More Beijing highlights!

Last week a fellow traveler named Allison came to visit and stay with me in Beijing.  She pretty much followed my recommendations and added a few that I forgot.  The GREAT WALL!  Duh!.  I totally forgot about that one!  So here are a few other places to check out while you are in Beijing.

10.  Hike the Great Wall.  Don't just go see it!  Hike it!  There are a few spots that you can take the cable car up to the top and down.  I did that the first time I visited the wall.  The areas where you have to pay to visit are "developed walls," which are cleaned up and repaired for your safety.  This includes Badaling, Simatai, and Mutianyu.  For the more adventurous types that are used to hiking on crumbly rocks, try the "wild walls," such as Jiankou.  It is also possible to hike from Mutianyu to Jiankou.    Here is a pretty good tour site listing a few of the good ones. 

11.  Eat at the Farm.  Once you are done hiking the Great Wall, most rural households offer Farm Living and Food.  Most of them do not need reservations, especially for food.  I found the food here simple, fresh, and less seasoned.  They typically grow their own vegetables and so you know you are eating fresh produce.  Some of the most common dishes include potatoes, squash vegetables, eggplants, tofu, tomatoes, and eggs.  Chicken, pork, and fish dishes are generally local as well.  For Beijing, it's mostly fresh water fish rather than seawater fish - so they tend to be bony.

 12.  Fatten yourself up with the Peking Duck.  How could I have forgotten about this one?  One must try the duck at least once when visiting Beijing.  The most popular traditional one is Quanjude (go to the one in Haidian District), which is a lot of fun and involves the cook bringing in a live duck to ask you if that duck is okay.  For a more modern setting and a leaner duck, try Dadong (Chaoyang District).  Don't forget to eat the crispy duck skin - that is the BEST part!

Yum yum duck

13.  Go climb at Baihe.  If you are a climber and have time to go climbing outside, the best way to do it is probably to hire a guide to take you there.  It's near some of the great walls, so you can go to the great wall one day, stay at one of the farm houses, then go climbing the next day at Baihe.  During the winter time, it is also possible to go ice climbing around Baihe.  Matt and Simon are English-speaking guides that can take you around.  They have both been to Yangshuo and other parts of China on climbing trips so you can ask them about those climbing areas.