Beijing

maybebeijing

Hiya was thinking of heading to Beijing for Chinese New Year in January and was wondering if anyone else had been to Beijing and what they thought

finbarrk

I was there for the Olympics, had great fun then anyway. Go for it.

roundymac

Worth seeing, but is getting more and more westernised everyday.I was there in 2004 and 2009 and the difference was amazing. The most noticeable thing I found that everything and everyone is trying to copy America. MacDonalds
Pizza Hut, KFC, Hagen Das all over the place, having sail that you'll get a beer at the street venders for €2. The contrast between wealth and poverty is amazing, Ferrari, Lamborgini, shoromms and the cars themseleves being driven around. Also rember january will be very cold whilst the summer will be baking hot.

pauraic1990

I was in Beijing last June and I thought it a lovely city to go to. Food and Transport is cheap. 2 (20 cent)yuan for one way in the metro to any distance. Taxi is far cheaper than Irish Taxi. For example, the distance between Dublin Airport to the Spire in O'Connell St, Irish Taxi fare would be 40-50euro whereas the beijing taxi would be roughly 4-5 euro (40-50yaun)
Any question about beijing, fire away, just ask.

ozzy jr

Can anyone give me any recommendations for hotels in Beijing?

roundymac

I stayed at the Novetel Peace right in the city centre, don't know what they charge for internet booking, I was on a Kuoni tour. Plenty of top class western style hotels there, with western prices too.:cool:

Trampas

stayed in hilton beijing wangfujing €80 a night. top notch

useeme

ozzy jr wrote: »

Can anyone give me any recommendations for hotels in Beijing?

Swissotel

sarkozy

Ugh, there's nice boutique hotels in the hutong district just north of the Forbidden City. Certainly one very close to the Belltower (or Drumtower, I can't remember).

ozzy jr

I'm just looking for something cheapish in a decent area. Best I've found so far is Days Inn Forbidden City at about €40 per night. Location is good, central. I've never been to Beijing before so a bit in the dark regarding accom.

Did the Trans Mongolian railway last year and finished up in Beijing. Had a good laugh, the people are a bit strange there.
Heres a video i made of our trip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrzbOfq1h0o

spurious

pauraic1990 wrote: »

I was in Beijing last June and I thought it a lovely city to go to. Food and Transport is cheap. 2 (20 cent)yuan for one way in the metro to any distance. Taxi is far cheaper than Irish Taxi. For example, the distance between Dublin Airport to the Spire in O'Connell St, Irish Taxi fare would be 40-50euro whereas the beijing taxi would be roughly 4-5 euro (40-50yaun)
Any question about beijing, fire away, just ask.

I agree with you about Beijing being cheap, but a taxi from the Spire to the airport would be more like 25 euro, not 40-50.
Personally, I preferred rural China, but the big cities have their charm.