5 Days in Beijing: Day 3
Beijing Day 3
Today you will be heading to the western and eastern side of Beijing. Covering a lot of ground but don’t worry the subway system will seeing you around easily.
Breakfast: Dumplings
We have all seen Chinese dumplings. Little bags of dough with meat and veggies inside. The Chinese steam them while the Japanese fry and the Koreans make them bigger but still fry them. Either way, you’re in China so you get them steamed. Finding dumplings is pretty easy, you just look for the counters that are serving breakfast food. Normally they have dumplings, jiao zai, cake, bread, and other things that the Chinese choose to break their fast with.
The Chinese like to dip their dumplings into vinegar, it’s not great in my own humble opinion but they like it. The most popular fillings are mixed vegetables, pork with carrot, and you might find a few others. A great one that might only be found in Hunan, but if you can find it totally try it, is rice mixed with peppers, it’s kind of like Spanish rice in the dumpling. It’s really good. There are also fish dumplings, and shrimp dumplings that my daughter and sister both love.
Morning: Tsinghua and Beijing University
The top two universities in China are Beijing and Tsinghua. Tsinghua means Qing Flower, and it is the old imperial gardens of the Qing dynasty. Beijing University is just Beijing university as far as I can tell. Both of the campuses are still worth checking out and walking around. Especially Tsinghua if you like flowers. For a better idea about the universities, Beijing is like Harvard in that it specializes in the humanities, and Tsinghua is more like MIT in that it specializes in science and technology. That being said when I worked there I had a lot of art students.
How to get there is easy. Just go to Wudaokou station then walk towards the large intersection and take a right. Keep walking till you see the south gate of Tsinghua University. You can rent bikes around that area. Should just be a couple of bucks. Tsinghua and Beijing day are big areas.
While I would recommend seeing everything for Tsing you just want to stick close to the western side of the campus, it is the most picturesque. Don’t be surprised to see brides and grooms around that area in the warmer months, they are just getting wedding photos taken.
Between Tsinghua and Beijing University also called Beida is Yuanmingyuan which is the old summer palace of the Qing. The area is still a nice place to walk around. The Summer Palace was burnt down by Anglo-French allied forces in 1860 while they also looted the area. Many of the artifacts can be found in England, France, and America. Before the destruction, it was known in Western countries as the Garden of Gardens as well as the Versailles of the East.
Exiting out of Yuanmingyuan a short way down the road is Beijing University. Walking towards Beijing university you enter through the east gate. To the south of this gate is a picturesque lake that can be great photos as well as just enjoying nature.
Lunch: Soup Dumplings
Now I know what you are saying “we just had dumplings for breakfast.” Yes, but these are different. They are soup dumplings that are popularized in Shanghai cooking. What makes them different is that the dumpling consists of meatball, normally pork, then a broth inside the dumpling as well. They can either be fried or steamed. I prefer fried personally.
They can difficult to eat and messy. A way to work around this problem is to put the dumpling in a spoon first. Then take a small bit from the top and suck out the broth before consuming the rest of the dumpling. Extra napkins are always a plus when trying these for the first time.
There is a restaurant on the other side of Wudaokao station. Just walk under the overpass created by the station then walk to the second alley on your left and walk to the end. You will see a foreign food market and on your right is the dumpling restaurant. They also serve Sichuan food which can be salty and spicy. The pickled cabbage and pork is pretty good, as well as the twice-cooked pork. If you are a Muslim you may want to skip this restaurant. Luckily on the other side of the foreign food market is a Muslim place that serves delicious beef and potato.
Afternoon: Temple of the Moon
The temple of the moon is located ten minutes from Fuchengmen station. Just walk south from the station along Lishi road and you will eventually reach the north gate of the temple. The temple is divided into two different sections. The northern section contains most of the old buildings that were originally used by the Qing emperors for their worship. There is even a site outside of the east gate where the emperor would go and prepare for the ceremonies. The southern sections of the site are another garden which is known for its cassia trees.
Dinner: For dinner, I am going to recommend that you go to San Li Tun which is actually on the other side of the city but doesn’t worry it’s easy to get too. Just go back to the same station that you got off before, Fuchangmen, then take line 2 south one stop to Fuxinghu. Then take line 1 across town to Guomao where you will switch and go north Tuanjiehu. Once there exit the station go around the entrance to the first road and turn right. Keep walking until you see the shopping area. If you see middle eastern restaurants on your right-hand side then you have gone the right way.
San Li Tun is a large shopping area that has plenty of places to go shopping as well as cafes and a variety of restaurants. When I lived in Beijing my favorites were Cantina Agave, Blue Frog and a hot dog place that sadly got shut down. But you’re here in China for a week and that means you probably want Chinese food. That being said I do recommend the other restaurants I mentioned. And don’t worry Blue Frog serves burgers, not frogs.
While there is a very large selection of Chinese restaurants they are advertised and their locations are pointed out on signs throughout the area. You can pick from dim sum from Hong Kong to spicy dishes from Sichuan. I would recommend that you try hot pot, however. Hot pot is simple enough, you order meat, vegetables, carbs, then select what soup you want to cook this in. They bring a boiling pot of it to your table and put it in front of you one burner. You then put in the ingredients and wait for them to cook. After which you dump what you have picked out in the condiments they provide. I recommend the peanut sauce, it’s delicious.
Evening: Temple of the Sun
It sounds weird doesn’t that you would go to the temple of the moon during the day then go to the temple of the sun during the night. While that is just how Beijing is laid out. Also, the temple of the sun has taken on different functions over the years versus the temple of the moon. There are concerts, an amusement park and also places to go fishing at the site.
Getting to the temple from San Li Tun is easy enough. Just take line 10 south one stop to Hujialou then over one-stop to Dongdaqiao. Then walk 1,400 yards to the north gate of the site. Of course, you can also go to Jinguomen station on line 2 where you would leave from exit B then walk to the site.
There are several old buildings and scenic spots at the site if you are not interested in the other activities. The Qinghui pavilion located in the southeastern section of the park is a great place to watch a sunset.
That concludes day three of your five days trip in Beijing. Keep reading for Day 4 and as always please support this blog.
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