Note Of Beijing China

[DraGonPlan]

Just returned from Beijing . The weather is above 18-23 deg Celsius(7th--12th, May ), no sandstorm. Some notes to share with you: If you go to Houhai/Shichahai, while you rent the boat, don't go for the electric motorboat. If you do, be prepared for the frustrating snail pace. Better get the foot-pedalled boats. Salesman checked carefully the 100 yuans I gave them. Be careful. Wangfujingis under renovation. Xin Dong Ann market is closed. A shopping centre opposite Crowne Plaza is closed with white papers pasted on the doors. The building opposite the Wangfujing bookstore is under demolition. Another building diagonal to Xin Dong
Ann had been flattened saved for a noodle shop that stands alone. Luckily the Oriental Plaza is there but Sony ExploraScience had been shifted to Chaoyang Park. Xidan might be a more hip place compared with Wangfujing for shopping. Most youngsters flock this place. Xidan Bookstore just outside the Xidan subway is the biggest I have ever seen. They sell mainly Chinese books, offering 5% discount. They sell good calligraphy reproductions that come in flaps for a steal. And if you're into art books, the collection here is much bigger than Wangfujing Bookstore.

Beijing Capital Museum (Shoudu Bowuguan) located at the east side of Muxidi Subway. It's huge and quite empty. If you love authentic ceramics and mutton fat white jade pieces and Chinese classical paintings, you should visit this museum. I visited Panjiayuan market for the
second time and I was disappointed. I spent 4 hours slowly perusing everything on show, hoping to get something. Poor reproductions and kitsch stuff are in abundance. And they asked ridiculous prices that I wouldn't pay for even if it were one fifth. Traditional Chinese paintings are typically printed, or half-printed-half-painted on poor quality paper (tea stained?). You should beware that there are agate that looks like jade. Agate is cheap. Last year we bought a celadon vase and we realise why it was so cheap. The mouth of the vase was tilted at a slight angle. So check and check. This is a crowded congregation of people/traders from all over China and they smoked, hawked, coughed and spit like nobody's business. I felt ill after I got back, empty handed. Nature lovers: A variety of tulips at Zhongshan Park are in stunning full bloom. There's also the black tulip! At the foot of Xiangshan, there are tulips, chrisantemum etc also in full bloom. If you are going to Xiangshan (557m), take a subway to Bajiao Subway, where a highway connecting Bajiao Subway to an off-road leading to XiangShan. From there take a cab. It's faster than taking a cab from Pinguoyuan Subway. We went there on a Sunday. It was crowded. If you have energy, plan your trip early and you can also visit the nearby botanical garden (Zhiwuyuan) too. Dazhalan Street is overrated. I won't recommend it, unless you're looking for a pair of traditional leather shoes. Invariably, stuffs are kitschy (bright, gaudy, cheesy, low quality). Outside the Dazhalan I saw two skinny salesgirls chasing after a fleeing big black guy to fit a T-shirt on him. Besides it was dusty and the road repair was in disrepair. We ate at a local shop which boasted local stars as their patron but the hygiene level was horrendous. I came out of a pungent and brown stained loo with waterless tap only to encounter a cook outside waiting to get in. For kids, take them to the Military Museum (Junshibowuguan ,subway of the same name). My kid had a good time. They get to play with tanks or machine guns (without ammunition of course). There is also a car exhibition (Buick) at the Military Museum! Just tell the ticketing counter you want the tickets to the Junshibowuguan. It was confusing to me at first to be asked whether I wanted to see the car exhibition.
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