Beijing

ohhhhh_~~nice

i havent seen that rude people before. the people dont know how to smile a little bit, and if you have rounded eyes (not an asian) they stare at you even they see so many tourist there. you feel like an alien . the people always thinking about money, the money that the tourist have. you need to know bargaining. hotels are very nice but not the people! Also the city is extremely dirty and dusty. i dont like there but you have to see the great wall!!

This was one of the best (friendliest, clean and happy) hotel we have stayed in Beijing. Thanks Perfect Inn

always always always have toilet paper in you pocket, purse, backpack it doesn’t matter how you carry it just have it. the w/c’s are horrible!!! actually it was the worse i have ever experienced.
on the opposite side of the toilet- the food is awesome, i loved it. yummy. i encourage you to eat as many different things as you can. half the time i didn’t really know what i was eating, but it didn’t matter. the people are soooo nice. i had a really enjoyable time here. i spent a 17 days. went to the forbidden city (you can spend 2 months and still discover new things) and i went to summer palace. very intresting and so full of history. magical place. of course there is the negative i didn’t see the sun the whole time i was there the pollution was so terrible. and there is poverty, but that’s in any big city you go to.

summer in BJ is the best, love the long quiet walk at mignight in BJ

I went to Beijing in Sepember 2000 to start my college life. And I meet my boyfriend who is my husband now in our university in the freshman year.
After graduated in July 2004, I work in Beijing for two years.Then I came to Shanghai with my husband.
Beijing is a beautiful city and is rich in cultrue, with many famous historical spots to visit.

I have been there 5 times so far. Beijing is seriously polluted, people there speak mandarin with a fairly funny accent, I can’t understand them sometimes. Great Wall and Forbidden city are the only 2 places worth trying!

The wife and I went here in Feb ‘06 as part of a tour group and had a lot of fun. Want to go back sometime after the Olympics.

Beijing in recent times have changed much from the old Beijing. There are construction projects everywhere and the night life is bustling with brightly lit shops and teenagers looking for the next big thing. But of course, the city on the whole retains the unmistakable aura of an ancient Chinese city. There are quite a few palace remains and tombs around, which might open the eyes of some people with very dim understanding of the magnitudes of these ancient civilizations. The newer constructions and people in rush hour (who mostly drive around in cars now) might also help some people understand the changes that are taking place in the present.

All in all, I found ancient sites merely interesting, while the modern backdrop and the people living in it provided much fascination and curiosity for me. I think the place is worth visiting at least once, if for the sake of understanding of international markets and their truths and facades.

Perhaps not by coincidence, the Greek word Pangaea, meaning “all lands,” is the name historians have given to planet Earth before its continental drift 200 millions years ago, when the world was one.

Similarly named Panjiayuan, Beijing’s largest antiques fair, can likewise be described as a place where every province in the People’s Republic have come together to form their own supercontinent-like market place. Indeed, one might spend years journeying across China to uncover the same treasures that can be had in a day at Panjiayuan.

Here, spanning landscapes of antiquated wares, art, precious stones and revolutionary memorabilia meet precipitous mountains of books, furniture, ceremonial dress and sundry jewelry. One must finally traverse vast seas of dynastic china, heirlooms, national regalia and old coins before emerging dusty, exhausted and burdened with your finds.

Along the way you’ll have encountered traditional Han, the Uyghurs of Xinjiang and the nomadic Drokpas of Tibet, all selling their goods side by side with about fifty other ethnic minorities; the splendors of West China contrasting nicely with vestiges of Beijing.

Scores of international visitors from the Orient to the Americas to Europe peruse the eclectic bazaar to purchase relics that truly cannot be found anywhere else in the world. But the market is also teaming with spectators. Beijing elders who, not unlike moons orbiting a planet, crowd around every negotiation taking place, finding much amusement in watching waiguoren paying forty times more for a faux antique then what a local might pay for the real deal.

Such is life on planet Panjiayuan.

[Panjiayuan is located in Chongwen District off of Dongsanhuan Nanlu. Open Monday-Friday 8:30am – 6pm, and Saturday-Sunday 4:30am – 6:30pm.]

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