Travel

Beijing and Shanghai travel advice

  • Last Updated:
  • Sep 18th, 2018 8:21 am
Deal Addict
Mar 6, 2014
1294 posts
299 upvotes
Not at RFD
I personally don't think Beijing and Shanghai are ideal places for self guided tours. It's a lot more fun to travel with a tour group and the tours are very affordable in Canadian standards. There are a lot of scammers that you can avoid by being with a tour (although some tours are scams themselves). You'll also miss a lot of important history if you onto these places without a guide. Every door in the Forbidden city has a meaning and you won't be able to figure it out by yourself and a book can only tell you so much.

If you are in BJ, you might as well spent a day and visit Suzhou and Hangzhou, very beautiful places.
Deal Expert
Jan 27, 2006
21844 posts
15619 upvotes
Vancouver, BC
Jucius Maximus wrote: The VPN situation has gotten a lot worse in the last 3 months due to the vaccine scandal. I would not trust TorGuard these days. Get a China-optimized VPN!
I'm here in Shanghai now and can report that Tunnel Bear works fine.
Deal Expert
Jan 27, 2006
21844 posts
15619 upvotes
Vancouver, BC
Statistics101 wrote: I personally don't think Beijing and Shanghai are ideal places for self guided tours. It's a lot more fun to travel with a tour group and the tours are very affordable in Canadian standards. There are a lot of scammers that you can avoid by being with a tour (although some tours are scams themselves). You'll also miss a lot of important history if you onto these places without a guide. Every door in the Forbidden city has a meaning and you won't be able to figure it out by yourself and a book can only tell you so much.

If you are in BJ, you might as well spent a day and visit Suzhou and Hangzhou, very beautiful places.
Self-guided tours of both Beijing and Shanghai are very doable; in fact, I did a self guided tour of Beijing last year and am currently on one for Shanghai now. The Forbidden City has audio guides that you wear around to the different rooms available or you can use one of their own guides for more money so you don't have to use a tour package.
Deal Expert
Jan 27, 2006
21844 posts
15619 upvotes
Vancouver, BC
bingo_jake wrote: is there a recommended private guy / company for visiting the Great Wall? how much roughly should we expect to pay for that service (for 2 adults and 1 child end of Oct)?

what part of the wall is the best for visit in that time of year? (I think it shouldn't be that cold)

Thanks
Beijing runs a public transit bus to two sections of the Great Wall - Badaling and Juyongguan - so getting to those sections are easy and CHEAP. Check out the following pages for instructions - https://www.travelchinaguide.com/china_ ... ngguan.htm and https://www.travelchinaguide.com/china_ ... daling.htm. You can even get to Mutianyu as well but it's a bit more complicated - https://www.travelchinaguide.com/china_ ... tianyu.htm
Deal Expert
Jan 27, 2006
21844 posts
15619 upvotes
Vancouver, BC
blind56 wrote: From when I was in Beijing exactly one year ago:
VPN: I use TorGuard, can confirm it works. Had to go through Cisco AnyConnect for access via iPhone, they also have an entire section for instructions on how to get online in China.
Great Wall: I went to the Mutianyu section. Wasn’t crowded at all but we were there kind of early in the day. I booked a private car va Tripadvisor/Viator. Was really good, although I’m sure you could’ve gotten one cheaper on the ground. I just didn’t want to deal with any potential BS that might happen. They took us to Mutianyu, Summer Palace and one more place that’s i cant quite place. Also had the option to stop at the Birds Nest. Lunch was included and was basically a westernized Chinese meal.
Hotel: I stayed at the Park Plaza Wangfujing. Location was A+, around a 10 minute walk down to Wangfujing(touristy shopping area) and was right on top of the subway station.
Peking Duck: I went to Quanjude on recommendation from a coworker. Wasn’t impressed, a whole duck cost around $70CAD. There’s three levels but IIRC they’re all priced to make you say “screw it” and get the $70 one. The duck itself was awesome. Tip: they’ll ask if you want to make the carcass into soup, don’t get it. Thought it was disgusting and tasted like soap. Also felt rushed and thought the whole place was a tourist trap. Most tables when i was there were tourists and their guides with the odd table of local. I’ve heard better things about Da Dong-if you stay at the Park Plaza there’s a significantly less busy location right across the street in the super high luxury shopping mall that never has anyone in it.
If you want one of the best duck experiences as done by the domestic Chinese, go to Li Qun Kaoya Dian - https://en.tripadvisor.com.hk/Restauran ... ijing.html. It's a little hole in the wall place with great ducks.

Top

Thread Information

There is currently 1 user viewing this thread. (0 members and 1 guest)