| Beijing and Shanghai (Non QPR) 13:51 - Mar 2 with 4253 views | Isleworthranger |
I recently decided to use some air miles and on a spur of the moment booked return flights to Beijing next month not realising how difficult and expensive getting a Visa was but now I think thats all sorted at last was wondering if anyone had been to either and if they had any tips on what to do and eat etc?
Planned for the usual visits in Beijing with the Great Wall and Forbidden Palace of course but is there much else really to do there or should I fly or get the train to Shanghai a day earlier and see what that has to offer
Thanks in advance [Post edited 2 Mar 2016 13:57]
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| Beijing and Shanghai (Non QPR) on 14:01 - Mar 2 with 4232 views | DaiHo0p |
In 2000 I caught an overnight sleeper train from Beijing to Xian (Terracotta Army) and then on to Shanghai. |  | | |
| Beijing and Shanghai (Non QPR) on 15:04 - Mar 2 with 4203 views | BlackCrowe |
A man can get into an awful lot of trouble in Shanghai. Hope this helps. |  |
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| Beijing and Shanghai (Non QPR) on 15:21 - Mar 2 with 4181 views | MrSheen |
Based on my very limited experience I would say Shanghai is great fun Beijing is a dull dump. |  | | |
| Beijing and Shanghai (Non QPR) on 15:31 - Mar 2 with 4168 views | RangersDave |
Beijing, is very smoggy and almost unbearably so.
The forbidden city and tianamen square are interesting as are the bell towers.
Tours to Badaling for the Great Wall are cool, but the toboggan down from the wall even cooler and lots of fun.
However that's where the intesteting stuff finishes.
Shanghai has the Yangtze River, the Bund, a great shopping and night life quarter be a good German bar on the eastern side of the river ( use the not very cheap phsycodelic tube train).
I like Shanghai, it's good for museums and night time neon and if you want a real treat...... The airport to city maglev is it.
The fastest train the the world by some margin, costs about £4.00 and reaches 100km per hour before the platforms end.
I did the night train to Xian, to see the Terracotta Army which was nice too.( the army, not the train) |  |
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| Beijing and Shanghai (Non QPR) on 16:05 - Mar 2 with 4143 views | dsw2509 |
Been to both, but was 15 years ago.
Can't speak for the pollution in Beijing now,but at least the weather should be OK in April.
Otherwise;
Beijing-Forbidden City is amazing, and HUGE. It took us a whole day. Really worth it. The Summer Palace is pleasant (picnic in the grounds with everyone else if the weather is nice). They remind you that the Brits burned down the original in 1900. Another imperial misadventure. Didn't bother with Chairman Mao-huge queues. When we were there, there were two places to get a drink-either the Beijing Hotel (full of Swedes getting totally wrecked-their PM was on a visit), or-the Kings Arms in the grounds of the British Embassy! Is it still there? The Great Wall at Badaling (quite a long climb to the top, but a good view when you get there) and Ming Tombs is worth doing-a day trip. Book a taxi.
Shanghai-should be amazing now. They were just starting to build out the Pudong area when I was there. The Bund is nice and there is a great view across to Pudong. Try the Peace Hotel-is the 'original' jazz band still there? They were pretty ancient even then. Shanghainese food is great. Take your own chopsticks if you are brave enough for the street stalls. The ones they give aren't called 'hep sticks' for nothing. Nanjing Road makes Oxford Street look like a country lane.
Enjoy. | | | |
| Beijing and Shanghai (Non QPR) on 16:30 - Mar 2 with 4132 views | PlanetHonneywood |
Beijing - lot of China's history in and around the capital. But whatever you decide to do, go early in the day and beat the crowds - you can sheer-sheer me later!
1. Forbidden City - Don't care what time it opens, get in there at that time. You'll have about two/three hours to yourself and by the time you leave, it will be like Heathrow during flight delays!
2. Tianamen Sq - close by and worth a look. Packed with security police and if you avoid the metal detectors, expect some huge lump to shout at you. Chairman Mao's embalmed body and some museums to check out.
3. GWoC - If possible, and they do make it hard, try go independently or with a well researched tour. If you go on a tour, then anything that says jade/silk museum will inevitably be gash and you'll see precious little wall compared to being sold too! They take you to a place on the wall I think, called Bedelin. This is a shockingly poor theme park. So if you just want to see/walk the wall and not see mistreated pandas, avoid the theme park!
4. Football - I went to a game, so go now if its their season as its funny. 'The word 'shabby' means 'c..t' I didn't know and joined in with the locals much to their amusement. Got back to my hotel and asked the concierge in front of several people 'what did shabby mean?' Oh how we laughed.
Other than that, it is a bit sanitized but if possible, go meander in a hutong before they go altogether. I can't recall the name of the place, can look, but if you like Peking Duck, there is a tremendous restaurant close to T Sq.
Train or fly to Shanghai - All depends how much time you have, but I trained it. Marvelous experience, but don't slum it in the peanut gallery, a first class berth was really cheap compared o the UK. Took the best part of a day as I recall. Their airports/internal flights were quick and efficient. But look to buy/arrange tickets here before you go! If you go by train, don't be surprised by the packed/manic stations at either side. If you arrive early morning, then cabs can be an issue.
2. Shanghai - the pudong had a million farmers toiling it until Deng Xiao Ping said, move. More vibrant city and had a big western influence. I was staying friends there so was more interested in lardying it up, then hunting the quintessential essence of the city! But huge skyscrappers taking over and becoming just another big nondescript Asian high rise! |  |
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| Beijing and Shanghai (Non QPR) on 21:52 - Mar 2 with 4068 views | RangersDave |
The Great Wall at Badaling has a cable car up there now mate, with personal toboggans down a track coming down.
I think the problem there is you don't realise just how steep it is to go from guard tower to guard tower on the wall. | |
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| Beijing and Shanghai (Non QPR) on 00:46 - Mar 3 with 4020 views | FDC |
Shanghai: the French quarter is surprisingly pretty, with some nice restaurants and bars. And the proppganda museum is well worth a visit if that's your kind of thing. Not easy to find mind you, it's in the basement of someone's house. |  | | |
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| Beijing and Shanghai (Non QPR) on 10:19 - Mar 3 with 3929 views | Isleworthranger |
Many thanks for all the valuable advice
Passport was on the mat when I got home yesterday complete with Visa this time but was charged £175 and that was through the Enbassy and not even an agent ! | | | |
| Beijing and Shanghai (Non QPR) on 10:55 - Mar 3 with 3909 views | HantsR |
Haven't been to either, may yet do, but watching the last episode of 'One Child' yesterday, it didn't reflect well on the politics, police and administration. |  | | |
| Beijing and Shanghai (Non QPR) on 14:44 - Mar 3 with 3843 views | enfieldargh |
| Beijing and Shanghai (Non QPR) on 10:55 - Mar 3 by HantsR |
Haven't been to either, may yet do, but watching the last episode of 'One Child' yesterday, it didn't reflect well on the politics, police and administration. |
Great Wall
I went about 20 years ago with a local who bribed a security guard to let us in at 5AM.
Had the whole part of the wall to ourselves going up, coming back down was like Oxford Street but full of Chinese. My worst nightmare.
Forbidden City is great but I did all that 20 years or so ago so probably things are a lot better I imagine you can use/show your camera...couldnt back then without plod tut tutting you.
I did go to Quanjude Peking Duck restaurant which is famous for President Bush having eaten there.
Sadly for me the best part of China is passport control out of there. |  |
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| Beijing and Shanghai (Non QPR) on 18:10 - Mar 31 with 3683 views | TacticalR |
I visited Beijing pretty much every year between 2001 and 2007 as a friend of mine was running a Latin club there.
Although this was prior to the 2008 Olympics the pace of development was already picking up and whole neighbourhoods were being demolished. In one case what had been a narrow alleyway where old men played chess had become a six-lane road when I came back the following year.
A lot of hotels in Beijing are pretty similar. If you want to stay in a traditional Chinese building there are some older hotels like the Lusong Yuan Hotel in the hutong (alleyway) area in the Dongcheng district.
http://www.agoda.com/lu-song-yuan-hotel/hotel/beijing-cn.html
I didn't really spend much time at the tourist sites, I just used to like walking around the streets, especially the alleyway area west of Jiaodaokou South Street.
The Maoists demolished the Beijing city walls in the 1960s - all that remains are the big gates such as Qianmen (on the south side of Tiananmen Square) that were once part of the city walls.
I really recommend Tiantan (Temple of Heaven) Park. Like Holland Park it's a bit of an oasis in a busy city.
It's also worth visiting Wangfujing Street, which used to be one of the main shopping streets, although it's been a bit overshadowed by numerous new malls in the city.
If you are getting a taxi it really helps to have a few words of Chinese to say where you are going (or at least be able to point to the right place on a map). The taxi drivers were supposed to learn 100 words of English before the Olympics, but I don't know if that actually happened.
My impression was that most Chinese do not have the reverential attitude to the past that is prevalent in Britain, which is paradoxical as a lot of foreigners go to China to see ancient monuments.
For some reason I never really took to Shanghai. The last time I was there the temperature was 40 degrees. Even though the pace of development was faster than in Beijing, the city centre didn't seem to be organised for the sheer volume of people living there. The Bund was influenced by foreign styles of the 1930s, just as today's building is influenced by Singapore-style Asian modernity. The Shanghai Museum is worth a visit. |  |
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