Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mulligc3]

Which one would you recommend?
Beijing has the Great wall but meant to be freezing.
I've heard Shanghai is meant to be great though.
Any advice for Winter holidays, just for 3-4 days?

[jmuns]

go to beijing. there is so much more to do and see. it will be colder though, and most of, or all, the things you will want to check out in beijing are outside. so if you absolutely hate the cold beijing might not be the best choice for you. either way you can easily spend 3-4 days in both cities and not run out of things to do.

[waynehead]

Beijing. It will be freezing, but it's worth it.

[bbb0777]

Agreed. Shanghai is interesting and worth visiting, but Beijing is possibly the best city (as a tourist!) I've ever visited. So many worthwhile things to see. It will be bitterly cold though.

I suppose Shanghai is about as interesting as maybe...Taipei, if you've ever been. A little more interesting than Seoul, but only a little. It's good and worthwhile, but not amazing as a destination. Beijing is more on par with Paris/Tokyo/London/etc., and I think may be my favorite visit out of that set.

Ideally - plan ahead for what you want to see/how to get to it, as there's really a lot to cover. For instance, so many visit without realizing you can see Mao's pickled corpse...eat scorpions and seahorsies...see the rather pretty remains of the old summer palace that has been converted into a park...eat a world-ish class $12 dinner, etc.

[waynehead]

Beijing is basically the first stop any tourist in Asia should make, IMO, ahead of Tokyo, Thailand, India. Like the previous poster said, Shanghai is sorta like Seoul, just a little hipper. Beijing is worlds apart.

[tzechuk]

I've been to Beijnig 6 times, vs. once to Shanghai.

And I still haven't seen all of Beijing.. doesn't help that each time I went I had something going on, relatives to see, which ate into my sightseeing and shopping time!!!

[bbb0777]

Oh, and throwing this out there - Shanghai is and looks richer/more modern. It does have that going for it (I mean, if you compare the business districts - it's really no comparison). Aside from that though, again - Beijing is much more interesting. Definitely visit both at some point, but Beijing should be first priority.

I mostly agree with the previous poster - though to me, Beijing/Tokyo should be the first stops on any trip to Asia (equally ranked). Splitting hairs at this point though. Either way, - as everyone says - yes, Beijing is a lot cooler, even if er...colder now, and not as wealthy. Both cities have ridiculously inexpensive/good taxis too (assuming you have your destination written in Chinese), especially if you're traveling with a friend. No haggling in my experiences, nor much prompting to turn on the meter (did it once I think? Unsure if it was even necessary). In Beijing - my friend and I just used the taxis, no subway - as it was faster and as such we could see many more sights, plus the city out the windows.

Also- I'd recommend the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall (this is based only on research - I have only visited this section). As it's almost as close as the nearest section (Badaling), yet far less tourists (I read, and certainly it wasn't crowded at all, even by western standards), much prettier surroundings (or so it seems), plus an odd ~3 minute toboggan ride down off the hill which is strange...but very fun. Also a nice section at the end where they haven't restored it and it becomes a pile of very old pieces of the great wall that extend over the hill and I believe for quite some ways. Which...you could go into for souvenirs, if you're a bad person like I am, that is.


http://wikitravel.org/en/Great_wall_of_china