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Beijing November 2007

01 December 2007 • Travel time: with 03 November 2007 on 10 November 2007
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Good day to everyone who decided to go to China, namely to the city of Beijing (Beijing (Beijing). In my review I will try to answer all the questions that interested me before the trip, and which I did not find answers in other reviews. All names in Russian, I will duplicate in English, and in brackets the pronunciation of the English version in Russian letters. Some pronunciation will be slightly different from the English pronunciation, but this will be done intentionally, since this is how the Chinese themselves pronounce them. So:

Country, city: China (China (China), city Beijing (Beijing).

Travel time: November 13-19.2007


Tour operator: Intourist, Blagoveshchensk (LLC Inturtrade), Amur Region. Address: Blagoveshchensk, st. Tchaikovsky, 7, room. 216 (near customs), tel. 8 (4162.44-44-11, tel. /fax. 8 (4162.44-57-72, e-mail: intur_s@tsl. ru and intur_a@tsl. ru site: www. intouristblag. ru. I want to say right away that this is not advertising, but a little lower it will become clear why I indicate all the details.

Purpose of trip: mink coat for mom; purchasing tickets for the Olympic Games; sightseeing…

Number of tourists: I am alone (29 years old), my wife could not go ...work ...

Hotel: I didn’t understand how it is pronounced in Chinese, but the travel agency said, and the Chinese themselves call it (who speak Russian) “Commercial Center” (kingsintel commercial hotel (kingsintel commercial hotel). Hotel 3 *, located near the Yabaolu market square, the Chinese pronounce Yabolu, with breakfast…

Currency: yuan. 1 yuan = 3.4 rubles; 1 US dollar = 24.4 rubles (at the time of the trip); 1 dollar = 7.4 yuan.

About the trip began to think about a month for 2 - 2.5. I turned to a travel agency in my city (I live in Norilsk, Krasnoyarsk Territory), where they calculated that, taking into account the road (the plane Norilsk-Krasnoyarsk-Beijing and back), a 3 * hotel, for 5-6 days, breakfast, is worth about 60 thousand rubles.

My friend also wanted to go with his girlfriend, but from Krasnoyarsk, they counted about 90 thousand rubles.

In the city of Blagoveshchensk, Amur Region, the mother-in-law lives with her father-in-law. The city itself is located on the border with China, so I decided to contact a travel agency in Blagoveshchensk. Having climbed in the Internet, I found only two companies in the city of Blagoveshchensk: the above-mentioned Intourist and Phoenix. But unlike "Phoenix", "Intourist" offers a tour to Beijing by plane, and "Phoenix" only by train. Moreover, the prices for travel by train are the same in both agencies. The train route is as follows: At lunchtime, the group gathers at the office of the travel agency, after which they go to customs, cross it, they are met by a guide with a bus, hawal (free of charge), then to the hotel, usually 2 * in the so-called headquarters room (two rooms for women and men), it is 2 or 4 local, depending on the number of tourists, but one room for no more than 16 people, after which free time.


In the evening around 5:00 p. m. the group gathers in the hall, where they go by bus with a guide to the railway station, where everyone is loaded onto the train and it travels all night to Harbin ...In the morning the same scheme: guide, bus, hawka, hotel (staff rooms), in the evening a bus, train, and in the morning in Beijing ...

Scheme by plane: in the morning, pick up at the office of the travel agency, cross the border, guide bus, hawk, hour of free time, bus to the airport, flight to Harbin. Arrival in Harbin, after 2 hours check-in for the 2nd plane, flight to Beijing. Meeting, guide, bus, transfer to the hotel.

Prices: a voucher by steam locomotive - something about 15 (fifteen) thousand rubles, a voucher by plane cost me 20.800 (twenty thousand eight hundred) rubles.

After learning about the prices, I did not think for a long time ...

I called the Intourist travel agency and found out that groups are sent by plane on Mondays or Tuesdays, depending on the flight schedule of the China Airport.

Further, the agent asked me to send her a copy of my passport by fax, as well as write an application and also by fax. In the application, I indicated: full name, day, month, year of birth, passport data (both civil and foreign), place of residence, type of tour (business, sightseeing, shop tour ... ), type of transport, date of departure, etc. After which this filed by fax. I did not transfer any money, the agent assured me that all calculations were made on the day of departure ...The agent also clarified that my departure would take place only if there was a group (minimum 5 people) ...However, it is possible without a group, but with a visa, it costs $70 separately. I highly do not recommend this option, because without knowledge of the Chinese language, no problems can be solved there, which I later became convinced of ...if I went alone, I would still be in China, but more on that later ...

Pros: There were no problems with Intourist, there was a green light everywhere

Cons: not found

Road to Beijing


My departure was scheduled for 12.11. 200.09. 11.2007 I came to the office of the travel agency, where I found out that the group was full, and also found out that the departure was planned for 13.11. 2007, i. e. on Tuesday. I also paid 2400 rubles, which included: medical insurance, payment for the road to cross the Amur (river), as well as the services of the company. Later I found out that the crossing costs 1100 rubles, i. e. the company does not charge large percentages for services.

13.11. 2007 by 09:30 a. m. I arrived at the office of the company, where we signed an agreement with them (about 15 minutes), they handed me an envelope, where they were: a tourist memo, a sanitary card, a ticket for the Puma (hovercraft). Then we went on foot to the customs (about 200 meters). The agent took us through customs (where we had a “green” light everywhere, since everyone there knew her and smiled sweetly), in connection with which, they did not stand in the general queue and quickly settled all the formalities.

Having passed the border control, we were the first to be loaded into the Puma, which in 45 seconds crossed the Amur and we set foot on Chinese soil, the city of Heihe. All the documents of our group were and a guy named Sergei, he was also one of the tourists, but he went to Beijing on business, and in connection with which, he was experienced. Having entered the Chinese customs, we went to the ticket office, where we paid 45 yuan from the nose (the fee for entering the PRC, mandatory for everyone), and therefore, I recommend that you have some yuan with you, since they do not accept either rubles or dollars . Where you can buy them in Russia, I have no idea, I bought them in Blagoveshchensk, at the rate of 3.37 rubles for 1 yuan. Then we went through passport control, there were no problems at all, and went out into the hall.

There is an exchanger in the lobby that changes at the rate: 1 yuan = 3.4 rubles, 1 dollar = 7.4 yuan. In general, such a course throughout China, plus or minus a penny. No commissions. Subsequently, I changed it in a bank in Beijing, the rate of 1 dollar = 7.36 yuan. Here attention!

In Beijing, rubles are not accepted anywhere, unlike in Heihe and Harbin.


In the lobby we were met by a Chinese guide who spoke Russian tolerably well. We were put on a bus and taken to the office of a travel agency, a partner of Intourist. We drove for about 20 minutes. At the office we were met by several more Chinese (girls), who also spoke Russian. Everyone paid for a ticket. I was alone and took a single room in the above hotel, so I paid 735 dollars, and the aunt who stayed in a single room, but in a 4 * hotel paid 830 dollars. You could pay in dollars, yuan or rubles to choose from, and the exchange rate was, as I indicated above. I had bucks, I paid with them.

After all the calculations, we were taken to eat in a very pleasant restaurant. Later, while I was on vacation, I went to Heihe twice more, and found out that this is one of the best restaurants. Lunch was absolutely free.

They feed there, however, as in any cafe or restaurant in China, for slaughter and very tasty. The portions are huge, one is enough to feed a man, and while we ate, everyone leaned back in their chairs and breathed heavily, and about a third of what was not eaten remained on the table. There were 6 courses and 2 sweet dishes in total. While I am describing the food, I immediately want to give everyone advice: portions (does not matter hot, cold or sweet) are large! Whatever dish you order, expect it to be for two. That is, you order one salad and one hot dish for two, this is quite enough! The main thing to remember is that you can always reorder. Due to the fact that the prices for dishes are very small, I want to try everything, I repeatedly fell for this, and, as a rule, half of what was not eaten remained on the table. I had no desire to take containers and pack what was not eaten, since everything is very cheap, and everything is always fresh and freshly cooked.

Therefore, eating cold, provided that you can eat it freshly cooked, at a cost of 10 yuan, left no choice ...Eating alone, it’s read together, costs about 50 yuan, which includes: hot, salad, juice or beer ...average price, depending on the delicacy…


After lunch, we had free time, about an hour. At 12:00 p. m. Chinese time (in Blagoveshchensk it was 13:00, in Moscow 07:00) we were put on a bus and taken to Heihe airport. We drove about 25-30 minutes. Entering the airport building, I was shocked: everything is clean, I would call it sterile, there are no people at all, so there were 10-15 Chinese people who flew with us. The only drawback of the airport, for me, as a smoker, was that there was not a single trash can on the street near the airport building. At the same time, there was nowhere to throw the bull, as there was perfect cleanliness around. I had to go around the corner of the building and throw it out there.

Check-in starts one and a half hours before the flight departure. Ours started at 12:30 pm. We passed the control (you put everything out of your pockets, take off your outerwear, put it on the scanner tape, after which the girl feels you completely with a metal detector, after which you go into the drive, while not taking off your shoes). Exactly at 13:30. registration has ended. Storage: a huge room with toilets and a smoking room!! ! How many times I flew around Russia, there were no toilets or a smoking room in more than one airport drive. Our plane was standing 40-50 meters from the exit from the reservoir. I smoked and sat down in a chair to wait. While I was sitting, I took a picture of a ticket on my mobile phone as a keepsake. Shooting time 13:37 h. Right there we were invited to boarding. That is, we spent 20 minutes in the storage tanks!! ! We walked to the plane and boarded it. Before leaving on vacation, my wife was very worried that I would fly on a Chinese plane, which would also be steered by the Chinese.

Harbin. The plane taxied to the parking lot, the ladder immediately drove up !! ! We got off the plane, got on the bus and drove to the terminal. We entered the terminal, followed the signs in English, and went to get our luggage. We walked for about 10 minutes. Approaching the belts of the baggage claim conveyor, we saw how our luggage was going along it !! ! but in Russia? We took the bags and went to the 2nd floor of the airport, where the waiting room is located. Check-in for our flight was supposed to start at 17:00. The airport is large, clean, a lot of small shops, cafes, toilets…

One of the guys in their group and I went to a cafe where we ordered beer and a plate of shrimp. It was my most expensive meal in China. We paid 70 yuan each. After eating shrimp and drinking beer (BEER in China, in my opinion, is one of the best in the world and very cheap ...A bottle costs 2 yuan, a bottle of elite beer - 15 yuan), we went to wander around the airport. We looked at souvenirs and all sorts of rubbish, at 17:00. went to register.


Registration, as in Heihe, was quick and already at 17:30. the whole group was in the drive. This drive was simply huge: a bunch of shops, cafes, toilets, smoking rooms. At 18:00 hrs. the plane was opened. We went straight through the chute to the plane and settled down. The plane was the same brand as the one from Heihe, but this time there were two seats on the left, three on the right, that is, it was designed for 130 people. : 30 hour. we took off. At 19:00 h. the flight attendants rolled a cart with drinks, then a cart with hot food (the same as in Russian airlines), but I ate more fully. Then they drove the cart with drinks twice more.

At 8:20 p. m. the plane landed in Beijing. We also received luggage, i. e. I saw my bag while still approaching the conveyor, and left the terminal. We were met by a guide named Sasha. Everyone got on the bus and drove off. On the way, it turned out that I was the only one from the group who was going to a 3 * hotel.

Sasha gave his cell phone number, which I subsequently used more than once.

Pros: everything

Cons: I flew home to Norilsk from Blagoveshchensk with our airlines ...

I was taken to my hotel. Sasha went with me to the reception, processed all the papers, I paid a 100 yuan deposit (for a minibar, damage to property, etc. ), received a receipt in return (you need to keep it, because when you move out, the deposit will be returned to you) and having received an electronic key, and coupons for breakfast, he went to the room. The nearest metro station is Chaoyangmen. A taxi to her is 10 yuan. I went once, the rest of the time I walked, something about 700 meters from the metro.

Having taken the elevator to the 5th floor, I found that all the rooms were 85XX, and I had number 526 in the guest book. Having found the number 8526, I put the key in the lock, but the door did not open. I thought I made a mistake, returned to the reception. There, a Chinese woman explained to me that my number was 8526, took the key from me and recharged it.


After that, I entered the room without any problems. The room was one-room. The size of the room is about 3 * 3 meters. The room contained: a large double bed, a table with a TV on it (Russian channels were TNT, TV3, Zvezda), a nightstand, a small safe in it, a coffee table, an armchair, a kettle, a coffee pot, an ashtray, disposable slippers, matches, bags of green tea, minibar (mini fridge). Everything was very clean and new. There was carpet on the floor, just as clean. Plastic windows that open. The room had air conditioning, it is also a heater. The room was very warm. The sheets, blanket and pillows were also clean, the mattress on the bed was hard and not sagging, that is, I really liked the bed. After that, he went to the restroom.

It was also very clean, a large mirror, the shower cabin was made of glass, with a glass door, next to the sink, also made of glass, there were: disposable toothpaste, disposable toothbrush, shower gel, shampoo, soap, a hair dryer hung nearby. The toilet bowl was also very clean, it could be said that it sparkled, on which there was a piece of paper, where it was written that it was disinfected. Raising the lid of the toilet bowl, I saw that the seat was covered with a polyethylene gut. Bringing a hand to the sensor above the toilet, the tape (gut) automatically changed. It's hard to explain: that is, the old tape was pulled into the toilet, and the new one came out. Plus the fact that the seat is constantly in a heated state, I would say that somewhere around 40-45 degrees.

Having finished with the number, I had to somehow inform my relatives that I had arrived. I went down to the reception and began to explain to them that I needed to contact Russia. I spoke English, but they practically did not speak it.

There was also no internet in the hotel. The girl offered me to make an advance payment in the amount of 300 yuan for the phone, and I could call Russia from the number. Money was a pity. There was a small shop on the first floor of the hotel. Envelopes with a SIM card were also sold there by the local cellular company China Mobile (China Mobile). For the future, I advise everyone to connect to this company, since there are a lot of its offices in Beijing (and in other cities of China), and you can always replenish your account. Having paid 100 yuan, while receiving about 50 yuan to the account, I connected a SIM card. No documents are needed for this. I immediately called my people in Norilsk. Communication is pretty good, a little bit with a slight delay. Cost of calls: local calls (they are not divided into cellular or landline) cost 0.4 yuan for the fact of the call + 0.


07 yuan for every 6 seconds; A call to Russia, according to my observations, was about 10-12 yuan per minute; A call from Russia to my number cost about 60 rubles, while I paid about 25 yuan for an incoming call from Russia, so it was much more profitable for me to call. You dial the number 13800138000, this is like our automatic caller service, first the girl speaks Chinese, then English. I press 2, after which I get a balance, I press 2 again, and the girl speaks in English, how much money I have in my account in yuan. An incoming call was determined at random, and when mine called me, her number +7908033ХХХХ was defined as +00005172. I couldn't understand the logic. SMS messages reach, but they must be typed in English letters, while SMS did not reach Russia. Therefore, I wrote my SMS, and when she needed something, she called me, and I called her back.

The account can be topped up at any China Mobile office using express payment cards, the minimum cost is 30 yuan. The SIM card has an expiration date! You replenish your account by 30 yuan - you can talk for a month, 50 yuan - 3 months, 100 yuan - six months. For me, this is not relevant, but it meant that after the trip, the SIM card could be thrown away. Cards can also be purchased at some stores. I did not replenish it myself, since the English answering machine practically did not understand. There are employees in China Mobile offices who speak broken English, whom I asked to activate the payment card, which they did. In the stores where I bought the cards, I showed the sellers on my fingers to activate it, which they did the same.

Having called back his beloved, he went to a restaurant at the hotel. The buffet cost 58 yuan. All havka in the restaurant was fresh, the waitresses spoke a little Russian. The restaurant had 6-7 salads (I tried everything, everything was delicious), 8 hot dishes, 2 of them were fish, 2 were vegetarian.

4 types of juices, fruits (apples, pears, melon, watermelon, tangerines, pineapple), Johnny Walker whiskey, 4 types of wine, Ant vodka (the most normal in China), 5 types of ice cream. All Russians were sitting in the restaurant, at one of the tables there was a grandiose booze, since all the havka and alcohol were in unlimited quantities. After dinner, he went to his room, where he fell asleep.

Pros: a very good hotel, fully justifies its 3 *, even more. The room is cleaned every day, bed linen is changed every 3 days, the breakfast is good, there is always hot and cold water (no smell and impurities, good water. I didn’t taste it  ), you can bring beer and other products to the room, neighbors don't bother as good soundproofing between rooms. There is always a taxi in front of the hotel.


Cons: at the reception, the girls speak very poor English (practically do not speak); cleaning of the hotel starts at 06:00 o'clock. (I can hear the vacuum cleaner in the hallway)

Purchasing a fur coat

I woke up early, around 07:00.

, since it is still a new country, and there is very little time. He went down to the restaurant, where he gave a coupon for breakfast. I had breakfast (again, everything was fresh), but there was no alcohol and ice cream. After I went to the reception, where I asked for a map of Beijing, but they didn’t have it, they drew me where to go and where to buy it. I walked 200 meters and saw a newsstand, where I bought it (8 yuan). The map had titles in Chinese and English, as well as a complete subway map. On the other side was a business card-sized map of Beijing, around the tourist routes, and around the edges of the map of attractions, including the Chinese Wall). I returned to the hotel, where they showed me where the Yabaolu market square was. After passing 400-500 meters found her. There are just a lot of small shops there and almost all of them sell mink products. Prices as well as quality are different ($600-2000).

Having chosen several models, I photographed them with a digital camera, after which I went to the shopping center. There, for 10 yuan, they threw them off to me on a disk. After that, I asked them where the Internet was, to which they told me that they also have it. The entire Windows is in Chinese, so it's not clear. What I needed, they did not understand me, so I sat down at the computer myself, and intuitively sent my e-mail with pictures of fur coats. After some time, my phone called back and said that my mother chose a fur coat for $ 1600 (length 110, girth 135, hood, dark brown), a similar one costs about 110.000 rubles. I tried to bargain (the sellers speak Russian), but they didn’t give up in any way, since the fur is really high quality and the tailoring is awesome (as they explained to me that it was factory), in general, they agreed for $ 1580. From which it follows that the whole trip was fully paid for by me. Flight Norilsk-Krasnoyarsk-Blagoveshchensk and back 35.


000 rubles, ticket 20.800, spent $ 500 on everything (havka, excursions, bought something for myself, etc. ) and a fur coat 38.500, a total of 71.500 rubles, that is, I won another 40.000 rubles. And if you consider that they pay for my travel at work, including to travel abroad, then ...

On the fur coat there are labels of the Greek company. So all furs are made in China. While walking and looking, I saw stamps of Italy, Turkey, America, Greece, Spain and Russia .

I want to give advice: when buying this or that thing, you immediately need to decide whether you will buy it or not! If you asked the price, then you can immediately knock it down by half and bargain! For example: something costs 100 yuan, you say 50, and you will agree around 60 ...If you refuse to buy, then they will run after you around the store or market, continuing to bargain. Do not tell them that their product is bad or defective, it may offend them!!!

After you have loaded your body into the car, then consider that you already owe the taxi driver 10 yuan. Taxi drivers don't speak English. I just poked my finger into the map where I need to go, and the taxi driver goes. The taxi driver turns on the counter no earlier than he turns on the second gear, and turns it off 50 meters before the specified place. The counter immediately shows 10.00 yuan, and the price gradually increases by 1 yuan. I want to warn you that when you drive up to the place, then look at the counter, how much you owe the driver, because when he turns off the counter, the total goes out and the counter spits out a check in which the amount of the trip is written in hieroglyphs. The driver has no intention to cheat you, it's just a delay while he shows on his fingers how much you owe him. For landing you pay 10 yuan, which includes 3 km of travel, for each subsequent km 2 yuan.


All taxis have a dirty orange stripe along the side, the width of the door floor, as well as bumpers are also painted in this color. On the rear side windows there is a sticker in the form of an oval in red, on which the numbers 2.00 are written, which means 2 yuan per 1 km. While riding in a taxi, I read on the sticker that if the car moves less than 12 km / h, then 2 yuan every 5 minutes (this is true for traffic jams). I got to the hotel for 10 yuan. Where in Russia you can take a taxi for 35 rubles???

About the rules of the road. I still can't figure out how accidents don't happen with this kind of traffic. Only those who drive either straight or left react to traffic lights. Always turn right, at any signal. Pedestrians and cyclists walk and ride at random. But everyone is moving slowly, no one is in a hurry, maybe that's why there are no accidents.

Everyone let each other through, calmly rearranged (just beep), cut each other and this is in the order of things. I was left with a pleasant feeling about their traffic rules. No one is freaking out, everyone is calm and respectful of each other.

Pros: cheap; clean cars; no smell. Basically, these are middle-class VWs, or Hyundai (I don’t remember how to spell it correctly), or Chinese brands ...In any case, the car is good, the driver has no intention of throwing a client or taking a longer road! (verified many times)

Cons: the taxi cars that I described above, with a lantern that this is a taxi on the roof (usually blue), do not have them. Beware of private traders. They have cars without any markings that they are taxis. When I went to the Summer Palace (more on that below), I got to it in a real taxi for 18 yuan, and sat back to a private trader. His car was higher class, leather interior, all toned.

When I sat down next to him, the driver said that his taxi costs 3 yuan for 1 km. He also had a meter in his car. Having estimated that the trip would cost 27 yuan, he agreed. When I got to the place, the counter showed 75 yuan. I didn't go private anymore. The overpayment cost me a good meal.

Underground

The metro is clean, no smell, homeless people, beggars. There are a lot of people, there are practically no seats in the cars, the cars are half empty (everyone is sitting), there is a lot of standing room, except for peak hours.


The metro map is very simple, I figured it out in a few minutes: the ring line (line 2) completely covers the entire center of Beijing, rather it is not a ring, but a rectangle; one line runs through all of Beijing from west to east and divides Beijing in half (line 1), the second is just as straight, but goes from north to south and also divides Beijing in half (line 5).

At the beginning, I didn’t understand why, then I figured it out: some are watching so that no one steps over the yellow line when the train arrives, others act as pushers into the cars. During rush hours, they literally stuff people into the cars.

Pros: saved a lot of money on a taxi; understandable scheme; purely; the cars have ventilation, which constantly drives air around the car, that is, there is a constant strong draft in it, so it’s not hot. I recommend to everyone, save a lot of dough!!!

Cons: there are no signs on the streets where the entrance to the metro is located; all the chinese stare at me (I'm blond)...although they stare everywhere. While walking around the city, I concluded that the Europeans are still the most, the Europeans themselves are staring. Then he began to catch himself doing this, since in every European character, he tried to guess what country she was from. Russians guess at a glance, why, I can’t explain .

Beijing (Beijing streets)

Beijing (Beijing).

The name of the city consists of two parts Bei (Bay) - north, jing (jing) - the capital.

Very clean and tidy city! Very beautiful city! Beautiful illumination at night. No bad smell, breathe easily, did not even smell the car exhaust.

Full of cafes, shops, shops. Prices are different, but still Beijing is an expensive city in terms of shopping (compared to Heihe and Harbin). The prices are about the same as in Russia. I bought my nice nice factory club t-shirt for 200 yuan. All products associated with Olympic symbols are also expensive. You can only buy cheap equipment, and expensive things like a fur coat. Philips plasma panel 81 cm diagonal cost 4900 yuan.

Everywhere is full of public toilets, there are even signs showing how many meters to them. How many did not visit them, they were all free. There were no problems with natural needs.


The course, as I said, is almost the same throughout the country. I do not advise you to change money with taxi drivers and other offers, as there are a lot of counterfeit money in China. Wherever I paid, the sellers always checked the bills for authenticity. So the bank is the best option, you can also change money at the hotel, as you can always find the last one, and they have very long terms for counterfeiting money. So that there were no problems and proceedings that I did not need (as time passes), I went to the bank. I was asked how much I want to exchange. Answered that 200$. They asked me for a passport, but I didn’t have it with me (it was in a safe in my room, which I advise everyone to do, and I went around the city to get a copy of it). After looking at my copy of the passport, they said that you can exchange it for it. I went to the window, sat down in an armchair and in 5 minutes I received yuan.

There, near the shopping center, there are young people who, when they see me, begin to offer to buy DVDs, they pronounce "Divydi", and quietly so "sex, sex. " At first I thought that they were trying to sell me a prostitute, but the next day, one of the guys showed me a CD with a porn cover, with Chinese mugs. I politely refused, because what for they are to me when the network is full of this goodness. During my entire stay in Beijing, no one offered me paid love. The guys from my group, who lived in a 4 * hotel, said that there were a lot of them near their hotel. About prices below ; )

Pros: clean beautiful city, definitely worth a trip. Everyone is friendly and smiling. A lot of funny, especially the inscriptions in Russian.

Cons: well, there are practically no urns, I had to walk 100-200 meters with a bull; many Chinese (although this does not interfere); I looked at almost all the sights, with the exception of parks, since it was autumn (minus at night, up to +7 during the day), and I don’t want to go to Beijing anymore, I’ve seen enough ...But this does not mean that you shouldn’t go to it, it’s very worth it !! ! I am delighted!!!

Attractions

In this chapter, I will not describe the size of attractions, their beauty, etc. , as this can be read in brochures and other reviews. Before the trip, I was interested in how to get to them, which I will describe, as well as prices. How much I liked this or that attraction, I will evaluate on a 5-point scale.

In front of almost every attraction, there are English-speaking Chinese guides offering their services.


Guides cost differently from 50 to 200 yuan, depending on the attraction, its area, and your “money” appearance. You can trade with them. Tell them no once and they'll back off. I did not meet guides speaking Russian. You can not take a guide, but take an autoguide. It costs 40 yuan, deposit 100 yuan. It's like an mp3 player with headphones. There are autoguides in Russian, but not everywhere. Then the autoguide can be returned at any of the exits, and 100 yuan will be returned to you.

All the sights are crowded with young people who will definitely speak to you in English. They will ask where you are from, they will ask you your name, while explaining that they are students studying English. A Chinese woman came up to me and spoke in English, also explained that she was a student. She and I walked along Gugun, and when we got out, she offered to drink coffee. I politely declined. And went to the subway.

On the way I met several more "students" who also offered to drink coffee, tea, beer, and they all pointed in the direction of the same cafe. From which I concluded that these were just barkers in a cafe. Ordinary students who, as it were, earn extra money, having some percentage from this, or corny “for havka”.

There are also other types of "barkers": 1. youth - introduces themselves as students, and also asks to see their work (drawings) on paper and silk; as well as uncles - who introduce themselves as teachers of these students, who also ask to see the work of their students. The word "see" - read "buy". So any Chinese who speaks to you in English is a barker who wants to sell you something. No, I don’t want to say anything bad about the drawings, they are really beautiful, and the prices are reasonable, but I don’t need them.

There are taxis near every attraction. Always.

Do not react to private traders, I wrote about this above. It is better to go to the Taxi car with all the other taxis and go on it.

There are also rickshaws near every attraction. I have never traveled, because I just felt sorry for a one and a half meter 50-kilogram whale that was supposed to carry me a 100-kilogram man. Their prices are not high, but they are expensive for long distances. I do not advise. For the sake of exoticism, I advise you to ride a rickshaw from the northern entrance to Gugong to Beihai Park (Beihai Pak), go there for about a kilometer and a half, it costs from 5 to 20 yuan, it depends on how you agree, as well as on the "chic" of the wagon …


And one more thing: in Intourist they gave me a book, like a tourist guide, for which I thank them very much. The book consists, more precisely, each page of two columns: on the left is the name of the attraction in Russian, on the right is the same name, but in Chinese characters.

And one more tip: wear only light sports shoes, as you will have to walk around the sights a lot, as they are simply huge.

All attractions are open from 09:00. and until 16:00 h. plus or minus, so

Translated automatically from Russian. View original
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