Beijing Travel Pointers

Beijing, called Peking earlier, is believed to be about 3000 years old. But a casual round of the city does not indicate its age at all. The skyscrapers in the Central Business District rival those in the West with few having very unique designs like the CCTV headquarters. More modern than ancient I thought. But there are quite a few ancient monuments in and around Beijing.

So what is unique about China?

China is home to ~55 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the only country other than Italy with over 50 such Heritage Sites. In Beijing or very close to Beijing, there are 7 such sites with few more within a day’s journey from Beijing.

When I first travelled to China in 2005, its GDP was less than USD 3 trillion. In 2020, China’s GDP was a massive USD 15 trillion. The change is all too obvious in the 3 cities I have travelled to in China – Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzen. I am omitting Hong Kong as it was already a ‘developed’ city.

Transfers from Beijing airport

Beijing is served by two airports, the older Beijing Capital International Airport(PEK) and the new swanky star shaped airport, Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX) that was opened in September 2019. Many international flights are expected to move to PKX over a period of time. Do check which airport you are flying to as PEK is located about 30kms away from the city centre while PKX is over 45 kms from city centre in a different direction.

From PEK, there are plenty of options to commute to your hotel but I chose the option that is most convenient and not at all expensive – the airport taxi! Sure, it took over 45 minutes to get to my hotel in Central Beijing but I paid ~INR 1500. The driver understood very limited English and for reason that I could not fathom, unsure of how to get to the hotel. Even though it happened to be a well known international brand. I had no choice but to use the data connection for few minutes on international roaming. That cost me almost a third of the normal taxi fare!

The more expensive option is to arrange a private transfer.

Just for the record, other options include Airport Express Train and the Airport Shuttle, both of which will most likely require change of metro lines or taking a taxi for the last mile to the hotel.

DiDi, the local Uber, is also available.

Commuting in Beijing

Taxis are a good option provided you carry the names of the destination in Chinese language to show to the driver. And carry sufficient change. For foreigners, they don’t always want to come by meter and I had to bargain on the price. Good thing is it happened before the ride! Conversations with taxi drivers certainly improved my ability of using visual gestures and signs!

For couple of days, I chose the slightly more expensive option of renting a car for sheer convenience.

I did not use the Metro as there was no need, but I was told there are signages in english and the ticket vending machines too have english option. The general advice was it is quite easy to navigate. But I was warned to avoid rush hours in the mornings and evenings.

Then there is Didi for those who are willing to download the app. The app has an english interface and payment can also be made with registered foreign credit card. But data connection would be required.

Where to stay

For tourists, Central Beijing is best. I chose to stay in Wangfujing as it is close to Forbidden Palace and offers choice of international hotels. Plus the area is good for shopping with Wangfujing shopping street being famous all over China and more importantly, there are quite a few restaurants serving international cuisine. Qianmen area too is good for similar reasons though with limited choice of hotels and is located to the south of Forbidden Palace. Closer to Temple of Heaven. Wangfujing hotels are expensive but very convenient for first time visitors.

Communication

On the communication front, there are few matters to be aware of before travelling to China.

All websites are not accessible

-Wi-fi at hotels is normally free but all websites on the internet cannot be accessed. As a tourist, some of the tourism related sites I could access from India could not be accessed from Beijing. So do as much research as possible before travel. And save pages rather than links!

-Google is banned and I could not access Gmail.

-Skype quality was very poor.

-Whatsapp is banned.

-Those of you who love to post on social media on a real time basis, Facebook and Instagram are not accessible.

I have read that with a VPN connection(server located outside China), it is possible to bypass the Chinese restrictions. For a tourist on a short visit, this is not really necessary.

Another option is to take a local SIM but I preferred to rely on the international roaming pack from my Indian telecom service provider.

English is not widely understood

Make sure you carry hotel key card holder that has the hotel address in Chinese. If using taxis, get names of destinations written down in Chinese. While one can get along in Beijing, there will be few challenges when shopping or dining or commuting.

All the above may seem like a lot of restrictions but I loved the idea of travelling in China like it used to be in the good old days – with bag full of brochures and maps!

Vegetarian food

Chinese food is largely meat based. Vegetarian food is available but how would you feel like eating Lily bulb or lotus root or seaweed or bamboo? Most commonly eaten plants in China are kind of exotic and perhaps worth tasting along with noodles or rice but the language barrier will prevent you from walking into most of the restaurants and ordering 100% vegetarian dishes.

The Chinese food is actually healthy but tastes very different from the ‘Indian’ Chinese that I am so used to in India. I hardly spotted any ‘Subway’ but there are few Indian restaurants especially in Chaoyang area. Here, I happened to visit a big shopping mall called The Place, that had a large overhead LED screen with interesting displays, very much like what I had seen in San Francisco. And there is variety of international cuisine available, including Indian cuisine.

I chose to stay in a hotel that served international cuisine and that actually turned out to be a good choice! The breakfast buffet was elaborate enough for me to sample several Chinese dishes.

When travelling out of Beijing, carry water, beverages and snacks unless you are on a guided tour.

Overall cost

Relatively expensive accommodation and vegetarian food

Beijing is a relatively expensive city in China. Hotels, especially in Central Beijing, are quite expensive. A four star accommodation can cost up to INR15k per night. Several 5 star hotels cost well over INR 20k per night. Check out few of the Accor group hotel properties for relatively reasonable priced accommodation.

Local commuting does not cost much, even if you use taxis. A 6 hour trip to Mutianyu cost me ~INR10k. The rates will vary depending on the make of the vehicle. For local sightseeing, a car with driver can be hired for under INR 10k. If you prefer the Metro, the cost is miniscule.

Vegetarian food for a couple in a decent mid sized restaurants can cost ~INR 1.5k. Some Indian restaurants can be even more expensive. Fast food will cost less but it not easy for vegetarians.

Entry fee at most places of attraction ranges up to 50 Yuan or INR 550. The Qing tombs cost over 100 Yuan. There will be additional fees for optionals such as cable car at Mutianyu(~INR 1300 for return) or the Marco Polo bridge at Summer Palace. Summer and winter rates normally vary, as also the timings. Budget about 300 Yuan(~INR 3300) per person at the minimum.

For 3N, 4D, a couple will have to overall budget for ~ INR75. This excludes cost of travel into Beijing.

When to visit Beijing

April to October is the busy season. November to March is winter and can get very cold with light snowfall. July and August is the summer holidays in China and would be better to avoid. But if you can manage with a bit of cold weather, November or second half of February to March can be a good time. This way, you will also avoid the Chinese new year, around late January to early February.

The alternative is April and May when the maximum temperatures will be around 30 degrees celsius.

I visited in mid February when there was light snowfall on couple of days. But the sky is generally cloudy.

How many days?

3-5 days is ideal. You can even squeeze in a long day trip if you stay for 4-5 days.

Shopping

If you are looking for a souvenir, you will be spoilt for choice. Ivory carvings, Jade articles, ceramics, silk, lacquer carvings, painted snuff glass bottles, antiques and what not. Panjiayuan is the largest antiques market in China but don’t bother to go if all you are looking to buy is a couple of souvenirs. Unless you are a compulsive window shopper!

There are some lovely tea pots available but they take up space and are fragile. I settled for the next best option – Chinese tea leaves!

The variety of stuff sold by smaller retail shops, whether inside or outside malls, is just amazing. For example, I purchased a beautiful pedicure set, a camera bag, couple of electronic items and a fake Louis Vuitton bag.

Be aware of fake stuff

Be aware that lot of branded stuff can be fakes though they look good! Quality will be poor. So make sure you bargain well, with the knowledge that what you are looking to buy is not the original. If you want the originals, go to branded stores.

China manufactures humongous variety of items but many of the items that I could buy in India are simply not available here. Or maybe I was not looking at the right places. In any case, shopping will be difficult without local support.

I shopped in Wangfujin street, close to my hotel.

The LED screen at The Place, Beijing, China — Shopping in Wangfujing, Beijing, China

Visa

Indian passport holders require a prior visa. Best to apply through a travel agent but if you live in New Delhi or Mumbai or Kolkata, you could consider applying directly to the Chinese Visa Application Centre. Standard set of documents are required and the processing time is about a week.

Note that the requirements and process vary for regions within China such Mainland China, Tibet, Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

Currency

The Chinese currency is Renminbi(RMB) divided into units called Yuan(¥). Both are often used interchangeably. One Yuan is equal to little over 11 INR. ¥ 100 is equal to about USD 15.

RMB is available in India and hence it is better to carry RMB from India than carry dollars and exchange in Beijing. If you find you are short on Yuan, either use credit cards and if that is not acceptable(say when paying your guide), use a debit card to draw cash from ATMs.

Tipping

Tipping is normally not expected when dealing with locals. But at international hotels, tipping is expected.

Is Beijing worth visiting?

Yes. But combine Beijing with other places in China-maybe Shanghai, Xi’an, Hunan, Chengdu, Lhasa ……. Then there is Hong Kong and Macau. China is too big a country to see in one visit – unless that visit lasts over a month.

Be aware that almost all places of tourist attraction in Beijing will be crowded. That’s because of strong domestic tourism and Beijing receives over 300m domestic visitors in a year.