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Beijing is my country's political center, cultural center, international exchange center, science and technology innovation center, and so on. It has too many titles to list. I think people may not go to Chengdu, Changsha, or Shanghai, but they should at least visit the capital of the Republic.

My mother had long yearned to visit Beijing, and since we finally had some free time and the weather was just right—neither too hot nor too cold—we decided to take a spontaneous trip. Unlike previous trips, we didn't make any preparations beforehand. We hadn't expected that reservations were required for almost everything in the capital, which led to an inconvenient schedule and meant we missed the chance to climb Tiananmen Square and visit the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall.

Including Tianjin, this is a five-day, four-night trip. This post only covers the Beijing leg of the journey; for the Tianjin leg, please refer to [link to previous post].

Table of contents:

Day 1 (September 13, 2023)

Chuzhou Station - Beijing South Station - National Flag Flying at Tiananmen Square - Stroll along Wangfujing Street

Day 2 (September 14, 2023)

Raising the national flag at Tiananmen Square – Badaling Great Wall – Olympic Park – Bird's Nest – Water Cube

Day 3 (September 15, 2023)

National Museum of China – Palace Museum – Jingshan Park – Quanjude (a famous Peking duck restaurant chain)

Day 4 (September 16, 2023)

Summer Palace – Old Summer Palace – Tsinghua University – Peking University – Shichahai – Prince Gong's Mansion – Nanluoguxiang – Beijing South Railway Station – Tianjin Railway Station

Day 5 (September 17, 2023)

Century Clock – School Gate – Tianjin Italian Style Street – Tianjin Ancient Culture Street – Five Avenues Cultural Tourism Area – Tianjin Eye – Tianjin Railway Station – Chuzhou Railway Station

text:

Day 1 (September 13, 2023)

I took a taxi to Chuzhou Station at 6:30 am, boarded the G2578 train, and arrived at Beijing South Station at 12:08 pm.

On the first day, I stayed in Dashilan, which is only 1 kilometer away from Tiananmen Square. It would be convenient to go to Tiananmen Square to watch the flag-raising ceremony in the morning, but it's actually unnecessary. You can stay a little further away and it will be cheaper. You can take a taxi there.

In Dashilan, I ordered authentic Old Beijing Zha Jiang Mian (noodles with soybean paste) and Old Beijing Bao Du (tripe). The Zha Jiang Mian was ice-cold, as if it had just been taken out of the refrigerator. I thought it would be hot. The Bao Du, on the other hand, was hot. It was served after being blanched. I could smell the fishy smell from afar. It wasn't too fishy when dipped in the sauce. My assessment is: be patient and respectful, and accept the differences in food culture from different regions.

After eating, we went to Tiananmen Square for a stroll. We had made reservations for the afternoon, the flag-lowering ceremony, and the flag-raising ceremony the next day. The plan was to enter through Gate 2, but the staff told us that Tiananmen Square was closed and we couldn't get in. They suggested we try the National Museum of China, which is Gate 6. We heard from passersby that high-ranking leaders from other countries were there for a meeting. So we went around to Gate 6, and there was already a queue. I guess it was the same at Gate 2. The afternoon slots had already passed, so we went in and watched the flag-lowering ceremony directly.

There are three checkpoints in total. The first checkpoint is to check the reservation information. The second checkpoint is to scan your ID card and face, go through security, and every bag will be searched. The third checkpoint is to wait until the time comes to enter the square.

The key point is that the third checkpoint requires a speed comparable to a 100-meter sprint. The moment the checkpoint opens, everyone from the elderly in their seventies and eighties to children as young as a few years old is running for their lives, just to grab a good spot.

After watching the flag-lowering ceremony, I strolled around Tiananmen Square. When the lights came on at Tiananmen, I went to take some photos at the foot of the Tiananmen Gate.

After we'd had our fill of fun, when we went outside, we saw a lot of people going through security and coming in, already waiting for tomorrow's flag-raising ceremony. There were so many people sitting on the ground that I suddenly started to worry about whether I could get a good spot if I got up at 1 a.m. tomorrow to watch the flag-raising ceremony.

Wandering through Wangfujing Street, the whole authentic old Beijing sugar gourd, there are authentic old Beijing fried noodles and authentic old Beijing tripe precedent, I did not have great expectations of authentic old Beijing sugar gourd, and ultimately did not step on the thunder.

Back at the hotel that night, I slept for a little over an hour before starting another day as a special forces soldier.

Day 2 (September 14, 2023)

I got up at 2 a.m. and walked to Tiananmen Square but didn't see many people. It couldn't be that we got up too early. When we got to Gate 2, sure enough, the line was very long. We didn't get in until after 4 a.m.

Well, with so many people, forget about seeing the front of the national flag; there wasn't even a crack. After circling around, I found quite a few people in the northeast corner, but they were mostly middle-aged or elderly people, so at least I wasn't looking at people's heads.

On September 14, 2023, the flag-raising ceremony at Tiananmen Square will take place at 5:54:03 AM.

After watching the flag-lowering ceremony, we visited the Monument to the People's Heroes, the Great Hall of the People, and the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall.

After leaving Tiananmen Square, breakfast must include authentic old Beijing douzhi (fermented mung bean juice) and jiaoquan (fried dough rings). I've seen many videos online discouraging people from douzhi, so I had to try it to see if this douzhi was truly authentic old Beijing.

How can I say this is absolutely authentic? At most, you'll throw up after eating West Lake Vinegar Fish. If you can even put this in your mouth, I'll salute you as a true man.

Getting back to the main topic, it's time to go back to the hotel, pack my luggage, and check out. Luggage can be stored at the hotel for free. Lightly equipped, I'm off to climb the Great Wall of Technology, becoming a cyberpunk hero. Originally, I was supposed to climb the Great Wall tomorrow, visiting the National Museum and the Forbidden City today. However, since the Forbidden City only has reservations available for tomorrow afternoon, I can only go to the Great Wall today. I'll also be coming to Tiananmen Square tomorrow.

I took the subway to Qinghe Station in Beijing, then boarded train D1105 to Badaling Great Wall Station. Getting off the train was quite an eye-opener. Badaling Great Wall Station is 102 meters underground, and the escalator exiting the station is 84 meters long with a 42-meter rise, equivalent to 13 stories. The entire ride takes 3 minutes. While on the escalator, I couldn't help but wonder what a disaster it would be if someone suddenly lost their footing and tumbled down.

After exiting the Badaling Great Wall station, when the tough guys turn left and the cyber heroes turn right, the cable car goes up the mountain. Everyone is a hero, and everyone has a bright future.

The weather is pretty good, so here are some photos of the Great Wall. Cyber heroes will definitely miss some of the scenery along the way.

At 3:39 PM, I took the D6706 train back to Qinghe Station, picked up my luggage from the original hotel, and moved to a hotel in Qiaowan. The distance wasn't much different, and for the same price, the environment was worlds apart. The only advantage of the hotel in Dashilan was its proximity to Tiananmen Square.

In the evening, I took the subway to Olympic Park to visit the Bird's Nest and Water Cube.

I ordered takeout back at the hotel and it was so delicious! Authentic old Beijing food is just too good to pass up.

Day 3 (September 15, 2023)

After two days of training as a special forces soldier, I got up a little later today. I ordered takeout for both breakfast and lunch, and then went to the National Museum. Today's tasks weren't heavy.

Scanning my ID card and going through security to enter the National Museum of China—as I mentioned before, this was a spontaneous trip, so I hadn't prepared at all. What to do? What to see? What was the main focus? Stamp collecting? Sorry, I had absolutely no idea.

Later I learned that there were also ten national treasures. As we all know, there are more than ten national treasures. I found nine of them unexpectedly in the album. I didn’t focus on finding these treasures. After all, not all of them are like the Houmuwu Ding, the Nine Dragons and Nine Phoenixes Crown, and the Four Sheep Square Zun, which are placed in a prominent position in the hall, surrounded by a group of people. You can tell they are treasures at a glance. Some are placed on ordinary shelves, squeezed together with a lot of cultural relics.

I just said today's tasks weren't heavy, but I was proven wrong. The National Museum is much bigger than I imagined, and it has a lot of collections. I only had time to quickly see the ancient China exhibits on the B1 level. I didn't get to visit the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th levels. Maybe next time.

After leaving the National Museum of China, head to the Palace Museum across the street. It's best to see ancient architecture as soon as possible. When I visited the Palace Museum 10 years ago, the palaces only had gates that were off-limits. Now, they're fenced off from a distance. I heard that it used to be possible to enter the palaces.

I didn't arrive very early, and the Forbidden City started announcing that it was clearing people out. I exited the Forbidden City from the North Gate, paid a 2-yuan entrance fee to go to Jingshan Park across the street, the place where Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself. While passing through the underpass, I bought an old Beijing popsicle for 1 yuan, which tasted alright.

Climbing to the top of Wanchun Pavilion offers a panoramic view of the entire Forbidden City and the sunset.

The main event was in the evening. I'd heard about Peking duck since I was a child. Although it's lost its luster, how could I come to Beijing without trying Peking duck? And when talking about Peking duck, how could I forget Quanjude? Although the reviews suggested that Siji Minfu's Peking duck might be better, to be honest, I didn't come here for the food. I chose the Wangfujing branch. I went up to the 3rd floor, took a number, and waited in line. I started sitting and waiting at 7 pm, and it wasn't until about 8:30 pm that I got a seat.

The taste wasn't particularly delicious, and it wasn't significantly different from the Peking duck you get elsewhere. The price of around 200 yuan per person was acceptable, but it was more of a place to check off your list.

Day 4 (September 16, 2023)

Today is the last day of my trip to Beijing. I ordered takeout again this morning, ate, checked out, and left my luggage at the hotel.

Our first stop today was the Summer Palace, which is featured in our Chinese textbook. We took the subway to Beigongmen Station and entered the Summer Palace from the North Gate. The tour route was as follows. The Summer Palace was larger than I had imagined, and my mother had clearly lost interest in sightseeing towards the end. We exited from the East Gate and walked to the Zaoyuan Gate of the Old Summer Palace. From there, we took a sightseeing bus directly to the Western-style buildings ruins, which is the location of the Old Summer Palace pictured in the textbook.

After visiting the Western-style Buildings Ruins and the Yuanmingyuan Exhibition Hall, I bought a bicycle and went to the West Gate 4 of Tsinghua University to take photos. Tsinghua and Peking University are only open to visitors on Saturdays and Sundays, but you need to make a reservation in advance. I could only take some photos at the entrance.

I also rode a bicycle to the west gate of Peking University to take photos.

After visiting Tsinghua and Peking Universities, I took the subway to Shichahai. My trip was nearing its end. I had a Mixue Ice Cream to calm my nerves, along with an authentic old Beijing door nail meat pie.

I took a break and went to Prince Gong's Mansion, but didn't go inside due to time constraints. I passed through many small alleys along the way.

The main purpose of going to Nanluoguxiang was to buy roast duck as a souvenir; sightseeing was just a side trip. However, I didn't manage to buy any, so I went to Wangfujing to buy some instead.

I went to Beijing South Railway Station to take train C2085 to Tianjin. That's the story for the next installment.

Summarize:

1. Be prepared for everything; not every city is a place you can just pack up and go.

2. Be prepared for everything. Even though the weather doesn't look hot, the sun is extremely strong. After a few days out, my face and arms have developed a very obvious tan.