China Trip Day 8 and 9 : Beijing

Itinerary day 8 : Julong – Qianmen

Itinerary day 9 (last day) : Xidan - Qianmen - Wangfujing

We flew to Beijing by Air China again at 7.00 am. At that time they didn’t serve western breakfast, so I had Chinese breakfast. I didn’t like it. It was a bland porridge with sweet dried radish, strange taste nut and salted egg for side dish. BLAH!

I had booked another night at Oriental Peace Hotel from ctrip when I was in Chengdu. I was lazy to search for another place to stay plus it was only for one night. Ctrip had a cheaper rate than book at the hotel itself. 1 night there cost me RMB 371. From Beijing Capital Airport we took airport express to Wangfujing. 

How to go to Wangfujing from Beijing Capital Airport : From airport take airport express and get off at Dongzhimen station, transfer to line 2 (dark blue line) and get off at Jianguomen station, transfer to line 1 (red line) and get off at Wangfujing station

I do not recommend airport express if you have big luggage with you. The subway stations in Beijing rarely have escalator. I dragged my big luggage up and down stairs for several times and you know how people there don’t queue. It was so painful. We didn’t have any difficulty when we checked in at the hotel. They had our booking on their list.

How to go to Julong underground market : From Wangfujing station take line 1 (red line) and get off at Xidan, then transfer to line 4 (light blue line) and get off at Beijing Zoo station

I browsed for Julong a night before. Some blogs said it’s located in Xizhimen so we took off at Xizhimen Station. Apparently Julong was closer from Beijing Zoo station. It took about 500 m walk from Xizhimen. When you arrived at Beijing Zoo Station, go up to the main road and look for Mc Donald, it’s located at the corner. Just near the Mc Donald, you can find a way in to Julong underground market.

Our itinerary for the last 2 days in Beijing was for shopping. We went to Julong, an underground wholesale market place where you can buy clothes, shoes, bags, accessories in low prices. Eventhough it’s a wholesale market, you don’t have to buy many. It’s allowed to only buy one item. You have to bargain very low in here. Bring your own plastic bag, they don’t provide any. Soon our 2 big bags were full with things. We left Julong at 4.30 pm and went back to the hotel.

After resting for a while we went to Qianmen again to buy some souvenirs for family and friends. We had Peking Duck for dinner at Qianmen. It was good. We have some Peking Duck restaurants here in Indonesia. The taste was almost the same, but the one in Beijing is more delicious.

Entrance gate to Qianmen

The next day we checked out early and entrust our baggage in the hotel. It was our last day in China. We went to Xidan to do some more shopping. You have to bargain hard too in Xidan. For a belt, the seller gave me RMB 35 and after bargain I got it only for RMB 10. We had lunch at a Taiwan cuisine food stall in the mall. I had pork stewed rice for RMB 16. Finally something I can eat and it tasted sweet just like pork stewed I know. From Xidan we went back to Qianmen to picked up a thing I ordered last night then went back to Wangfujing pedestrian street. 

We went back to our hotel at around 6 pm to take our luggage. We went to the airport by taxi. A taxi driver offered RMB 150 to go to airport. I told him I will go for RMB 100 or use meter, but he refused. He said at rush hour RMB 100 is not enough and insisted RMB 150. I tried to catch another taxi when he finally agreed for RMB 100 with some nagging. He said he have to take another passenger on the way to airport because RMB 100 is not enough. A girl got on the taxi and the taxi driver drove her first then drove us to the airport. We didn’t mind because we still have enough time and we got to sightseeing Beijing at night for free.

My experienced in China was “incredible”. It was none like other trips I ever had before. Will I go back there? I’m still thinking about it. There are many beautiful places in China and suitable for shopping because the prices are very very cheap, but the people, the foods and the language barrier are too frustrating. I want to go back to The Great Wall though, so maybe one day laaaaaaatttteerrrr I’ll go back to China but even if I don’t, it is okay for me. There are many other countries I haven’t visited yet and Korea is still waiting for me to come back.

 

China Trip Day 3 : Chengdu

Itinerary : People’s Park – Tianfu Square

Local tour itinerary :

Day 1 : Fly from Beijing to Chengdu, free time at Chengdu

Day 2 : Road trip from Chengdu to Jiuzhaigou by bus (approximately 8 hours)

Day 3 : Jiuzhaigou National Park

Day 4 : Huanglong

Day 5 : Road trip from Jiuzhaigou to Chengdu by bus (approximately 8 hours)

Day 6 : Fly from Chengdu to Beijing

Our flight to Chengdu was at 07.00 am by Air China. We departed from hotel to airport at 05.00 am. The hotel receptionist told us if we call a taxi to pick us at the hotel, it will cost double. So we decided to go to main road on foot and caught taxi there. The road was empty at that time. After about 10 minutes, we finally got a taxi. The taxi driver presumed we are Korean. I think it’s cool to have oriental face you know. When I was in Korea, people there thought I was a Taiwanese. While in China, they think I was a Korean. When I told them that I’m an Indonesian, they (both countries) were surprised. What's wrong with an Indonesian born Chinese? 

The domestic fight is at Terminal T3 Beijing Capital Airport. We were told that we were supposed to meet a travel agent there. The itinerary we got from travel agent was all in Chinese. After some time wandering around, include made some phone calls and asked the information center, who told me the direction frostily, finally we found the agent.

 

The problem with China people is when they see an oriental Chinese-like face, they presume that person can speak Chinese. When I proceeded to the gate, I gave the officer my boarding pass and forgot to present my passport with. A woman officer said something in Chinese and what I heard was “$@#(@*&”. I didn’t understand what she said. When I said nothing and did nothing, she started to talked another “$@#*&#*$” to me. I confused and was still trying to understand but she already pissed off. Her voice started to get higher and she asked me again in Chinese, this time finally my brain worked. She asked viciously “Are you a China people or not??” HELLO!! She held my boarding pass and my name is not in Chinese. Couldn’t she tell that I’m not a China people? I didn’t say anything, I only shook my head. She got really pissed and started to ask again, still in Chinese. My brain worked again that time, apparently she asked for my ID. I gave her my passport without saying anything. She checked it and gave it back to me with angry face -.-“

Anyway let’s continue, Air China served breakfast on board for the morning flight. They had 2 menus, Western and Chinese food. I chose Western while my mom chose Chinese.

western food

chinese food

The flight to Chengdu takes 2.5 hours. We arrived at Chengdu at about 9.40 am. Someone had wait for us at the arrival hall at the airport and drove us to the hotel. My first impression of Chengdu was grey. Chengdu is a big city but most of the buildings are old and not well maintained nor restored. By seeing Chengdu, I realized how modern Beijing is. 

one of old building

We stayed at Jin Shang Hua, a 3 starts hotel. It took about 1 hour drive from airport. The way China people drive is "amazing". They like to drive in high speed even in busy roads and they like to sound the horn whenever whatever coming to their way or near them. Along the way to the hotel, there was no one second I didn’t hear a horn sound.

Jin Shang Hua hotel is located at the main road. It provides wifi but only at the hotel lobby. Our room was a double bed room. It’s nicer than the one in Beijing. The bathroom in Beijing is better but it was still ok. Just like in the hotel in Beijing, Jin Shang Hua also provides a big bottle of shampoo and liquid soap.

We had lunch at a noodle house near the hotel. The place was packed in lunch time. Me and my mom ordered a spicy fried beef noodle. The food in Chengdu is much more delicious than in Beijing. 

My original plan was to visit Panda Research and Breeding Base, but it was already pass mid day and it required 1.5 hours to reach the place so we changed our plan to People’s Park (Ren Ming Gong Yuan). I didn’t prepare for this plan B at Chengdu. I didn’t know how to go to People’s Park. Good thing a shop owner beside our hotel is nice. I asked the direction and she told me clearly. We hopped to bus no. 57 and got off at People’s Park. The bus ride was only took about 5 minutes.

 

It was a really hot day. 35 Celsius degrees, the sun was shining so brightly and no wind at all! Being at People’s park was quite convenient since the place was green and had many big trees. The park was quite packed with local people. Some were boating on the lake, some were enjoying their leisure time at tea house, others were playing mahjong, etc.

tea house entrance

 

 

We spent about 2 hours there then we went to Tianfu Square. It took about 10 minutes walk. There is a big Mao statue in front of Sichuan Science and Technology Museum located across the road of Tianfu Square. This must be the heart of the city. The buildings here are modern, well maintained and the development is fast in that area. Around Tianfu Square there are many malls and some other big buildings under construction. Since it was so hot, we spent most of our afternoon inside the malls. 

I suggest to visit Tianfu Square at night after the sun set, you can see beautiful lighting there (I see the picture in the internet). Actually I wanted to stay there until dark to see the lighting, but it was summer and the sun set at 8 pm. There was nothing we can do anymore, so we decided to go back to the hotel at 5.30 pm. Just by then I realized that I forgot to ask the shop owner how to go back to the hotel. We went back to People’s Park then tried to ask people around there. Thank God we met a really kind young lady, we showed her our hotel business card and she helped us called the hotel to ask for direction. She told us to take bus no. 5 and got off at Ba something (sorry I forget the bus stop name). The station was only 3 stations away.

We reached hotel at 6.00 pm. Since we didn’t know other place to have dinner, we ate at the same noodle house but this time I had non spicy beef noodle. We spent the rest of the day resting at hotel. A long road trip was waiting for us the next day

Local tour – RMB 3900

Spicy fried beef noodle (small) – RMB 6

Bus – RMB 2 (I think they also have one fare only, just like MRT in Beijing)

Non spicy beef noodle – RMB 8