When In.. Beijing!

For the past 10 years, I’ve called Beijing my home. I’ve eaten in a lot of restaurants, been to a lot of places and experienced life living like a local. If you plan to visit Beijing, the top 4 places to visit would be Forbidden City, Great Wall (Mutianyu section please!), Temple of Heaven and Summer Palace. However, if you talk about food, I give you fast 5 of Chinese cuisine you must try in Beijing: 

1. Beijing roast duck (aka Peking Duck): a must-eat food when you visit Beijing. The duck is roasted with wood in a stone oven rubbed with spices and no oil. Best to order this dish when you reserve a seat as it take quite some time to cook. The duck will be carved right in front of you for Instagram shots!  Notable restaurants are: Quanjude (Hepingmen Branch only, don’t bother with the other branches), Da Dong, Duck De Chine, Made In China (Grand Hyatt hotel). 

2. Jianbing and soy milk: the Beijing’s version of the breakfast of the champions. You can find them at street corners near office buildings. You have the option to go vegetarian or loaded with meat.   You may think it’s not too hygienic but nobody died yet!  Pair your jianbing with a hot soy milk.  

3.  Hotpot:  there are a lot of hotpot places that you can try in Beijing.  For the budget-conscious traveler,  Xiabu Xiabu (呷哺呷哺) offers the best deal.  For mid-range, go for Haidilao (海底捞) or Dong Lai Shun (东来顺).  Haidilao offers entertainment if you ordered their handmade noodles.  Dong Lai Shun serve their hotpot in a traditional pot.  There are different soup base to choose from (clear, spicy, tom yum, tomato), meats (lamb, pork, beef, seafood), vegetables, noodles/dumplings, sauces.

4.  Dumplings (饺子):  if noodles are considered the staple of the south, dumplings are considered the staple of the north.  A must-eat dish especially during Chinese New Year.  Families prepare their own dumplings and boil them to cook.  I miss the Chinese dumpling restaurant in front of our office building which serves good dumplings.  You can opt for vegetarian, meat lovers, seafood lovers or mixed fillings.  Some dumplings are wrapped in different colors from the usual white.

5.  Lamb Skewers (羊肉串):  the days where you can find in every corner a lamb skewer vendor who grills them as you wait are slowly dying.  My friends and I sometimes just sit outside on a warm balmy day with a bottle of cold beer and just these lamb skewers for dinner.  However, as the local government wanted to ensure the cleanliness and authenticity of the skewers, they are now mostly available in restaurants.  

There you have it!  Enjoy your stay in Beijing!

Photo credits:  Vivian Tang, thebeijinger

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Going to Beijing – How many days??

My sisters and mom just left from their vacation two weeks ago and life is back to normal.  Hahahaha!  If you want my sister’s account of her travels in the city, check her commentary on her blog site.  As for myself, I did all that I can do in Beijing on my first year here with Marco.

So.. before we take into consideration as to how many days.. we must consider what kind of trip would you like to have.   Do you want an amazing race adventure or a light and easy trip?   When you’ve decided if you want to kill or relax yourself, decide how many days would you like to stay in the city.  3, 4 or 5 days?

In any case, here’s a 3 day itinerary for you.  When I say 3 days, that’s 3 whole days so make the necessary adjustments.

Airport Review: Beijing Capital International Airport – Terminal 3

I’m back!  Sorry for the lack of posts in the past few weeks but real life and work have taken over and put blogging in the back burner.  Anyway, in the past month I get to go to Hong Kong twice, Manila and Cagayan de Oro.  Jetsetter?  Nope.  Just for training and a wedding (not my own).   The airport of choice by my airline?  BCIA Terminal 3.

Beijing Capital International Airport Terminal 3 is one of the biggest airport in terms on land mass.  It’s the combined Terminal 1-5 of London Heathrow.  The terminal is divided into 4 main buildings: transport centre (parking, light rail and commercial), domestic terminal (T3-C), international terminal (T3-E) and VIP terminal (T3-D).  This terminal opened early this year after only 4 years of construction.  They want visitors attending the Olympics to be awed by the structure which is shaped like a dragon.  Several airlines have made this their home including Air China, Cathay Pacific, Dragonair, British Airways, Qatar Airways, Qantas, Emirates, Thai Airways, United Airlines, All Nippon Airways and some local airlines (More info here: http://en.bcia.com.cn/flight/infor080710.html).  Transport to and from the airport is plenty and you can choose either by bus (RMB16), airport express (RMB25) or taxi (RMB80+ including RMB 10 toll).

Beijing’s Cultural Marvels

If Shanghai is considered as the financial capital of China, Beijing is considered as the cultural capital.  Beijing is in northern China surrounded by Tianjin and Hebei.  It is the seat of the national government and has been the capital of numerous dynasties.  That’s why, wars were fought in Peking, former name of Beijing and numerous cultural structures abound in this municipality.

Here’s a list of the cultural marvels which you can visit while you’re here in Beijing.  I will be posting the most frequented spots which tourists visit.

1.  Great Wall of China (长城) – “He who has not climbed the Great Wall is not a true man”.  This is one of the famous sayings which is associated with this landmark structure.  This wall is a must-see place and what’s the point of going to Beijing if you don’t visit the Great Wall.  There are 4 parts of the wall which you can visit: Badaling (tourist bus aplenty), Mutianyu (fewer compared to Badaling), Jinshanling/Simatai (hiker’s haven!) and Huanghuacheng (with a lake view).

Beijing’s Modern Marvels

The lead up to the Olympic Games brought a flurry of construction in Beijing.  Buildings sprung up left and right as if everyone’s in a mood to construct.  Here’s a list of the modern marvels which you must see when you’re in town for a visit:

1.  National Stadium aka Bird’s Nest – This 91,000 seating capacity stadium is located north of the 4th ring road at the southern part of the Olympic Green.  It’s the venue for the opening and closing ceremonies of both the Olympics and Paralympic Games.  It is also where the athletic events are being held.  Rumors said that it will be the home of Beijing Guo’an after the Games.