Beijing Part 1: Introduction

Warning: Long post with lots of photos ahead

Beijing, also known as Peking, is the capital of the People's Republic of China (PRC). I honestly didn't know what to expect for our trip there, except that I had to bring some clothes fit for cold temperatures and comfortable walking shoes. Aside from the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, and maybe some temples, I also didn't know what else I'd be able to see there. I only did very light research on places to visit, traveling by subway, food, prices, and the weather. Compared to our Hong Kong trip last year, I was totally unprepared for Beijing. I wasn't too worried, though, since I'd be travelling with Jex's family.

We decided to have our bags cling wrapped for the flight going to Beijing. Why? Just to be safe. I'm not sure of the statistics, but there have been incidents where drugs or contraband were slipped into an unknowing person's bag in the airport. And with the recent execution of the 3 Filipino drug mules in China, well, you get the idea.

In NAIA Terminal 3, the wrapping service is provided by Protectabag. You can find their store/stand right near the counters where you pay for the
terminal fee travel tax. It only costs P160.00 per bag, no matter what size. So, what's the point of having your bag wrapped?

• Easy to detect if someone has tried to insert anything into your bag
• Easy to detect if someone has tried to open or get anything from your bag
• Accidental opening
• Minor handling damage
• Rain damage

I never knew you could open a bag's zipper by poking the zipper with a ballpoint pen.

They have this metal cabinet where the plastic wrap comes from, and your bag goes on the carousel. Then it goes round and round and round until it's fully wrapped. They cut holes for your bag's handles, stroller, and wheels so you can still use it normally.

Here is my bag all wrapped up!

When we arrived in Beijing it was around 1 in the morning. Finding a taxi with a driver who was willing to use his meter was difficult, especially with the language barrier. Eventually we found a driver who gave us a decent price. We got to the hotel at around 2 am. We were about to check-in but then the receptionist informed us that we will already be charged a whole day's fee from 2-6 am. Isn't that preposterous? They didn't have half-day charges, which made sense since they are an apartment hotel, but still, a whole day charge for 4 hours?! We decided to wait in the lobby instead. It was the longest 4 hours of my life.

Finally, 6 am came and we got to check in. I was so relieved that the apartment was nice. I slept until 10 or 11 am.

View from the door, going into the apartment

In the foreground is the dining area, in the background on the left is the living area, and the doorway on the right is the kitchen.

On the center table of the living room there were 4 yea infuser and mugs and Jasmine tea bags.
Room service replaces any tea bag you use.

The kitchen had a fridge, stove & oven, microwave, a set of plates, bowls & utensils, a couple of pots and pans, and sink

This is the 1st bedroom, which had 2 single beds. Jex's sister and I shared this room.

Right next to our room was the laundry room.

This is the 2nd bedroom with 1 queen-sized bed.

This is the master bedroom. The room has its own TV and bathroom.

Basically, the apartment was huge! It was booked with 6 people in mind but you could easily fit more than 10 people inside, just add a few mattresses for the additional people. The apartment only has 2 bathrooms, though. The room also comes with one free internet connection. The free internet connection was funny because we found the only port in the whole apartment behind the bed in the 2nd bedroom. Along with the port there was a reeeaaaaalllyyyyy long LAN cable. No photo of it, though, sorry. I didn't get to use the internet the whole time I was in Beijing. I didn't think there was a point if I couldn't access Facebook and Twitter anyway.

Continuation of day 1 in Beijing in my next post. Watch out for it! =)

Beijing Series

• Part 2
• Part 3