My Beijing & Tianjin Adventure: 6 Nights of Central Exploration
Our group of 13, led by yours truly, recently returned from a 6-night trip to Beijing and Tianjin. We chose to stay all 6 nights in Beijing, indulging in 3 different hotels right in the city center – because we wanted to! This was all over the Labor Day holiday. Having gleaned so much information from this community before our trip, I wanted to share some experiences to ease the minds of those planning their own independent trips to China (especially to places like Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai).
Labor Day Crowds? Not as Bad as Expected!
The holiday crowds weren't as overwhelming as I'd feared. Even with crowds, everyone queued in an orderly fashion, and the capacity of the attractions far exceeded the number of visitors allowed in. If you start early, like our group did, leaving around 7 AM, you'll avoid traffic and quickly pass through security. With pre-purchased online tickets, we were inside the attractions in under an hour! If you're strategic about finding less crowded spots, you can even capture photos without anyone else in them! Surprisingly, traveling during a holiday in China felt more affordable, safer from tourist traps, less chaotic, and cleaner than holidays back in Vietnam!
Ticketing Tips: Buy Online, But Be Aware
Purchasing tickets online 7 days before the release date can save you time queuing at the entrance. However, securing tickets to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square online from Vietnam during the holiday proved too difficult. Consequently, we used a ticketing service. The Forbidden City ticket price inflated to five times the official website price! While entry to Tiananmen Square and the National Museum is free, we paid 100 yuan to secure our spots. But hey, if money can solve the problem, then so be it! On the other hand, zoo tickets to see the pandas were cheap and easily available right at the zoo entrance, so no need to use an agent and incur extra fees.
Affordable and Accessible Transportation
Public transportation is incredibly affordable and easy to navigate. Bus tickets cost around 7,000 VND, subway tickets around 10,000 VND. A 30km taxi ride from the airport to the city center was 120 yuan, considered expensive for China (since we had the hotel arrange it) but still cheaper than in Vietnam! During the holidays, we rented a 19-seater van for the whole group. It was pricier – 7.2 million VND for inner-city Beijing and 12 million VND for a day trip to Tianjin – but splitting the cost among everyone still made it a good deal. It saved us from crowded public transport, provided comfortable rest on the road, and maximized our time and energy. Thanks to this, we managed to visit 3 locations per day for 7 days straight! What a blast!
Perfect Spring Weather
The spring weather during the holiday was a bonus, with flowers blooming everywhere. The temperature was pleasantly cool, perfect for sightseeing without getting too tired. The sunshine was bright but not harsh, resulting in some amazing photos.
Money Matters: Cash is Still King
Don't worry about cash being useless. China uses cash just like Vietnam, and Alipay is similar to Momo. Having both is convenient! If you're hesitant to set up Alipay (it's not always straightforward), cash and credit cards work perfectly fine! You can still buy train and bus tickets without apps; there are conductors on buses and ticket vendors at subway stations, or even English-language ticket machines that accept cash. We got a better exchange rate converting VND to RMB in person, rather than through Alipay. Just be careful to find a reputable exchange service to avoid being scammed! Only Didi (the ride-hailing app) requires Alipay, but I'm not a pro at that app, so I skipped it!
Language Barrier? No Problem!
WeChat is a must-have! Luckily, WeChat offers real-time translation in conversations, making communication seamless even if you don't speak the same language. For everything else, a translation app with text input, voice translation, and image scanning works wonders! Chinese people are incredibly helpful and will offer directions without even being asked. If they see you looking confused, they'll immediately ask where you're trying to go! If you're not comfortable with the app, you can always resort to writing. In one restaurant, the staff patiently took our order for 30 minutes, despite the language barrier and our reluctance to use apps, even though it was a fancy establishment! Hotels always have translation devices, though I suspect some receptionists know English. When I spoke English, they would type it into the device to translate into Chinese. One employee even asked what country I was from and translated it into Vietnamese!
Smooth Immigration Process
The immigration process was fairly straightforward. As long as you answer the questions completely, they'll let you through! There was even a machine that translated instructions into Vietnamese to guide me through the fingerprint scanning process after the officer noticed my Vietnamese passport.
Stay Connected with a Hong Kong/Macau SIM
A SIM card is a must, and buying one that also works in Hong Kong and Macau bypasses the need for a VPN! Facebook and Google worked instantly. I bought mine on Trip.com, with 2GB per day for 8 days for under 250,000 VND. A great deal compared to prices I found elsewhere!
Food: Delicious and Affordable
Restaurant prices in Beijing are relatively cheap compared to Vietnam! A meal costs around 100,000 VND, or 200,000-300,000 VND if you splurge. Buying groceries at the supermarket is the most budget-friendly option, with meals ranging from 20,000-100,000 VND.
This is getting quite long! I'll post some pictures of the Forbidden City from May 1st to give you an idea!
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