At first, I really don’t know how I will start this entry about Beijing without doing the usual day 1, day 2 blah blah storyline. I mean, I wanted to congest everything in just one post but maybe that won’t be possible? Let’s see. There are just way too many to tell. I’m sure its gonna be a long post. So bear with me.
This trip was unexpected to push through. Just mid-May of 2011, I was dreaming of seeing a real world wonder, as the Banaue Rice Terraces really struck me. Fortunately, my college BFF, Pam, was given a fellowship grant by her employer to Beijing and Hong Kong. She will have to stay in Beijing for 2 weeks, and that meant FREE Hotel accommodation for us! yay!
We finally booked our flights and applied for Chinese Visas. This was my first time to ever apply for any visa. I just couldn’t handle the hassle of appearing at the Chinese Embassy to personally attend to my visa application, so I just paid a travel agency to do it for me. Good thing, the agency was very reliable and fast in processing it.
The night before my departure, I was really restless as I might travel alone. Pam left a week before me and those who will travel with me don’t have their visas yet. I was really hysterical and paranoid while chatting with Pam asking her what to do when I arrive at the airport. The scariest part of the whole thing is that, Beijing people hardly or worse don’t speak English at all.
On the flight date from Manila, I was still hopeful that my BFF and officemate will secure their visas and we could all happily travel together. Unfortunately, one of them didn’t make it due to incomplete documents. I took a half day leave from work and picked up my Chinese Yuans from the money changer at Tower 1. It is always wise to bring the local currency of the country you’re going to. But if there is no available stock in the money changer, better to bring USD instead.
Beijing International Airport Terminal 2
Our plane left Manila at 7:35pm of September 15 and we arrived at Beijing International Airport at 12:05am of September 16. We followed the stream of people as we head out of the as large as a city airport. We immediately looked for a cab that will take us to the Grand Mercure Hotel to start our Beijing adventure.
BJIA Taxi Bay
***
THE HOTEL
It was raining hard when we reached Beijing. I was afraid that we might not enjoy our stay if the weather will be like that for the next 3 days. The airport is a bit far from Xidan, it took us about 45 minutes to arrive in the hotel. It was also a struggle communicating with the driver as they can only read Chinese characters. At the very least we have printed a map going to the hotel with its name translated in Chinese. I’m not really sure what kind of Chinese language they use in Beijing. All I know is that, we only used hand gestures and maybe intuition most of the time.
The Grand Mercure Xidan Hotel is located in the heart of Beijing, adjacent to Tian’anmen Square and Forbidden City, 10 min on foot walk to Subway lines 1&2. It was my first time to stay in a hotel for a travel abroad. The hotel’s location was perfect! It was near important landmarks like malls, parks, business offices to name a few. We were also lucky because Pam got a room upgrade. We all stayed in an executive room. J (Beijingtoursguide.com)
Kung Fu demo at the lobby
lounge at the lobby, where there is free wifi
our room is always messy when we leave. but its always clean when we get back. =p
So I guess, I’m gonna have to do this post in sections. I’m not really a fan of lengthy reads so I’m not gonna do it myself. =p
