Korean Job Discussion Forums

[stevekor]

hey i've never been to Beijing before, does anyone have any recommendations to do while i'm there? Besides the very obvious things to see

[ttompatz]

[stevekor]

ya was hoping maybe for some good restaurant recommendations or day trips or bars

[ttompatz]

[definitely maybe]

Up until 2008, the last time I was there, Sanlitun was the best area to hit for drinking. The area around Hou Hail Lake to the west of the Forbidden City is an interesting spot as well. It's literally surrounded by bars. There are so many that finding a place that actually has more than a few people can be difficult.

[PigeonFart]

Don't fall for the Beijing 'Tea Scam'...

http://scams.wikispaces.com/Beijing+Tea+Scam

I couldn't walk up Wanfujing street in Beijing without people trying to befriend me every 5 minutes. It drove me mad. You will find it hard to get a moments peace. 99% of these "friendly" people are scam artists.

[interestedinhanguk]

[stevekor]

seriously...

[mm]

in between sanlitun and dongsishittiao subway station is the best restaurant ever. if you walk from dongsishitiao station towards sanlitun (on the same side of the street as the concert hall, across the street from workers stadium), turn left at the small street after the post office and you will find the best xinjiang restaurant in the world. i have dreams about that food. it is amazing. try the fried pancake with egg and vegetable, qie zi bao, chaun r, and pai huang guo. cheap food too.

[stevekor]

sweet i will thanks

[interestedinhanguk]

If you go to Mutianyu section of the great wall, take the wheeled toboggan. The wall is up on the mountain and you can take a cable car or ski lift up. You can take either of those down, but there's the third option of the wheeled toboggan on a slide It's totally out of place, but a lot of fun, and probably really dangerous. You can get going fast in some areas, such as the straightaway on a bridge (a wee bit scary for the faint of heart like me). It takes a few minutes twisting around down the mountain.

[mmstyle]

Do NOT go to the area of the wall closest to Beijing...it's a sea of people. As the above poster said, go to Mutianyu, and go on a week day like Wednesday, not nearly as busy. You want to see the wall, not the people. (This is assuming you do not have time to go the the third, rather distant site, which I did not see and haven't talked to anyone about).

What I wish I had done-the forbidden city BACKWARDS. The taxi drivers out the back entrance are all scammers. I could not find one that would use the meter....even though not using the meter is illegal. I think we ran into the same problem at the summer palace, but eventually we found someone who would use the meter.

[tukmax]

[JBomb]

Matianyu or whatever has a cool toboggan run down from the wall area. Also pretty quiet there. You can score cheap tours there from most hostels. You can also do a tour where you camp out on the wall over night as well. A friend of mine did it and said it was pretty cool. I also recommend renting bikes for the day. Really great way to tour the city as well as getting a good grasp of how truly insane the roads are.

[jomiro]

for partying:

workers stadium north gate (gongti bei men): two clubs. mix and vics

bar hopping: san dian san/ san li tun, or bar street (jiu ba jie)

food: beijing duck: da dong fangdian (best beijing duck, also most expensive). its in chao yang men and they just opened another restaurant. google for address to give to taxi driver.

pizza: krows nest (also gongti bei men, wudaokou and somewhere close to the summer palace)

good chinese food: dongzhi men wai da jie/ gui jie (or ghost street)

good chinese junk food: when ever you see a little food stand along the street and its food on a stick boiled in water, you should try it.
its called ma la tang and is just awesome. its super cheap, too.

foreign food in beijing: san li tun/ san dian san

korean food (in case you miss it): wu dao kou, backstreet behind the cinema as well as in the side alleys of the cinema.

sights have been discussed here widely. just avoid the ming tombs. they are boring and not worth spending the time or the money.
you should, actually must check out the summer palace. plan half a day for it, as its a huge place.
also, calculate that most sights close their doors at 5pm with the last ticket being sold at 4 or 430.

have fun!