Hutongs
by jonkb
Hutongs are small one-story buildings of variable quality. Around Tianmen square they are quite posh compared too hutongs further away from the center. Around the hotel I stayed in they were pretty run down. A good deal of them will be torn down in a few years. Some people seem to think that this is a shame, because Beijing will loose some of its charm. I'm a bit ambivalent. Seeing how run down most of them are it seems that renovating them might imply tearing them down and rebuilding them again.
Communicating with Taxi Drivers
by mke1963
- Replace the last consonant of any word with the letter 'R' and pronounce it in a long drawn out way. (e.g. Sanlitun becomes Sanlitur)
- Don't add English or foreign emphasis to words because this confuses the Chinese tones of words?
- Turn left .... zwor gweye
- Turn right .... yo gweye
- Straight ahead .... yi-chuh zo
- Stop .... dhow-ler
- I'm not a bloody tourist! .... Wo boo shur luyoda!
- Slow down! .... Man man man!
If you have any real serious problem with taxis (it almost NEVER happens though...they may drive badly, but they are mostly very friendly and very honest) make a real show of writing down their ID number (it is written on a card on the dashboard).
Note that in many taxis, the rear left door (behind the driver) doesn't work.
Walking in the Hutongs
by JBourne
There are many advertised bike tours through the Hutongs (traditional courtyard houses) but we found them on the map and walked around them on foot. The buildings were close together and rather ramshackle but this felt much more Chinese than the main roads and department stores did.
There were no crowds here and it was a lot more relaxed. We went to a poorer area but apparently there are some beautiful examples to the east of the Forbidden City. Most people in Beijing now live in ugly run-down high rise condominiums, each with a dripping air conditioning unit out of the window, so it was nice to see the traditional old buildings whilst they still exist.
Wangfujing
by dragontml
A seven hundred-year-old commercial street, is located to the east of Tian'anmen Square and stretches from Chinese Art Gallery to the Dongchan'an Avenue. It houses a wide variety of shops and boutiques where you can find all kinds of commodities, some of which are of world-famous brands.
Centro@ The Kerry Centre
by mke1963 about Centro
A few years back, the bar of the Kerry Centre was a tired old hotel bar..it was OK, but it was a bit boring. The Aria bar had a lot more life.
Recently though, it seems that Centro has picked up, and the last two nights it has been heaving, all night long.
It's an upmarket set, not really a backpacker joint or where you wil meet locals. It is for the moneyed classes and corporate types really, but it has been fun. You don't feel like you're in China, but it is classy, busy and noisy. Smartish.
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The Roofs Of Gugong Museum
The dancers going back...
picture
chicken
