BEIJING CHINA: Suggested 5-day Itinerary

Looking back on our Beijing trip, here are a couple of tweaks to the itinerary I'd like to suggest:

If one is not inclined to watch the flag raising and lowering (but I still say one should watch this fascinating act of nationalism), Day 2 should already include the National Grand Theater and can be inserted between Tian’anmen and the KungFu show.

On Day 4, since the National Grand Theater will be transferred to Day 2, one can roam around other parts of the zoo and aquarium where the Panda House is or spend more time at the Summer Palace (I fell in love with the place, it’s so pretty!)

So the itinerary will now look like this -

Day 1: Saturday

11am-12:30pm Cebu to Manila

12:30-5:30pm Free time in Manila

5:30pm Check in at airport

7:30am-12:05am Manila to Beijing

Day 2: Sunday

12:05am Arrival at Beijing Airport, Immigration

1:30am Check-in at City Walls Courtyard House

8:30am-10:00am Jingshan Park

10:00am-12:00nn Temple of Heaven

12:00nn-2:30pm Peking duck at Quanjude and bank for FOREX

2:30pm-4:30pm Forbidden City

4:30pm-5:30pm Tian’anmen Square
(suggested change) 5:30-6:30pm NATIONAL GRAND THEATER 

7:30pm-8:30pm KungFu show at the Red Theater

9:00pm Back at City Walls Courtyard House

Day 3: Monday

7:30am-8:15am Travel time to Ming Tombs

8:15am-9:30am Ming Tombs

9:30am-10:30am Jade Factory

10:30am-11:30am Lunch at local restaurant

12:30pm-1:45pm Travel time

1:45pm-3:30pm Mutianyu Great Wall

3:30pm-5:00pm Travel time back to city

5:15pm-6:30pm Acrobatic show at Chaoyang (specify Chaoyang coz there are 3 acrobatic shows in Beijing)

6:30pm-7:30pm Dinner at local restaurant

7:30pm-9:00pm Chinese massage

9:30pm Back at City Walls Courtyard House

Day 4: Tuesday

8am Check-out from City Walls Courtyard House

9:00am-10:00am Cloisonne Factory in Beijing

10:00am-11:30am Panda House

11:30am-12:30nn Lunch at local restaurant

1:00pm-5:00pm Summer Palace

5:00pm-7:30pm Travel time and dinner at local restaurant

7:30pm-9:00pm Olympic Green: The Water Cube and Bird’s Nest

9:00pm-10:00pm Travel time to airport

11:00pm Check in at airport

Day 5: Wednesday

1:00am-530am Beijing to Manila

9:30am-10:30am Manila to Cebu

10:30am Cebu: Home sweet home

If given the chance to go back to Beijing, I would go back to the Great Wall, still at Mutianyu, and slide my way down the mountains (we couldn’t do this during our trip because it was raining and the slider was suspended); and go back to Summer Palace, beautiful!  And of course, explore other places too!

Taken from right side of the plane of the Beijing-Manila flight

How much did our trip cost?  Find out here.


What are some tour options and prices?  Find out here.


Fall in love with Beijing!

BEIJING CHINA

In this blog are our actual tour itinerary (including time spent per place and suggested changes to the itinerary), costs of the Beijing trip, tour options and prices. 

Picture-perfect Sunrise on Sept. 22, 2010

ITINERARY:

Our itinerary is from Cebu Phils to Manila Phils to Beijing China to Manila Phils to Cebu Phils.  It was a full but relaxed itinerary, with lots of time to take photos!  See suggested changes to itinerary at the bottom.

Day 1: Saturday

11am-12:30pm Cebu to Manila

12:30-5:30pm Free time in Manila

5:30pm Check in at airport

7:30am-12:05am Manila to Beijing

Day 2: Sunday

12:05am Arrival at Beijing Airport, Immigration

1:30am Check-in at City Walls Courtyard House

8:30am-10:00am Jingshan Park

10:00am-12:00nn Temple of Heaven

12:00nn-2:30pm Peking duck at Quanjude and bank for FOREX

2:30pm-5:30pm Forbidden City

5:30pm-6:30pm Tian’anmen Square (we waited for the flag lowering)

7:30pm-8:30pm KungFu show at the Red Theater

9:00pm Back at City Walls Courtyard House

Day 3: Monday

7:30am-8:15am Travel time to Ming Tombs

8:15am-9:30am Ming Tombs

9:30am-10:30am Jade Factory

10:30am-11:30am Lunch at local restaurant

12:30pm-1:45pm Travel time

1:45pm-3:30pm Mutianyu Great Wall

3:30pm-5:00pm Travel time back to city

5:15pm-6:30pm Acrobatic show at Chaoyang (specify Chaoyang coz there are 3 acrobatic shows in Beijing)

6:30pm-7:30pm Dinner at local restaurant

7:30pm-9:00pm Chinese massage

9:30pm Back at City Walls Courtyard House

Day 4: Tuesday

8am Check-out from City Walls Courtyard House

9:00am-10:00am National Grand Theater “The Egg”

10:00am-11:00am Cloisonne Factory in Beijing

11:30am-12:30nn Panda House

12:30nn-1:30pm Lunch at local restaurant

2:00pm-5:00pm Summer Palace

5:00pm-7:30pm Travel time and dinner at local restaurant

7:30pm-9:00pm Olympic Green: The Water Cube and Bird’s Nest

9:00pm-10:00pm Travel time to airport

11:00pm Check in at airport

Day 5: Wednesday

1:00am-530am Beijing to Manila

9:30am-10:30am Manila to Cebu

10:30am Cebu: Home sweet home

Looking back, there are a couple of tweaks I'd suggest to the 5-day itinerary.

How much did our trip cost?  Find out here.

What are some tour options and prices?  Find out here.

Enjoy your future Beijing trip!!! 

Beijing China: TIAN'ANMEN SQUARE

Day 1 in Beijing: TIAN'ANMEN SQUARE
(Destination 5 of 6)

is the largest city square in the world. 
 

This is where significant (and at times, infamous) events in Chinese history unfold, including that of the proclamation of the People's Republic of China by Mao Zedong on October 1, 1949. 


The square is right outside the Tian'anmen Gate of the Forbidden City.

(Photo: Left shows tourists still inside Forbidden City leaving through the Tian'anmen Gate.  Right shows outside the Gate, where the square begins; from Tian'anmen Sq, that is the entrance to Forbidden City.  The gate has the picture of Mao Zedong and an honor guard stands before it.)

We witnessed the flag lowering at the Square at sundown of Sept. 19; it was past 6pm.  The daily flag raising and flag lowering is an event to see in Beijing. Many tourists and Chinese nationals come to see this.  

This nationalistic scene is quite unusual for a Pinoy; except for those working in government offices (who attend flag raising and lowering activities once a week), an ordinary Pinoy does not have an opportunity to witness the flag being raised and lowered daily. The Chinese do this daily, complete with snappy and very young (as young as 18years old) soldiers as honor guards.  The honor guards, in a formation, march from the Forbidden City, cross the street, and enter the Tian'anmen Square towards the flagpole.  The folding of the flag is even more interesting, kind of like watching Jet Li with his kung-fu moves in the movie Forbidden Kingdom.  

I was just a bit uncomfortable especially during the long waiting time for sundown (because the flag has to be lowered at sundown!), because my thoughts turned to the massacre of protesters that happened in the Square in 1989.

At the other side of the square, from the Forbidden City gate, is the Monument of People's Heroes and the Mausoleum of Chairman Mao Zedong.

Night view of Tian'anmen Square showing the Tian'anmen gate and the Monument for People's Heroes; railway station

Our final stop for the day was the Kung Fu Show.