We, 12 runners from the GVA marathon are in Beijing @ the end of July. Could anyone give us some advice on what do to in 3 days in Beijing? Where to stay? Should we be book the hotel from GVA, or do it when we arrive in Mongolia by mid July?
Looking forward to hearing from you, THANK YOU. :)
We, 12 runners from the GVA marathon are in Beijing @ the end of July. Could anyone give us some advice on what do to in 3 days in Beijing? Where to stay? Should we be book the hotel from GVA, or do it when we arrive in Mongolia by mid July?
Looking forward to hearing from you, THANK YOU. :)
SWISSApr 6, 2009 @ 17:56
It will be extremely hot in BJ during that time of the year. Please be prepared.
I was there briefly twice last year so all I can say is about hotels. Try Beijing International hotel. It is a 5* with reasonable price. Near Tian An Men and you can book it online just like booking hotels in any other countries.
Enjoy!
L
It will be extremely hot in BJ during that time of the year. Please be prepared.
I was there briefly twice last year so all I can say is about hotels. Try Beijing International hotel. It is a 5* with reasonable price. Near Tian An Men and you can book it online just like booking hotels in any other countries.
Enjoy!
L
leiyao, Apr 9, 2009 @ 02:19
I can't remember the good hotel I stayed at, if I get the name I will post, but I can let you know some places to avoid:
Don't stay at any of the hotels around the hard rock cafe. There is a lot of hotels here so won't go into the list, but check to see if they are near the hard rock, if they are then try an avoid as they are not in a good area and are too far from most things.
Also while the Shangri La hotel is great and sicne Google was paying for the suites even better, but was so far away from everything that made it a pain to get anywhere and since it was outside of the tourist area the stores/taxis never understood English.
You really just want to be within 5/10/15 minutes of walking distance to tin man square, thats the best bet, otherwise its random.
As for things to do, well there is a lot of things worth seeing, the first thing that is worth visiting is the greatwall, its a must but takes a good half day to go there and back.
I recommend going for a traditional Chinese tea ceremony, the art of drinking tea in China is interesting and some of the tea is amazing.
The different palaces are worth taking a look at, while I wasn't into them, they have a lot of history and you can spend a day visiting them.
There are some theater shows in Beijing that can fill up the evenings, check with your hotel as to what is one and they have, plus try and get a Peking duck dinner if you have time.
If you can, buy a talking dictionary, or if you have a Google Phone or a iPhone/Windows mobile phone then you can get free talking dictionaries for the phone. Some other phones support it, just need to google Chinese dictionary and the model of your phone. I recommend this as its hard to communicate and can save a lot of frustrations, unless you are going with a guided tour or have your own guide with you, if that's the case then your like me and just let the guide handle everything.
You will love Beijing, but if you do find that you have 1 day and don't know what to do I recommend an unusual day trip, which is to hop a flight early morning to Xi'an and take a tour there, which is of the terracotta soldiers. Its a very interesting site, but its a full day and need to ensure your flights get into Xi'an and back to Beijing, but its possible.
Enjoy the trip,
Stephen
I can't remember the good hotel I stayed at, if I get the name I will post, but I can let you know some places to avoid:
Don't stay at any of the hotels around the hard rock cafe. There is a lot of hotels here so won't go into the list, but check to see if they are near the hard rock, if they are then try an avoid as they are not in a good area and are too far from most things.
Also while the Shangri La hotel is great and sicne Google was paying for the suites even better, but was so far away from everything that made it a pain to get anywhere and since it was outside of the tourist area the stores/taxis never understood English.
You really just want to be within 5/10/15 minutes of walking distance to tin man square, thats the best bet, otherwise its random.
As for things to do, well there is a lot of things worth seeing, the first thing that is worth visiting is the greatwall, its a must but takes a good half day to go there and back.
I recommend going for a traditional Chinese tea ceremony, the art of drinking tea in China is interesting and some of the tea is amazing.
The different palaces are worth taking a look at, while I wasn't into them, they have a lot of history and you can spend a day visiting them.
There are some theater shows in Beijing that can fill up the evenings, check with your hotel as to what is one and they have, plus try and get a Peking duck dinner if you have time.
If you can, buy a talking dictionary, or if you have a Google Phone or a iPhone/Windows mobile phone then you can get free talking dictionaries for the phone. Some other phones support it, just need to google Chinese dictionary and the model of your phone. I recommend this as its hard to communicate and can save a lot of frustrations, unless you are going with a guided tour or have your own guide with you, if that's the case then your like me and just let the guide handle everything.
You will love Beijing, but if you do find that you have 1 day and don't know what to do I recommend an unusual day trip, which is to hop a flight early morning to Xi'an and take a tour there, which is of the terracotta soldiers. Its a very interesting site, but its a full day and need to ensure your flights get into Xi'an and back to Beijing, but its possible.
Enjoy the trip,
Stephen
Canadian, Apr 9, 2009 @ 18:58
