Oakwood Apartments Beijing, Beijing

Hutongs of Beijing

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 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Hutongs, Beijing

A Beijing Bolthole

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 ...

fabulous_girl 07.06.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Red Lantern House, Beijing

A seek Peking to Beijing life

Advantages: world class attractions, Friendly people, amazing food
Disadvantages: n/a

I arrived into Beijing by train from Mongolia via the trans Siberian express, sadly we arrived just after the Olympics had finished last summer, but the weekend we arrived was a national holiday ? therefore there was lots going on. The train station we arrived was located in the middle of the city and was swarmed with thousands of people at the exit for international arrivals similar to that of a major airport and gave our first impression of the city. However this crowded mad city impression was forgotten after we arrived at our hotel near the lama temple was soon forgotten as the hotel was very nice and this was budget accommodation, but we had one of the best rooms we had around on our trip around the world. One thing that struck me instantly was that the smog that seems to plague the city was not as bad as I thought it would be, but ...

mtpatton 17.05.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of General: Beijing