Beijing - Travel Tips?

[fasternyou929]

After much anticipation, I finally received my itinerary today at work. I'm going to be in Beijing Dec. 6-11. Other than the obvious (Great Wall, Forbidden City, and Tiananmen Square) does anybody have any "must see" suggestions?

I only have Sunday and weekdays after work to play the part of Stupid American Tourist, so I'll have to keep pretty local.

Definitely checking out the food market too - been looking forward to some scorpion on a stick.

[azoomm]

Scorpion is entirely too standard, there are so many more bugs to try than that one.

Just remember, even though the hookers are tested... they didn't test between the last John and you

[LeeNetworX]

Originally Posted by fasternyou929

Other than the obvious (Great Wall, Forbidden City, and Tiananmen Square) does anybody have any "must see" suggestions?

One of my buddies in the FTL office just got back from there a few days ago. I'll ask him for any suggestions.

BTW - I hate you, you suck, etc.

[Trip]

Drink bottled water, avoid meats, avoid eating, don't breath too much, and basically stay away from saying anything about your opinions on their government.

Seriously the food is good idea to not try too much in public markets. Find someone who knows decent places to eat. My parents live outside of Hong Kong and they have gotten sick with parasites and a lot of other nasty shit off a lot of foods they have eaten there and pretty much stick to the foods imported in cans and any austrailian meat they can find otherwise they became vegans. Remember, chinese food tastes nothing like the americanized stuff we have in the states and doctors/good ole american medicine are hard to come by.

If you can catch a flight out to the terra cotta soldiers, that is something worth seeing.

[LeeNetworX]

LOL - this is all he had to say, Dan.



I'm afraid that's more or less 100% the list of things I got to see. I can say that if he can swing the $ my hotel (Grand Hyatt Beijing) was excellent and was walking distance from the forbidden city / tiananamen square as well as just a block away from wangfujing street…

If the guy happens to have an iphone there is an awesome app called "beijing taxi guide" that was priceless to have, it gives you translations in chinese of popular destinations, so you choose the destination and it displays it for the driver. None of the cab drivers spoke english which otherwise would have been fairly disasterous.

[Trip]

I know how to get to one place in China, if you want to go to Walmart, tell the cabby Wa Mar.

Walmart in china is a fairly unique experience. I love the fish retriever job. It's a guy who watches the fish tanks for when they jump out and puts them back in. The meat section in general is fairly interesting.

[fasternyou929]

Originally Posted by azoomm

Scorpion is entirely too standard, there are so many more bugs to try than that one.

Just remember, even though the hookers are tested... they didn't test between the last John and you

I plan to try more, but scorpion's definitely on the list!

Note to self: Eat scorpions and bugs, not hookers.

Originally Posted by LeeNetworX

BTW - I hate you, you suck, etc.

Originally Posted by Trip

Drink bottled water, avoid meats, avoid eating, don't breath too much, and basically stay away from saying anything about your opinions on their government.

I don't think I can do that man... gonna have to try some of the food while I'm there. I'll be visiting another company site out there, so there should be plenty of local guidance to help me avoid the lethal stuff. Or guide me right to it if they don't like me.

Originally Posted by LeeNetworX

LOL - this is all he had to say, Dan.



I'm afraid that's more or less 100% the list of things I got to see. I can say that if he can swing the $ my hotel (Grand Hyatt Beijing) was excellent and was walking distance from the forbidden city / tiananamen square as well as just a block away from wangfujing street…

If the guy happens to have an iphone there is an awesome app called "beijing taxi guide" that was priceless to have, it gives you translations in chinese of popular destinations, so you choose the destination and it displays it for the driver. None of the cab drivers spoke english which otherwise would have been fairly disasterous.

LOL, tell him thanks for the advice anyway. I have a hotel reserved already... actually, scratch that, I just checked my itinerary to put the name here and the hotel section is blank. They must be making changes...

That's a great tip, but no iPhone here. I do have the Xperia though. I'll have to see if it has a similar app. If not, I'll just have to use the web to access a translation page. I've found a few good ones that pass the test according to Chinese natives here at work.

Originally Posted by Trip

I know how to get to one place in China, if you want to go to Walmart, tell the cabby Wa Mar.

Walmart in china is a fairly unique experience. I love the fish retriever job. It's a guy who watches the fish tanks for when they jump out and puts them back in. The meat section in general is fairly interesting.

If I fly 7100 miles and go to Wal-Mart, I'll never hear the end of it from the wife!

[R6Chick]

My girlfriend that went there a year and half ago says to not breath or eat, but I'm sure you'll be fine.

Have fun!!!!

[fasternyou929]

Originally Posted by R6Chick

My girlfriend that went there a year and half ago says to not breath or eat, but I'm sure you'll be fine.

Have fun!!!!

Your girlfriend must be a blast to travel with.

I'll definitely have a good time - that's a part of the world I was never sure I'd get to see, yet alone on someone else's dime.