Travel Notes | Four days and three nights of "sheltering from the rain" in Beijing. Is this a "food desert"?

Sisters, last week I complained on Weibo that it rained every day in Shanghai, and below there were netizens from Beijing who seduced me and said: Come to Beijing, the autumn weather in Beijing is refreshing!

That’s what I thought!

There are several other reasons why I also want to come to Beijing:

First, I want to see the 600-Year Su Dongpo Exhibition in Beijing.

The second is a young girl from our company who is a Shanghai drifter. It has been two years since she resigned and came to Beijing. I have not come to see her yet. She had been with me for five years before and we had a deep relationship with her.

The most important thing is that the autumn weather in Beijing is really refreshing recently!

I've completed the first two.

But the third one is. . . .

On the second day after I came to Beijing, "Beijing Heavy Rain" became a hot search topic.

Some Beijing netizens came to thank me and said that Beijing is too dry these days.

I was also speechless and choked.

Holding the hotel’s umbrella, my husband and I took a walk in the Forbidden City in the rain.

It's quite romantic to say it's romantic.

Putting this aside, I was very happy with everything else about the trip. Let me give you a running account.

Day 1

The first day was basically on the high-speed rail.

Departing from Hongqiao High-speed Railway Station at 10:40 in the morning, my train arrived in Beijing at 16:43 in the afternoon.

Now I can go anywhere by high-speed rail without flying.

High-speed rail is more comfortable than flying.

And on time.

There are too many uncertain factors in the aircraft.

But there is one problem with high-speed rail. There are too many people on the high-speed rail who love to talk on the phone.

I don’t know what’s going on, but every time I take the high-speed train, I encounter the phone guy.

Normally we would understand if you answer the phone. Won't complain about anything.

The phone guy I'm talking about is the one who can make calls from the moment he gets in the car until he gets off.

I met this big brother this time at two stations after us. I didn’t pay attention to the specific station.

Anyway, after coming up, all kinds of business talks were booming, and the amount involved was as high as more than one billion.

I was wearing noise-canceling headphones and could hear him talking on the phone during pauses between songs.

Later, my husband said that when he wasn’t talking on the phone, he would watch TikTok in public. Watch for a while before continuing to call.

The phone calls were not made to him by others, but by him.

Also video chatting with others.

When I got out of the car, my ears were squished by the noise-canceling headphones.

We just put up with this big brother all the way.

It’s really all about egg shrinkage!

After getting off the train, the hotel pick-up man was waiting for us at the door. When I go to a new city, I usually like to be picked up from the hotel, as I have said before. Once when I was in Sanya, I was very angry because the hotel assigned the pick-up station to a car rental company. I don’t know how to call the car rental company myself. Don’t I have a mobile phone?

I particularly liked the Mandarin Oriental where I stayed in Beijing this time. I felt great from the moment I was picked up at the station.

It took about half an hour to arrive at the hotel.

The hotel is in the same building as Wangfu Central in Wangfujing.

 

 

Before our car arrived, the driver called the front desk to tell us that the guests would arrive in ten minutes.

Then the front desk was waiting for us at the door.

The entire check-in process was done very well.

I also met a young man from Shanghai at the front desk, who was the front desk manager. We fellow fellows didn't shed any tears when we met the fellow fellow, but we also took the business card and said that we can contact him when booking a hotel in the future.

After arriving in the room, my husband and I were quite satisfied.

 

Since it was time for dinner, we decided to go foraging. Since the hotel is connected to a shopping mall, we went to the mall for a walk.

 

There were a lot of things to eat in the mall, but we finally chose roast duck.

After all, roast duck is a Beijing specialty. I always eat roast duck as my first meal every time I come to Beijing.

 

 

Maybe Beijing locals have higher requirements for roast duck, but for us, we think it’s delicious!

After eating, we went to the hotel bar MO Bar for a drink:

Then I went back to my room to sleep.

Below is the Vlog of the first day👇

 

Day 2

The next day I was woken up by the sound of rain.

Then I lay in bed for a while sadly.

But I still thought about it, after all, I must go to the Forbidden City.

We had lunch at Wang Fu Central. Yesterday I spotted a very nice Thai restaurant and planned to give it a try.

 

The taste is okay, average, the pork neck and tom yum gong are particularly delicious.

 

Then we took a car and went to the Forbidden City.

In fact, we can walk from our hotel to the Forbidden City. But since it was raining, we thought we might as well call a taxi. As a result, the driver said he could only drop us off at Donghua Gate, because the Meridian Gate where we went to pick up and buy tickets was not allowed to drive in.

After coming down from Donghua Gate, I saw many tourists walking in.

We followed the large army to the Meridian Gate.

Speaking of tickets to the Forbidden City this time, there is another thing I want to talk about in detail:

Everyone knows that tickets for the 600th Anniversary Exhibition of the Forbidden City are difficult to buy. When I reviewed the tickets last week, the general admission tickets were sold out. I only saw one that was sold with a set of explanations, one set was 149 yuan, and two sets were 298 yuan.

I thought I needed some explanation, so I bought this.

As a result, the ticket was passed smoothly, but when I arrived at the Forbidden City explanation office, the elder sister at the explanation office said that I had to contact Dianping.com for this, and it was not their responsibility.

After I contacted a mobile phone number listed in the review, I was told that someone was waiting for me by a gate inside.

I went in and searched for a long time, but couldn't find anyone waiting for me.

I felt that I definitely couldn’t do any joint work because my ability to find people was really poor.

Then my husband said forget it and we treated it as a scalper ticket.

Otherwise, you won’t be able to buy tickets.

I can’t tell whether it’s because I didn’t find a guide or if there is no guide at all.

Anyway, if you want to buy tickets on reviews, you can pay attention to this.

In addition, some netizens said that you can go to the official website of the Forbidden City to make a reservation, and you can make a reservation ten days in advance. This way you still have time to visit the Forbidden City during Golden Week.

Because I had been to the Forbidden City many times before, and this time it was for Su Shizhan, so I went directly to Su Zhan.

I feel that this exhibition is still very meaningful. It basically encompasses Su Shi and Su Shi’s surroundings.

After watching it in one go, I basically saw everything there is to see.

There are Su Shi's own authentic works, stereotypes of Su Shi's works from the Ming and Qing dynasties, paintings by painters whose painting styles were influenced by Su Shi, porcelain from the Ming and Qing dynasties that resemble Su Shi, portraits of Su Shi, letters from Su Shi's friends to Su Shi, and Su Shi There are porcelains of your favorite styles and everything that has a little bit to do with Su Shi.

 

<<Swipe left or right to see more>>

If you look carefully, you can watch this exhibition for three or four hours.

Generally an hour is enough.

It depends on how carefully you look.

Then after coming out, there are some beautiful scenery nearby, which is also nice to take pictures.

I also saw a palace cat from the Forbidden City:

By the time we finished looking at the exhibition door, the rain had stopped falling a lot. I also took photos by the river:

Afterwards, we walked back to the hotel. It only takes about fifteen to twenty minutes.

When it comes to dinner options, we want to eat hotpot mutton.

After doing some research online and struggling with many choices, I decided to go to Dong Lai Shun.

On the one hand, it is close to our hotel. On the one hand, the environment is relatively clean. Also, go early so you don’t have to wait for a table.

Many people recommended Niujie to me. I was worried that it would be difficult to take a taxi if it rained at night.

Also, I heard that the queues are too harsh.

However, Dong Laishun is already very delicious in the hearts of us tourists.

 

 

Anyway, this was a fun meal!

After eating, I went back to the hotel, turned on my computer and wrote a little essay, and made an appointment at the Wenhua SPA in the evening.

Mandarin SPA is very well done.

Many people like the Banyan Tree SPA, but for me, I personally prefer the Mandarin SPA.

After all, after walking for a day, the Forbidden City consumed me 8,000 steps, so I came to a SPA to eliminate the fatigue of the day!

The following is the Vlog of Day 2👇

 

Day 3

I made arrangements early on the third day to go to Gubei Water Town.

Everyone knows that I am a small town fan. I was fascinated by the Gubei Water Town in Beijing when I saw it online.

I made an appointment with a driver and tour guide on Ctrip and chartered a car for a day.

The arrangement was to leave in the afternoon, so I made a reservation early at noon at the "Good Wine and Good Food" next door to the hotel.

Haojiu Haocai is a very famous restaurant.

I had some weeds before, and I plan to pull them out this time I come to Beijing.

I originally wanted to make an appointment for dinner, but it has seven private rooms in total, so it is difficult to get a dinner reservation.

So we made an appointment for lunch.

What's more mysterious is that the restaurant doesn't have a menu. The chef gives the side dishes based on the fresh ingredients of the day and asks the guests which ones they don't want to eat.

I basically ate them all, so the chef made us a table of dishes as follows:

Everyone has different opinions about this restaurant in the reviews.

I think some dishes are amazing and some are average.

It's good for a business banquet. After all, the environment is quiet and suitable for talking. It's also relatively tall.

But from a personal appetite-satisfying perspective, some dishes may disappoint.

After dinner, we went straight to Gubei Water Town!

Gubei Water Town is located a 2-hour drive from Beijing. There is a scenic spot called Simatai Great Wall next to it.

This water town was developed by the company that developed Wuzhen, so you can feel some of the atmosphere of Wuzhen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

But the reality is still different. Gubei Water Town has a unique feeling that combines the characteristics of northern and southern towns.

 

 

 

The architecture has northern characteristics. The river course is very Jiangnan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

All in all, it's still a beautiful place.

 

 

 

There are also many inns where you can stay for a day and soak in the hot springs.

General tourists can also come and drink a pot of tea in the afternoon. Drinking tea made me feel like I was in a teahouse in Jiufen, Taipei.

Anyway, I quite like it.

After wandering around the ancient town for more than three hours, we returned to downtown Beijing for dinner.

Dinner was at a Japanese BBQ restaurant.

 

Very authentic Japanese BBQ, and the other side dishes are also very well done.

After eating and drinking another bottle of sake, I went back drunk.

 

The third day in Beijing passed like this.

The following is the Vlog of Beijing Day 3👇

Day 4

Because I have work in Shanghai on the weekend, I went back on Friday.

I had breakfast at the hotel in the morning. Mandarin's breakfast was very rich.

Then return to Shanghai Hongqiao from Beijing South Railway Station.

So when you saw this push, I was driving on the train.

I can’t bear to leave Beijing.

I feel that every time I come to Beijing, I still have more to learn. Beijing seems to have endless potential that can be explored deeply. It is a very interesting city.

I am very satisfied with the Mandarin Oriental I stayed at this time. Everything is very good. I will stay here again next time.

(The rooftops of the Forbidden City can be seen from the hotel’s restaurant and bar)

 

I am also quite satisfied with the restaurants I ate at during my visit to Beijing this time.

Of course it might be the smell of rice cooked in a pot.

But I think Beijing is definitely not the “food desert” that everyone jokingly calls it.

Although these foods are also available in Shanghai, the process of coming to a strange city and eating at restaurants that I have never been to before is interesting enough in itself.

Finally, the little hippo brought you a gift!

Tell us in the comments which city you think is the most delicious. The little hippo will draw three people and give away the balm from the Forbidden City. I hope you all like it!