Advantages: spacious, well organized, hospitality Disadvantages: far away
I have been in Beijing in April 2008 on a business trip. I spent over a year working in Beijing in 1995/1996. This was my first visit to Beijing after that and I was excited and apprehensive at the same time.
During my first stay I have been at the Beijing airport very often - waiting for friends or colleagues or travelling myself. The picture which was stuck in my head was of the sea of taxi cars, yellow and red taxis, perfectly lined in a huge queue covering vast parking space in front of the airport. I never saw so many cars in one place.
On my come back, as I was putting the first shaky step on the Chinese ground after the long trip, the very first thing I saw was my name written on the panel which was in the hands of a beautiful Chinese girl. After the first shock I noticed that there are few more girls with passengers' names ...
Advantages: Beautiful buildings and a look at life for many ordinary citizens of Beijing Disadvantages: Can be busy and cramped
A hutong is an ancient alleyway or lane found in Beijing which can date back as far as the Yuan dynasty of China in the 13th century. The crisscrossing alleys can now offer a glimpse of another part of this ancient city that is quite different to the major attractions such as the Summer Palace or the Forbidden City.
The tiny, twisted and interconnected lanes wind through whole areas of the city of Beijing. The lanes are lined with traditional stone houses all arranged in quadrangles, so four houses around a courtyard, which are beautiful old fashioned buildings. They often involve carved pillars, window frames and doors and the open spaces of the courtyard lets in air and light to otherwise quite cramped areas-some of the lanes really are tiny with less than a metre of breadth. Most of the hutongs are still used as housing and are ...
flyingllamas 07.08.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Hutongs, Beijing
Advantages: Cheap, with helpful staff Disadvantages: pricy food (compared to outside of hostel),
I am back again, writing from the East! I write this while still at the hostel, while I wait for a train to Shanghai this evening. We checked out before 12 so effectively my experience of the place is complete. They are storing our bags and allowing us to use the communal facilities as we wait.
We booked our holiday to China in November, planning to go to Chengdu to visit a school friend of mine. She told us she would scope out the local hostels for us and that there was a chance we could stay in her friends flat instead. Then the earthquake hit Sichuan, and our holiday looked like it was going to be cancelled. We decided to change our destination to Beijing instead, and my friend came to join us. She recommended the hostel that she had stayed in on her last visit and it looked nice enough online, so she booked it for us a couple ...
