Beijing - Dec 31st 2014

sriki

Level 2 Member
I will be transiting through Beijing on Dec 31st. I will get there around 3:30 PM and my next flight is just after midnight (not great timing I know). Apparently, the great wall will be closed by the time I get there. I am wondering what else might be recommended places/activities during this short layover.

Any advice is appreciated.
 

Jeff C

Level 2 Member
I'm not sure that you could make it before Sunset but if you want to see the Wall I would seek out a private tour guide and have them take you to the Huanghuacheng section - it's about 60 miles north of Beijing. I visited in 2011 and it was stunning. A few images from my visit -https://flickr.com/photos/32872384@N00/sets/72157627958965235

See TripAdvisor for more inforamtion on this section of the Wall - http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g294212-d549631-Reviews-Great_Wall_at_Huanghuacheng-Beijing.html
 
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John B

New Member
I've been to Beijing twice and to be honest, given your timeline and Beijing traffic, there won't be many cultural activities open to you. However, given your timeline, you should be able to make the night market in the Wangfujing Neighborhood of Beijing. It is open till midnight I believe. It has a variety of food adventures (spiders, snakes, starfish, worms, etc.) waiting for tourists mostly. However, it is quite famous and worthwhile if you are that limited on time. You could also grab actual dinner at any of the nearby restaurants and also stroll by the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, although both will be closed. By that time, you should have enough time to grab another taxi and get back to the airport.
 

Jeff C

Level 2 Member
I've been to Beijing twice and to be honest, given your timeline and Beijing traffic, there won't be many cultural activities open to you. However, given your timeline, you should be able to make the night market in the Wangfujing Neighborhood of Beijing. It is open till midnight I believe. It has a variety of food adventures (spiders, snakes, starfish, worms, etc.) waiting for tourists mostly. However, it is quite famous and worthwhile if you are that limited on time. You could also grab actual dinner at any of the nearby restaurants and also stroll by the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, although both will be closed. By that time, you should have enough time to grab another taxi and get back to the airport.
Agreed, this is probably going to be your best bet on such a tight schedule. We had a fun time roaming around, and the food stalls with all the bugs is worth seeing - my buddies sampled the scorpion and survived ;) -
 

sriki

Level 2 Member
I'm not sure that you could make it before Sunset but if you want to see the Wall I would seek out a private tour guide and have them take you to the Huanghuacheng section - it's about 60 miles north of Beijing. I visited in 2011 and it was stunning. A few images from my visit -https://flickr.com/photos/32872384@N00/sets/72157627958965235

See TripAdvisor for more inforamtion on this section of the Wall - http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g294212-d549631-Reviews-Great_Wall_at_Huanghuacheng-Beijing.html
Your pictures are very good!! Thank you
 

Maverick17

Level 2 Member
To directly answer your question, the wall is only about 100 km from the airport. You do have time technically, and if you know someone locally you could give it a try. Or you could pay handsomely for a private taxi to take you there. Of course, that's just to see it. The touristy places where you can walk it, or take the gondola up to the top, will be closed and are further away. And there is the issue of traffic, which is hard to predict. You're outside the city already at airport, but you just never know with Beijing traffic. So the other recommendations make more sense.

Market is one option. I'd go straight to Tian An Men. Or if you're a bit more willing to walk around, I'd go to the rear of the Forbidden City. There's a nice park there, and you can climb the hill where you can see down into the Forbidden City and see the sunset. I don't recall how late that's open though. Regular parks and seeing the life of the older locals was always fascinating to me in Beijing; there are many around besides that tourist park behind Forbidden City, and they are open quite late. Houhai is great. Then I'd go for some good hot pot and/or duck. Shopping is plentiful if you want too, both legit and bargain.

Beijing taxis are not great at English still sometimes. Look for the Chinese names of the places you want to go, write them down in characters as best you can (or print them or email them to yourself so you can show phone, etc) to help. Watch out for touts (like black taxis). Take the train if you want, I prefer it because of traffic and it's easy to understand with English writing.
 
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