Pick a nice day to go to the Great Wall!!
by herzog63
The Great Wall is a pretty important tourist spot. You might want to pick a better day than I did to go!! It was really cold when I went. (way below freezing) and the wind was blowing about 30 mph! And it was dusty/foggy too. I had hoped to get some nice panoramic pictures of the wall but that didn't happen. I wasn't able to see much more then 100 feet in any direction!!I should have gone back another day but I was running out of time. I only had 7 days left on my 30 day visa and still wanted to go to Shanghai and take the Ferry boat back to Hong Kong.
STUDY MANDARIN AT THE BEIJING...
by karinyeung
STUDY MANDARIN AT THE BEIJING LANGUAGE AND CULTURE UNIVERSITY
The school is the origins of the HSK, an international standardized test of Mandarin proficiency. It is also a GREAT place to meet some FANTASTIC people from ALL OVER THE WORLD! Many foreign service officers are sent to BCLU for language training. This is me and my roommate/sister/mentor/shoulder to cry on, Estella, who I will always cherish...
Playing squash in Beijing
by Gard
If you want to play squash in Beijing it is possible to head over to the Radisson SAS hotel. Here they have 2 squash courts and it is also "home" of the Beijing squash ladder. I played a couple of guys while I was there and it was great to get some exercise while being on vacation :-)
learn to Haggle Hard
by NorthernHenry about Silk Market
Various stalls selling everything from shirts electronics, shoes, watches, sunglasses, tourist tat fake goods! Remember if you strike a deal and they sell, they're making money. Offer 10-20% of their asking price and work up slowly. Be prepared to stick to your price and walk away, they will soon either chase or leave, then you know where to be pitching. "they start very high-you start very low" easy really?
If they ask for 300RMB go in at 30 or less and work from there...
Those carrying dollars and using them, and taking goods at face value are spoiling the whole shopping experience for everyone, the visitors only compare to US prices and get completely ripped off, some stall holders already waiting for deals with US tours visiting the market as they make a killing on the prices (often 300% over what they'd be willing to sell at). The whole atmosphere I fear will change if this trend continues, especially with many naive US middle aged tour groups buying everything at face value..
German Beer in Beijing
by nepalgoods about Paulaner
Without my dear friend Gaby I would never have experienced a Southern German pub in Beijing. I always love to see the local restaurants and bars.
It was quite funny to eat suaerkraut and drink German beer in Beijing and see the waitresses in typical German dress - Dirndl - and they were this small Chinese girls!