We arrived at our hotel, the TianAn Rega, in the heart of Beijing, after a 13-hour, westbound flight from NYC. The time difference is 13 hours ahead of EST. The hotel was within walking distance to Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City, Wangfujing shopping area and night market, and the Beijing subway.
After a few hours of sleep, we were itching to get out and explore. We headed to the Forbidden City first. It used to be at the center of a much larger, walled Imperial City, built 1406-1420 during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It is a massive sprawling complex with great open spaces with grand palaces, juxtaposed against intimate smaller palaces and gardens. It really lived up to all of the ways we’ve seen it portrayed in movies.
The Great Wall was the highlight of our China trip. We booked a hiking tour prior to arriving. The drive was about 2 hours North of Beijing, and our English-speaking guide, Peter, detailed the interesting history of the Wall. When we arrived at our starting point, it began to snow. We hiked a total of ~4 miles through the Jinshanling section, often on steep, original sections of the Wall. Astoundingly, we seemed to have the Wall all to ourselves. It was great to only run across a handful of tourists the entire day. We wrapped up the tour with a late lunch prepared by a local family, which was delicious.
We saw so many other sights in Beijing. The highlights included the Temple of Heaven, Lama and Confucius temples, Beihai Parks, Summer Palace and Tiananmen Sq. There is substantial security all around Tiananmen and at every subway stop you have to put your bag through an x-ray machine. It didn’t actually feel oppressive though, and we both felt very safe there.
The weather was fairly cold during our time in Beijing, mainly in the low to mid 30’s. Also, although we had heard about the smog prior to our arrival, nothing could have fully prepared us for how bad it really is. We were fortunate to have a day or 2 of some sun and visibility, but for the most part, it was really smoggy. This didn’t really impact our trip, but definitely noteworthy. While watching BBC World news, we found that an “orange” alert was issued, which we learned was the second highest level recorded, {cough, cough}. We saw people with facemasks on their babies and even dogs!
We had some great meals, including the staple, Beijing Peking roast duck. It’s served with thin “pancakes,” sliced cucumber, bean sprouts, and yummy plum sauce. Also had fantastic traditional noodle and rice dishes. We definitely ate conservatively, as we didn’t want to tempt fate this early in the trip. : ) Starbucks and McDonalds were welcomed sights and a good way to have a few first meals that we felt were safe. However, Jason refused to step foot in KFC…lol. Can’t say I blame him.
Arriving in Beijing was a big culture shock, but as we’ve found in most big cities, you surprisingly come across some the nicest, most helpful people. There were little jewels around every corner. We’re finding that places that may seem dangerous or sketchy are anything but. Some of our favorite restaurants and bars are little holes-in-the-wall.
Next stop –India! We are starting in Delhi and completing the Golden Triangle.