Any of you been to Beijing?

4

4th estate

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Hi all,
Just wondered and looking for your tips etc!

Am going at end of October for 9 days with Tr Dept. Anyone done this before, and if so how did it work out? Was with TD before in Egypt and I have nothing but praise for them. It was something of a "workout" but had to be done to see everything.

Is the schedule punishing on the Beijing trip? As we are staying in the same hotel for the duration, that might make things easier.

Anything you'd like to tell me about all this, and about Beijing too?

BTW how did you manage for cash, was it easy to withdraw from ATM?

Thnks so much
 
Re: Any of you been to Beijing??

Over there 9 years ago so its obviously changed but atms arent a problem.
You can book day trips to xian and great wall from most hotels quite cheaply too.

Great city
 
Re: Any of you been to Beijing??

Have been there twice, in 2001 and again in June this year. Fantastic city, though was a bit disappointed with the level of internationalisation evident this year as they prepared for Olympics - getting to that awful "any capital city" stage. In saying that, the culture and history in Beijing are amazing.

ATMs are everywhere, no problem. Eating ranges from very local (good in my book) to western for the newvous eater. People very friendly but in Emglish can be difficult to make self understood, so its handy to have a card from your hotel reception in your back pocket which will guide you home in Chinese if needed.

My advice - go off the beaten track where you can to see how the locals live. You'll have a great time.
 
Re: Any of you been to Beijing??

We went with the Travel Department in March this year and found it a great trip. I posted the following on Tripadvisor which you might like to read:

Have just returned from a 9-day trip in Beijing and stayed at this hotel (Presidential). Was a little wary before we went due to the less than complimentary reports on Tripadvisor. However, we found everything to our liking with the exception of the room, particularly the carpet, which was a little the worse for wear. I believe the rooms are undergoing refurbishment on an ongoing basis. This was no big deal, as the bathroom was well appointed and very clean. The hotel has been taken over by new management and will now be known as the Presidential Beijing.

The reception area was really impressive and we relaxed in the evenings to live piano music. Drinks were expensive for Beijing but the atmosphere was lovely and worth spending the extra few quid.

Breakfast was buffet style and there was always a good choice, from breads, cereals, Danish, cheeses, cold cuts, fresh fruit, omelettes made to order, bacon & eggs etc.

We ate two evenings in the coffee shop and again there was plenty of choice, with lovely vegetable and fish dishes for non-meat eaters. A wide choice of desserts, flans and gateau were available. We dined at the Italian restaurant on another evening and the food was really nice, so no complaints there either.

We found the staff in the dining room, lounge, reception and housekeeping, to be very polite and helpful. The porter always found a taxi instantly and checked the taxi each time we returned in case we left anything behind. He also checked the price we paid in case we were overcharged.

All in all, a great stay and I would have no hesitation in recommending this hotel.

Regarding the trips - we were up, breakfasted and ready to leave the hotel most mornings at 8.45. We visited Tiennaman Square, Forbidden City, Great Wall, Olympic Village, Summer Palace, Lama Temple etc etc. If you're concerned about it being tiring, you can always grab 40 winks on the coach. Everything ran like clockwork and we had a fantastic guide in Dennis, who couldn't have been more informative and he had a great sense of humour. He throws in the cúpla focail now and then. BTW it would be no harm to bring a few diddly-i bits from Carroll's - Irish key rings, stickers, cds, baseball caps, books, water bottles etc are very much appreciated by the guides. You would be a friend for life if you brought an Irish themed umbrella as they always hold an umbrella up to keep the group together (just a thought).

Our group of 36 gelled and we had good crack in the evenings, comparing notes and advising on the best places to buy electronics, fake designer stuff and so on.

There is an ATM in the hotel and all Reception staff speak English. Apparently the chefs spent some time in London to find out how to cook for Western tastes so all good on that front also.

Have a great time (we decided not to take any chances and had the injections before we went)
 
Re: Any of you been to Beijing??

I don't think the Travel Department use the Presidential Hotel now. I think they use a brand new hotel, 'Double Tree by Hilton' in Beijing.
 
We were in Beijing last year (not with Travel Department) and we had quite a different experience. We didn't enjoy it as much as the other posters did.

Key points - it was very hard to communicate with hotel staff and even with our guides. They all spoke English, but getting something simple across can sometimes prove hard. I left my wallet in a taxi and each day I had to explain to our guide that I wanted her to talk to the concierge just in case the driver had left it back. Yes, yes, I know that was overly optimistic since the cash in the wallet was the equivalent of about 10 trips, so he probably just knocked off for the day, but in most countries it would be as simple as asking if anyone left a wallet in for me me. *Each day* I had to explain to the guide what I wanted her to do. Similar thing happened in Xian - checking if replacement credit cards (from lost wallet) had been delivered to hotel should be as simple as asking "Is there a package for Mr Zag ?", but here they wanted to know if it was coming by courier, by post, by bicycle, etc . . . and they really didn't understand the whole concept of a guest getting something addressed to him at the hotel.

They are very rule bound - when we arrived into our hotel tired and hungry @ 0800 after an overnight from Shanghai they wouldn't let us use our breakfast vouchers in the restaurant because they were valid for the next day. Most 'normal' hotels would realise that it doesn't really matter what day you use the vouchers on since they are paid for already. No, the resto wasn't even nearly full.

Be *very* wary of the guides making changes to itineraries. We had a nice easy day scheduled - trip to Great Wall, Peking Duck dinner in the evening. Our guide asked if we wanted to go to a Jade factory in the morning, so we thought we might as well - knowing it would be a hard sell thing. Result - early start, 1h drive to factory, tour of factory, lunch at 1100, 3h drive to Great Wall which was the *opposite* side of Beijing. Our guide failed to point this out to us when mentioning the factory. We obviously wouldn't have taken the option if we knew how much it would delay our main attraction. Guide then buys return cable car ticket (for 50c or something) at the wall which means we have to go up and come down the same place instead of going up, walking along and then coming down somewhere else. Result - we had to nervously remain around the same area of the wall so we didn't end up having to bale it back in time for the last lift down. And to top it all off . . . we then spent a further 3 hours in heavy rush hour traffic back to the *far side* of Beijing again to get our Duck. Bear in mind we had two kids with us and after the first hour or so of the return they were getting hungry and grumpy. This didn't seem to register with the guide at all.

We did the Hutong tour thing - which was like a tour of the M50 road works. They were busy laying cables throughout the whole area, so every single little street was dug up. However, from the companies point of view they had delivered what they had promised. Technically we had toured the hutong.

On the plus side - Forbidden City was good, but you really need to bring a book with you to explain some of the stuff. The way it was presented was along the lines of "Here is the Temple of Eternal Joyousness. The Emperor used to walk from here to the Temple of Much Happyness. Here is the Temple of Much Happyness. The Emperor used to walk to here from the Temple of Eternal Joyousness. Now, we move on to the Hall of Great Greatness. Here is the Hall of Great Greatness". The buildings are very impressive, but you really need some interpretation if it's not just to turn into a long list of room names.

Beware of factory and outlet shop prices. I know it's not Beijing, but in Xi'an we went to a factory where they made replica Terracotta Warriors. Our guide told us "You get good price here . . ." When we returned to our 5* hotel (we thought we deserved a treat at this stage) the same models were cheaper in the lobby shop than in the factory. Since when have lobby shops ever been cheaper than the high street ?

As other posters have said, ATMs are not a problem. If you feel like striking out on your own for a bit, the taxis are dead cheap and there are plenty of them. Don't forget (even if you just walk out for a look around) to bring your hotels card with you. If you get lost there's no point gesticulating wildly and saying "Hiiiiiillllllllllltttttttttttonnnnnn" since nobody will understand you. Hand them the card and you'll be on your way back in no time.

z
 
Thank you so much for all your replies.

you are so knowledgeable, and it's great to hear your stories, so I am sure I will have more questions! I hope you don't mind if I post again looking for more info....!!

One thing strikes me, I have heard that getting "Western" style medical attention is difficult. I find that hard to believe given that people must get sick! I heard anecdotally that Chinese medicine with the herbs and roots is the way most indigenous Chinese go. But I want to know what would happen for us westerners who need attention for the usual dicky tummies and chest infections. etc.

Are GPs available as we know them for the antibiotics if necessary?? And yes, I know I know, too much a/biotics leads to MRSA etc., but still, they are effective for some awful things on holidays in a foreign land. Might get my own doc to prescribe before I go on the off chance, but I don't think he would be too impressed!

I am not too lazy, so I will do some research on this subject on the web. Whoever gets back first with the answer wins!

Tks again,
 
I studied in beijing from sept. 05 to sept. 06 and have travelled quite a bit about china.
I think beijing is a great city but i wouldn't go travelling with a tourguide and a group.

Actually my first impression was that i didn't like it, but after a while i really grew to love it, so you could go either way.
When i stayed there, i lived in a dormitory on campus so i don't really know any good hotels to recommend.

A previous poster mentioned beware of tour guides making last minute changes, my advice is just beware of tourguides. They'll take you to factory outletss and hope you'll spend so they can get their commission. I don't begrudge them they get paid very little. Also someone else mentioned you can get a day trip to Xi an this is not true. I have made that trip a couple of times and it's at least about 15 hours by train one way. Yes you can arrange day trips to the great wall, but it depends what section you want to go. You will probably be brought to popular ones like mu tian yu, badaling etc.. but of course they're nicely packaged with handrails for the tourists, little water stops, get your picture taken with a camel etc.. if you want to see a more authentic (ie. not rebuilt) section, you'll have to travel further out a bit more. But it's certainly worth it.

The fobidden city is very impressive but try to read up about it before you go otherwise its just too much to take in in just one morning. All the other famous sites just read your guide book. Its very difficult to find the old hutongs now, they and many other old areas were demolished for the olympics.
I just used my AIB card there was no problem. (acutally i opened a local account, but i have used my AIB card there many times)
As regards medical attention, i had some treatment there, It was an MRI scan and a lot of sports injury related treatment, including acupuncture, and it was excellent and very cheap (comparitively), about 100euro for the MRI. Also i'll be getting some dental treatment there in the next few weeks, root canal, also very cheap and the service is very professional. In general i thought the medical care was very good, but of course it helps to know local people and find a good hospital.
Its too bad you've already joined a group. I could have put you in contact with some local university students there and they could be your tour guide and have a much more authentic experience, and a lot cheaper as well.
Anway, enjoy beijing, its a great place, bargain hard at all the markets, (usually divide what they quote you by 3 to get a real idea of the price), don't be afraid of being rude, its a mistake many tourists make and end up paying a lot more. And try to get lost...
 
Haven't been to mainland China but my experience of Hong Kong is that mainland Chinese have no idea of personal space, and also don't like to queue.

Be it at the train stations or the sights, it was easy to spot the mainland Chinese, they were the ones making body contact with you in several places. I'm genuinely trying not to be racist here, I have some great Chinese friends but for me it was a real culture shock to have people so close. In a line you need to take up as much space as possible to stop people pushing past.
 
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