to Beijing was at scheduled pretty hard without seat tickets. We stayed in the club-car with lot of other people. Everybody seated/lay on their luggage or on the floor. Fortunately, this week-end was really relaxing and revitalizing before a new week of work in this crazy city called Beijing…

(Blog posted by Julian. You can see the original article by following this link to Julian, A French Man in Asia)

 

Wang-fu-jing(王府井)–oldest street shop in Beijing

May 17, 2012 in Wang-fu-jing Street with 0 Comments

Wangfujing is a must see during a trip to Beijing. It is an incredible mix between modernity with ultra-modern malls and old history with food snack markets.

All luxury brands decided to open a shop (or several) in this street which became, as Sanlitun Village, a reference for luxury shoppers.

The street also contains the biggest foreign bookstore (most of the books are in english but it is at least better than Chinese bookstores…) and one of the biggest church in town, St Joseph’s Church.

Wangfujing is also well known by tourists for its street food market, Dong’anmen Night Market. It is possible to find stick of any kind of food: snake, octopus, worms, starfish…

All sticks, dumplings or noodles only cost couple of yuans so adventurer should not avoid this experience.

Scorpions are still alive on their sticks and they move their tails and pliers before the shop owner put them on the oil to be fried. It is part of the spectacle and all tourists (either chinese or foreigners) come to take pictures and move back as soon as the owner suggest them to eat one. :)

It is a tourist place and local taxi drivers well understand this. They wait at the end of the street and ask for incredible price to drive you home. They refuse to use the meter. I recommend to go East with the subway to avoid this trap or walk West to Tiananmen and the Forbidden City. The walk inside small hutongs is really nice.

(Blog posted by Julian. You can see the original article by following this link to Julian, A French Man in Asia)

Olympic Park Visit – Bird’s Nest and Water Cube

May 17, 2012 in Olympic Park with 0 Comments

The Olympic Park is one of the most visited sites in Beijing following 2008 Olympic Games. This site groups together two of the famous Olympic Games places – Bird’s Nest and Water Cube.

2 visits can be done on this site:

• during the day with a visit inside the buildings (fee entrance for Water Cube is 30 RMB and for Bird’s Nest is 50 RMB)

• at night for a walk in the park and around these 2 famous places

I chose for my first visit to go at the end of the day during a week to avoid tourist crowd and above all enjoy the lights which transform the Olympic Park in a magical site…

I was there after my working day and I got from the beginning the feeling that China wanted to build an unforgetable place for the Olympic period : extra-large pedestrian streets, Olympic museum, Souvenir shops and of course the stadium and the swimming-pool.

Night fell then I started to feel the Olympic Games magic. I can imagine the crowd yeld on the Bird’s Nest for Usain Bolt races or the water movement on the Water Cube surface… Amazing!

Hope that the site can stay like today during long years and keep this Olympic fervor…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Blog posted by Julian. You can see the original article by following this link to Julian, A French Man in Asia)

Hong Luo Temple

May 8, 2012 in Hong Luo Temple with 0 Comments

Official website: Hong Luo Temple

Entrance fee: 54 RMB. Slide way: 60 RMB roundway;40 RMB single way:

Ticket time: 7:30am-5:30pm

“Well worth it — very natural & very little tourists”

May 5, 2012 in Jiankou & Xi-zha-zi Village with 1 Comment

We went in early August, but it’s not so hot in this village called Xizhazi (西柵子村). Wear a pair of long pants (because of the shrubs) and good pair of walking/hiking shoes (because of loose stones every where) when hiking up to the Great Wall. Do not climb the Great Wall when it rains!

There’re several entrances to the hike, and it only takes a few minutes to reach from the village. You’ll know you’re at the start of the trail when you see a giant sign (in Chinese & English) saying one should not climb the Great Wall, etc. The total time to & from the Great Wall is about 2 hours. Plan more time if you actually want to be on the Great Wall.

This village is in Huairou district located at the foot of Jiankou Great. There was an entrance cost to the village for 20 Yuan per person. We stayed at Zhao’s Hostel (赵氏山庄) (we strongly recommend it). It was only 100 Yuan per night for the two of us. (Price includes 3 meals; need to ask for drinking water if you don’t mind drinking their water. They raise their own chicken for eggs and grow their own vegetables & corn. The owner Mr. Zhao makes an excellent grill trout – so fresh! If you clean out your plates, they’ll think they don’t feed you enough.) Tourists go there all year round. Weekdays have much less tourists. Remember to bring toilet paper & be polite!

We also took a walk in a lavender farm which is located on the west side of village.

(Blog picked from Tripadvisor)

Xi-zha-zi Village 西栅子村

April 30, 2012 in Jiankou & Xi-zha-zi Village with 1 Comment

Situated at the foot of Jiankou Great Wall, Xizhazi Village is the base of Jiankou Great Wall where visitors can stop for a rest. If you do a day trip to Jiankou, it’s not necessary to stay overnight. If you want to experience the sunrise and sunset, this village is the best location.

Most the local farmers have newly-built guesthouses, and they are basic and simple. Simple but fabulous home-made local Chinese food is available at these guesthouses. Jiankou is becoming a popular destination among local Chinese, so you have to reserve an accommodation if you go there at weekend, otherwise just go straight. The local farmers can not speak any English and it’s recommended to employ an English-speaking guide in Beijing.

Main road into Xizhazi Village

Standard twin room with private facility will cost RMB 150-200. Multi-shared rooms (3-4 people) will cost RMB 180 each room and the local heated brick bed (Kang) will cost RMB 20 as well. A pulic toilet and shower is available for multi-shared accommodation.

JianKou Area Map

Accommodation

Most of the farmhouses in the village receive guests. One of the biggest is Zhao-fu-he’s Hostel. It has almost 30 guestrooms to accommodate 120 people; 15 standard rooms costing 150 RMB each; 20 multi-share rooms costing 15 RMB each; 5 heated brick beds costing 20 RMB each (low season prices).

Dining: Zhao-fu-he’s Hostel offers authentic “peasant dishes” including all sorts of wild vegetables, free range eggs, pan-fried green onion cakes, cornmeal dumpling with vegetable stuffing, millet gruel and all sorts of barbecue.

Zhao-fu-he's Hostel

Another 2-floor guesthouse building in the front of the yard

Double-bed room with restroom. 150 RMB per room

Triple-bed room with restroom. 170 RMB per room.

炕(kang4)(Heated brick bed) without restroom. 20RMB per person

Restroom, toilet & shower

View from the second floor.

Zhao-fu-he (left) and his guest

Peasant dishs. 25 RMB per meal per person

The local dish of rainbow trout is delicious.

How to get there

 By bus:

Take bus No.916 at Dongzhimen bus hub (subway line 2 is available) in Beijing and get off at Yingbinlu Station(迎宾路）) in Huairou, then transfer bus 862 and get off at Yujiayuan (于家园). The bus runs only twice a day between Huairou and Xizhazi. The leaving time is: from Yujiayuan to xizhazi: 11:30am, 4:30pm; from xizhazi to yujiayuan: 6:30am, 1:15pm. The one way duration is around 70 mins.

This is bus 862 at Yujiayuan station

You need transfer to bus 862 at Yingbinlu station after getting off bus 916.

The bus and bus terminal in xizhazi.

It's a big bus and the drivers are very professional.

This is Yujiayuan bus station and the xizhazi bus stops beside this sign.

  By car:

Take Jingcheng (Beijing – Chengde) Expressway, pass Yanxi Roundabout, Shentangyu Village, turn left at Badaohe Bridge and drive along until you reach Xizhazi Village.

 One-Way Private Transfers

♦ To/From Xizhazi
And Huairou District

24 Hours Advance Booking Required
Travel Time is 50-60 Minutes

Standard Sedan Rmb 150
Santana or Lancer or Similar
Maximum 4 Passengers

♦ To/From Xizhazi
And Downtown Beijing Hotel / Residence or Capital Airport

24 Hours Advance Booking Required
Travel Time is 90-120 Minutes

Standard Sedan Rmb 450
Santana or Lancer or Similar
Maximum 4 Passengers

Please fill the booking form below or call us on 156-0123-4491 or 133-6633-3633.

 

Jiankou Zhengbeilou Tower

April 24, 2012 in Jiankou & Xi-zha-zi Village with 0 Comments

After checking out the Beijing Knot on the previous day, today’s mission was to hike from the village, to the Zhengbeilou tower then to the Mutianyu (restored) section of the Great Wall.  After another hour long hike up the mountain, we could see the impressive Jiankou section of the wall.

View of the Jiankou section from the mountain trail

From the Zhengbeilou tower the view was more impressive.

View from the Zhengbeilou tower base

In the picture above, you can see the wall leading up to the tower from the west is nearly gone replaced by a steep slope.  The tower itself is still in decent shape and thus you can climb inside and enjoy the view from the roof.

One of two ladders used to enter the Zhengbeilou tower

Inside the Zhengbeilou tower is still solid

View from the roof of Zhengbeilou tower

The great wall continues east and that is the path we take.

Looking east from Zhengbeilou tower toward Mutianyu

A bit of a hike...

What goes up, must come down

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