Jaunted

What Not To Do In / Travel Tips / Tourism / China Travel / The Forbidden City / Beijing Travel / → All Tags

What Not to Do in The Forbidden City: The Top Five Tourist Mistakes

One of the top tourist sites to visit in Beijing is the Forbidden City, the former Imperial Palace.

We told you the other month how powerful it was arriving at Tiananmen Square—which sits across from the Forbidden City—but today we're telling you what NOT TO DO when you actually step inside the imperial walls. As always, these are just our tips so by all means, please add your own!

So without further ado, here is the Jaunted guide of What Not To Do In The Forbidden City: The Top 5 Tourist Mistakes.

5. Don't Pay for Your Tickets with a Credit Card
Both locals and tourists mostly pay cash in the city, and the admission booths only had one window that accepted credit cards. Since we don't read or speak Mandarin or any other Asian language, there was a bit of back and forth with the cashiers about which one had the credit card machine. Save yourself the trouble and bring 40 RMB ($6.35) with you, per person.

more ›

Travel Snapshot / Wish You Were Here / China Travel / Beijing Travel / The Forbidden City / → All Tags

Wish You Were Here: The Forbidden City

One of the most surreal moments we've had yet while traveling has to be our arrival the other day at The Forbidden City in Beijing.

Once the home for emperors from the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Imperial Palace today is now pretty much an outdoor museum for tourists (mostly Chinese) to walk through since many of the actual halls and rooms of the palace are off limits. You can peek into these various halls and take photos; however, be prepared for a mob of people attempting to do the very same thing.

But what actually moved us most about arriving at the Forbidden City was standing in Tiananmen Square, where we snapped this photo. We were young when the 1989 protests and subsequent killings happened but we do remember hearing about the uprising and even watching some of the news clips. We just never imagined in a million years we would actually go there one day. But that's the beauty of travel isn't it?

[Photo: Jaunted]

Airport News / China Travel / PEK / Beijing Travel / Travel Bans / → All Tags

Beijing Airport Will Ship Your Banned Items Straight Home, Thank You Very Much

Does anyone even remember a time when passenger were allowed to bring such threatening items as scissors and full water bottles through airport security? We've had perfectly good bottles of bug spray and shaving cream thrown out for being .5 oz over the 3oz rule, and once witnessed a foreign traveler having his giant jug of very expensive pure maple syrup confiscated at Vermont's Burlington Airport. It's no fun, for sure, and a couple airports have stepped up to at least offer an alternative to the trash can: shipping your banned items home.

Singapore's Changi International pioneered the service, whereby travelers holding more than the allowances or with forgotten box cutters in their bags can now just ship it right from the airport to their home.

Following Changi's lead is Beijing International Airport, where Shanghaiist reports Beijing Capital International Airport Terminal 2 is charging 20 RMB for items weighing less than 3kg shipped to Beijing addresses, and 100 RMB ($15.50) to be shipped anywhere else. Not too shabby at all! Everyone is getting Chinese ginseng and swords at Christmas this year!

[Photo: nemo's great uncle]

Fashion Travel / Museum Travel / Beijing Travel / Events / Louis Vuitton / → All Tags

New York May Get McQueen This Summer, But Beijing Has a Louis Vuitton Exhibition

Tis the season for fresh museum exhibitions, and this year seems to be all about the blockbuster fashion brands. Alexander McQueen is the talk of the western hemisphere, with the giant Metropolitan Museum of Art show in New York, and it seems Louis Vuitton is set to he be the talk of the eastern hemisphere, when the Voyages exhibition opens at Beijing's National Museum of China on May 29.

The Louis Vuitton: Voyages exhibition will last from May 29-August 30 this year, tracing the highs of the Vuitton Maison since its establishment in 1854. As the name of the show suggest, the focus will be on the traveling heritage of the house, from the handmade trunks of the past to the modern globetrotting figures who continue to stand by the brand.

more ›

Chocolate Travel / Food Travel / China Travel / Beijing Travel / Amusement Park Travel / → All Tags

A Chocolate Theme Park Will Hatch In Beijing's Bird's Nest Stadium Next Year

Important statistical news just in: the number of chocoholics found in China is rising. This could be bad news if we think of having to share the world's supply of chocolate with an increasing number of people, but the flipside is positive stuff—China's going to open a "world chocolate dream park" in Beijing next year.

The theme park will be housed in the Olympic Green (where the famous Olympics "Bird's Nest" stadium is) and will include five indoor pavilions and two outdoor sites full of chocolate-themed exhibits. They say this will include life-size, edible chocolate versions of the Great Wall of China and the Terracotta Army.

more ›

Beijing Field Trip / Olympic Park / Olympics Travel / 2008 Olympics Venues / → All Tags

The Party's Over at Olympic Park

With the 60th anniversary of China becoming a communist republic approaching October 1, Claire Duffett took a jaunt around the country for the month of September, starting with Beijing. Nowhere does old and new China collide than in its Capital, and for the next five days, we'll share with you the most up-to-date tidbits on what to see and do, and how many yuan it will set you back.

The Olympic Park, with the unmistakable design of its main stadium, the Bird’s Nest, is perhaps the best example of Beijing’s frenetic but seemingly misguided development. With a sparklingly-new subway connecting it to the rest of the city, the area is a quiet amusement park where nothing really happens.

Walking around the grounds gave us the feeling that we were wandering through a cluttered living room after the last guest has departed from a really awesome party. The leftover confetti is just a tad depressing. There’s a ferris wheel and some snack vendors, but otherwise, activities in the area involve marveling at the strands of steel on the nest or the fake blue bubbles of the watersports complex. Even the tower, used only to display the rings and elevate people to the top for a veiw of Beijing, is now cordoned off.

more ›

Beijing Field Trip / Forbidden City / Tourist Traps / → All Tags

Seizing the Forbidden City

With the 60th anniversary of China becoming a communist republic approaching October 1, Claire Duffett took a jaunt around the country for the month of September, starting with Beijing. Nowhere does old and new China collide than in its Capital, and for the next five days, we'll share with you the most up-to-date tidbits on what to see and do, and how many yuan it will set you back.

The Forbidden City shows that Chinese penchant for the grandiose began centuries ago. From 1420 to 1624, 24 successive emperors surrounded themselves with concubines and eunuchs, thus populating the grounds of what is really a city in and unto itself with 980 buildings still standing.

On first inspection, it becomes evident how the Ming Dynasty got wrapped up in its self-made cocoon and lost track of what was going on outside those 26-foot-high, red walls, allowing enemy forces to eventually seize power in the 17th century.

more ›

Beijing Field Trip / Tiananmen Square / Communist Travel / Mao Tse Tung / → All Tags

Mao Groupies Flock to Tiananmen Square

With the 60th anniversary of China becoming a communist republic approaching October 1, Claire Duffett took a jaunt around the country for the month of September, starting with Beijing. Nowhere does old and new China collide than in its Capital, and for the next five days, we'll share with you the most up-to-date tidbits on what to see and do, and how many yuan it will set you back.

Tiananmen Square. For most in the West, it evokes images of a peace-loving student offering a daisy to oncoming tanks. For Chinese, at least outwardly, it’s a combo of Trafalgar Square and the Lincoln Memorial.

Every morning, thousands of pilgrims line up, white carnations in hand, to see the body of Chairman Mao Tse Tung, which lies in preservation in a mausoleum in the center of the cement-tile square, the largest of its kind in the world. The atmosphere is austere though a bit frantic, with armed police monitoring the seemingly-endless line and kicking out cutters.

more ›

Beijing Field Trip / Smog / Forbidden Palaces / The Great Wall / Basketball Travel / → All Tags

Visiting The Land of Brown Smoke and Basketball Lovers

With the 60th anniversary of China becoming a communist republic approaching October 1, Claire Duffett took a jaunt around the country for the month of September, starting with Beijing. Nowhere does old and new China collide than in its Capital, and for the next five days, we'll share with you the most up-to-date tidbits on what to see and do, and how many yuan it will set you back.

Post-Olympics Beijing vaguely resembles its former self. Subways are modern, pristine marvels, with train floors cleaner than our own kitchen’s. The cheapness of transportation emphasized its superiority over American and European cities, with subway rides costing about 30 cents in US money and taxi rides up to two kilometers costing less than a dollar.

more ›

Amazing-Race-14 / Amazing Race 14 / Chasing Racers / Television Travel / TV Travel / → All Tags

He Made Me Look Like Alice Cooper

Chasing Racers is back, with a brand new Amazing Race 14 mashup. This map will update the morning after every new episode. Send along tips, rumors, gossip, locations and spoilers to our map editors, become a member and comment on the stories below and add to the Jaunted- Flickr photo pool to get in on the fray.

Remember to zoom in, out and around on the map--with so much happening in each episode, it's easy to miss a map point.

With some of the best racing in recent memory, these last few episodes have us amped up for the finish line. Last week, teams ran headlong into a continuation. Jaime and Cara made it first to the checkpoint and were told to keep racing. Margie and Luke were second with Tammy and Victor in third. Kisha and Jen brought up the rear, and instead of being eliminated, were told to keep racing. This week, there's another U- Turn in play, with a spot in the final three at stake. All four remaining teams are strong, competitive and want to win. Who can tough it out long enough to secure a coveted spot racing in the finale?

LET'S FIND OUT!

more ›

Amazing-Race-14 / Amazing Race 14 / Chasing Racers / Television Travel / TV Travel / → All Tags

Having a Baby's Gotta Be Easier Than This

Chasing Racers is back, with a brand new Amazing Race 14 mashup. This map will update the morning after every new episode. Send along tips, rumors, gossip, locations and spoilers to our map editors, become a member and comment on the stories below and add to the Jaunted- Flickr photo pool to get in on the fray.

Remember to zoom in, out and around on the map--with so much happening in each episode, it's easy to miss a map point.

We are down to only four teams as we edge nearer to the big finish. After last week's conflict between Luke and Jen, will both teams be able to focus and get beyond it, or with their distrust fuel more ill will? Tammy and Victor have a language advantage, but will their verbal skills be able to help them stay ahead when it comes down to some very physical challenges? It's getting down to the wire and the stakes are getting higher and higher. Which team has what it takes to make it all the way to the finish line to win one million dollars?

LET'S FIND OUT!

more ›

Travel Deals / China Travel / Beijing / Beijing Travel / → All Tags

Beijing's Tourism Woes Get the Deals Rolling

Have our Hong Kong tales been driving you to hunger for dim sum and pork floss pastries while your (lack of) hefty paycheck has been keeping you down? Well, we may have found a happy medium in a "China Spree" deal if you're ok with visiting Beijing and devouring peking duck.

If you can fly out of San Francisco next winter on selected dates and book the trip by March 31, then a week in Beijing inclusive of hotel, breakfast, airfare and transfers is only $588. We're sure we don't have to stress how awesome this price is, but really, why so cheap? With a combination of advance booking, winter travel (Beijing gets cold like Chicago), and general stress over tourism levels in the city post-Olympics, deals with low prices like this should be popping up here and there throughout the year.

Adding to the discount is that this is a package without the structure and added expense of a tour group. Daytrips to the Great Wall or visits to temples and palaces can be arranged as you like and as your budget allows. We'd be tempted to take it if we hadn't just stepped off of a 15-hour flight from China.

All the details on the package can be found here. Be sure to let us know if you do jump on the deal or find any other budget Asia excursions we've been missing.

Related Stories
· Beijing Free-Style Travel Deal [China Spree]
· Hong Kong Field Trip [Jaunted]
· China Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: xiaming]