Beijing > Beijing Experience

Advantages: Very central to all tourist sites, tasty food, good transport
Disadvantages: Most people don't speak English, pollution

Overview I lived in Beijing for 8 years as a student studying at an international school. After arriving from Germany in January 2007, I was overwhelmed by the number of people, the size of the city, the language barrier and the pollution caused by cars, construction sites, factories etc. The city has come a long way and after deciding to rewrite my article, I hope I can describe some of the things that make it so good. Finances Plane tickets to ...
...can range from GBP 300 to GBP 700 for a return economy class ticket, either direct or via transfer (I have flown Air France, Lufthansa, Finnair, Austrian Airlines and Air China before). The exchange rate from the pound to the Yuan is 1;15, meaning that you approximately get 15 RMB (Yuan) for 1 pound. To save you finding a place to stay, book a hotel through a travel agent or so, 5* hotels like the Hilton, Kempinski or Sheraton should be around 65-80 ... Read review

Advantages: Once in a lifetime experience
Disadvantages: Touts and the need to avoid stairs after!

The Great Wall of China -have you heard of it?! I'd love to meet people who haven't - that really would be a rarity in this day and age hey?! It has been listed in the World Heritage by UNESCO since 1987, along with other sites as the Summer Palace in Beijing, the Tower of London in London, England, the Statue of Liberty in the States, Lake Baikal, Irkutz, Russia to name but a few. The Great Wall winds up and down across grasslands, deserts and even ...
...it has been associated with the tyranny of the First Emperor of the Ch'in Dynasty. Despite these sacrifices, the poor Great Wall is unfortunately no longer at its best, some places in ruins or even completely disappeared, due to erosion, villagers looting stones for construction, graffiti and vandalism however when you're over two thousand years old you have your excuses! come on! It's an estimated six thousand seven hundred kilometres (four thousand ... Read review

Advantages: Great people, fabulous food
Disadvantages: Pollution levels high, extremes of temperature

...the Lonely Planet Guide to China - I think there is even one that concentrates on Beijing - this provides invaluable information on places to viist, how to get around the city and has a language guide for emergencies. Getting there A number of airlines fly to Beijing. I recommend Air China, which is cheap, clean and direct. BA is frankly over-priced and Virgin Atlantic flies only to Shanghai. Shop around, prices can vary enormously from travel agent ...
...people come back from China complaining about the food.The trouble is that most people visit Beijing as part of a tour and therefore have to rely on their guides for food. Certain restaurants are targetted for tourists and unfortunately tend to provide banquet-style food as a mark of respect. Banquet-style food usually includes unusual dishes that don't really suit the western palate, such as chicken's feet and pig's trotters. Everyday Chinese food ... Read review

Advantages: greates square on earth
Disadvantages: great crime happend there 1989

Place of heavenly peace ... thats the english meaning of Tiananmen. It's kind of ironic that the place, where thousands of peacefull students died in the upset of 1989 has this name. Can we ever forget this pictures? As if I hear the words "Vietnam" or "Korea" I have to think of crying children with burned skin, thanks to US-american napalm, so if I hear "Tiananmen" I have to think of a lonly student in a white shirt, staying in front of 4 tanks. ...
...also visited this place. It was a strange feeling. Me, grown up in the communistic part of Germany, faced with one of the greates crimes in communistic history. http://www.christusrex.org/www1/sdc/tiananmen.html But the people here in Beijing, whats about them? They are trying to forget. As US-americans are trying to forget their crueleties in vietnam and Britains are trying to forget the bombing of non-military Dresden on 14th february 1945 (killing ... Read review

Advantages: See the history, experience the wonder
Disadvantages: none

...in orderly fashion around the Summer Palace, near Beijing in China. This was the first time I realised we were foreigners in their country. The little ones, were very amused at our small party of three Kiwi's (New Zealanders) and they showed us in no uncertain terms that we were a bit of a rarity when we visited, to learn more about their Chinese rulers' way of life. The Summer Palace is an attraction where being fit and able to walk long distances ...
...Hearing the names of the Summer Palace, Imperial Garden's features is enough to describe this beautiful world-remown park: Tower of Buddhist Incence, Hall of Benevolence and Longevity Hill. The day we visited there were many thousands of Chinese people walking around, just like us, seeing how the Chinese rulers since the Liao dynasty have enjoyed their summer breaks in peace and tranquility. The buildings are just outstandingly beautiful, with ... Read review