I’m finally getting around to sharing our Asian trip (appropriate, given that I’m preparing to leave for another trip on Sunday).  While the trip itself was one of a lifetime, Beijing had the most challenges of the trip.  It also where we grew most as travelers.  And I’m excited to share our Beijing travels (and some key tips!) with you all.
Beijing was the second stop of our trip, after Shanghai. Â Everything started out smoothly – our Air China flight was fine, our luggage arrived promptly, and we made our ways into the chilly Beijing air to get a taxi.
Things took a turn for the worse when we got hustled by a private taxi driver (China tip #1 – print out a map of your hotel written in CHINESE, not English), where we paid 4x more for our taxi. Â Also, our taxi driver had to stop a good 4 times to call and ask for directions. Â And spoke zero English. Â But that’s another story for another day.
We finally pulled up to the stunning Conrad Beijing, where we were whisked to the club floor and seated with a drink and a room service menu as the concierge checked us in. Â After a room service meal of grilled vegetable wraps and a glass of wine from the complimentary bottle in our room, we fell asleep immediately.
When we stay in luxury hotels, we like to have a day enjoying the property and the surrounding neighborhood. Â We spent our first full day in Beijing in our area – exercising the brand-new gym, dining at Lu Yu (the property’s traditional Chinese restaurant), and taking a walk in the neighboring park. Â That day happened to be Thanksgiving, and we ventured out for a traditional duck dinner with some new friends we made in Shanghai (an American family, with the sons visiting their expat mother). Â Quanjude Peking Duck came highly recommended, and we tucked into a great dinner of duck and wine (China tip #2 – China makes quite a nice cabernet sauvignon. Â And it’s significantly cheaper than imported wines). Â Completely full, we returned back to our hotel and promptly passed out.
Tour day! Â Our guide for our Beijing Essentials Day Tour (China tip #3 – prebook tours in advance, for optimal pricing and less headaches). Â We hit all the highlights -Â Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Badaling section of the Great Wall of China. Â Our guide was incredibly knowledgable about the history of each site, and incredibly patriotic (“another China #1” was a frequent opening line of his). Â Fun fact – the picture of Mao in front of the Forbidden City is actually an oil painting, which is replaced each year.
No tour in China is complete without a visit to tourist shopping traps, and this tour was no exception. Â While we opted out of purchasing a silk quilt (we already were suckered into one in Shanghai), we did purchase a small jade “happiness ball”, currently displayed on our coffee table.
The highlight of the day was the Great Wall – honestly, one of the most impressive sights I’ve ever seen. Â The pictures speak for themselves.
 We flew out of Beijing on an overnight flight, so we had one last day in the city.  I had some work to attend to, so I enjoyed the constant stream of food in the Conrad’s executive lounge while my husband went to lunch with one of his colleagues.  While the day was fairly uneventful, leaving Beijing had more drama than a Real Housewives reunion show.  Despite my previous attempts to pre-pay for our baggage fees in advance, I was completely unsuccessful.  “No big, it won’t be more than $60 or so,” I thought.
I was so wrong.  Nearly $500 (US dollars) and two visits to the ATM later, we finally checked in to our flight to Kuala Lumpur (then to Bali), completely traumatized  (China tip #4 – NEVER, ever, ever fly Air Asia).  The one small highlight – having a full 4-seat row to ourselves.  The whole baggage saga warrants its own View From Seat 20A post.
Despite being hustled at the Beijing airport by discount airlines and taxi operators, racking up international data charges (China tip #5 – invest in a XCom mobile hotspot for your trip) using Google Maps, and perfecting my pronunciation of “Bu, Shie Shie (which means thank you), I did enjoy Beijing. Â But unlike Shanghai, it’s not a city I’m planning a return to anytime soon.
