Shopping & Getting Around in Beijing

Beijing is a nice and systemetic city albeit polluted. When we first get there, we wondered where were all the people. Considering the population is 17 millions, we  noticed not many people on the streets. But later we could see people at peak hours & at subway stations. Beijing was in early spring when we arrived. Memula ingatkan dapat le tgk bermacam2 jenis bunga...rupa2nya pokok2 still togel..:-(. The temp range from 4C to 18C. Tapi tghari buta pun still 8C. So, tak tau le bilanye yang 18C tu.

Waiting for a cab to Hong Qiao Market

 Getting around in Beijing is quite easy. You can choose either taxi, bus or subway. Tapi kalau nak naik taxi, make sure someone ( We asked a receptionist at our hotel ) wrote your destination in Mandarin. Nanti nak ke tempat lain dihantarnya ke tempat lain! We never used buses there as it's difficult since our mandarin is zero except for a few basic phrases. Since our hotel is near the subway station, we did use subways a few times. Naik subway senang if you know where to stop and the announcements are made in Mandarin & English. Lagipun kat dalam coach pun ada route with each stations printed. Kat dalam leaflets for tourists pun ada map untuk subways from Line 1 to Line 13.Memula tgk map tu mmg rasa blur, tapi bila dah naik subway to baru boleh faham. Taxi drivers in Beijing are generally honest except for 1..Kitaorang terkena on our last day there. Tempat tu patutnya took only 5 mins, tapi dia pusing sampai 30mins tak sampai2 lagi. We had to force him to stop & took a subway to our hotel! Dah le nak kena cepat ke airport. Mmg geram betul! Nasib le we made it in plenty of time to check- in.

Malaysian Embassy - With Abang & K.Liza. Ronda embassy malam2 buta..

Abang's Office

 Shopping in Beijing really needs supreme bargaining skills..:D. Asking price is normally over 5x what you can bargain for. Kalau beli T-shirt, normally diorang letak harga over RMB200. So kena start bargain from RMB20. Up sampai kita rasa2 value t-shirt tu. Normally boleh dapat around RMB40 - RMB60 depending on the quality of the t-shirt. Kalau dia tak bagi gak, cepat2 blah. Dia akan panggil balik punya..Tapi kalau dia tak panggil balik, go to the next stall, & up sikit price yang kita offer tadi. By the way RM1 = RMB2( Renminbi =Yuan= Kuai).

Hong Qiao Pearl Market

Toy World

 Tempat yang syok untuk shopping are Hong Qiao Pearl market, Sanlitun Yashow Market, and Silk Street. Semua barang lbh kurang je. Tapi if u want electronics, Hong Qiao has better selection. PenDrive yang 400-600GB hanya boleh dapat kat Hong Qiao je..The price is really cheap around RM30 je. Leather jacket baik beli kat Yashow. The best time to shop is morning coz masa ni traders are still fresh & eager to do sale. Normally boleh tekan harga betul2. Kalau dah petang2 diorang dah buat muka boring..Other place is Xidan. tapi kitaorang tak sempat pegi pun. Kalau nak beli toys for your kids, go to Toy World just behind Hong Qiao Pearl market. U'd be spoilt for choice. Wangfujing is another shopping area. Tapi macam other shopping malls at any big cities. Kitaorang tak beli apa2 pun kat sini. Just jalan2.

Wangfujing

Silk Street

 Halal Food in Beijing is difficult to find. Kalau halal pun, they'd definitely serve alcohol. Kalau tak, chinese tak masuk kedai tu. Ada 1 restaurant yag kitaorang masuk siap serve pork lagi..tapi tulis kat luar Halal. Baru nak order tgk2 waiter tgh served pork kat meja sebelah. Bila tgk menu mmg ada pork, terus kitaorang blah. So, pagi2 before keluar, ada le sorang chef tu ( my BIL le..), siap rajin masakkan porridge at 6am. Lepas subuh le tu..dah terang benderang pun..:-) . That's our breakfast aside from sandwiches.

Dinner at Turkish Mum - Hubby had rice & eggplant beef stew. I had basmathi rice & lamb kebab

  All in all, I really enjoyed my trip to Beijing. Kalau le ada orang nak buka halal restaurants, mmg le tersangatlah bagusnya coz kat sini mmg susah sesangat muslims nak makan kat luar. My advice, kalau nak ke Beijing, bring with u plenty of instant noodles & serunding or whatever. Kalau yang suka pedas tu, bawak le sambal belacan sekali ye..hehe..( coz I know my chinese friend brought along with her sambal belacan to Korea since dia ni mmg hantu sambal belacan! )

Good Bye Beijing