The Kimi Abapo Project: Project: Trip to China's Best of the Best Cities with the Siblings in 11 Days! [BEIJING]

Last March 2012, my siblings and I decided to fulfill our National Geographic-inspired dream of backpacking all over China. It was such a cool experience, first, because it was an opportunity for the three of us to bond together; second, because it was an adventure all on its own, without subscribing to travel packages or tour guides, and only my comprehensively-researched itinerary and Chinese language app on hand as our guide; and third, because China is one of the most interesting, historically- and culturally-rich countries in the world. Of course, our parents were less than thrilled when they found out that their complete set of children would embark on such a courageous journey; God forbid all three of us would not come home. But armed with faith and the shared love for travel, my siblings and I pushed through with one of the most enjoyable and unforgettable trips of our lives.

THE PREPARATIONS

I booked us Cebu Pacific promo fare flights: Manila to Beijing March 29, 2012 7:35 PM for P8,064 and Shanghai to Manila April 10, 2012 12:30 AM for P11,205. So that was a total of about P6,400 per person for the flight.

Next was of course to obtain Chinese visas for us. Luckily, my office at that time was just a street away from the Chinese embassy along Dela Cost Street (or Buendia on the other entrance) in Makati. We each basically just compiled our documents for the application, which can be seen in this site.

Valid passport
Application form with photo
Extra photo
Copy of our itinerary receipt for our flights
Print-out of our travel itinerary which I made
Hostel Booking Confirmations (just a print out of the confirmed reservations, only a 10% down payment for this is required, so don't worry.)
Bank Certificate of each of our accounts
ITR
COE

My sister and I were fortunate enough to have been to China already previously for work so we included photocopies of our old visas. I was the one who submitted all our documents to the embassy, and learned that there really is no need for an agency. I just went there one morning, at about 9AM, took a number from the guard and waited to be called. Once I was called, I just showed all our documents and explained our purpose for going which was for leisure. The consul checked our papers, and found my brother's bank statement to be lacking in funds. Tip: Minimum amount to get a visa is P50,000 in each person's account. So she took mine and my sister's documents and gave me a stub for the next week to claim our passport with our visas. I had to come back after two days to re-submit my brother's documents, including a bank statement that showed sufficient funds. I explained to the consul, who was different from the one who processed my and my sister's visa, that my brother was to join us on our trip and we both were already issued visas. He gave me a stub and I got his visa the week after as well. So it pays to apply for the visa at least 3 weeks in advance so any document requests can still be resolved in time. Visa fee was P1,400 for each passport.

THE TRIP

Our first stop was Beijing. We arrived there past midnight. We exchanged the US dollars we brought to RMB (about RMB 3,000 each to start us off). Then, because we were tired and it was too early in the morning, we decided to just take a cab to our hostel. This cost us about RMB90 for the ride from the airport to Yonghegong.We were dropped off at the side of the street, and had to walk the rest of the alley to the hostel. We found the sign that said 1HAI INN and that was our cue to enter.

We checked in at Candy Inn. I had booked a Triple Ensuite Room for us for 2 nights. It was large and clean enough so we were happy enough to rest for that morning. There was free wi-fi so we were able to advise our parents that we arrived in China safe and sound.

We woke up at around 9AM, changed and got ready for Day 1 of our tour. We walked to the train station nearby (Yonghegong) and bought train cards which would last us for our whole tour of Beijing. It was only several stops to Qianmen station, where we found a restaurant and had brunch.

We then walked to the Tiananmen Square and took crazy photos along the way.

We continued walking towards the Forbidden City, shelling out RMB60 each for the entrance.

We joined the throng of tourists towards Jingshan Park, which had RMB2 entrance fee and climbed to the top to get the best view of the city.

We continued on to Beihai Park towards the White Pagoda, paying the RMB15 entrance fee.

It was evening by the time we finished our tour of the huge expanse of that part of Beijing. We were so tired from walking that we decided to return to Yonghegong by train and just have dinner at one of the restaurant hutongs near the area.

We returned to our hostel and slept soundly that night.

The next day we rode the train to Jishuitan station, to get to the bus terminal near the Arrow Tower. We were not expecting a huge crowd trying to get on the buses to Badaling. Through sheer perseverance, we were able to squeeze our way and get seats on the 919 bus.

It took a couple of hours to get to Badaling. And from there, we still had to walk to get to the entrance of the wall. So we decided to eat brunch first at KFC so we had energy to do the climb.

We paid RMB45 each for the tickets for Badaling wall.

This is one of the most memorable experiences in my life, and I'm happy that I got to share it with my siblings. It's such a privilege to be able to walk along this famous landmark!

It was a bit chilly, and the steps were actually uneven. But who were we to complain, when even children could do the climb? I guess this is how the Chinese train their children to be super-walkers! Haha!

After conquering a few pillars, we decided to ride the cable car to get down, paying RMB30 each.

At the exit, there was a zoo that housed some bears. They were so cute!

We got back to Beijing late in the afternoon and went straight to the Olympic Stadium to maximize that day's tour. At the train station exit, there were mascots welcoming the passengers. Note though that they asked for RMB20 when you take a photo with them.

We took pictures in front of the awesome architecture that was the bird's nest stadium and the water cube.

We ended the night by having dinner and drinks at the Nanlugoxiang Hutongs.

There were a lot of artsy shops in the area, but it was already closed by the time we passed them that night.

The next day, we were up and early, heading straight to the Beijing Zoo. I was eager to see the panda bears so we were there by 9AM. The entrance ticket was RMB20 per person.

This was supposed to be our last day in Beijing, so we returned to the hostel to check out. Candy Inn is conveniently located in Dongcheng District near the Lama Temple.

After checking out, we went to the Beijing Railway station supposedly to leave our bags and buy our tickets for our train ride to Harbin that afternoon. It was, however, sold out, and the earliest trip was for the next afternoon. We quickly bought the tickets before they, too, got sold.

Tip: Buy your train tickets in advance since there are so many tourists anytime of the year. We actually maximized the English-speaking attendant and bought the rest of the tickets for our trip (Harbin to Xi'an and Xi'an to Shanghai) since it was possible to do that there.

After leaving the railway station, we had to re-plan our itinerary. I contacted the hostel in Harbin to tell them we were arriving a day late. It was a shame since that meant we couldn't go skiing at the Yabuli resort. My sister looked for a hostel we could book for that night since the Candy Inn was not available anymore. We found the City Central Youth Hostel which was just a ten-minute walk away from the Beijing Railway Station. We wanted to make sure we were near enough the station already for the next day's trip to Harbin, lest anything went wrong again.

After checking into the hostel, we rode the train to Xuanwumen station to hear mass at the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception, since it was Sunday that day. We asked the Lord to bless our trip and keep us safe and healthy all throughout.

After the mass, we checked out the shopping district in Sanlitun and had dinner there.

We had another day to waste so we decided to visit the other tourist spots that we weren't able to go to. Beijing is so huge and had so many attractions to offer that it wasn't so difficult to kill time there.

Our first stop for that day was the Temple of Heaven. The ticket cost RMB35.