BEIJING cool things to do ?

[fran1942]

Hello, I have been to Beijing three times and seen all the main touristy things numerous times.

This time I want to do something different and perhaps not so well publicised.

Can anyone recommend any really cool activites, things to look at or even cool restaurants that do not register as mainstream tourist activities ?

thanks kindly for any advice.

(even stuff like factory tours would be interesting.)

[gougou]

Did you have a look at these recommendations about how to be a tour guide in Beijing? Might have some stuff you missed so far.

[Ari 桑]

Well, what kind of things are you interested in? And what have you already done? Are you more interested in the younger generation, or older, or both? Or just any general interests in aspects of chinese culture?

This question is a bit hard to answer, since beijing is huge. For one thing, where are you staying?

Some of my personal favorite parts of beijing include Dashannzi (大山子) also called Factory 798 (798工厂), a large art district that has alot of interesting contemporary chinese art. Its a converted sprawling factory, and the architecture is really cool, lots of giant pipes and smokestacks and whatnot. I used to live in a place called Xinjiekou (新街口) that has a street filled with lots of funky shops, and there is a good amount of street food there. Its a hangout spot for a lot of not as rich young people (verses the bar districts). I assume you have been to Houhai (后海), which is the lake surrounded by bars. But most tourists don't see the rest of the lakes, which are in a chain in west-central beijing. You can easily take a walk from Houhai going west that is extremely beautiful at night, and you will end up in Xihai (西海) which is filled with people who go fishing at night, and many people bring picnics or beer or whatever, and make an evening of it. Xihai is next to Xinjiekou, so thats all one area. I have tons and tons of other things, if you are interested let me know and I can go on and on.

For restaurants, the bar districts have lots of interesting places, but in my opinion, the best is to go local. Eat at random places you find. There are great restaurants everywhere. Or eat of the street. Oh, if you want really good street food, theres a little area in Xuanwumen (宣武门) that has awesome street food, skewers of every kind, and tons more. If you are interested, let me know and I can give you more specific directions. Xuanwumen has lots of genuine Hutong, not that prettied up stuff they show most tourists. You can really see Hutong life there. Go at night and everyone will be out talking and drinking, playing chinese chess and everything.

How local do you want to get? Because you can get very very local if you want to. Get invited to somebodies house! Or whatever.

[adrianlondon]

I second everything above. My fave places, when just wanting to get away from things for a few hours, were the 798 art district or, when I didn't want to cycle all the way there from where I lived (BNU), down to xinjiekou into the hutongs to see dodgy DVD sellers then East along the lakes and to houhai.

In Summer it's full of people walking around and fishing/drinking at night. In Winter, it's full of ice skaters.

However, by asking here you'll obviously be doing "cool" things that other people have already done. Discover your own places! And then post here so people can copy you ;)

[fran1942]

OK thanks guys, good tips, I will do what you mention.

One thing I am really keen on is behind the scenes looks at things.

For instance where I live you an take a tour of the local brewery.

Are thee any factory tours like this available in Beijing ?

[adrianlondon]

Are thee any factory tours like this available in Beijing ?

Not that I'm aware of. The Chinese govt doesn't like people, especially foreigners, to discover any aspect of China life which hasn't been pre-scripted. If there are factory tours you'll quickly discover that it's either an entire fake factory, or they swap out all the workers (unshackle them and the like - joke) for smarter looking ones who will act out the production sequence while you stand in pre-arranged places to take photos.

Just find a factory and walk in. Chinese security seem to be there as cheap replacements for clothes hangers. Unless you look Chinese, in which case they'll shout at you.

[roddy]

Tell you what you could do - go on one of the cheap 1-day Great Wall tours that leave from Tiananmen and roundabout. You'll likely be the only foreigner on it, you'll meet a load of people from all over China and probably see lots of silk and Chinese medicine shops along with tourist attractions that (probably for good reason) aren't in the guide books.

[shanghaikai]

Haha, oddly enough, most travelers hate the "factory tours" in China as they're inevitably tourist traps designed to separate you from your money. They also hate it when their tour traps them there for a few hours hoping they'll buy something when they were only allowed to stay 15-30 minutes at most of the sights they visited earlier in the day. That's prettty much why our company doesn't include them on our itineraries.

I think your conception of a "factory tour" does not really exist here in China simply because the motivations behind them are often different. In China, a factory tour is a great way to make a lot of money. In the West, its simply a novel marketing option for established brands to make thier (existing) customers feel special. For example, Guiness or Heineken, tourists will seek them out. But in China, there are no real brands with such clout or legitimacy for anyone to really seek them out. That's why they pay tourguides kickbacks and commissions to bring the tourists there. You probably never heard of them, you don't know their competitors, and you'll never remember them. It's a ploy to sell you an overpriced souvenir without other vendors or competitors nearby so you're none-the-wiser about the real market value of the item they're selling you. This isn't to say that these factories don't have a normal business, but just consider the difference between you seeking them out to learn about them versus them bringing you there to buy something.

As someone said, what you'll see at these places aren't real working conditions. No one will bring a tourist to a real factory here.

[sthubbar]

Just visited the Ke Xue Guan (Science Museum) on North 3rd ring road. It is the structure with the big white ball. Inside the ball they show an IMAX like video. Inside the musem it is 4 stories of all sorts of hands-on exhibits and performances. They even have an active Tesla coil.

Well if there is anyone here who like to touch things and play with things, this museum is tons of fun.

[shanghaikai]

Well if there is anyone here who like to touch things and play with things...

[pandaface]

beijing pop festival

is that cool?

what kind of cool do u want?

[fran1942]

I dont mean "funky cat - 1960's" cool.

What I do mean is interesting/unusual things to do that are NOT on the tourist routes.

thanks for any ideas.

[shanghaikai]

Jump on a bus and see where it takes you. Put yourself in uncomfortable situations and see how you make out. That sort of stuff is really "cool."