A Tourist in Beijing

Everyone knows me…what do you do when you wake up in the morning in a new international city?

Go running of course! I went for a run to Tiananmen Square. By the way, running around the world is always fun. Some of my other favorite spots:

OK – what did we see in the square early in the morning while running???

In the morning, at sunrise every morning, there is a big flag raising ceremony and the national anthem is played.

Very popular. Look how many locals show up every morning!

Many bring chairs or suitcases to stand on.

If you want to get close to the ceremony, you must go through security gates, metal detectors, etc. just like going through security in the airport. You must have an ID card or if a foreigner, you must bring your passport to get in.

Yes, the police are everywhere. But not intimidating to anyone.

The Waldorf is in a great location that is only 1 KM from the Forbidden City and it is a great walk along some of the best high end shops in the city.

It looks like there is only 4 or 5 rooms that have a terrace. We are so lucky and really enjoying our stay here in Beijing. Looking forward to have a high tea and/or glass of wine out on the terrace today!

It is also quite interesting to observe and look around the neighboring homes and apartments. I think we saw someone working on dancing the latest Fortnite moves this morning…but I am not 100% sure.

You have to love when hotels have a great car service available for guests. Anyone recognize the brand/model of this town car?

We also found there is a way to get in the grounds of the Forbidden City without an ID if you take a side entrance through all the tourist trap shops.

Locals will actually sell you fake IDs outside the entrance if you want to get in and forgot your ID/passport. Dicey, but definitely a side business on the streets here in Beijing.

I have to admit that when walking by some of the tourist shops that some of the English translation names a little hilarious sometimes…

Fantastic weather here in Beijing in mid October. Not too hot, not too cold. And even on a Saturday, it is not that crowded. Surprisingly, 99% of the tourists and groups are from around China and westerns are pretty rare. They do like to take pictures of westerns quite frequently so get ready for it!

Oh yes, there are some good photographers in Beijing when they see foreign celebrities arrive in the city!

Here are some following days’s postings as we continued to explore China:

1 Response to A Tourist in Beijing

Passport Overused says:

October 20, 2019 at 8:27 pm

Great post 😊