It was on the last week of October when my friend and I decided to visit Beijing and the Great Wall of China.
My flight was in the evening and I arrived at Beijing Capital International Airport, Terminal 2 at probably 1am. I waited for my friend to arrive because she will be coming from Singapore and will be arriving at around 6:30am in terminal 1. I rode a free shuttle bus from terminal 2 to 1. I waited for her arrival at Starbucks coffee inside the airport and watched the movies that I download at home. In China, most of the social media are blocked. I can only access yahoo mail through internet explorer, the other sites are not working.
After my friend arrived, we headed to the train station so we could go to our temporary place to stay which is the "dragon king hostel". It was a spacious room good for two people. The linens are big and clean. The bathroom are clean and spacious too. The room rate is PHP 1500-1700 per night. We stayed for 4 nights in the said hostel. We were satisfied with the amenities and location.
Travelling to Beijing during Autumn season requires visitors to bring clothes that will help you keep warm. The temperature when we arrived dropped to 6 degrees celsius. Good thing, me and my friend are prepared for the very cool climate.
On our First Day, we visited Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City (Entrance Fee= CNY 40), and Jingshan Park (Entrance Fee= 2 CNY). At night, we went window shopping and food tripping at Wangfujing. This is the place where you will see some of the exotic street foods of Beijing like the scorpions which we didn't tried. Before sleeping, we drunk a bottle of beer at Lee's cafe which is inside our hostel. Beer prices are reasonable.
On our Second Day, we woke up early, prepare ourselves and have a heavy breakfast for we are about to climb "The Great Wall". It was confusing when we took off at the train station because there were signs in Chinese characters that we cannot understand. There were also some contractors along the sidewalk who will offer you a transportation going to the Great Wall but it is too pricey. We continue to walk for about 5-10 minutes from the train station. And there we found the bus terminal going to the Great Wall of China in Badaling. The Bus number is 877 which you will find in a parking lot a few blocks from the train station near it. The price of the transportation if by cash is 12RMB and if using a smart card, it is 5RMB. The is an entrance fee of 45CNY/RMB and a discount for senior citizens and students, too bad me and my friend are already working.
We enjoyed every scenic view while climbing the Great wall. It was really worthy once you reach the top.
We decided to have a few shopping at Sanlitun Mall and ate our shabu-shabu dinner there too. Afterwards, we roamed around the area and decided to have a few drinks at one of the Sanlitun pub nearby. We went home late, no more buses along the way so we rode a taxi instead.
On our Third Day, we visited the Summer Palace and we payed 30CNY/RMB for the entrance fee. It was a place where you would see the beauty of nature when it changes its color. We appreciate the Fall season since we don't have it in the Philippines. Afterwards, we went to Sanlitun Yashow Clothing Market for some shopping. Then, dropped off to Nanluoguxiang Hutong for our dinner and a glass of beer.
On our Fourth Day, we roamed around zhangzizhonglu area and went back to Nanluoguxiang Hutong for a never ending shopping. This is the shopping area where you can find the cheapest things in Beijing. I bought my 10,500 MAH powerbank here for approximately 300 PHP. You can also find some food stalls and restaurants here as well as milk tea shops. At night, we ate dinner at Sijiminfu so we could taste the famous "peking duck" that is a must try when you are in Beijing. However, we waited for more than an hour for an available table.
After our dinner, we head back to the hostel to get my things and head to the airport for my midnight flight back to Manila. Good thing train station is still open until 11:30 pm.
