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Beijing is messy
Tue, 11 Oct 2005 16:20:34 +0200
rec.travel.asia
previous
a...
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HUGE and polluted... It took us one hour by taxi today to get from the
Hilton hotel to the temple of Heaven (just to make an example). You
spend a lot of time to get from one place to the other. We're leaving
tomorrow, one day earlier than planned.
Slim...
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Why wouldn't you take the subway? it's fast, efficient and very cheap.
From Chongwenmen station to Temple of Heavenly Peace is a 5 minute
walk. Subway stops are everywhere.
Spehro Pefhany...
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It's a pretty minimal subway system (the central part is just one loop
that follows the 2nd ring road and an east-west line), and I think the
Hilton is at least 1.6km off of it, as is Heaven Temple. That's >2
miles of walking.
Slim...
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Check the following URL for a map of the subway:
Most people walk at about 4 miles/hour so it's a 5 minute walk. I've
done it a number of times. Even allowing for slipping on the gobs on
the sidewalk it's still less than 10 minutes.
(BTW 1.6km = about 0.99 miles)
a...
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1.6km at 6 Km/h is a 15 minutes walk, assuming you know where the place
is.
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Besides, it's just another big city. Why should you be surprised by
that?
Markku Grönroos...
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Some statistics suggest that of ten most polluted cities eight or nine
reside in China (Mexico City must be one strong candidate for the gold medal
podium).
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Spehro Pefhany...
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It's got some excellent shopping, stupendous food and a few other
things you'll not find many other places in the world, let alone
within China. I was sad when I had to leave a day early.
Slim...
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The food street alone is well worth the trip just by itself. Can't
remember the name of it. Where all the vendors show up in the early
evening and set up food stalls for at least a block long...
mnc...
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You mean the one near Wangfujing? The street food in the backstreets near
there is better. But at the rate things are going, those places have
probably all been cleared out and replaced with an airport or oil refinery
or something.
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Perhaps Molon has some physical limitation that prevents him from
walking a mile. In any case, in my 7 trips there in the past 5 years
mnc...
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I think the limitation is called "a small child".
a...
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Luckily we didn't bring the baby to Beijing... Locals advise families
with children not to bring babies younger than one year out on the
street.
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(most recent was last january), I've found it easy to get around and
quite interesting in a large-city sort of way.
a...
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Perhaps my sweet wife who has just spent over an hour walking in the
park (and still has a lot more walking to do) is a bit tired ?
Besides the subway system in Beijing is very, very underdeveloped.
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a...
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I wish I knew where these "stupendous" places are, because right now we
are booking the flight to Xi'an.
Shanghai is also a big city, but is orders of magnitude better than
Beijing. There is the Bund-New Pudong- Nanjing Lu area, with attractions
all in walking distance, a better subway system + you can take a taxi to
Yu Yuan for shopping in a beautiful neighbourhood.
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Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
Slim...
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R...
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In cities -and definitely in Beijing- biking and walking are far better that
hiring a taxi.
Take a map and visit sites which are located closely together at the same
day.
Whatever they demolish, Beijing will still remain a fascinating city.
You as a seasoned traveler -in China in recent years at least- should know
that.
Have fun,
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