Beijing is not a tourist-friendly city - Part 3

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Nov 162009

The last thing that we did was sight-seeing, of course. We went to the Great Wall – Badaling, South LuoGu Lane, Tiananmen Square, Bird’s nest and the Olympic park, and also Tianjian via the express train.

The Great Wall – Badaling - nothing to pick on. I am so proud of what our ancestors have left us. However, there were still tourists spitting everywhere, even from high above. So beware! I did take a very funky picture with some other tourists – we all leaned back in this picture, it was tough! Check it out!
Crazy picture at the Great Wall



South LuoGu Lane – I was told to visit here. It is the best preserved lanes of old Beijing. The preservation idea was good but I don’t think it was done properly. South LuoGu Lane - 2South LuoGu Lane - 1 The entire district is now commericalized, with building fronts greatly altered, so a large part of originality is lost. Nevertheless, it was a good leisure walk inside the humming and buzzing right in the city center.






We went to the Tiananmen Square to watch the lowering of the national flag. Obviously, it was not as emotional as the raising ceremony. But watching the soldiers marched across the Chang An street when all the traffic was stopped. It was quite interesting.Tiananmen Square

Posted by Ada at 12:46 pm Tagged with: , , , ,

Beijing is not a tourist-friendly city - Part 1

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Nov 022009

This is a reflection of what I have gathered after visiting Beijing.

Airport
When we first stepped into the Beijing International Airport, its size certainly amazes me. Unfortunately, that was also it. I actually felt the airport conveys a coldness to its visitors. Lights were turned off to preserve electricity; so the airport was kind of dark. Also, the little amount of skylight was not of much help. Line-ups were not too bad since there weren’t many arrivals, but the line-ups for health check was quite messy and unclear, with signs only and not many personnel helping. Customs and immigration were both good, but as expected – cold. Once we got out, we tried to find tourists information: useless!!! I found a spot that says “Tourist Information.” However, all the assistance I have got was they tried to scam me into a taxi ride to the hotel for RMB350, without much explanation. There was no map of Beijing available. No help whatsoever, greatly disappointed! Anyway, we have decided to take a real taxi instead – wise choice of ours, since the ride only cost us RMB95. What a rip-off the so-called tourist information was trying on us. I got a very bad first impression of the city already.

Hotel
We stayed at a business hotel right on the fourth ring. The front desk is absolutely useless. The girls didn’t even know how far the closest subway station is! We had to ask for direction while we walked down the street. Moreover, they don’t really speak English, this was bad for a business hotel.
About the room itself. I didn’t book a non-smoking room in advance (well, I have forgotten that Beijing does not have a no indoor smoking policy). So, we could only make the request when checking in. This hotel was very popular and there was no room left on the day we checked in. So, the receptionist told us she would ask housekeeping to freshen up the room for us. Then I asked her if we could switch to another non-smoking room if it became available. She told us in a very demanding, condescending almost yelling kind of tone: after we have freshened it up, it would be the same as a non-smoking room. You would not need to switch. Wow! I told myself! That was some customer service! Well, we stayed there for a bargain, so, I didn’t not ask them any more questions than necessary.

Posted by Ada at 10:12 pm Tagged with: , ,

Three items I encountered the most during my Beijing trip

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Oct 282009

Yes, I have decided to start with the three items I saw the most, then I will blog about the trip later on.

Security Check (安檢) – there is security check everywhere – and I mean, EVERYWHERE. We had to get security checks when getting into the subway station; before entering the Great Wall; when entering the Tianmen Square; the list can go on. From this perspective, this feels rather communistic.

Flies - oh yes! Flies. Even when you are inside a hotel room or an upper-end restaurant. Well, at least they didn’t come in groups. But the way they hover around me and the food really annoyed me. I didn’t expect there would be flies at such low temperature (daily range of 5 to 20 degrees Celsius), and in upper-end restaurants.

Phlegm - I am serious, and ILK!!!!!! For some reasons, men in Beijing have more phlegm than anyone else. There would be loud coughs, then followed by spitting. This happens when they are walking, chatting with friends, commuting, in the middle of a meal, and before they enter the Great Wall (thank goodness the authority forbids spitting inside the Great Wall)! Needless to say, this is extremely disgusting. There were several times we had to change our seats in restaurants because we could not stand the sounds of the coughs and could not even stand the scenes following.

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Posted by Ada at 10:09 pm Tagged with: , , ,

Are you too tensed?

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Oct 282009

I am!

I freak out on anything that I find irritating, no matter how big or small the matter is. I flip out on people instantaneously! Like this recent trip to Beijing, I was being pushed / poked around in the subway because I was sort of in the way of other local commuters (I will have another blog about this). I just got ticked off immediately and became very upset. I would say things to them or pushed them right back.

I NEED TO RELAX! Well, I went on a trip already. However, WRONG CHOICE of my get-away. I should not have gone to a big city and got rushed by the city beat. I need a real holiday! Also, I need to look at the lighter sides of things, just about everything!

Yes, I will try to relax a bit more! And you too, now reading this blog and agreeing with me that YOU too are too tensed!

Posted by Ada at 9:36 am Tagged with:
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