Am sharing our free&easy itinerary with you guys!
Day 1: 4th Jan, Wed
Met Lard at Beijing Capital Airport, and we took the Airport Express Train (25 RMB) to get to the other mrt lines. Be prepared to carry your luggage as there are usually no escalators/elevators at mrt stations!
Check into hotel: Novotel Beijing Xin Qiao
Address: 1 Chong Wen Men Xi Da Jie
Chong Wen Men station CWM. either Exit A or B is convenient.
From Beijing Railway Station take bus 9 or 744 just one stop to Chong Wen Men bus station
Would recommend Novotel as its conveniently located outside the mrt station, and its very accessible to the different attractions in Beijing. Rates are around S$60-90 per night.
Also, for those who plan to go free&easy, do get a refillable blue magnetic card (RMB20 deposit) to travel on the mrt!
(i) Wangfujin Night Market (5.30-10pm)
Subway: Wangfujin
Wangfujin was about 20mins slow walk from Novotel, do go there early to ogle at Beijing street food.
Day 2: 5th Jan, Thurs
(i) Temple of Heaven Park (8am - 5pm)
Subway: Tian Tan Dong Men
Admission to temple: RMB35; Admission to park: RMB15
(ii) Tian'an Men Square
(iii) Forbidden City 8.30-430am (RMB40)
Subway: Tian-an Men East/West
故宫 is very beautiful, much prefer it to Korea's GyeongBok P
故宫 is very beautiful, much prefer it to Korea's GyeongBok P
alace. It invokes of the Chinese drama 步步惊心, love that show!
in the evening, with fewer tourists, and the high walls surrounding, you cant help but feel lonely and sad, my emo moment...Dinnered with Mrs Liu's husband 夏先生
(i) Great Wall: Beijing to Badaling by train (RMB40)
Day 3: 6th Jan, Fri
We were contemplated on joining the hotel day tour to Great Wall, but heck, we decided to go via train
Do double-check the train times using www.cnvol.com. The final destination of these trains is Yanqing, 1 stop beyond Badaling.
Fare: 6 RMB each way
How to buy tickets: No reservation is necessary, simply turn up at Beijing North station and buy a ticket at the upstairs ticket office, not the downstairs one. Then head for the platforms through the ticket check and hop on the next train. Buying tickets is normally fairly easy, you are given a ticket with 'S2' printed on it and you can use this on any train with a train number beginning 'S2'. You can easily buy your ticket back to Beijing when you get to Badaling.
Beijing North station is at metro stop Xizhimen on metro lines 2 & 4. On exiting the metro follow signs in English to Beijing North Station, and look for the upstairs ticket office, window 8.
Badaling station: On arrival at Badaling station, leave the station and turn left and walk up the hill, following everyone else. The Great Wall ticket office is about 800m away on the right, you can't miss it. Entrance fee is around RMB 45 (£4.50 or $7.50). Signs are in English, no guide is required.
Though we were discouraged from climbing Great Wall during winter, but God bless us with sunny weather, so we did sweat a little while climbing!
We saw a similar-Luge-like coaster, and being playful kids, we descended the Great Wall via the Luge, happily walking through the Bear Park, not knowing that we have ended up on the other side of the Great Wall...
Option 1: take the Luge up and climbed down where we started off
Option 2: took a touter's car ride to the train station
Decision: Option 2, same cost without needing to climb down again! haha
(ii) Olympic Sports Center (Subway Green Line)
Day 4: 7th Jan, Sat
Do double-check the train times using www.cnvol.com. The final destination of these trains is Yanqing, 1 stop beyond Badaling.
Fare: 6 RMB each way
How to buy tickets: No reservation is necessary, simply turn up at Beijing North station and buy a ticket at the upstairs ticket office, not the downstairs one. Then head for the platforms through the ticket check and hop on the next train. Buying tickets is normally fairly easy, you are given a ticket with 'S2' printed on it and you can use this on any train with a train number beginning 'S2'. You can easily buy your ticket back to Beijing when you get to Badaling.
Beijing North station is at metro stop Xizhimen on metro lines 2 & 4. On exiting the metro follow signs in English to Beijing North Station, and look for the upstairs ticket office, window 8.
Badaling station: On arrival at Badaling station, leave the station and turn left and walk up the hill, following everyone else. The Great Wall ticket office is about 800m away on the right, you can't miss it. Entrance fee is around RMB 45 (£4.50 or $7.50). Signs are in English, no guide is required.
Though we were discouraged from climbing Great Wall during winter, but God bless us with sunny weather, so we did sweat a little while climbing!
We saw a similar-Luge-like coaster, and being playful kids, we descended the Great Wall via the Luge, happily walking through the Bear Park, not knowing that we have ended up on the other side of the Great Wall...Option 1: take the Luge up and climbed down where we started off
Option 2: took a touter's car ride to the train station
Decision: Option 2, same cost without needing to climb down again! haha
(ii) Olympic Sports Center (Subway Green Line)
Day 4: 7th Jan, Sat
(i) Hou Hai
Subway: Gulou Dajie or Jishuitan
We took a rickshaw and even visited the interior of a hutong
(ii) 798 Art District, 1030-730pm daily
4 Jiu Xian Qiao Lu, Chaoyang District
Subway: Dongzhimen, then take bus 401
Students get to visit UCCA for free. Though UCCA accepted Lard's SMU student card,they did not accept my NTU student card as they require the date of enrolment, so NTU please add this to our cards!
(iii) QuanJuDe Peking Duck
Subway: Qianmen
Subway: Gulou Dajie or Jishuitan
We took a rickshaw and even visited the interior of a hutong
(ii) 798 Art District, 1030-730pm daily
4 Jiu Xian Qiao Lu, Chaoyang District
Subway: Dongzhimen, then take bus 401
Students get to visit UCCA for free. Though UCCA accepted Lard's SMU student card,they did not accept my NTU student card as they require the date of enrolment, so NTU please add this to our cards!
(iii) QuanJuDe Peking Duck
Subway: Qianmen
For our last dinner in Beijing, Lard treated me to QuanJuDe Peking Duck! We ordered half a duck, beef hotplate and veg with mushrooms (the portion is huge!), which came up to about 350 RMB ++ for two of us.
There are also recommendations to go DaDong for good Peking Duck.
Day 5: 8th Jan, Sun
I had to part ways with poor Lard, but will see him soon when I return in June!
We really enjoyed ourselves and its really easy to travel around Beijing on our own! I did wish we could have visited the Summer Palace, but it seemed pretty ironic to have visited during winter when it clearly states SUMMER!
My only dislike is Beijing air, it is really dirty as I coughed out colored phlegm! Do get masks or if you are vain like me, wrap your scarf around your face!
Also my uncle recommended Tian He Liang Zi Foot Massage, located at Chaoyang, Jianguomen Outer Street, 金之桥大厦, +86 10 6507 9285 (Subway: Yong An Li) for those who want to pamper themselves with a good foot massage!
There are also recommendations to go DaDong for good Peking Duck.
Day 5: 8th Jan, Sun
I had to part ways with poor Lard, but will see him soon when I return in June!
We really enjoyed ourselves and its really easy to travel around Beijing on our own! I did wish we could have visited the Summer Palace, but it seemed pretty ironic to have visited during winter when it clearly states SUMMER!
My only dislike is Beijing air, it is really dirty as I coughed out colored phlegm! Do get masks or if you are vain like me, wrap your scarf around your face!
Also my uncle recommended Tian He Liang Zi Foot Massage, located at Chaoyang, Jianguomen Outer Street, 金之桥大厦, +86 10 6507 9285 (Subway: Yong An Li) for those who want to pamper themselves with a good foot massage!
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Heehee, really like your blog title "The Traveller's Daughter"...maybe in the near future, I can start one on "The Traveller", haha!
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