From a time to this part Beijing It has become one of the great destinations in Asia for sightseeing. It won't have the magnetism of Hong Kong or the elegance of Shanghai, but the Chinese capital has its charms.
Sometimes you do not want to fall into doing the most touristy, which everyone does. You want to try to have different memories so you start looking for activities and destinations outside of the offers of more traditional agencies and websites. Thinking about this here we have our proposal of 5 weird activities to do in Beijing. Enjoy!
Walk through a section of the abandoned Great Wall
In general, tourists are concentrated in parts of the Great Wall that are close to the city and have been restored. They are not bad at all, they are beautiful, they know how to receive tourists and you can even get there by subway, but if you want to experience that of being on something very old there is nothing like seeing the wall a little broken, run down, abandoned. For that you have to escape to the sections of Simatai-Jinshanling or Xiangshui Lake.
You can sign up for some horseback riding or hiking through the wall and even stay at the city's first eco-resort, the Red Capital Ranch, made up of a group of restored villas. Another interesting site is the Commune by the Great Wall with exclusive access to certain sections of the wall directly from the accommodation. A luxury.
Bike rides
Renting a bike is one of the best things one can do when sightseeing. The independence it gives you, the slowness and at the same time speed to move, everything is great in riding a bike.
One of the most beautiful places in the Chinese capital is the Houhai Lake, in the center of Beijing. It is a huge lake and the nearby hutong with the same name has become a very cool redoubt of Beijing. There are ccafeterias, bars, restaurants and residences and in tourist terms it is the sea of popular. Well, in the area around the lake you can rent tandem bikes.
The rent is per day and per hour and there are double and triple bikes. Some bikes are old and quaint, others are more modern. With a nice sunny day the excursion is great. Don't stop doing it.
Eat and drink contemplating Beijing
It is always a good idea to find a terrace to take a break, eat and drink something and contemplate the city that is the object of our visit. In Beijing a good place for that is the terrace of the Hotel Emperador. It is located in Dongcheng district, near the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, Beihai Park or Jingshan Park. It was built in 2008 and it is a five star hotel.
It has two restaurants and a rooftop bar called Yin that is worth knowing. The hotel is near the east door and you reach the bar after passing several terraces. The panoramic view It's great and being there for a long time, looking at Beijing in the slowly setting sunlight is great.
Another great place to rest is the Man Coffee, one of the biggest and weirdest coffee shops in the city and that you will probably visit. The interior has trees. Yes, you read that correctly, indoor trees, cleverly placed in a super modern and warm design at the same time: cement walls and floors, antique armchairs, desk lamps with Victorian and Moroccan airs, crystal chandeliers, Chinese lanterns ...
There are sockets everywhere so you can go with your laptop and do homework on vacation or go to school afterwards. terrace. The coffee is great, run by good baristas, and the service is friendly and very polite. In addition to coffee, waffles and toast are served. A simple waffle costs 28 RMB but with chocolate, cream and fruits it goes up to 38 RMB. Korean burgers cost 45 RMB, more or less.
Open every day from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. and is in Sanlitun.
Karaoke in Beijing
All over Asia karaoke is booming. It will have to do with the fact that in their daily lives Asians in general do not lend themselves to cope with ease and etiquette and traditions reign everywhere. So with a little alcohol on top they go crazy at karaoke. What we do with friends at any bar or at a house party, they do at karaoke.
There are karaokes in hotels and in all the important streets of the city. Many signs say instead of karaoke, KTV. At the entrance you must pay for the time you are going to stay and then they take you to a private room with audio and screen, armchairs and microphones. Obviously you can order drinks and food and end up drunk like a barrel.
Ice skating in Beijing
If you go to China in winter you will be able to enjoy many ice rinks. An old one, full of Chinese and with few tourists, if any, is the Shichahai ski slope. For little money you rent sleds, skates or bikes with ski skates and that's it, you're going to have a lot of fun. And then something sweet so you can buy a huge, super cool cotton candy to photograph.
Where is this ski slope? Shichahai It is one of the stations of line 8 of the Beijing subway. You go out and immediately see the track so it is impossible to get lost.
