I’m off to China next week. A few days in Beijing, then Kunming in the South then Hong Kong – two weeks in all. Recommendations, reviews, ideas are all welcome.
Your Favorite Things China?
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Welcome! Just see the truth, come back and tell the west how is the real China looks like. Good luck!
The food in Kunming is fantastic. Search out some of the local cuisine (from indigenous minorities) – a fusion of southeast asian, indian, and chinese.
A Case of Two Cities by Qiu Xiaolong
This is another fine entry in Xiaolong’s Inspector Chen series. Once again, Qiu has produced a novel that is both an excellent detective novel, and a window into contemporary urban China. Like the earlier books, it not only should be of interest to fans of mystery novels, but should be required reading for anyone who contemplates doing business in China, or who has even a passing interest in contemporary urban China.
(this is a repost because your spam filter didn’t like the links I included).
798 is definitely worth visiting.
In Beijing, definitely avoid the Badaling Great Wall (unless you really, really want to see the Ming tombs and follow in the footsteps of George HW Bush and a few million others). Mutianyu is better (following in the Clintons’ footsteps; if you walk far enough and ignore signs you can walk on unrestored sections). Simatai is even less restored (and there I think I might pay attention to the signs telling you not to walk there).
The ancient observatory is very interesting and a good spot for photos. A fascinating book about the Jesuits who built that and briefly had a certain amount of influence on China is “The memory palace of Matteo Ricci” by Jonathan Spence, which would make a good airplane book.
The new Beijing Capital Museum — is pretty interesting if you know anything about Chinese history, although the building is at least as impressive as the contents.
The military museum is also fascinating — http://www.china.org.cn/english/kuaixun/73574.htm
If you like Chinese traditional music at all (erhu, pippa, etc.), the Sanwei shuwu “Three flavor bookstore” (it’s a Lu Xun reference) — has very good concerts on Saturday evenings in a small venue. They have jazz on Friday, which I’ve never gone to.
Walking around the Qianhai and Houhai area (near the drum and bell towers) is very pleasant, as is walking around Beihai (and you can gaze over at where the leaders live in Zhongnanhai).
Generally, food anywhere is pretty good. Traditionally Beijing food is very salty, but now there are good restaurants of every regional cuisine. Definitely get some of the cumin-flavored lamb skewers sold on the street. The other big local cuisine is jiaozi.
Since you aren’t getting to Xian or environs, going somewhere where you could Xinjiang food or shuan yang rou (rinsed mutton) is a good social event. Probably depends on how much you like lamb.
It’s probably worth it to get a hepatitis vaccination in case you haven’t had one, but then not worry too much about where and what you eat.
In Kunming, the most famous dish is “over the bridge noodles” (mixian) — you can read about the name here: http://chinesefood.about.com/library/weekly/aa031600a.htm
If you get a chance, there are really wonderful art movies being made in China now, including in Yunnan. A great place to learn about this is to go to Cherry Lane movies — look for “cherrylanemovies beijing”. The people there show wonderful movies, often subtitling them themselves. A great intro to the kinds of Chinese movies that don’t make it to the U.S.
Finally, it’s really worthwhile to go see acrobats. The place I like to go to is the Chaoyang theater. They keep adding to the slickness quotient of the shows, but skill of the performers remains incredible. It’s not cheap, but it’s worth it to sit up close.
That’s probably enough…
If you could so when you’re in Kunming, sneaking off to Dali and (particularly) Lijiang would be well worth doing.
Have a great trip.
In Beijing:
Beware of the “art student” scam: you will be asked to view an art exhibit and be pressured into buying some overpriced painting.
Beware of the “teahouse” scam: some friendly person will offer to be your guide, then invite you to drink tea, after which you will be presented with an outrageous bill.
As a general rule, anyone who strikes up a conversation with you in English around Tienanmen Square probably has an ulterior motive.
I’m going to add to the chorus endorsing Simitai. Its a lovely part of the wall and relatively free of tourists. I spent the night camped out on the wall there which was a truly great experience.
(There are a good number of signs which forbid the practice but one of the watchtowers was being used to store sleeping bags and cooking facilities. This was arranged through a university, so I couldn’t tell you how to go about doing it yourself, but I do recommend it.)
My daughter is just back from Kunming – very favourably impressed. I’ll ask her to weigh in.
garden of gardens – the winter palace, although burned down by british and french, still a good place to visit.
Acrobats are a bit touristy.. but are a lot of fun
(you feel like you need to run home and start working out after you see how fit those people are)
Walk through the alleys at night… Interesting to see the local people..
Geoff
To read; “Waiting”
To fly; just don’t pick an american carrier.
To visit in Hong Kong;
a. the aquarium street in Kowloon
b. eat at the pearl on the summit (it is in the terminus)
c. take the bus around to the back of the main island. It is amazing to see a crowded metropolis on one side of the island and a laid back suburb on the other
d. the model boat pond in victoria park
Lot’s of good ideas listed above. I was in Kunming for four months in 1997. Along with the “minorities” cuisines, be sure to sample those restaurants frequented by the Muslims. Very good food, remarkable in fact.
Shi Lin (Stone Forest) is a dramatic natural occurrence not far from Kunming, worth the trip. Best to avoid weekends or holidays for anything public, unless you’re really comfortable with lots and lots of people, most of whom look at you as something of a rock-star/circus freak. Never did get used to that…
Just outside of town is the Yunnan Minorities Village. A bit of a tourist trap, but at its center is a sort of kiddie ride park that featured decrepit dinosaurs made out of what appears to be old furniture. It was a slice of the 50′s in the middle of the middle kingdom. I don’t know if it is still there, or in the same state that I saw it, but while not especially Chinese, still a real treat…
Here are my notes and pictures from Kunming including the “Jurassic Park”:
http://beyondwellbeing.com/al/kunming/
Enjoy, and zai jian!
Beijing – The best thing you can do is get lost taking a walk through some of Beijing’s hutongs. You will find interesting people, opportunities to take amazing pictures, and some of Beijing’s best food tucked away in some random alleyway. If you go to the Great Wall skip Badaling and visited a less popular portion. There is an awesome 8Km hike that you can do from Jingshanlin to Simatai. 798 Artist district is amazing. Food wise : Grab some chuaner (spicy lamb kabobs)from a stand, eat kaoya (beijing duck), and don’t be afraid of street vendors they have the best food.
Kunming – Dai minority food is my favorite, you should track some down and get pineapple rice. Hui minority food is also excellent. Avoid Bai minority food. The stone forest is cool. Once again i recommend walking around and getting lost. You’ll find some of the most interesting things that way.
Watch out for scam artists.
Oh, and don’t go to the “other” Rocko’s. His restaurant is so popular that the local government started their own “Rocko’s,” copying the name and menu. There are no laws to protect business owners from even that level of theft, according to the real Rocko…
In Kunming, the over the bridge noodles are overrated. You absolutely MUST try the cold noodles, liang mian. Also comes in a rice noodle variation, liang mixian. Find a food stand with a minority owner, probably Bai Zu.
In addition to the rest of the ideas posted here, I’d suggest the following.
HK has its own outlying islands which are worth visiting. Cheung Chau is refreshingly different as motorized vehicles are pretty much non-existent. The seafood is not half bad either. Cheung Po Tsai Cave, a pirate’s cave, is a must. You should also try out the Ngong Ping 360, on Lantau Island, if it’s in working order. The views are stunning. It leads up to the Tian Tan Buddha.
On Hong Kong Island itself, Lan Kwai Fong is a great place to hang out at night. Shek O has a nice beach and is not very crowded. Ocean Park can take up a full day, if you’re into amusement parks. Disneyland isn’t worth it in my opinion. You can take a tram, if you can spare the time.
In Kowloon, you can visit Knutsford Terrace. It’s like Lan Kwai Fong, but not as busy and slightly cheaper. There’s a great shisha/hookah bar there, called Merhaba’s, if that’s your thing. Ladies’ Market and Temple Street are worth a visit too. Mong Kok and Sham Shui Po have good computer malls. I’d suggest staying away from stores selling cameras and so on on Nathan Road itself. There have been incidents with these shops.
If you’re into nature, visit the New Territories. Sai Kung is a good place to go for a hike. The Mai Po Marshes offers some great views. HK Dolphinwatch ( http://www.hkdolphinwatch.com/ ) offers tours to see pink dolphins.
Finally, if you’re going to be in HK for more than a couple of days and plan to use public transport, get an Octopus card. It’ll come in handy.
Feel free to contact me if you’d like more information or help when you’re down here.
Speaking as another MarginalRevolutionophile in Hong Kong, I will echo Last One Left’s offer. Last One Left, are there more of us here I wonder? An evening get-together at Lan Kwai Fong sounds made to order.
I also live in Hong Kong, and would be happy to buy you a drink at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club while you’re here.
Largo, Chris,
I’d be glad to meet other MR readers, and Alex too, if he’s interested. Feel free to email me, and we can get something organized.
If you have time it’s fun to take a taxi around the Olympic stadiums in Beijing (night is best), you can’t get all that close but it will be fun to say you’ve been there. Have a wonderful trip!
Beijing:
1. Got to Tiananmen Square. It is stupendous. Yes, talk to the friendly chinese students.
2. Go to the Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall. Dull name, but the IMAX video of the history of Beijing’s planning is amazing, and the scale model of the city is the best way of understanding the feng shui logic of the place.
3. Get lost in the hutongs north and east of the Forbidden City. Spend at least four hours wandering around.
Hong Kong: Hike the Dragon’s Back.
Beijing (and compare to HK, though I’ve never been):
Buy tea at a tea shop where you can sample the teas. Though the pros would scoff, I would recommend aiming for a mediocre residential neighborhood shop and enjoy the experience, buy a few hundred grams and not get too worked over whether the shop down the street has fresher, more authentic, more professionally sourced, more… teas. Pick out a few varieties and let the tea seller guide you through the tasting.
While you are in the residential area, explore a fresh foods market. You may not notice the sketchy warehouse from the street, but you can be sure there is a vegetable market within walking distance of everywhere. If in doubt, monitor the traffic direction of ladies carrying small bags full of food, particularly in the hours leading up to 6 PM.
Eat ice cream bars/popsicles. Try to find the same one twice!
Avoid the Beijing university district. It smells like garbage most of the time.
You can buy and gain very cheap cabal alz from our good company.
what are think of china? are you want to come to china?
why are you like to china?
by the way, think I would die in 1000, at least assuming I could avoid the plague and a few other maladies. Temporary aid is the natural human tendency, among the poor too, and it is unlikely I would be killed for being a witch. I would end up doing hard physical labor
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