bangkok-beijing

Have the option of flying to Bangkok by way of Beijing this year. Egyptair seems to be the only low cost carrier on this route; anyone had the pleasure(?)? Any advice or recommendations (Beijing hotels, restaurants, bars, tours, sights, etc), would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Jim

You could try the Utopia pages as well - http://www.utopia-asia.com/chinbeij.htm

Have flown Egyptair from Sydney to London. Brand new aircraft on every flight and barely a third full so i had three seats to stretch out on. No booze served on the flight, but non-muslims were handed a bag full of miniatures when they got on!

When I was posted to Beijing, I often flew the Air China overnight flight from Bangkok to Beijing. Craptific service (as all Air China flights), but the flight is usually empty, so it's easy to find a row of seats where you can sleep.

For gay night spots, I would recommend Destination near the Worker's Stadium ( http://www.bjdestination.com/ ) -- a clean night club with an interesting crowd. Also have a look at the comments on Utopia about the Wudaokou neighbourhood -- well worth investigating.

For accommodation, I recommend serviced apartments over hotels (privacy!). Here is one that advertises on many of the gay web sites:

http://www.hw-ielts.com/apartment.htm

Beyond that, definitely visit the forbidden city and the great wall!

Or Peking?

Or Peking?

Beijing is the name in Mandarin (ie. what Chinese people call it) -- it means 'North Capital'

Peking is the correct English name for the city (ref. East and West by Chris Patten -- long discussion of this in the introduction) BUT this name is quite antiquated now (in the way the Ceylon or Burma might be).

...For accommodation, I recommend serviced apartments over hotels (privacy!). Here is one that advertises on many of the gay web sites:

http://www.hw-ielts.com/apartment.htm

Beyond that, definitely visit the forbidden city and the great wall!

I have stayed at this particular apartment (Kelvin's apartment). I can only say you get what you pay for. Appearently, the owner Kelvin owns a couple of the studio rooms in a cheaply built apartment building, and decided to rent them out, and call them service apartment. There is not much service. If you want room cleaning, you will have to pay extra (reasonably priced), and he will get a neighbors grandma or grandpa to clean it (throw out garbage, wipe out table, that's about it, you are not gonna have a clean shiny floor). The bathroom is rediculously small (similiar to the lavatory on the airplane), the shower is just a spray with a courtain on the corner of the tiny bathroom (similiar to the spray next to the toliet in a Thai apartment in Thailand, but with a courtain). Beijing is a very dusty city, the dust come from the dessert in the northwest china, and also from the industrial pollution. So your room (and all other places) is dusty all the time. When you book the room via email, he will tell you to call him once you arrive at the "grey color office building" This building is very close to the apartment. No address is given. So you don't know where the apartment is. But, how are you supposed to call him if you don't have a Chinese mobile phone. Are you going to walk around and find a public phone with all the luggage you have? The Chinse public phone does not even take coins, it only accepts prepaid Chinese IC phone card.
Anyway, this apartment is really meant for backpackers, and you certainly get what you pay for.

One big problem in Beijing is that very few people speak English, and very few store signs are in English. People are suspiciou towards everyone else, hence not friendly.
Forbidden city is a place where every tourist must go. But it is only a collection of empty old palace buildings, with A LOT of tourists walking around. Some of the buildings are not well-maintained. Some are destroyed during Cultural Revolution and rebuilt afterwards, so are not genuine. In my opinion, Chinese view these palaces as money making tools for tourists like the Disney Land, not thier historical monument and certainly not their pride. They view these as symbols of old currupt, sinful imperial society...something against their new modern socialist country.
Another thing I noticed in China is that, there are scams everywhere, even the tour company...but that is another long story.

Overall, I feel it is ok to travel and see China, but China is nothing like Thailand. Personally, I would rather spend my time and money in Thailand.

dup

Or Peking?Beijing is the name in Mandarin (ie. what Chinese people call it) -- it means 'North Capital'. Peking is the correct English name for the city (ref. East and West by Chris Patten -- long discussion of this in the introduction) BUT this name is quite antiquated now (in the way the Ceylon or Burma might be).I was wondering when some politically-correct quibbler would arise

Patten's point is that in Peking we have a perfectly adequate English name for what in Chinese is called Beijing. It's analagous to all those somewhat pretentious posters in Thai forums or speech, who in the middle of an English sentence suddenly refer to Bangkok as "Krung Thep" - something Thais never, ever do. I still refer to Rome and Florence rather than Roma and Firenze, and call the capital city of France Pariss rather than Paree. I am, however, prepared to side with Hedda in agreeing that the English name for Pattaya is Shitsville

I guess I'm just an old-fashioned guy

Or Peking?Beijing is the name in Mandarin (ie. what Chinese people call it) -- it means 'North Capital'. Peking is the correct English name for the city (ref. East and West by Chris Patten -- long discussion of this in the introduction) BUT this name is quite antiquated now (in the way the Ceylon or Burma might be).I was wondering when some politically-correct quibbler would arise

Patten's point is that in Peking we have a perfectly adequate English name for what in Chinese is called Beijing.

But now you are faced with a whole generation of people outside China who have never heard of 'Peking.' So while being a perfectly good word for Beijing (rather like ice box is a perfectly adequate word for refridgerator), you risk being misunderstood. For my own part -- I love to hear people using Victorian English today.

dup

Scott -- great feedback about the 'serviced apartments!' On the other hand, the hotels I've stayed in were not much better looking inside (Great Wall Sheraton, Shangrila, China World, Traders and New Otani). The Sheraton and Shangrila were both shockingly dusty for that class of hotel, but, helas, the dust gets everwhere in winter and spring!

Fortunately (or unfortunately) I did not require a hotel when working in Bejing last year, as I had a corporate flat, but anyone just visiting will need a to find somewhere where they could bring a friend back if the need arises. I did bring someone back to the Shangrila years ago, but he was a western guy, and thus went unnoticed.

Here is a list of serviced apartments that I found -- the Ascott is near my old office, and the suites are very nice, but it is the other end of the spectrum in terms of budget:

http://beijing.biz-stay.com/

You are right about the scams -- or, in daily life, hassles. Taxis are a chore even if you do speak Mandarin, and will usually pretend that they don't know where they are going -- wasting your precious time for 1-2 additional RMB in their pockets. I ended up having to give street by street directions when going to and from work (although I had to do this in Bangkok as well, to get drivers to avoid traffic and 5 minute red lights, and use the small sois...).

btw, the air con in many places are not cool at all in Beijing. Most taxi do not turn on air con. Department stores and restaurants have air con, but not cool enough. If you travel to Beijing in summer, and the tour bus....what can I say. So, please be prepared for the sweaty/sticky situation in Beijing during summer. :bounce: