Beijing was a unique experience for me. I traveled a lot, but I could not compare this to any other country I have visited before. So if you have the change to visit Beijing or China, go. You will have a great time and curious what you think. See here my takeaways during my visit to Beijing, on weather, language, atmosphere, environment and more!
Is this really Asia?
My impression of Beijing is that it cannot be compared to any other Asian country: big, organized, busy, clean (yes, think it was not dirty at all, but dusty because of desert sand or smog…), special, impressive, beautiful, modern, western and strange. And all these impressions at the same time, several times a day or even within an hour. I haven’t seen one palm tree, which I first associate with an Asian country, but China is so big, with of course a continental climate for the most part. In May, when I was in Beijing, it was mainly dry, blue skies and around 25-30 degrees. Because it is so dry it doesn’t feel hot, May and September are the best months to visit Beijing. In July and Augustus the temperature in the city can get extremely high and that is not what you want. And surprisingly, I found it really clean, by means of no trash anywhere.
Language and Writing
The language spoken in China is Mandarin. Mandarin has been designated as the official language of mainland China and an important language in Singapore and Taiwan. It is largely based on the Beijing dialect. One thing was clear to me: I didn’t understand a thing! Communication is therefore exceedingly difficult in China, few Chinese speak English, which makes it difficult to make yourself understood. In addition, Chinese is a logo graphic script consisting of characters, so reading is not an option either. The WeChat translator could work, but I strongly recommended you to visit this country with a guide, translator or local friend. Otherwise almost impossible to get anywhere.
Busy, big and lots
Beijing is the capital of China, almost 22 million people live in this capital and is the second largest city in China after Shanghai. You definitely experience that lot of people live there, due to the traffic jams, crowds on the street and how huge this city is. But because the city is set up very spacious, the city doesn’t feel that busy. The city is set up in several rings. The first ring is the historical part around the “Forbidden City” and “Tian’anmen Square”. Then the second and third rings are built and so forth. My girlfriend lived in ring seven and the city is still growing. Groups with high flats are built with green parks surrounded. These huge flats with shopping malls, parks and amenities are separate cities of their own. The highways between these rings are busy during rush hour and also cause the smog problem. Although you already see a lot of electric cars driving and the scooters are already mandatory electric nowadays. Car number plates are difficult to issue and are becoming a scarce commodity in this city, in order to reduce traffic. An alternative is, of course, the metro. Everything in Beijing is big and takes a long time, so keep that in mind when traveling, take one or at most two highlights per day.
Food
Of course we know the Chinese cuisine; Foe Yong Hai and Babi Tangan. But I didn’t see those dishes there! I didn’t recognize anything on the menu but of course I wanted to try the Peking Duck and that was really tasty. It looks a bit sad, those hanging roasted ducks in the window of the restaurant. Furthermore, it is highly recommended to do a Hutong Food Tour (see blog on tours). I also ate some really good western dishes in Beijing, from Turkish to a star restaurant (Il Restorante by Niko Romito) in the Bulgari Hotel. So there’s something for everyone taste here in this metropolis.
Try the small yogurt, they sell them in the streets and are really good and fresh. The one in the Summer Palace has a nice picture on it, which makes it a great souvenir!
Curious on more Beijing blogs check here!
