Originally uploaded by JoeDuck
The Forbidden City and Great Wall of China are the top attractions in China even for locals and people who come to Beijing from around China. In April we enjoyed the fact there were no crowds (though I think a few weeks later – May 1 – is the worst time to travel in China because people are all over the place celebratintg May day).
China’s Great Wall – Simatai 812
Originally uploaded by JoeDuck
At Simatai the Great Wall of China goes up from a valley in both directions, then winds around a steep moutainside. Incredibly this wall was begun over 2000 years ago, though I think most parts were completed during the Ming Dynasty which ruled China for about 300 years – from 1368 to 1644. The Ming were the last of the Han and were deposed by the Qing Dynasty who ruled until the Nationalists kicked their butts in 1911.
Foreign Experts Building Hotel Buffet 607
Originally uploaded by JoeDuck
The morning breakfast buffet at the Foreign Experts Building Hotel in Beijing was free and exceptional. Rice, vegetables, wonton, Bao, eggs cooked to order, bacon, sausages, and much more made the morning meal a huge feast. FEB was an exceptional hotel at the price we paid – about $80 per night US due to some special deal from our Beijing Friend Kevin Wu, the best dentist in Medford Oregon. We had a huge 1BR suite. Even Hotels.com pricing was more than double this and rack rates were about $500 US per night for our large room .
Beijing Tea Scam: Avoid the Si Zhu Xiang Tea House near Forbidden City / Tiananmen Square
Originally uploaded by JoeDuck
Update: Generally, if you are approached by a good English speaker there is a *very good chance* he or she is trying to scam you or sell you something rather than “practice English”. In Tea houses confirm pricing *before you sit down* or you’ll probably be in for a surprising bill.
Beware the SI ZHU XIANG Tea House in Beijing!
I fell for the Beijing Tea Scam (also common in Shanghai) where you are approached by a person claiming to want to practice english, then subtly lured to a Tea House for a “Tea Ceremony” that is hugely overpriced.
The scam is so good I have learned that many other travelers have also been duped by this because it preys on the fact that you don’t want to insult anybody and generally are unfamiliar enough with the landscape, money, etc. that you just pay the bill. My bill was $85 for a few tea samples. I’m guessing some who fall for this never even realize that they have been scammed – rather just think they paid “a lot” for Tea as I did untili I realized this was a very clever con game common in Beijing and Shanghai. I have challenged the charge and cancelled my card and will post follow ups on this later.
The China Tourism groups and guidebooks are guilty of NOT warning people enough about the fact that generally if you are approached in popular tourism areas by people who can speak english they are usually working some sort of sale or scam. Several sources suggested to me that it is common in China for people to come up and ask to take pictures and “practice” their English. Although I’m sure there are exceptions to the rule, the notion that people are looking to practice their english is only true in that that they are improving on these very clever short cons. I think I was approached at least ten times – mostly in Beijing – sometimes it was obvious they were working to sell me something but sometimes not at all apparent.
I can only hope that law enforcement does something to prevent this during the Olympics because a lot of this may overshadow the experience of meeting some of the wonderful people of China, only a tiny number of whom are perpetrating the scams.
Beware the SI ZHU XIANG Tea House in Beijing!
Looking for legitimate tea? Try Beijing Tea Street but still make sure you understand pricing. China really takes tea seriously and some are very expensive.
Largest city is hard to define, but I think metro area population is the best measure and according to Wikipedia these are the top ten:
1 Tokyo Japan 32,450,000 8,014 4,049
2 Seoul South Korea 20,550,000 5,076 4,048
3 Mexico City[2] Mexico 20,450,000 7,346 2,784
4 New York City[3] United States 19,750,000 17,884 1,104
5 Mumbai India 19,200,000 2,350 8,170
6 Jakarta Indonesia 18,900,000 5,100 3,706
7 Sao Paulo Brazil 18,850,000 8,479 2,223
8 Delhi India 18,600,000 3,182 5,845
9 Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto Japan 17,375,000 6,930 2,507
10 Shanghai China 16,650,000 5,177 3,216
Surprising to me was that Shanghai and Hong Kong are both larger than Beijing which was in 16th place, and all three are smaller than New York City. (Where do all our billion+ Chinese friends live, anyway?)
Hey, I’ll be in two of the top ten over the next week! Hong Kong and Shanghai. Cool.
Update: I’m going to China in April but will miss SMX China. Xiamen was harder to get to than I’d originally thought given the rest of our schedule and China contacts are popping up in other places, so the new trip is Hong Kong April 1-4, Shanghai April 5-8, Beijing April 9-15, home to Oregon.
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Still planning the trip to China for SES SMX China 2008 in Xiamen, Beijing, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. I am running into the internet challenge of really old information though. For example I’d heard about a really cool ocean ferry that goes from Hong Kong to Xiamen. It’s listed in my very new guidebook but some online sources say it’s not running anymore. I got hopeful with this online blurb:
Hong Kong – Xiamen 1400 0800 Weekday 7245 from China Hong Kong City Pier Xiamen – Hong Kong 1500 0900 EveryMon, Wed, Thu, Sat to China Hong Kong City Pier
Only to find the page was last updated…in 1997!
Google’s travel listings are pretty challenged in the USA so I should not be surprised that finding accurate China info could be trouble. I’m online most of the day but have to admit the best sources of general China travel information so far have probably been word of mouth and my guidebook rather than online, though I’ve been using all of them together for best results.
The plan as of now is to fly to Hong Kong and spend about 3 days, then Train to Shanghai (20 hours, sleeper) for about 2 days, then to Beijing (13 hours by train) for about 3 days, then to Xiamen for Conference (which I’m hoping will be at the Xianglu Grand Hotel because it looks simply awesome!) then back to Hong Kong for the flight home. But we are coordinating 3 schedules so we’ve still got some logistics to go.
China Visas appear to be a bit of a challenge as you can’t get them by mail. I think most travel agencies will do this for you, but we are not planning to use one so somebody may need to go to San Francisco Chinese consulate. Not a big deal as Charley lives down there and I’ll be near there later in January at the Web 2.0 Conference.
I’m hoping that SES China in Xiamen is going to be at the same venue as last year, the Xianglu Grand Hotel. This hotel looks fantastic and elegant with beautiful rooms and several restaurants. Food is one of the things I’m really looking forward to in China and I’m sure the Xianglu Grand Hotel won’t disappoint in this area. I am a little concerned that it’s bad form not to try everything offered by a guest, so if I’m eating with folks who offer me fried canaries or something like that I better be sure to have the pepto bismol tablets handy. The Xianglu Grand website still suffers from almost bizarre optimizing problems, but the hotel is splendid and I’m really looking forward to the stay. Current special rates appear to be very low so I’m tempted to book very soon because the rack rates are more than double. About $80 vs $200 per night with the nice garden suites at an especially large discount.
I missed that conference but this year I will be in Xiamen for SES China April 18-19. The current plan is to fly in and out of Hong Kong, which is somewhat south of Xiamen, and then make our way up from Hong Kong to Xiamen to Beijing and possibly also Shanghai.
Hong Kong is on the sea in the South, Shanghai on the sea hundreds of miles north, and Beijing inland and somewhat north of Shanghai. Another very popular destination we’ll probably miss this trip is X’ian, home to the amazing ancient Terra Cotta army – hundreds of life sized clay soldier statues.
Joe Duck 