- Beijing
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China
I would like to share my best tips for train journeys for people who don't plan ahead. These were shaped from my travel experience riding seat-less in China with three friends as we criss-crossed our way down through the country using the busy train network. We travelled on a shoestring budget, and with no fixed agenda we often arrived at stations with only a loose idea of where we were heading. However, demand for seats and beds on these trains is huge and when there are literally millions of citizens using the network at anyone time, these spaces are booked days in advance... Surprisingly, my tip isn't to plan ahead, be sensible and book in advance - but top tips for surviving and enjoying an overnight train journey with no seat or bed to speak off. Following these tips allows you to get closer to the fascinating Chinese character and fully involve yourself to feel like a true and accepted local which is lost in 1st and 2nd class travel.
My first tip is to play the Chinese at their own game in order to get the best floor positions for your overnight journey. Your competing 3rd class companions will be travelling with half their kitchen larders strapped to their backs, which can include two or three 'cash and carry' style bags of rice or even sacks of chicken feet! So i would advise teaming up with a friend or fellow westerner, which combined with your likely height advantage and 20kg backpacks, you'll find yourselves with some kind of purchase on the crowds of surging travellers to get to your carriage first.
The second tip is on boarding and locating your floor space. With competition fierce, and the odds stacking against you, you will need to prepare for your mini sprint. Try and establish from platform gates, which end of the train your carriage is in; you don't want to find your self running in the opposite direction as you are then likely to be stood beside the toilet for the next 15 to 20 hours. So, once at the carriage doors, I would recommend boarding at the same time as your friend, guarding yourselves from the beating crowds to give you the opportunity to seek the best position, ideally not near the toilet or wash basin, but next to a guards door, which is likely to leave you some good leg room and uninterrupted sleep from people getting on and off through the night.
The third and final tip is spread yourself out, as selfish as it might sound, conceding early on or showing weakness will leave you sharing your pillow another guy who likes to chain smoke and cough up loosening flem from his lungs. This early initiative also gives you the flexibility of lying down and sitting up to read throughout your journey, as fidgeting to get comfortable will become your new best friend. Once you have your little enclave, you can pick and choose who you share your space with, and observe the fascinating culture and characters on board your train as people pass through and squat to chat to the unlikely westerners slumming it on floor.
These light-hearted tips are really just great memories and a product of clashing national psyches, for which I believe brings so much colour, character and adventure to a train journey and gets you right under the skin of a nation which is quite literally on the move.
Many thanks for reading my top tips for character rich 3rd class train travel in China.
An Asian restaurant that serves great food at a reasonable 'Western' price.
Situated on the top floor of a shopping complex in the embassy district of Beijing this was a real find. The aubergine curry was sublime, the chicken in the balti was tasty if not immediately recognisable. Friendly service and a welcome change from the local cuisine.
This is a chain which has a range of restaurants across the far East. In a city where you can get cheap and plentiful food this is a restaurant that produces quality food in smaller quantities. More pricey but worth it. An eight-course sampler of signature dishes is 228 yuan.
Wangfujing shopping mall
If you want to see a quiet and impressive part of the Great Wall, take a taxi to Simuatai (about two hours). Once you entered the Wall area, just before you about to climb on to the wall, walk through the wall and carry on the track for about 300 metres - you will come to the Dongpo Restaurant. It looks from the outside more like a shed but the owner is lovely and the Chinese food fantastic. An English menu is available, the owner will try her best to improve her English while talking to you.
This is a lovely hotel in the ‘Old Beijing’ district hutong. It is somehow very modern and chic while being traditional. The dozen rooms or so all face into a courtyard where there is a little pond to relax around and, after a day sightseeing in Beijing, you will welcome how peaceful this place is. Showers, beds, everything is just so.
By the way, a good coffee isn’t the easiest thing to come by in Beijing unless you like Starbucks (yep, ’fraid so) but Shauna Liu, the owner, knows a mean brew.
Room 101 is a bar and restaurant in Dong Cheng district. It is one of the only foreign-managed places in Beijing which is open 24/7. They also have 24-hour delivery which is a godsend - their paninis are delicious! They also have lots of live music events, free wi-fi and a terrace with BBQ.
www.room101.cn
+86 (10) 6402 7532
Located 3 mins walk south of Andingmen subway station at 199 Andingmen Nei Dajie.
Fantastic way to find the less explored parts of Beijing. They organise hikes along the Great Wall away from the crowded tourist sections.
An American-style pizza restaurant with beer on tap.
They serve the best pizza in Beijing and it's perfect for when you get tired of gloopy soup and fatty Chinese pork. If you're only in town for a short stay you should, of course, try local dishes (especially duck) but after a few days you'll probably want to try Kro's Nest.
It's not easy to find though. Apparently there are a couple of branches but I've only been to the one at Workers' Stadium.
I read about it in Beijing for Beginners: An Irishman in the People's Republic and it has been a life-saver since.
Take the subway to Dongsishitao and walk east. When you get to Workers Stadium, walk inside the gates to the car park. The restaurant is on the left but the entrance is around the corner down a gravelly walkway. Not a very attractive entrance but inside makes up for it.
www.thekrosnest.com/
The bomb shelter bar near the Red Capital Residence is one of the more interesting drinking holes (in the ground) of Beijing. Getting there is half the adventure as you climb into a manhole-sized opening and down steep stairs under a low ceiling: awkward for all but the most agile.
It was built as a bomb shelter during the cold war between China and Russia to protect party officials but the the mobile signals show the quality of construction. 50s propaganda movies and memorabilia set the scene. Serves Gold Star Yanjing beer!
A great place to see the locals - especially the more senior citizens - enjoy themselves at the weekend exercising, dancing, doing taiqi and doing calligraphy with water-filled brushes on the paving stones near the east entrance.
North 3rd Ring Road neat intersection with Chaoyang Bei Lu
At the Nanxincang branch of Da Dong Roast Duck they have 22 private rooms, making it a great restaurant to do business – it is also the best Peking duck in Beijing. You have to reserve, though, because it is a popular place and the queues can be horrendous.
Most other countries wouldn’t dream of mixing business with karaoke, but in China it is almost de rigeur to spend at least one night with the microphone – it will up your kudos if you are seen to be a sport. Partyworld is a massive chain, and will give you the full-on karaoke experience, including free food – they also have private rooms, if you’re feeling a bit shy.
For an upmarket Chinese night out, I can recommend Centro, the bar in the Kerry Centre hotel. Don’t be put off by it being in a hotel, because it is one of the chicest venues in the city. They have an inviting cocktail list, sometimes have live jazz and there is plenty of plush, comfortable furniture.
There are two very good hotels on Financial Street in the new business district. The Ritz-Carlton is in a modern glass building and has only recently opened, it has everything you’d expect from the brand and is exceptionally clean and new. There is a pool in it with a projection screen that shows films and there are also TVs in the bathrooms. The hotel can also send a car to pick you up from the airport. The other good hotel here is the Intercontinental, which was the first hotel in this area – although still quite new. The service is impeccable and there is free internet.
Finding a tailor to make you a custom suit in Beijing can be a bit tricky if you don't know where you are looking in this vast metropolis. This can be particularly challenging if you have 'Western' measurements so can't buy off the shelf. The best place to go is Gong Ti Bei Lu market right by 'Workers' Stadium'. There you will be able to find various stores catering for your needs. Expect to pay around USD100 a suit.
Ask your hotel to write the address in Chinese - otherwise your taxi driver won't find it!
Yunnan food that people from Yunnan actually eat. Serving the Yunnan Provincial Government Office, Yunteng Shifu offers authentic Yunnan cuisine made with ingredients which are flown in direct from the southern province. The restaurant is open all day and the somewhat kitsch, jungle interior can feel like a breath of fresh air after dusty Beijing.
Yunnan specialities include goat's cheese (rubing), pineapple rice (bolo fan), 'crossing the bridge' noodles (guo qiao mixian), proscuitto-like cuts of ham and the hot, fresh wonderfulness which is Dai mint salad.
There's no English menu but everything is illustrated with photos. Yunnan food is very trendy in Beijing and can be hugely overpriced, but a meal here for two with Yunnan beer or tea shouldn't cost more than £10. Highly, highly recommended.
Set back from the road, Yunteng Shifu looks to be part of a posh housing estate. Look for the building with large gold characters down the side of it and stone steps leading up to the entrance.
Yunteng Hotel, 7 Donghuashi Beili Dongqu (bet. Chongwenmen Dongdajie & Donghuashi Dajie) Beijing, China 100019
Tel: 010-6713-6439
Nearest metro stations: Chongwenmen (line 5) or Beijing Train Station (line 2).
A website in which local restaurants, bars, clubs, activities, tours and anything else people care to comment on are reviewed by ordinary people living in the city.
Be aware of the Beijing teahouse scam, - especially around the Tiananmen Square and Wang Fujing Street areas - which young Chinese people posing as students of English will try to lure foreigners into a tea-house for a demonstration of tea ceremony, leaving the foreigner with a bill running to hundreds of US dollars. Be sure to ask for prices for the tea and facilities up front before agreeing to any kind of tea ceremony.
This is a great place to learn Mandarin, they only hire full-time teachers, they are very serious about teaching Mandarin!
Forget Silk Market for your Chinese tat and clothes. It's crowded and vendors are very pushy. Go down the road instead. It's the same stuff, including great tailors, just as big but less crowded and therefore more fun. Remember to haggle!
Yashow Market, 58 Gongti Beilu, Chaoyang District
Is this your business?Search Been there
