Posts Tagged "Beijing"

• Partyin’ in the Park!!! – Beijing, China: Episode Five

  China

  Celebrate Good Times

  
  

  It is official, we are Huge fans of dumplings!!!!  Dumplings are actually a breakfast food here in China. You can bet our butts are gonna be there Every morning for our dumpling fix!!  We have no idea what is actually in them but we will go with the conclusion that if it is not killing everyone else then we are alllll good.  Mmmmmm Chinese dumplings!!!

  Our first impressions of Beijing/China are:  1.  We love dumplings.  2.  It is a little stinky in the city.  It’s not overly dirty but not too clean either and on sunny days you can see a thick layer of smog!  L   3. The Chinese are the nicest people EVER!!!  Super friendly and they go out of their way to help you!!!  Even with the language barrier!!

  The Temple of Heaven Park was great!!!  First off, the temple itself was gorgeous!!  The detail work and colors were amazing!!  But what was best of all were the preparations for Chinese National Day.  The whole community was out!!  It had great vibes and was a lot of fun!!  Originally we thought that the holiday was the next day…we were wrong!!  The Chinese prepare for National Day on and off for a little over a month.  They take it Very seriously!!  For instance, that same day we had to be back to our hostel by 2pm for lock down.  The government shuts down certain neighborhoods around Tiananmen Square (where the main celebrations are) so they can practice the performances for National Day.  It is ILLEGAL to see the show before the holiday… I don’t want to know what happens to you if you sneak a peak!!!  Eek!!

  Chelsea’s Quick Tips: Do Not Forget Deodorant!! Someone at our hostel forgot to pack deodorant and was asking the very friendly/helpful front desk girl where to pick some up.  Her response, “The Chinese do not use deodorant.”  Out of deodorant in China use a potato!!!

  For more photos check out our Flickr account!!!

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• Tian An Men Sunrise Hostel – Beijing, China: Hostel Life!

  China

  Ratings: 1 – 5 star each for…  The Vibe, Beds, Whereabouts, Staff, Cleanliness

  Tiananmen Square Sunrise Hostel

  2 Ciqiku Hutong Nanheyan Street

  DongCheng District, 100002, Beijing

  The Vibe: It was a little squished but there was a bar, dvd’s, games, free internet & wifi, bookshelf and tables all set up for lots socializing!! 4 out of 5!!

  Beds: Having a comfortable bed is key!!  The beds were hard but the pillows and blankets were comfy!!  3 out of 5!!

  Whereabouts: It’s all about location and this place had it!!  Five minute walk to The Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, the night markets and the underground!!  5 out of 5!!

  Staff: Staff was amazing!!  They were super helpful, friendly and spoke English very well!!  They even brought us tea with honey when they found out that Kinsey was sick!!!!  5 out of 5!!!

  Cleanliness:  The hostel was definitely clean.  The only things were the smell coming from the sink and shower drain and they only cleaned the bathroom trash (where you put your used bathroom t.p.) every other day.  Over all we give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

  Overall 20.5 out of 25 stars!!!  Not a bad stay.  A little squished but they put in a lot of effort to keep the place fun!! Easy to interact with other travelers!!  Overall we would recommend staying here!!

  

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• Holiday Fiasco – Beijing: Word on the Street

  China

  Names: Maarten & Philippe

  Ages: 27 & 25

  Hometown: Antwerp, Belgium

  

  Beware of Chinese National Day!!

  The Chinese celebrate their National Day with great zeal!!!  At this time all 1.6 billion Chinese citizens takes time off of work to head to Beijing to be there for the festivities!!  How is this going to affect your time in Beijing you ask??  Well Philippe and Maarten have the answer!!

  As you can see by the picture they are blue eyed, blonde haired Europeans.  What does this mean in China…celebrities!!!  As they were walking around Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City with the other 1.6 billion Chinese they were constantly hounded for pictures!!  It came to the point where they stood for ten minutes posing for photos as a “giant mass of Chinese people surrounded us taking photo after photo.”  The waves of photo craving Chinese would not have stopped if Philippe and Maarten had not just turned on their heels and booted it away from the crowd and headed to the safer confines of the hutong, the traditional Chinese neighborhoods of Beijing.

  Lesson learned:  If you are a westerner and heading to Tiananmen Square and The Forbidden City Expect to have many photos taken with you.  Going to be in the Square near a major holiday???  Might as well avoid it outright!!

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• Ballin’ in Beijing: Episode Three

  China

  Celebs

  
  

  Let’s just get it out there… We feel like celebrities here in Red China.  Why you ask??  Because we have people asking to take pictures with us at least twice a day.  If they don’t ask they out right just snap a photo in our faces or the oh so famous have their friend stand near us and pretend to be taking a picture of them instead of us.  It happens allllll the time!!

  While we were snapping away in Tiananmen Sq. a Chinese girl came up to us asking if she could practice English with us. We had heard of scams where Chinese girls come up to you and try and get you to go to a teahouse with them and then charge you some crazy amount for tea so you could say we were on our guard.  We decided that as soon as she started asking us for money we would ditch her. Until then we would give her a shot.  Come to find out she actually did want to learn some English.  It was actually an assignment for school: ask foreigners if you can speak with them for 15 minutes.  Fifteen minutes turned into around 2 hours.  It was actually quite fun!!

  The Forbidden City was really amazing.  It is the largest and best-preserved group of ancient buildings in China.  Unfortunately, we went on a weekend and it was sooooo crowded, to the point where it kind of took away from the experience.  But nonetheless it was beautiful.  And like Kinsey said in the episode, it really did feel like you were in Mulan, like stepping back in time.

  Check out our Flickr account for more Beijing Photos!!

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• Art, Shopping and Scams – Beijing: Word on the Street

  China

  Name: Shaoli Ghosh
  Age: 23 years old
  Hometown: New Yorker!

  
  Beijing is great for shopping! So bargaining is a must. There is this great place near the Yashow Mall called Nali Mall. Not crowded and amazing deals on great clothing and bags etc… I would go back to Bejing just for this mall. There is this great restaurant next to Nali called Alameda. It’s Brazilian and supposedly one of the best restaurants in Beijing. It was excellent!

  My friend and I went to the bus area that takes you to the Great Wall, but there were none running, so we made a deal with a cabbie. From what I remember, it wasn’t a bad deal and he knew which part of the great wall was less crowded etc… so it was really convenient and easy.

  Also, Chinese contemporary art is blowing up right now! so I recommend checking out this concentrated area of art galleries called 798 art zone.

  And, cabs can be your friend in China, but the traffic can be monstrous!!

  My Story in Beijing:

  When I visited Beijing, I heard these stories about young Chinese people chatting up tourists (particularly Chinese girls going up to guys) and asking them out for tea. The tourist goes and ends up having to pay $200 or some other ridiculous figure for Jasmine tea. It can be a tourist trap so be careful! When I was at Tiananmen Square with a friend who luckily spoke Chinese, we were approached by some Chinese students. They were learning English and were really excited to speak to native English speakers. They invited us to tea. I was completely hesitant because of the stories, but ultimately they were just really curious about Western culture. I still can’t believe how friendly they were! But as I discovered, all the Beijingers I came across were all very kind.

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