Jingshan Park and Tienanmen Square

In theory there is a nice flow to the main site-seeing areas in Beijing. Tienanmen Square, The Forbidden city and Jingshan Park all lie in order, one in front of the other. So it makes sense to start at Tienanmen Square and walk a straight line through all three.

We like to make things difficult, I guess. We started with The Forbidden City the day before (it’s in the middle) Then the next day, went down to Tienanmen Square (it comes first) and then back up to Jingshan Park (last in the line). Not very efficient but I think we saved the best for last (maybe that’s why it’s at the end of the three attractions).

Out of Tienanmen Square, The Forbidden City and Jingshan Park, I preferred the park. It was so peaceful yet for of bustling life, great for taking photographs. It will cost you 2RMB (that’s about 30cents AUD) to gain entry into the park and you can easily spend your afternoon strolling through or sit and people watch. The park is a decent size, spread out over 230,000 m² and has a giant man made hill in the middle.

You will see sections of people practicing dance, music and reciting poetry. It’s fascinating to watch – The only thing is there are about 5-10 different groups clumped in one area doing the same thing. For example in one small corner you may have up to 5 groups of tenors performing different arias all at once… being deaf, I couldn’t hear what was going on. But my friend assured me that neither could she – all the songs mixed into one as the small groups competed to be heard over each other.

Tienanmen Square is impressive. It’s one of the biggest ‘meeting places’ in the world. Again – Take your own guide book (brought from outside China) the ‘history’ of Tienanmen Square that is represented on plaques and through guides here is very different to what actually happen.

Take an umbrella too – it gets hot – VERY HOT and when you’re in the middle of the square there is limited shade.

The train, the hostel and the Fobidden City

How do you get from Badaling to Beijing? The train.

How long will it take you? About an hour and a half maybe 2hours

How much will it cost you? 6RMB!! (That's about $1AUD)

And...

The quality of the train? AMAZING! No joke - With more than enough room to fit out packs in front of us and still stretch our legs out! I still cannot get over how amazingly clean and room-y the train was and all for $1... Brilliant.

We stayed at the City Walls Hostel in an old hutong area. The hostel was great - The host was friendly and genuinely welcoming. He gave us a detailed mapped and outlines all the 'go-to' areas and all the 'avoid' areas. We stayed in an 8 bed dorm - 2 bunks downstairs, 2 bunks upstairs - So it was more like a 4 dorm. At 100RMB (about $15AUD) a night, you can't really go wrong. The only feedback I would say is the lockers are small - I could fit my iPad and travel documents. So if you're staying in the dorm and you have large valuable items - You may want to bring a security net (if that worries you)

As soon as we arrived we unpacked our bags and headed to the Forbidden City. The bus is cheap and easy enough to catch - but we opted to walk - It took as about 30min from the hostel.

I want to rant and rave about the Forbidden City, but it left me a little underwhelmed. It is stunningly beautiful and decorated elegantly. The history is amazing and the size of the halls with the golden architraves blows your mind... but it was just lacking in that POW! there was something missing in the atmosphere of the place, that made it pleasant and nice to see - but didn't leave me thinking "WOW - THAT WAS AWESOME".

Take your time to walk through here and, as I have said before, take a good guide book with you. You will benefit more for this and truly grasp a sound understanding of the Forbidden City.

Entry into the Forbidden City will set you back 60RMB (Just under $10AUD).