Travelling Beijing on your Own

Travelling Beijing on your Own: Travelling Beijing on your Own: Exploring Beijing On Your Own Last September me and my friend been to Beijing on vacation. Our first concern was the language as there ...

Travelling Beijing on your Own

Exploring Beijing On Your Own

Last September me and my friend been to Beijing on vacation. Our first concern was the language as there are very few in china who understands and speak English. Because of that my friend was adamant to go with luxury package tours. But somehow my plan was different . I want to explore by my own and in a budgeted way. My current blog is dedicated to those who are planning to visit Beijing on a vacation in a budgeted way.

Our first concern was air ticket. We choose Dragon Air/Cathy pacific.  Bangalore (BLR) to Hong Kong (HKG) & From Hong kong (HKG) to Beijing (PEK). Booking a ticket bit early can help to save some quick bucks.

Next is the Hotel. Before choosing the hotel our concern was the place should be in the city center and easily accessible to other tourist places. Also it must be well connected with airport. So we have started searching from PEK airport connectivity. We came across Airport Expressway (Beijing).

 Beijing city is well connected with PEK airport  by Airport express. Airport express connect to  the City subway ( Metro Train ) at station  SANYUANQIAO and then at DONGZHIMEN.  So we choose to stay near subway station  SANYUANQIAO.  Initial thought is to get a  hotel very close to the subway. So we came  came across 2 hotel..

       1. Novotel Beijing Sanyuan ,
       2. ibis Beijing Sanyuan

One is a 4 star and other is 3 star hotel. Both are decent hotel with well connectivity and its just beside Phonex city mall. If you need free wifi and swimming pool then Novotel has it. Expedia.co.in helped us to get a decent deal in this hotel. Rooms are bit small but facility is good.

DAY 0

After getting down at PEK airport we choose Airport expressway. Other option is cab to the city. But tough to explain cab driver in english or they make take you on a ride. We found Airport Express is a cheap,safe and quick option to reach Beijing city. One way ticket is 25 RMB (¥). Make sure you wont loose the ticket as you need to submit it while coming out. Else fine is 125(¥) RMB. 

* 1 RMB (¥) is equivalent to 10 INR or 1 USD = 6 RMB ( Approx )

We got down at SANYUANQIAO subway station. If you are going by my option then make sure to take the south-west ( D ) exit at the SANYUANQIAO subway station. Because the hotel is just infront of the exit from south waste gate. Less than 50 mtrs.

After check-in we spent some time in studying the Beijing metro and getting ready for the next day trip.

In this regard first thing to study is Beijing Metro. Beijing metro is well connected with all part of the city with 14 lines. A flat fare of RMB(¥) 2.00 with unlimited transfers applies to all lines. The first trains depart terminals at around 5 am and the last leave at around 11 pm. The Airport Express train starts at around 6 am.

Evening we spent in phonex city mall. It has a huge food court with lots of option for food. We manage to get some vegetarian dumpling. In fact there are lots of food option around the hotel. For non-vegetarian there is nothing to worry.So many type of meat & sea food . But for vegetarian options are bit limited. 

Same day night we planned for list of paces to visit and how we can do it by subway. Hotel guy gave us a metro map with place of intrest. That’s helped us a lot in our entire planning . 

So we planned like this

Day 1  :  Forbidden City, ( Subway Line 10 & Line 1 )
               The Tian’anmen Square ( Subway Line 10 & Line 1 )
               Temple of Heaven ( Subway Line 10 & Line 1 & Line 5 )

Good things is that entire monuments are well connected with subway lines. Subway lines are presented with colour code and written in English. Also announcement are in English. So its easy to identify.Also there is display board at the entreace of train and inside  with LED lights. Its gives the direction of the subway and the next stration. Also it indicates in which side door will open. Also its a budget option to travel in Beijing as  wherever you go in metro, it will cost only 2 RMB.  

Please note at the transit station wont come out of the subway. All are interconnected you just need to see the other subway line board. Must probably you need to go up or down in elevator to catch the other line subway. Also note most of the monoments closed at 5 PM. So better to start the day early

We choose to start the day with Temple of heaven.

In order to reach there we choose subway Line 10  and Line 5. 

We took subway Line 10 from SANYUANQIAO station going towards Taiyanggog station and get down at HUIXINXINXIJIENANKOU station. Then we took Line 5 subway going towards Hepingxiqiao and get down at TIANTANDONGMEN

Line 10 ---- SANYUANQIAO à Taiyanggog --- --- ---- HUIXINXINXIJIENANKOU                                                                                                       |       TIANTANDONGMEN --- ---- ----  Hepingxiqiao ß  HUIXINXINXIJIENANKOU  --- Line 5 – Take the exit A. Ticket 2 RMB

Entry ticket to Temples of heven is 45 RMB ( 15 RMB only for the access to the park & 30 RMB for entry into main temple area.). 

The Temple of Heaven, initially built in the eighteenth year of the Ming Dynasty (in 1420), is the most holy imperial temples with an area of 273 hectares in Beijing. For this is where the Emperor came every winter solstice to worship heaven and to solemnly pray for a good harvest. Since his rule was legitimised by a mandate from heaven, a bad harvest could be interpreted as his fall from heaven’s favour and threaten the stability of his reign. So it was not without a measure of self-interest that the Emperor fervently prayed for a very good crop.

In line with the Confucianist revival during the Ming dynasty, the sacred harvest ceremony was combined with the Emperor’s worship of his ancestors. This embellishment was also, in effect, self-interested. According to the Confucian pattern of social organization, just as the Emperor respected his ancestors, so a younger brother should respect an elder brother, a wife with her husband, a son with his father, and a nation’s subjects their ruler. Incorporating ancestor worship within the most solemn ceremony of the Imperial ritual calendar, indirectly reinforced the social philosophy that perpetuated the Emperor’s power.

Entry to the temple only between 8 A.M to 5 P.M

Architecture diagram of Temple of Heaven

Through out the boundary wall you will get carving of dragon  

Inside the garden we found lots of old people playing different games and enjoying life . Its better to take a virtual tour of temple of heaven in youtube before going there as youtube is ban in china ;-) .

But in china you can use youku.com

Next is Forbidden City.

We reached the subway station TIANTANDONGMEN. From temple of heaven  in order to go to Forbidden city and  Tian’anmen Square we need to catch subway Line 5 & Line 1

--- Line 5 --- TIANTANDONGMEN à Ciqikou --- ---- DONGDAN                                                                                                  |                     TIAN’ANMEN EAST  ß Wangfujing ß DONGDAN  --- Line 1--                                                                        Ticket 2 RMB .

Its called Forbidden City because in the previous time only King used to leave there along with his 3000 queens. No other common man was allowed inside.

Forbidden city was was built 600 years ago and has played an important role in Chinese history. It was the imperial palace of Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty from Emperor Yongle. This palace is an example of ancient Chinese architecture. It was named Forbidden City as the king used to leave here along with his 3000 queens & no Common men are allowed to enter inside. Built in 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 buildings and covers 72 hacter.  It was open to common people since 1925.  After being the home of 24 emperors – 14 of the Ming dynasty and 10 of the Qing dynasty – the Forbidden City ceased being the political centre of China in 1912 with the abdication of Puyi, the last Emperor of China. Under an agreement with the new Republic of China government, Puyi remained in the Inner Court, while the Outer Court was given over to public use, until he was evicted after a coup in 1924. The Palace Museum was then established in the Forbidden City in 1925

                                                                            Entrance view of Forbidden city

Tips : 

Make sure you carry your identity proof while going to Forbidden city. If you are a outsiders then carry you original passport. 

Once you get inside you will get the ticket counter. Ticket costs 60 RMB. Nearby the ticket counter you will get may tourist guide/Interpreter who can help you understanding the architecture and history of the place. Also there are Audio guide available for 50 RMB. 

We got a nice guide Eby ( +86 186 11802510) . She helped us for the entire forbidden city tour.

                                                        Few finding about the building.

 Only king can have doors having 9 rings

In the beginning of each entrance there is a male and a female lion. Male lion holding the world where as the female one holding kids. Both the lion’s ear is down as a symbol of king is supreme. Also as a protocol King always enters from the stair close to Male lion side and queen from the female lion side ;-)

 Priority of  a building depends on the number of Animal in roof top. Maximum animal can be 9. So any building having 9 animal belongs to king. 8 Belongs to queen.

All the carvings with the forbidden city runs around 2 imaginary things. Dragon, the most powerful animal in the world & phoenix, the beautiful animal. 

Other few interesting things  like big vessels made of copper with gold coating , Copper made big tortoise . 

Kings personal garden consists of many natural carving made rocks

There is a Golden Buddha temple at the exit gate of forbidden city. Its entry is 2 RMB. From the top its gives a good view of the forbidden city as well as the place around.

View of forbidden city from Temple top

If you want to test different verities of Chinese Tea then there is a shop inside the garden. We have enjoyed the tea. But its bit costly to buy from here. But it will give you idea of many type of Tea available in China. 

* Its not like our Indian Tea. Mainly different variety of green tea. If you develop interest then better to buy from the city market. 

By the time we came out of garden it was almost evening . Our local guide helped us to enjoy the Beijing bus ride for the Aerobic show. In Beijing bus cost 1 RMB for any destination. No one will come to collect the tickets. You need to take it . Its keep flashing the next stoppage. 

Eby, Our Local tour guide  helped us to reach till JIN SHA THEATER by bus. It also called The Beijing Workers’ Club. It is located just 2 kilometers away from the Tiananmen Square. 

We got the ticket for 150 RMB each. It’s a 1 hour show. Shows were very good, worth giving a try. For more details check here

Way back we took Metro again ;-) . Nearest subway station is Line 2  HEPINGMEN

In order to reach hotel we need Line 2 , Line 1 & Line 10 

--- Line 2 --- HEPINGMEN à Qianmen --- ---- JIANGUOMEN                                                                                                  |                                                       --- Line 1--- JIANGUOMEN à Yong’anli àGUOMAO                                                                                                                                        |               … Line 10 ..     SANYUANQIAO ß   …..     …..   ß  Jintaixizhao ßGUOMAO  Ticket 2 RMB. Take exit at D

Day 2  :  Lama Temple, ( Subway Line 10 & Line 5 )
               Confucius Temple ( Subway Line 10 & Line 5  )
               Bell & Drum Tower ( Subway Line 10 & Line 5 & Line 2 )

Day 2 we thought of exploring the temples of Beijing. We found both Lama temple & Confucius Temple are nearby. In order to reach there we choose subway Line 10  and Line 5. We took subway Line 10 from SANYUANQIAO going towards Taiyanggog and get down at HUIXINXINXIJIENANKOU. Then we took Line 5 subway going towards Hepingxiqiao and get down at LAMA TEMPLE

Line 10 ---- SANYUANQIAO à Taiyanggog --- --- ---- HUIXINXINXIJIENANKOU                                                                                                       |  LAMA TEMPLE      < --- ---- ----  Hepingxiqiao    ß  HUIXINXINXIJIENANKOU --- Line 5 --- Ticket 2 RMB. Exit at C

Lama temple also known as The Yonghe Temple , also known as the "Yonghe Lamasery". The building and the artworks of the temple is a combination of Han Chinese and Tibetan styles.

Three main things to see in this temple is
A) Three bronze statues of the Buddhas of the Three Ages
B) Five-Hundred-Arhat-Hill
C) 26m tall White Sandalwood statue of the Maitreya Buddha

Entry  to Lama temple is 25 RMB. Here you can get Audio guide for 50 RMB.

Tips : Worth taking the Audio guide. If you love Budhha then its a right place to spend more time. There are so many temple inside. Its a clam and cool place.

Confucius Temple temple is very close to the Lama temple. Its around 300 mtr from Lama Temple. On both the side of the road you will find shops having different type of budhha idols.

There is a famous vegetarian restaurant on the way to Confucius Temple. Buffent lunch for 69 RMB. Good traditional Buddhist pure vegiterian food. If you are a vegetarian don’t miss it ;-)

Tips : Restaurant close by 3 PM . Make sure to have lunch before 3 PM

After having Nice food we have been to Confucius Temple. Entry to the temple is 30 RMB. Audio guide tour is 35 RMB.

The Temple of Confucius at Beijing is the second largest Confucian Temple in China. The temple was built in 1302, and officials used it to pay their respects to Confucius until 1911. The compound was enlarged twice, during the Ming and Qing dynasties and now occupies some 20,000 square meters

Inside the temple there are 198 stone tablets positioned on either side of the front courtyard, and they contains more than 51,624 names of Jinshi (advanced scholars) of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, and 14 stone stele pavilions of the Ming and Qing dynasties that hold various historical documents of ancient China.

This temple consists of four courtyards. The main structures include Xianshi Gate (Gate of the First Teacher), Dacheng Gate (Gate of Great Accomplishment), Dacheng Hall (Hall of Great Accomplishment) and Chongshengci (Worship Hall). Dacheng Hall is the main building in the temple, where the memorial ceremony for Confucius was often held. Inside the temple one can see that 198 stone tablets are positioned on either side of the front courtyard, containing 51,624 names of Jinshi (the advanced scholars) of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Also 14 stone stele pavilions of the Ming and Qing dynasties hold the precious historical information of ancient China.

The Temple has many old trees. One item of note is the 700-year-old Chujian Bai (Touch Evil Cypress) in the temple. Its name is associated with an ancient legend. During the Ming Dynasty, one day the superior official-Yan Song came to worship Confucius on behalf of the emperor. When he was passing by the cypress, one of the branches of the tree took his hat off. Since Yan Song was a treacherous official, people have thought the old tree could distinguish between good and evil people. Hence its name.

In side the temple there is a nice museum . We found some interesting instrument for music. We thought of buying it but it was too expensive.

  A big bell at the entrance of the temple

We like those instruments . It gives nice soft sound may be good for meditation.

Our next place to visit was Bell & Drum Tower. For that you need to take Line 2

Line 2 ---- LAMA TEMPLE à Andingmen à GULOUDAJIE Ticket 2 RMB. Take exit at B

The Bell and Drum towers were central to official timekeeping in China in the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties.The Bell and Drum Towers continued to function as the official timepiece of Beijing until 1924, when the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty was forced to leave the Forbidden City and western-style clockwork was made the official means of time-keeping.

The Drum tower is a two-story building made of wood with a height of 47 metres (154 ft). In ancient times the upper story of the building housed 24 drums, of which only one survives. Nearby stands the Bell Tower, a 33-metre-high (108 ft) edifice with gray walls and a green glazed roof.

Bell Tower

Entry fee is 10 RMB for Bell tower & 15 RMB for Drum Tower.

Drum Tower

Way back we again choose subway Line 2, Line 5 & Line 10

-----Line 2 ----  ----      GULOUDAJIE à      Andingmen à       LAMA TEMPLE                                                                                                                    |       HUIXINXINXIJIENANKOU      ß     --- --- Hepinglibeijie  ß LAMA TEMPLE ---Line 5                          |  Line 10 – HUIXINXINXIJIENANKOU à Shaoyaoju  à Taiyanggong  à SANYUANQIAO Ticket 2 RMB. Take exit at D

Day 3  :  The Ming Tomb
                Great Wall at Badaling
                Zed Stone Factory

Since great wall is around 60 KM from beijing and there is no subway connectivity till Badaling, we choose a 1 day bus tour . Ebay helped us to get a tour organized by Dragon tour and travels. Cost for 1 day tour is 250 RMB per person. Our tour guide was Lily ( +86 158 1117 8808 ). 

Its a tour with shopping. In this type of tour the tour organizer will take you for some shopping. In our tour we have been to Zed Stone factory and Ayurveda store. Good thing is that you wont to be forced to buy anything.  But non shopping tours are very costly compared to non shopping ones

Initial part is of journy is bit boring as the bus has to visit from hotel to hotel to pick up guests. If you are around 4 person then better to book a private tour. ( Car trip to great wall will cost 400 RMB + 50 RMB at the toll gate + Entry ticket 40 per person at Ming Tomb  & 45 per person at Great wall). It will help to save some time ;-)

First stoppage on the bus tour is The Ming Tomb,  at the foot of Tianshou Mountain. This is the best preserved tomb area with the most emperors of Ming Dynasty buried. only the Sacred Way, Changling Tomb, Zhaoling Tomb and Dingling Tomb are open to the public.

All part of the Tomb are not allowed to general public. This place is Ok. 

Then we have been to the Zed factory. Most of the tours shopping tour and as a part of it they takes to a factory. If you like you can buy there is no force buying needed. But its worth visiting this Zed factory to see different varity of zed and idols made from it. Lots of antique works.

Entrance of the Zed Factory

Requirement  is to spend 45 min here before taking the lunch. There are lots of things to keep you busy for 45 minutes. For Chinese Zed stone is precious like for Indian gold or Diamond. All the price here are are USD. Highly expensive but you love few carving works.

Tips : Only do window shopping . No real buying ;-)

If you still want to buy make sure that you must know how to recognize real Zed stone. Jade is a beautiful stone that can be green, orange, or white, and is graded high, medium and low in terms of quality.Only jadeite jade and nephrite jade are considered authentic jade.

Tour includes Lunch as well. We had our lunch in the Zed factory dining hall. Food was good. For vegetarian options limited.

Great Wall

Finally we have  started to ward the Great wall.

The great wall built during the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644) is the most often seen and best preserved, running over 373 miles and containing about 827 city wall platforms, 71 passes and countless towers. 

Badaling  is the site of the most visited section of the Great Wall of China, approximately 50 miles (80 km) northwest of urban Beijing city in Yanqing County, which is within the Beijing municipality. The portion of the wall running through the site was built in 1504 during the Ming Dynasty, along with a military outpost reflecting the location's strategic importance. The highest point of Badaling is Beibalou , approximately 1,015 metres (3,330 ft) above sea level. Before reaching there its better to take a virtual tour of Great wall from badaling

Through out the journey lots of greenery around. There 2 option to go to the top of great wall. 

1. Climbing 

2. There is Rope way to the top at additional cost of 100 RMB. 

We choose the second option as we are bit lazzy. ;-)

Few from the top is awesome. You can walk till the highest point.

We touched the highest point .

 Ticket Price: RMB40 (Nov. 1 to Mar. 31); RMB 45 (Apr. 1 to Oct. 31) 
 Cable Car:  RMB 100 (round trip)
 Opening Hours:06:30-19:00 (in summer); 07:00-18:00 (in winter)
 Hiking Time: Two and a half hours 

After having a nice time in great wall finally we Way back to bus.

Way back we were taken to an aurvedic massage center. Its only worth to get a nice foot massage after lots of walk. But make sure that you wont get in trap of those doctors. By checking your palm and vein they can tell you problem in your body and its medicine. They will try to sale it. Its highly expensive. I dono about the authenticity. 

That the end of the tour.  Tour guide  dropped us at hotel.  Too much tired. Rest rest and Rest for the rest of the day..

Day 4.

We roam around the near by place and done some shopping in the phonex mall and silk market. 

Common shopping places

Beijing Silk Street (Xiushui Street)

Beijing Commercial Centers - Wangfujing Street

Beijing Hongqiao Market (Pearl Market)

Tips :

 While buying from any shop or road side vendor make sure that you bargain a lot . You do not have to feel shy or embarrassed when you bargain with the sellers. 

To catch the plane we again choose the airport express from SANYUANQIAO. It took us 20 min to reach Terminal 3 . 

 Beijing Airport View

 T3  Terminal has  three function divisions: T3-C, T3-D, and T3-E. T3-C 

T3-E for international (including Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan) departures and arrivals.

Every 3 minutes, there is a train leaving from T3-C or T3-E 

We have our flight back to bangalore via Hong Kong.


Way back home I was thinking to put all my findings in a blog so that anyone can read this and explore Beijing as if he is travelling for the second time.

I wish it’s a helpful one ;-)

Sab ka Mangal ho