Sign in with Facebook
entry to fields
The Four Amigos on the Great Wall
just inside the gate
sports drink
Khao San Road is famous for cheap hostels in Thailand, is there a place like that in Beijing? I need to find as many hostels as possible in one area without taking a cab because i think its pretty hard to find someone who can speak english in Beijing. If you have a list hostels / cheap hotels that you recommend, that is much appreciated, there are 3 of us and our budget is at least $20 per room. I really don't wanna book online.
No, Beijing is not very "backpacker friendly"
Geoff Tan -
polartraveler is right in that there is nothing comparable to BKK's Khao San. However, there are plenty of affordable motel options in the $20 and slightly higher range.
Look into the Home Inn and Motel 168 chains. Home Inn has rooms for $30, which are tiny but very clean and include free in-room internet access.
thanks!
As others have said, there is no Khao San Road like areas in Beijing.
However your $20 to $30 USD price range is reasonable. Sorry, but I don't remember the name of the place I stayed last year in Beijing.
You can try:
http://www.yhachina.com/
I stayed in a yhachina in Hangzhou. It was very nice and the staff was friendly and helpful. Their English was also understandable. I had a private room with bath but they also had dorms. I think Beijing also has some yhachina hostels.
or you can try
http://www.hostelworld.com
When are you coming?
Try looking in the Dongcheng district. However, it's really not practical to show up and hope to be able to go "hostel-shopping" on foot. You might find a few within walking distance of one another, but not a whole street!
We stayed on Leo Hostel, very easy to find, just a walking distance from subway station ( Quianmen ) and near Forbidden City. See some of my shots from China here:
http://pinoytourist.blogspot.com
visit the Forbidden City. The basic layout was masterminded by Emperor Yong Le. From this palace, the Ming and Qing Emperors governed Imperial China - most often very erratically as they were lost in their own self-contained/ make-believed little world. They effectively handed down their ruling power to the court eunuchs!!!!!! How unwise.
Peking Roast Duck is a famous duck dish from northeastern China. The Chinese specially like Beijing duck for its thin & crispy skin. Most restaurants will make two dishes out of one duck -- one with thin slices of skin with a small layer of fat underneath, and another one with the duck meat.
The history of the Beijing Duck can be traced as far back as the Yuan dynasty (1206 - 1368). By the time of the early 15th century it had become one of the favorite dishes of the imperial Ming family.
Peking Duck, which is served traditionally, consists of the crispy skin, steamed "mu-shi" flour pancakes, slivered spring onions, hoisin & plum sauce.
How to eat the roast duck? Deep a piece of duck skin (already chopped into small pieces) into the hoisin and plum sauce, then place it on a pancake& adds spring onion. The mixture is rolled up and eaten with the fingers.
The duck meat can be eaten the same way as the skin, but you can ask the restaurant to fry the meat. The remaining duck meat is usually chopped up, stir-fried, and eaten wrapped in fresh lettuce.
This duck dish is delicious so if you visit Beijing, you should not miss this traditional and well known Beijing roast duck.
Unfortunately I don't remember the name of resto in Beijing where I eat Beijing duck. The price for the Beijing duck and two other dishes I ate there was about RMB 200.
One of the Chinese restaurants in my town, Surabaya-Indonesia, serves good Beijing Duck. I think the taste is even better than beijing duck which I ate in the restaurant in Beijing
The Chinese resto in Surabaya which serves Beijing duck is the Duck King. This is one of the best Chinese Restaurants in town. So, if you visit Surabaya, you can stop by this resto and try its Beijing Duck. It costs Rp. 135,000 (approx US$ 14) for one duck or Rp. 92,500 (US$ 9.3) for half. If you want the remaining meat to be fried, you should pay extra Rp. 10,000 (US$ 1).
Picture here is from: http://www.chinahighlights.com/
Well people used to climb up the Great Wall but now there is a tobbogan-like ride up to 3/4 of the Great Wall at Badaling. From there simply trek up some distance again to reach the highest point of the Great Wall around the Beijing area.
Do this trek especially during winter because it helps to heat up your body, and you get to experience marvellous views from the Great Wall
I had to select 'other' on the 'type of shop' list because it has EVERYTHING you could possibly yearn for...truly! From the outside it is a very plain looking building but when you enter, oh goodness, you can just TELL that you're not going to be able to leave for another three hours at least! I was in there last week with two friends new to Beijing and we literally spent HOURS walking round this place! It has three levels all full of heavenly goodies waiting to be snapped up! Unfortunately you have to bargain here and when I say bargain, I don't mean just go down a couple of ten kuai, I'm talking about going down over a third of the price that they originally asked for! Its tough work sometimes, but its well worth it in the end when you part with just 20kuai for a bag instead of the 85 they were asking for! The ground level floor is all electronic gadgets....a wonderful place for all you hi-tech geeks out here! From dvd players, to speakers, mini disc players, mp3 players cameras, camcorders, batteries, portable tvs, headphones to mobile phone covers and I'm sure there's still lots I missed out on! And that's just the first section of the ground floor. The second part is girly things like hair accessories, wigs, jewellery and then moving onto lighters in all shapes and sizes, and then onto the best part which all stuff Chinese! By this I mean cushion covers, bags, wallets, phone covers, boxes, runners for tables, table cloths, place mats, chopsticks sets, coasters ALL in beautiful colours with Chinese details and designs. Seriously every colour under the sun! Something for everyone. Its a great place to get Christmas and birthday presents for! The only problem is I think I've sent everything like that to my friends already.....now what?!
Moving onto the next floor you'll be surrounded by fake Gucci, Prada, Fendi and Louis Vuitton bags, purses and shoes....again..a good few hours could be spent here! And then the top floor is where you'll find the pearl paradise.All different shapes, sizes and colours! Things can be made for you on the spot, but again, remember to bargain! On this floor you will also find lots of arts and crafts. Perfect presents! As I said earlier....you HAVE to bargain here and don't be fooled by the 'we are good friends' rubbish or the 'you speak good Chinese' because its just a ploy for you to like them and then you feeling bad about haggling the price down so much! Once you've been here long enough you know all the prices and they hate you coming back tot their shop with your friends as they know they wont be able to rip them off! Ha ha!
The best transportation to get in around Beijing is the subway. When I ve been in Beijing in March 2008 subway stations were under renovation, new entry machines... new ticket booths were partially installed. And I was sure also for the new trains in preparation for the Olympics.
So to avoid traffic and headache for unspoken english taxi and bus drivers always take subway around Beijing.
Latest Beijing hotel reviews
Sponsored Links
Comments