Loved Beijing, and the best tip we got was to hire a guide in advance, for a few hours per day. A lovely young man who made things a lot easier for us (and his fee was not expensive) - we told him what we liked, and what we wanted to do, and he showed us around, acting as an interpreter now and again.
I spend 4 months in Beijing for a study abroad program. I want to go back so bad but my student loans kicked in an i'm dying in student loan debt. I spent 4 semesters studying chinese language,life, and culture. You are right about a lot of that. The language barrier was still there. I got very discouraged, frustrated, and wanted to go home because of it but I stuck with it and my language ability escalated so quickly. There was a lot of people but less than I thought sometimes. I crossed streets in groups most of the time. If taking a taxi, make sure to have them run the meter or else they try to take advantage of you. They will tell you 100 when the trip will only cost like 25. I used an iPhone app for looking up train stations and how to get to the location. It would tell you how to transfer from one to the next. Very helpful. When at the great wall... pace yourself. I tried climbing way too fast and got dizzy and winded. I bought cat food for he fat cats at Baihai park. Chuar was my favorite for street food. Hot pot was awesome too. I definitely recommend doing Karaoke with friends while there. I felt pretty safe too. I'd walk around and tour by myself all the time. I toured more than I did homework. haha. Great video. I still need to post my videos from china. I have tons of pictures and videos but have only posted pics. :(
I had two but liked the one better. I think the one out of the two was the "Metro Beijing Subway" Though it could have been the "Explore Beijing Subway map"
It takes a long time to study Chinese I found also. Chinese takes a long time to learn, for people who are lazy like me, it takes way more times to learn. English is faster when searching the definitions of the words because you can actually type the alphabets in any translation website or app to get the meaning in your language like Spanish, but in Chinese, nobody would understand the word even local people, only if they have learnt Chinese in their school for their primary education. So for foreigners, of course more time should be taken on learning Chinese. I am Singaporean and actually Chinese, English and Malay are our official languages, but after we people found that we can speak English anywhere in the country and it is the major language, we became lazy at Chinese. Because Chinese learning takes more time than English, a lot more time. And one problem for me is that I still need to learn English a lot although it's my mother tongue, because in Singlish people created English with the Chinese cultures. So in both pronouncations and writing, we have many problems and differneces compared to Americans or British. Hotpot is awesome I agree, you can go to Chengdu to try the spicy oil hotpot, very spicy. I like your apps, I have used something similar, the designs of the apps are great. Taking photos in Beijing are great also,you can ask photographers to take for you also for 10 RMB, about 1.5USD in some popular viewpoints in Beijing. It would work when there are too many people and you cannot take the picture with the tiananmen house or the forbidden city, the photographer's one would be way more cleaner.
I would add to your list of Loves (or maybe for some, the list of Hates), the shopping! I loved the open markets and the high rise shopping malls in Beijing!
I LOVE CHINA and USA I am american citizen but i love china it's the most beautiful and rich country in the world and their foods are very fantastic and clean and I love their culture.
Always enjoy your videos as I too travel as a family. Thinking of visiting Beijing mid March for 72 hours. Would you recommend a D.I.Y. tour of Beijing and the Great Wall? Keep the videos coming.
Was in China for a few weeks last month and spent six days in Beijing. I agree with almost everything you said and had the same experience. One thing I would note though is I believe taxi drivers are required to take you to wherever you need to go until about 10pm to midnight or somewhere in that range and after that time they can decide whether or not they want to accept the fare. So at night after a certain time its almost impossible to get a cab in the popular nightlife areas if your hotel is not far enough away for them to get a decent fare. This made life very difficult so you will want to setup an uber account to use while there for those times (the chinese have a different service that is more popular that is like uber but you need to know chinese to use it).
I just returned from China with a very brief stay in Beijing. I wish I had seen your video beforehand. It's a charming piece! I have always thought crossing the street in Rome was very dangerous but it pales next to Beijing. One difference is that in Rome, a paucity of traffic signals exist so the pedestrian knows what to expect--chaos. In China in general, and Beijing in particular, traffic directions are given, which no one observes. Your suggestion of waiting to cross a street until you can travel in a pack is an excellent one. I also would alert your viewers that motor bikers come up on the sidewalk when they encounter an impediment in the street. With respect to nightlife, I would add that the amount of entertainment on the street is amazing. You need not go to a club to observe something interesting. Moreover, it doesn't seem to matter if it is the week-end or a weekday night--it's a vibrant night atmosphere.
Great video!!! I am stopping over in Beijing for a day on my way back home, can you recommend a tour that can show me around the main attractions in one full day please? Thank you Wolter
Main attractions in one full day? Can't be done! The Forbidden Palace alone will take the average person a day to browse around. It's some 170+ buildings in total. I would highly recommend a week.
That is a policeman, in Tiananmen square, they are. Because Tiananmen district can be the most important place for politics in China, so you can find all the policemen are wearing that kind of shirt. And nearby the roads, you can find a lot of well trained policemen which they don't even move their bodies. I think they can get more salaries than normal police officers in China. In the district we can always find a team of 20 well trained policemen walking on the streets, that is a part of their daily works. They can't speak and need to walk really well to support the look of China. Hehe, but one point is that the Chinese president is not working there, he is working far far away than the tiananmen square everyday. He is only welcoming presidents in to other countries in China. It's only important to the Chinese first leader Mao.
It's interesting to hear different people's opinions. I had feedback from someone saying Beijing was a very unsafe and unwelcoming city for tourists. She described her experience being negative because none of the locals were friendly- in fact they would apparently give the tour groups dirty looks and spit on them. She also witnessed people attempting to steal from tourist's bags and was advised by the tour leader to keep track of her items. I'm going to Beijing at the end of the year and I just hope I don't have an experience like her's :)
Yes some people has bad experience, like everywhere else unfortunately.. I've been in China since 2006 and i got really few problem (when i came the first time, i was not able to speak the language hahaha)
My biggest hate is the way people stare and take photographs. I have been here over two years and, even now, it still makes me mad. I have had so many arguments with my Chinese husband because he doesn't understand the problem haha.
Went to Beijing in Oct about 5 years ago..great season to visit. Good air quality at that time. Everything Mark says is spot on. My son was living there and speaks Mandarin, so language no issue! Would go back in a heart beat. Want to go to Shanghai and then take a river boat tour.
This one is very true, Wolter is a very experienced traveller in China, hope you can many more trips in the country. Maybe go to places with less people. The great world city is really really beautiful and wonderful, but there are many people there. I have tried one time to not visit badaling part of the great world and start hiking and visiting in other parts and there are less people there. You can try this next time with your friends, language is a big problem. I am a Singaporean and I know Chinese, but I have pretended to not understanding Chinese, the taxi driver could not understand. Print out the address is very important, because you know abroaders are finding hard to pronounce Chinese words. I found that it is even hard to communicate with Chinese waiters inside a hotel, only inside the international hotels it is possible. But normal people won't understand you, even in Shanghai it is better. And if you go on to any city to enjoy the street foods there, you might not even understand the price, people can't even pronounce numbers in English very well. Haha, and in Beijing, I support to travel to the nearby city Tianjin, there you can find way more places to visit, and also knowing the Chinese histories very well in the city with 600 years histories. Go to Tianjin guwenhua(old culture street) to buy some Chinese traditional staff and go eat the Beijing roasted duck in 831 is also a choice to not line up for many times in Beijing.
I can't agree more with the 5th thing you're gonna hate about Beijing. I've read many prominent travel guides of Beijing like Lonely Planet and the majority of the content remained pretty much the same although Beijing has changed so rapidly over the last 10 years. The number of subway lines has tripled, newly erected shopping malls are everywhere and there's so much going on inside the National Center for the Performing Arts (world-class performances of classical music as well as traditional Chinese music) and National Museum of China (top-notch new exhibitions) and so many other places that the editors don't even know about →_→ Beijing is crowded with locals and people from other places who don't even know how to cross the streets, and the pollution is terrible, but the cultural life here is definitely world-class.
I forget how recent it was but I think they still do the "visitor passes." Basically each museum/park allocates a certain amount of free passes for those specifically who are visiting Beijing on tourist visas (as opposed to business). You generally have to call in advance to book yours but it's a great way to see the cultural sights.
Actually I thought taxi drivers in Beijing were wayyyy better than their Shanghai counter parts...then again i speak Chinese so I didn't think getting around was that difficult (by taxi or otherwise)..buses are awesome...if you speak Chinese.. but it is totally true that there aren't many people who speak English...
Thanks for your video!! My husband and I and our two years old daughter are going to Beijing in August!! We all very excited!!! But only one thing we are concerning about is that how do we do with the children seat in cars for safety. Because we will definitely use taxis in Beijing and we want to go to the Great Wall, I have checked several foldable children seat online but no one seems to be safe. And I seen you brought your children to Beijing in the video could you please tell me how did you do with it?? Thank you!!
Nice video! Thanks. I'm from Brazil and I'm here sitting by myself thinking wether or not I should go to Beijing alone...Now that you mentioned that its safe I get to be more optmistic about it...Do you have any hotel tips (not only those published on Tripadvisor?) Or places to eat out?
Marcos Oliveira we would arrange our own hotels (they are super cheap for good ones) but you have to pay a huge deposit for when you stay. like 4 or 5 nights extra up front... was quite the surprise
Another thing I loved,... the Beijing subway,... with a metro card it's hella easy/convenient,... and so much easier to navigate than Tokyo. (completely agree about hutong,... the peeps in Xidan hutong were so cool to me)
hi, I am sorry to hear that all the bad things in Beijing, but one thing you got wrong. it's not the taxi driver don't know the beijing's place, when they can not find where you want to go, that is because beijing is so big and some area's people doesn't know all the streets of beijing, if you are going to the other places people will recognize the stress very well.
It helps to know big streets, districts, and the highways. Taxi drivers can always lead you to those intersections and take a few directions from the passengers to hone in on the destination.
Agree, only if you can give some useful addresses for example the nearby places. If you want to go to any food restaurants, you can say the nearby metro station, or to print out the full address, with the road names and districts. Don't always only say the name of your restaurants, sometimes the driver is also going to get mess up with the same restaurants in many places even if you have told the district to the driver. A good way is to get a private guild there, that would be more expensive but they will guild you in all the viewpoints, hotels and restaurants in the city. I have tried that in Australia with a family of six, wolters could try that also. That travel is more comfortable also, inside the taxis sometimes the drivers don't even open the air conditionals.
I've never been to Beijing but I was born in Shanghai and the roads are just as bad. I fear for my life each time I cross the road! XD Even when there was a police standing in the middle of the intersection people still walked through the red light and he didn't care at all.
Thank you for this video, can you rely on credit cards when your are traveling in China or has to be all cash? I meant for restaurants and attractions and taxis ?
yep taxi drivers are bad. there were some exception, but normally i'd have to guide them to the place i wanted to go. but there are some helpful apps availabile for your smartphone! and you can find uncrowded places at the great wall. if you know where to go, you can have 3 hour hikes an barely see people. also this way you experience the great wall in its original state. all the tourists parts are heavily reconstructed (mutianyu, badaling, etc) also i recomment visiting the art district (798). its not that crowded, has nice small cafes, and of course lots of art. and i would not say its that safe, at least when you go out at night/evening. a lot of friends had their wallts/phones/cameras stolen. so try to leave them at home when you go to sanlitun/etc.
Hi, I love all your videos. Very informative. I've been living in China since last October and I think you missed one very important "Hate". It's one thing that some foreigners can cope with and others can't, which is the STARING!.Now I have been traveling the world for 3 years now and I think this country is by far the worst place to experience culture shock. Particularly the staring. Chinese people would stare at you left and right, with an unwelcoming face. This is not to say that they are unwelcoming which is not the case, but they are very curious. In the west we are taught that staring is rude, but i guess in China that is not the case. For example, when I walk in China, people literally stop and stare at me knowing that I know that I am being stared at. It gives you a feeling of invasion of privacy and can get very uncomfortable. Ways to deal with this is, listening to some music to distract yourself from all the staring. Which sucks because I like to embrace my local surroundings by hearing the noises around me.
+Armando Madrigal True, I went and I have an anxiety disorder and it was difficult but still a worthwhile trip. The people were actually so very nice despite my horrible Mandarin.
+Armando Madrigal If you come Beijing or Shanghai nobody will staring on you. I'm sure. I live in Beijing. There are a lots of faces like you so they won't feel strange. Sorry for my worse English. I'm Chinese. BTW welcome you come again.
Agree, his video is very informative. People who are going to Beijing could use the video which is really helpful. The tips are important to be careful, choose the best season to go to but not go there when there are a lot of people. Go there when it's wolter's children's holiday time is great. That's profit because if Chinese people are going there, they always choose the same time because that is the holiday for all children for example the national day, or the winter holiday. But in schools apart from China, with the different rules, they could get more chances to visit the place with less people. Armando your idea is very good, listen to music and then no one would stare at you, or go to the places to enjoy yourself with a bunch of people who are not local Chinese. For example join a bar, and you can find a lot of people similar to wolter there, they are people came from other countries having a time with overseas foods and beers there. That could be a good idea, just like I would like to go to China town during my American travel. I know this problem is more serious in China because China is not an overseas country, globalization is not happening in a lot of places, unlike the US, or Singapore, you can find many people who are not locals there. A lot of youtubers also have the problems of being starred at, because they need to put a camera there also and speak English, people might think they are interviewers, so they need to try to receive more confidence which is a hard part for them in China.
My list: 1- Food with questionable meat ingredients involved 2- Being potentially exposed to deadly diseases 3- People looking at you funny for being a foreigner 4- Feeling sorry for all the cats and dogs and the wildlife 5- Smelling the lingering presence of the political repression in the air, mixed in with the suffocating smog
My son Is about to go to China next month to teach English. Can you give us some tips on what kinds of things he needs to bring from the U.S.? I heard you say to get masks for smog. He will be there for at least a year. I'm his mother and I'm so worried, please share your ideals, thank you!
well the pollution is really bad. my wife has a video on "taking your kids to china" on our channel and that has some more info on which masks are best. The ones they have in china are not as good as they do not get the fine particles. We didn't use the masks all the time, just on bad days. After about 6 weeks I sounded like I was a 2 pack a day smoker... just fyi. I would say he should bring as little as possible as space is at a premium in china. however if he is "my size" lets say then getting clothes can be a bit tough. skinnier no problem.
I lived in beijing bro, those taxi drivers know where they're going lol. They just ran the meter up haha. And crossing the street is not such a big deal. It's like crossing the street in new york city. I'm American. He is right about the positive sides though and speaking Chinese is a big help (obviously). Plus if you speak Chinese ppl like you more and beijing is like paradise. Hopefully I can move there or Shanghai very soon. China's nice!
Another thing you are going to hate is the internet here, as Google and UA-cam and lots of US sites are blocked here in Beijing, so be prepared to know what internet website you should use during your visit in China.
James Dlatovskiy Use VPN, Betternet works well. You will ALWAYS have to try it a few times, sometimes you can't connect and turning the wifi off and back in helps. Rarely, it simply just won't work, just stop and try again a few hours later.
Loving your videos - thinking of travelling to China with my daughter (8) on my own (hubbie racing most of summer) - will the Chinese think I am shameful traveling without my husband?
No they will not. They won't care, all they will do is take pictures of your 8 year old :) and I am not even joking. Is should have a video on traveling china with kids out in the next two weeks. My wife filmed it in Shanghai and it took quite a few takes as well... kids were involved :) but watch for it and if you have questions just send us a private message here or on facebook and we can help
Things I hated 1 public toilets , my mrs said the ladies loos were horrific 2 queuing , the chinese don't 3 spitting, get used to the sound of people hawking one up Things I loved 1 Great Wall , got up at 5am to beat the crowds a fantastic sight 2 metro system , fast cheap and gets you everywhere ( but not to the wall tho) 3 lots to see and do 4 food , cheap and delicious
One cannot write in mandarin, because mandarin is a spoken language. One writes in chinese, because no matter what Chinese dialect one speaks, the written language is understandable to all Chinese
Video aches my heart.. My plans that fell to pieces. I should be there now in the warmth of spring with my Dearest and sweetest China Blossom. Oh my Yong Mei. I promised... I failed. Now you're just a sweet memory, Wherever you are- Wo Ai Ni... Amy Liu. Always remember the little sandy beach in the soft glow of the Chicago skyline!! I will always love only you!!
How can a man (especially a yankee boy like me) look into the eyes of a Chinese woman and not fall hopelessly in love??!!?? I am powerless under their spell. I had the very best, here in USA. now she's 1,000 miles away. I still hear her sweet voice in my ear and her soft skin against mine in the pale light of the August moon. I can love no other, ever. Only my Amy Liu. Remember Ikea and Woodfield Mall!!
I have a 5 love and hates shanghai video too that might help. Shanghai has a bit more space to move around, it is not quite as crowded. Beijing has more sites to see and you feel more like you are in china in Beijing while shanghai is a lot more international. both cool places to visit though
woltersworld I hope you can visit Beijing during Chinese new year.Only that time is real Beijing with no crowded no noisy and even the subway have a lot of empty seats. In fact，Beijing have more people than Shanghai,but 75% of them are not from beijing or not beijing people.Beijing goverment give us a false data about the propulation to cover their weakness administrative capacity.95% of government officers hates Beijing local people.
You know you are not supposed to like a city with population of 40 million+, and Beijing does not need you to like her either. The city is already crowded so what Beijing wants is to have less people as a matter of fact.
not right now. the rest of the year has a trip to Europe and a trip through eastern Canada. So probably won't get to either of them, but having said that I am looking for a chance to go :)
woltersworld Ehh.. hopefully in 2015 then?! Btw, I gotta say I really love to learn about cultures and countries I've never been or interested. please keep uploading :D
People complain about the temperature in foreign countries all the time. If people cannot tolerate extreme heat, then why are they traveling to their country of choice without first checking out the average daily temperature instead of getting on the internet and complaining all the time? Fall is a good time to go to Asian countries as the summer season is over and the temperatures are a little more tolerable. Also, there are fewer tourists. And if you don't mind the cold, then go to Beijing in the winter.
+Garianne Stephens If you are in central part of City or scenic areas it is good. But there maybe are lots of people if you come in holiday. so this good advice never come China when national holiday like Oct.1st-Oct.7th. But it's better you do your personal hygiene before you walk out of your hotel. I have a bad advice. If you want to experience an adventure you can take Beijing subway at working day peak. It's horrible:). I'm Chinese man, live in Beijing and take subway to work everyday. Always welcome you come here. The most of people are kind.
+Allen Sun My mom and I went last year's new years. We flew in the day after it started and flew out before it ended - everything was nice and empty like old Beijing. Seats on every subway and bus. Xiangshan was awesome especially with the clear sky. We could actually see a ton of the city from up top and the air was great for exercise.
woltersworld It's pretty common. You might meet people who say they want to practice their English and come across as very friendly or what happened to me was that I bumped into these two chaps who said they were tourists. We walked around with them chatting and decided to go for tea. That's when the scam happened. We did refuse to pay all the bill so we all sit it four ways but it was still about £20 each!
haha, where do u come from? actually I'm Chinese but it was the first time I had visited Beijing this summer and it is fantastic even for me, a Chinese guy. Love Beijing more than Shanghai or HK. Although, yeah, there are a lot of people!
blackice it's OK if u can't speak Chinese. U can try couchsurfing on the couchsurfing.org and find someone in Beijing who understands English. Beijing has a lot of university students too so they can speak English although many of them cannot speak quite well compared to their writing or reading skills in English.
I visited Beijing one month ago and the people were mostly unfriendly and not really helpful, but as you mentioned, they hardly speak english, thats the problem
Wolters, your information about the taxi drivers is wrong. The official cab drivers need to have a Beijing hukou, proving to be a Beijing resident, and these hukous arent easy to obtain. Unregulated cab drivers are mostly from outside Beijing.
i come from beijing and the thing you hate it i also hate it, every one hate it. but i dont think beijing is green at all, i live in nanjing for 4 years and i love thier tress very much
Yidu Liang Thanks for your reply. When I was in Beijing, it was about -10 but with the wind it felt like -20 but there was no snow and the days were with sunshine.
1:10 still find it hilarious that great wall is thousands of miles long and people still squished in one place.
thank you for sharing my hometown with the world :) and what you've said is very truthful
littlepiepie xie xie! I loved working and living in Beijing (except for the smog) but it was great there
Loved Beijing, and the best tip we got was to hire a guide in advance, for a few hours per day. A lovely young man who made things a lot easier for us (and his fee was not expensive) - we told him what we liked, and what we wanted to do, and he showed us around, acting as an interpreter now and again.
3:17 this is very true. Many places don't have websites even
Your videos are fantastic Mark! There are so many countries that should pay you for promoting tourism! As always, another great video -- Thanks Mark!!
I spend 4 months in Beijing for a study abroad program. I want to go back so bad but my student loans kicked in an i'm dying in student loan debt. I spent 4 semesters studying chinese language,life, and culture. You are right about a lot of that. The language barrier was still there. I got very discouraged, frustrated, and wanted to go home because of it but I stuck with it and my language ability escalated so quickly. There was a lot of people but less than I thought sometimes. I crossed streets in groups most of the time. If taking a taxi, make sure to have them run the meter or else they try to take advantage of you. They will tell you 100 when the trip will only cost like 25. I used an iPhone app for looking up train stations and how to get to the location. It would tell you how to transfer from one to the next. Very helpful. When at the great wall... pace yourself. I tried climbing way too fast and got dizzy and winded. I bought cat food for he fat cats at Baihai park. Chuar was my favorite for street food. Hot pot was awesome too. I definitely recommend doing Karaoke with friends while there. I felt pretty safe too. I'd walk around and tour by myself all the time. I toured more than I did homework. haha. Great video. I still need to post my videos from china. I have tons of pictures and videos but have only posted pics. :(
what app was that by the way?
I had two but liked the one better. I think the one out of the two was the "Metro Beijing Subway" Though it could have been the "Explore Beijing Subway map"
It takes a long time to study Chinese I found also. Chinese takes a long time to learn, for people who are lazy like me, it takes way more times to learn. English is faster when searching the definitions of the words because you can actually type the alphabets in any translation website or app to get the meaning in your language like Spanish, but in Chinese, nobody would understand the word even local people, only if they have learnt Chinese in their school for their primary education. So for foreigners, of course more time should be taken on learning Chinese. I am Singaporean and actually Chinese, English and Malay are our official languages, but after we people found that we can speak English anywhere in the country and it is the major language, we became lazy at Chinese. Because Chinese learning takes more time than English, a lot more time. And one problem for me is that I still need to learn English a lot although it's my mother tongue, because in Singlish people created English with the Chinese cultures. So in both pronouncations and writing, we have many problems and differneces compared to Americans or British.
Hotpot is awesome I agree, you can go to Chengdu to try the spicy oil hotpot, very spicy. I like your apps, I have used something similar, the designs of the apps are great. Taking photos in Beijing are great also,you can ask photographers to take for you also for 10 RMB, about 1.5USD in some popular viewpoints in Beijing. It would work when there are too many people and you cannot take the picture with the tiananmen house or the forbidden city, the photographer's one would be way more cleaner.
Homeschooling mom here! Thanks so much! Great videos! Much appreciated!
Thanks Man! Wonderful Video!
Thanks asad
Thanks for posting your video. Very helpful!
"The Great Wall of People" oh man you FUNNY
Great video thanks for posting it.
thanks!
Great video. Heading over next week and it was very informative. Thanks =)
+Paul Dymock I really enjoyed Beijing. Though the metro and crowds can be a bit daunting. Have fun!
I would add to your list of Loves (or maybe for some, the list of Hates), the shopping! I loved the open markets and the high rise shopping malls in Beijing!
the markets and shops are pretty cool. my wife LOVED LOVED LOVED the bargaining and such. It drove me a bit nuts :) hehehe
Also, road trip for anyone visiting Beijing... no matter what colour the street light is on, anything turning RIGHT has the right of way.
so true :)
It's actually that Beijing is so huge it's almost impossible for these taxi drivers to know anything too specific
The sixth dislike would be internet censorship. Sure, get a VPN but even then it frequently cuts out...
I LOVE CHINA and USA I am american citizen but i love china it's the most beautiful and rich country in the world and their foods are very fantastic and clean and I love their culture.
we loved it there too.
I would not say very clean about foods here, you need to find a good restaurant.
Always enjoy your videos as I too travel as a family. Thinking of visiting Beijing mid March for 72 hours. Would you recommend a D.I.Y. tour of Beijing and the Great Wall? Keep the videos coming.
Yes I would. But a guide would make it faster. And with kids easier.
Was in China for a few weeks last month and spent six days in Beijing. I agree with almost everything you said and had the same experience. One thing I would note though is I believe taxi drivers are required to take you to wherever you need to go until about 10pm to midnight or somewhere in that range and after that time they can decide whether or not they want to accept the fare. So at night after a certain time its almost impossible to get a cab in the popular nightlife areas if your hotel is not far enough away for them to get a decent fare. This made life very difficult so you will want to setup an uber account to use while there for those times (the chinese have a different service that is more popular that is like uber but you need to know chinese to use it).
I just returned from China with a very brief stay in Beijing. I wish I had seen your video beforehand. It's a charming piece! I have always thought crossing the street in Rome was very dangerous but it pales next to Beijing. One difference is that in Rome, a paucity of traffic signals exist so the pedestrian knows what to expect--chaos. In China in general, and Beijing in particular, traffic directions are given, which no one observes. Your suggestion of waiting to cross a street until you can travel in a pack is an excellent one. I also would alert your viewers that motor bikers come up on the sidewalk when they encounter an impediment in the street. With respect to nightlife, I would add that the amount of entertainment on the street is amazing. You need not go to a club to observe something interesting. Moreover, it doesn't seem to matter if it is the week-end or a weekday night--it's a vibrant night atmosphere.
Well done, with some good tips! Thanks!
Hello! Great info..just want to ask how far is great wall of china from beijing? Is it by plane or land? Thanks
you can take a bus, there are a few points to see the wall "near' beijing
Great video!!! I am stopping over in Beijing for a day on my way back home, can you recommend a tour that can show me around the main attractions in one full day please? Thank you Wolter
Main attractions in one full day? Can't be done! The Forbidden Palace alone will take the average person a day to browse around. It's some 170+ buildings in total. I would highly recommend a week.
2:03, that man is not an ordinary police officer he is a member of the Armed Police corps (similar to Russian Internal Troops)
+Kyle Cho thanks for the heads up :)
That is a policeman, in Tiananmen square, they are. Because Tiananmen district can be the most important place for politics in China, so you can find all the policemen are wearing that kind of shirt. And nearby the roads, you can find a lot of well trained policemen which they don't even move their bodies. I think they can get more salaries than normal police officers in China. In the district we can always find a team of 20 well trained policemen walking on the streets, that is a part of their daily works. They can't speak and need to walk really well to support the look of China. Hehe, but one point is that the Chinese president is not working there, he is working far far away than the tiananmen square everyday. He is only welcoming presidents in to other countries in China. It's only important to the Chinese first leader Mao.
It's interesting to hear different people's opinions. I had feedback from someone saying Beijing was a very unsafe and unwelcoming city for tourists. She described her experience being negative because none of the locals were friendly- in fact they would apparently give the tour groups dirty looks and spit on them. She also witnessed people attempting to steal from tourist's bags and was advised by the tour leader to keep track of her items. I'm going to Beijing at the end of the year and I just hope I don't have an experience like her's :)
Yes some people has bad experience, like everywhere else unfortunately.. I've been in China since 2006 and i got really few problem (when i came the first time, i was not able to speak the language hahaha)
My biggest hate is the way people stare and take photographs. I have been here over two years and, even now, it still makes me mad. I have had so many arguments with my Chinese husband because he doesn't understand the problem haha.
great videos, is the air better quality indoors or filtration systems ?
DJ Russell CrossFire yes, indoors it is better
Went to Beijing in Oct about 5 years ago..great season to visit. Good air quality at that time. Everything Mark says is spot on. My son was living there and speaks Mandarin, so language no issue! Would go back in a heart beat. Want to go to Shanghai and then take a river boat tour.
This one is very true, Wolter is a very experienced traveller in China, hope you can many more trips in the country. Maybe go to places with less people. The great world city is really really beautiful and wonderful, but there are many people there. I have tried one time to not visit badaling part of the great world and start hiking and visiting in other parts and there are less people there. You can try this next time with your friends, language is a big problem. I am a Singaporean and I know Chinese, but I have pretended to not understanding Chinese, the taxi driver could not understand. Print out the address is very important, because you know abroaders are finding hard to pronounce Chinese words. I found that it is even hard to communicate with Chinese waiters inside a hotel, only inside the international hotels it is possible. But normal people won't understand you, even in Shanghai it is better. And if you go on to any city to enjoy the street foods there, you might not even understand the price, people can't even pronounce numbers in English very well. Haha, and in Beijing, I support to travel to the nearby city Tianjin, there you can find way more places to visit, and also knowing the Chinese histories very well in the city with 600 years histories. Go to Tianjin guwenhua(old culture street) to buy some Chinese traditional staff and go eat the Beijing roasted duck in 831 is also a choice to not line up for many times in Beijing.
I can't agree more with the 5th thing you're gonna hate about Beijing. I've read many prominent travel guides of Beijing like Lonely Planet and the majority of the content remained pretty much the same although Beijing has changed so rapidly over the last 10 years. The number of subway lines has tripled, newly erected shopping malls are everywhere and there's so much going on inside the National Center for the Performing Arts (world-class performances of classical music as well as traditional Chinese music) and National Museum of China (top-notch new exhibitions) and so many other places that the editors don't even know about →_→ Beijing is crowded with locals and people from other places who don't even know how to cross the streets, and the pollution is terrible, but the cultural life here is definitely world-class.
I forget how recent it was but I think they still do the "visitor passes." Basically each museum/park allocates a certain amount of free passes for those specifically who are visiting Beijing on tourist visas (as opposed to business). You generally have to call in advance to book yours but it's a great way to see the cultural sights.
Thank you for the video! I'm going to be living in Beijing for a year! Teaching! So this really helps!
Welcome , friend !
Savana Dudley how is it since you've been there? I'm coming for the month of January and I'm worried about the weather esp. DongCheng district.
What I liked was the good prices for custom made clothes. I didn't like getting pestered though.
***** my wife had some amazing clothes handmade for her, she even got to desing them. you are right some great stuff there
Actually I thought taxi drivers in Beijing were wayyyy better than their Shanghai counter parts...then again i speak Chinese so I didn't think getting around was that difficult (by taxi or otherwise)..buses are awesome...if you speak Chinese.. but it is totally true that there aren't many people who speak English...
i was born in beijing, but came to canada at a young age. you're more knowledgeable than me about beijing haha. btw great videos!
actually, most cab drivers are local beijingers, it used to be exclusive to beijingers until 2 yrs ago.
Thanks for your video!!
My husband and I and our two years old daughter are going to Beijing in August!! We all very excited!!! But only one thing we are concerning about is that how do we do with the children seat in cars for safety. Because we will definitely use taxis in Beijing and we want to go to the Great Wall, I have checked several foldable children seat online but no one seems to be safe. And I seen you brought your children to Beijing in the video could you please tell me how did you do with it??
Thank you!!
Nice video! Thanks. I'm from Brazil and I'm here sitting by myself thinking wether or not I should go to Beijing alone...Now that you mentioned that its safe I get to be more optmistic about it...Do you have any hotel tips (not only those published on Tripadvisor?) Or places to eat out?
Marcos Oliveira we would arrange our own hotels (they are super cheap for good ones) but you have to pay a huge deposit for when you stay. like 4 or 5 nights extra up front... was quite the surprise
I stayed at the Grand Hyatt it was in a great location...very nice hotel.
Another thing I loved,... the Beijing subway,... with a metro card it's hella easy/convenient,... and so much easier to navigate than Tokyo. (completely agree about hutong,... the peeps in Xidan hutong were so cool to me)
My son said Beijing subway a lot easier than NYC
very nice summary!
I thought your were going to forget the duck, but no ! Nailed it !
hi, I am sorry to hear that all the bad things in Beijing, but one thing you got wrong. it's not the taxi driver don't know the beijing's place, when they can not find where you want to go, that is because beijing is so big and some area's people doesn't know all the streets of beijing, if you are going to the other places people will recognize the stress very well.
agree
It helps to know big streets, districts, and the highways. Taxi drivers can always lead you to those intersections and take a few directions from the passengers to hone in on the destination.
Agree, only if you can give some useful addresses for example the nearby places. If you want to go to any food restaurants, you can say the nearby metro station, or to print out the full address, with the road names and districts. Don't always only say the name of your restaurants, sometimes the driver is also going to get mess up with the same restaurants in many places even if you have told the district to the driver. A good way is to get a private guild there, that would be more expensive but they will guild you in all the viewpoints, hotels and restaurants in the city. I have tried that in Australia with a family of six, wolters could try that also. That travel is more comfortable also, inside the taxis sometimes the drivers don't even open the air conditionals.
Hi, it is true that the atms in China require 6 digits?
yuchen wei And they might take you around to get more money because your a foreigner, they don't think you know the city well.
Do visit Macao SAR of China! It's right next to HK! You can take an hour if ferry ride from HK to Macao!
Haha "The Great Wall of People"
I've never been to Beijing but I was born in Shanghai and the roads are just as bad.
I fear for my life each time I cross the road! XD
Even when there was a police standing in the middle of the intersection people still walked through the red light and he didn't care at all.
Thank you for this video, can you rely on credit cards when your are traveling in China or has to be all cash? I meant for restaurants and attractions and taxis ?
yep taxi drivers are bad. there were some exception, but normally i'd have to guide them to the place i wanted to go. but there are some helpful apps availabile for your smartphone!
and you can find uncrowded places at the great wall. if you know where to go, you can have 3 hour hikes an barely see people. also this way you experience the great wall in its original state. all the tourists parts are heavily reconstructed (mutianyu, badaling, etc)
also i recomment visiting the art district (798). its not that crowded, has nice small cafes, and of course lots of art.
and i would not say its that safe, at least when you go out at night/evening. a lot of friends had their wallts/phones/cameras stolen. so try to leave them at home when you go to sanlitun/etc.
Great video! You have a lovely family!
Yidu Liang Thanks Yidu!
Beijing sounds like a city to go to if you know someone from there.
Thank you.But how many hours to get there?
Nice Video. Cute family! Thanks dude!
Great video!!
Hi, I love all your videos. Very informative. I've been living in China since last October and I think you missed one very important "Hate". It's one thing that some foreigners can cope with and others can't, which is the STARING!.Now I have been traveling the world for 3 years now and I think this country is by far the worst place to experience culture shock. Particularly the staring. Chinese people would stare at you left and right, with an unwelcoming face. This is not to say that they are unwelcoming which is not the case, but they are very curious. In the west we are taught that staring is rude, but i guess in China that is not the case. For example, when I walk in China, people literally stop and stare at me knowing that I know that I am being stared at. It gives you a feeling of invasion of privacy and can get very uncomfortable. Ways to deal with this is, listening to some music to distract yourself from all the staring. Which sucks because I like to embrace my local surroundings by hearing the noises around me.
Ha but if your are in bigger cities I dealt they would stare at you that much
+Armando Madrigal True, I went and I have an anxiety disorder and it was difficult but still a worthwhile trip. The people were actually so very nice despite my horrible Mandarin.
+Armando Madrigal If you come Beijing or Shanghai nobody will staring on you. I'm sure. I live in Beijing. There are a lots of faces like you so they won't feel strange. Sorry for my worse English. I'm Chinese. BTW welcome you come again.
This IS your surrounding at the time so why not enjoy it and learn to be a celebrity in China.
Agree, his video is very informative. People who are going to Beijing could use the video which is really helpful. The tips are important to be careful, choose the best season to go to but not go there when there are a lot of people. Go there when it's wolter's children's holiday time is great. That's profit because if Chinese people are going there, they always choose the same time because that is the holiday for all children for example the national day, or the winter holiday. But in schools apart from China, with the different rules, they could get more chances to visit the place with less people. Armando your idea is very good, listen to music and then no one would stare at you, or go to the places to enjoy yourself with a bunch of people who are not local Chinese. For example join a bar, and you can find a lot of people similar to wolter there, they are people came from other countries having a time with overseas foods and beers there. That could be a good idea, just like I would like to go to China town during my American travel. I know this problem is more serious in China because China is not an overseas country, globalization is not happening in a lot of places, unlike the US, or Singapore, you can find many people who are not locals there. A lot of youtubers also have the problems of being starred at, because they need to put a camera there also and speak English, people might think they are interviewers, so they need to try to receive more confidence which is a hard part for them in China.
I totally agree with you, and I love Beijing ;)
My list:
1- Food with questionable meat ingredients involved
2- Being potentially exposed to deadly diseases
3- People looking at you funny for being a foreigner
4- Feeling sorry for all the cats and dogs and the wildlife
5- Smelling the lingering presence of the political repression in the air, mixed in with the suffocating smog
Hate #5: Guidebook.See,this is why i like your page here.Reliable info from an experienced traveler who's seen things first-hand is much better!
lived there. awesome video.
Gorgeous wife and lovely kids, such a lucky guy.
Wait, why did you get in trouble with the police? And great video btw!
Did they limit your remarks at that square? Or asking what you were saying?
介绍地很棒！
Spitting is common in Brooklyn too where I live
Also, is it hard to hop in a bus in Beijing and go to the Great Wall? Is it far? Do you have to pay to go in?
Marcos Oliveira yes you have to pay, there are buses, we hired a private guide
Take a cab......riding the bus can be rather uncomfortable.
LOVE ALL YOUR VLOGS
My son Is about to go to China next month to teach English. Can you give us some tips on what kinds of things he needs to bring from the U.S.? I heard you say to get masks for smog. He will be there for at least a year. I'm his mother and I'm so worried, please share your ideals, thank you!
well the pollution is really bad. my wife has a video on "taking your kids to china" on our channel and that has some more info on which masks are best. The ones they have in china are not as good as they do not get the fine particles. We didn't use the masks all the time, just on bad days. After about 6 weeks I sounded like I was a 2 pack a day smoker... just fyi. I would say he should bring as little as possible as space is at a premium in china. however if he is "my size" lets say then getting clothes can be a bit tough. skinnier no problem.
Rebecca, maybe too late now, but from experience I'd say DECENT blackboard chalk! ;-)
I lived in beijing bro, those taxi drivers know where they're going lol. They just ran the meter up haha. And crossing the street is not such a big deal. It's like crossing the street in new york city. I'm American.
He is right about the positive sides though and speaking Chinese is a big help (obviously). Plus if you speak Chinese ppl like you more and beijing is like paradise. Hopefully I can move there or Shanghai very soon. China's nice!
Another thing you are going to hate is the internet here, as Google and UA-cam and lots of US sites are blocked here in Beijing, so be prepared to know what internet website you should use during your visit in China.
Sorry for that but try to use VPN
James Dlatovskiy Use VPN, Betternet works well. You will ALWAYS have to try it a few times, sometimes you can't connect and turning the wifi off and back in helps. Rarely, it simply just won't work, just stop and try again a few hours later.
If you're in a US chain hotel, then the internet isn't blocked.
Nice video - I wonder how the Beijing food compares with Chengdu cai.
Awesome Beijing. Wo ai Zhongguo! (我爱中国！)
Ramona McKean me too :)
woltersworld
With what seems to be your life (work?) style, your kids are getting the ultimate of educations!
;) all the best on your travel Ramona!
Good video and tips. Your son is so cute btw.
Loving your videos - thinking of travelling to China with my daughter (8) on my own (hubbie racing most of summer) - will the Chinese think I am shameful traveling without my husband?
No they will not. They won't care, all they will do is take pictures of your 8 year old :) and I am not even joking. Is should have a video on traveling china with kids out in the next two weeks. My wife filmed it in Shanghai and it took quite a few takes as well... kids were involved :)
but watch for it and if you have questions just send us a private message here or on facebook and we can help
Things I hated
1 public toilets , my mrs said the ladies loos were horrific
2 queuing , the chinese don't
3 spitting, get used to the sound of people hawking one up
Things I loved
1 Great Wall , got up at 5am to beat the crowds a fantastic sight
2 metro system , fast cheap and gets you everywhere ( but not to the wall tho)
3 lots to see and do
4 food , cheap and delicious
There are public buses going to the wall though : )
queuing? what's that? :) its more like group hug at the entrance ;)
Good video but... your wife man... wow. hahaha
totally agree as a used to be student over there
and he missed one good point . at those club s everyrhing is free if u r a foreigner
One cannot write in mandarin, because mandarin is a spoken language. One writes in chinese, because no matter what Chinese dialect one speaks, the written language is understandable to all Chinese
Video aches my heart.. My plans that fell to pieces. I should be there now in the warmth of spring with my Dearest and sweetest China Blossom. Oh my Yong Mei. I promised... I failed. Now you're just a sweet memory, Wherever you are- Wo Ai Ni... Amy Liu. Always remember the little sandy beach in the soft glow of the Chicago skyline!! I will always love only you!!
How can a man (especially a yankee boy like me) look into the eyes of a Chinese woman and not fall hopelessly in love??!!?? I am powerless under their spell. I had the very best, here in USA. now she's 1,000 miles away. I still hear her sweet voice in my ear and her soft skin against mine in the pale light of the August moon. I can love no other, ever. Only my Amy Liu. Remember Ikea and Woodfield Mall!!
Mark, very briefly, how do you compare Beijing with Shanghai?
I have a 5 love and hates shanghai video too that might help. Shanghai has a bit more space to move around, it is not quite as crowded. Beijing has more sites to see and you feel more like you are in china in Beijing while shanghai is a lot more international. both cool places to visit though
woltersworld I hope you can visit Beijing during Chinese new year.Only that time is real Beijing with no crowded no noisy and even the subway have a lot of empty seats. In fact，Beijing have more people than Shanghai,but 75% of them are not from beijing or not beijing people.Beijing goverment give us a false data about the propulation to cover their weakness administrative capacity.95% of government officers hates Beijing local people.
What hotel did u stay at? How common are the western bathrooms?
western bathrooms are common in the hotels, it is the public toilets that are the holes
...and the sixth thing is the cops harassing you everywhere you go.
You know you are not supposed to like a city with population of 40 million+, and Beijing does not need you to like her either. The city is already crowded so what Beijing wants is to have less people as a matter of fact.
Nice. how about Korea and Japan ?! have no plan to go there?
not right now. the rest of the year has a trip to Europe and a trip through eastern Canada. So probably won't get to either of them, but having said that I am looking for a chance to go :)
woltersworld Ehh.. hopefully in 2015 then?! Btw, I gotta say I really love to learn about cultures and countries I've never been or interested. please keep uploading :D
Yeah, sucks :( but I am applying to present a paper at a conference back that way so hopefully I can get in and head over for some more filming
People complain about the temperature in foreign countries all the time. If people cannot tolerate extreme heat, then why are they traveling to their country of choice without first checking out the average daily temperature instead of getting on the internet and complaining all the time? Fall is a good time to go to Asian countries as the summer season is over and the temperatures are a little more tolerable. Also, there are fewer tourists. And if you don't mind the cold, then go to Beijing in the winter.
What are the toilets/sanitation like in Beijing?
+Garianne Stephens If you are in central part of City or scenic areas it is good. But there maybe are lots of people if you come in holiday. so this good advice never come China when national holiday like Oct.1st-Oct.7th.
But it's better you do your personal hygiene before you walk out of your hotel. I have a bad advice. If you want to experience an adventure you can take Beijing subway at working day peak. It's horrible:). I'm Chinese man, live in Beijing and take subway to work everyday. Always welcome you come here. The most of people are kind.
+Allen Sun My mom and I went last year's new years. We flew in the day after it started and flew out before it ended - everything was nice and empty like old Beijing. Seats on every subway and bus. Xiangshan was awesome especially with the clear sky. We could actually see a ton of the city from up top and the air was great for exercise.
Do I need a visa if I have a 36 hrs layover? I'm from the usa
if you are from USA you can get a 10 year tourist visa! or you can have the 72h visa free when you arrive to the beijing airport
The important part is visit duration. If you smooth talk it, you can get a multi-entry 10 year visa with 180 days on each visit.
So Wolter, what is your favourite place in the whole world? Or maybe in Asia too?
My Top 3 Countries: Brazil, Italy, Germany,
Thanks a Lot. First think I love of this video is your woman. Fantastic ;) (Hope not to offend you...)
And also avoid the tea scam in Beijing where some locals take you for tea but the charge is really high. So be careful.
blap200 thanks for the heads up!
woltersworld It's pretty common. You might meet people who say they want to practice their English and come across as very friendly or what happened to me was that I bumped into these two chaps who said they were tourists. We walked around with them chatting and decided to go for tea. That's when the scam happened. We did refuse to pay all the bill so we all sit it four ways but it was still about £20 each!
i want to study abroad here. i mean everyone goes to europe but i think i will have time to visit europe later but never asia. sO I WANt to try it.
I would love to go to China if I had enough money. That place looks so awesome, even with the TONS of people there.
haha, where do u come from? actually I'm Chinese but it was the first time I had visited Beijing this summer and it is fantastic even for me, a Chinese guy. Love Beijing more than Shanghai or HK. Although, yeah, there are a lot of people!
Matt Bai
I live in the USA. I don't speak any Chinese so I don't think I would get very far.
haha
blackice it's OK if u can't speak Chinese. U can try couchsurfing on the couchsurfing.org and find someone in Beijing who understands English. Beijing has a lot of university students too so they can speak English although many of them cannot speak quite well compared to their writing or reading skills in English.
it won't cost you a lot of money, just do your research before get there. have a nice trip!
this is true!
Guidebooks are outdated the second they are printed. Use tripadvisor, etc
One thing I have to say, all the taxi drivers are from Beijing.
I visited Beijing one month ago and the people were mostly unfriendly and not really helpful, but as you mentioned, they hardly speak english, thats the problem
Urotsukidoji23 why the fuck should they speak English? Uncultured swine.
Wolters, your information about the taxi drivers is wrong. The official cab drivers need to have a Beijing hukou, proving to be a Beijing resident, and these hukous arent easy to obtain. Unregulated cab drivers are mostly from outside Beijing.
yea Chinese people wouldn't go to Beijing to say that the eating is "good" the eating is "ok" although it's "great" by western standards.
thanks man
Haha so true whenever I went back to china I always follow a bunch of people lol
i come from beijing and the thing you hate it i also hate it, every one hate it. but i dont think beijing is green at all, i live in nanjing for 4 years and i love thier tress very much
z zhang it's much greener in the summer, winter is dead, it's more beautiful down South
Beirut's traffic is also horrible
How is Beijing in December? I'll be there on the 17th of December for 5 days.
Most likely FREEZING COLD
sailormoonserenity99 Thanks for the warm reply. lol. So we're talking about 5-10 degrees below zero?
pretty mush same as New England, but no much snow.
Yidu Liang Thanks for your reply. When I was in Beijing, it was about -10 but with the wind it felt like -20 but there was no snow and the days were with sunshine.
3:01 you can hear someone crying