Marjolein Katsma

Looking for an Internet cafe in Beijing? Try asking a local for “Wăng bā” or look out for this pair of characters (copy them on a piece of paper, or memorize them): 网吧 – it means “Internet Cafe”.

There are actually quite a few Internet cafes in Beijing, most of the “neighborhood” type where mostly young people from the neighborhood come; the most popular activities seem to be games and (video) chatting. Unless you really need a very fast connection (say, for uploading photographs) these neighborhood Internet cafes will do nicely for checking your email or some browsing and are a lot cheaper than the “business centers” found in many hotels (which often do not offer a much faster connection anyway): in a hotel you may pay 10 Yuan for 10 minutes, while an average neighborhood Internet cafe charges 3 Yuan per hour.

Identification is (legally) required, so don’t forget your passport, and expect to pay in advance for the amount of time you want to be online. The system usually gives you a warning 15 minutes before your time is up, but when it’s really up it’s just “poof!” (so if you’re emailing, save drafts regularly…).

In one such place they tried asking 10 Yuan per hour so I just started laughing and wanted to walk away; they then gave me a scrap of paper and indicated I should write down what I expected to pay. “3Y,” I wrote, and they said “OK”. So don’t be fooled into paying more when (currently, fall of 2006) the going rate seems to be 3Y – not super-fast but certainly good enough for some emailing and browsing.

Many of these places also sell some drinks or snacks but it’s a good idea to bring your own bottle of water or tea, just in case.

And, of course, it’s much more fun to do as the locals do with some couleur locale than pretend you’re on business here and pay much more for the same thing!

All the big Western brands are to be found here – and expensive. There’s some good shopping as welll, and I found nice little presents to bring home, and generally wasted some time here.

But what’s disappointing is that it felt like a chique shopping street in almost any big city. There are many places I would return to in Beijing, but Wangfujing is not one of them: one visit is enough. Except to go to “snack street”, that is.

TanZhe Si (TanZhe Temple) is an ancient Buddhist temple dating back 3rd Century BC, located in the Western Hills about 45km West of Beijing.

It is easily accessible by public transportation (subway and bus) as explained clearly on this page – ignore the taxi drivers at the subway exit and the bus station: they will charge 30Y and tell you the bus will come much later than it actually does; the bus costs only 6Y and is much more fun!

Although there are tourists that come here, most are actually Chinese: the day I went I saw only 8 other Western tourists (and they didn’t take the bus). But – especially on a weekday – it’s not crowded at all, and actually much more authentic than the Lama Temple within the city, and more of a real “working” temple as well. The site is huge, and should be explored at leisure – but if you do have time left, there is also JieTai Si, 10km back along the road to Beijing; I skipped this though, preferring to take my time at one beautiful temple rather than rush through two.

Take a scarf or something for the bus though: these regional buses are air-conditioned and I caught a cold!