Planning Your Visit to Beijing
When to Go
Spring and fall are the best times to visit. Summer is unbearably hot, while winter is fiercely cold and gloomy. Planning your trip to coincide with one of the major festival periods can lead to a colorful trip, although tourist sights will be swamped.
Length of Stay
You need at least four full days to take in the highlights (which would include the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, and Great Wall). This would make for an exhausting schedule and you'd still miss out on plenty. Six or seven days would allow you to experience the best of Beijing at a more comfortable pace.
What to Bring
November through March you need a warm jacket, gloves, sweater, thermal leggings, sturdy footwear, and lip balm. In summer, you need only loose-fitting shirts or Tshirts and thin trousers. Also bring a raincoat (it can pour down in July and August), sun hat, and reading material, as English-language books aren't easy to come by.
Visas and Passports
A passport, valid for at least six months, and a visa are necessary to enter China. Its embassies and consulates issue a standard single-entry, 30-day visa, although longer stay multiple-entry visas can also be obtained.
Immunizations
Ensure that all of your routine vaccinations, such as tetanus, polio, and diphtheria, are up to date. It is advisable also to get vaccinated against Hepatitis A and B, typhoid, meningococcal meningitis. Visitors traveling from yellow fever hotspots must provide proof of vaccination against the disease.
Customs
Visitors to China are entitled to a duty-free allowance of 2 liters of wine or spirits and 400 cigarettes. Foreign currency exceeding US$ 5,000, or its equivalent, must be declared.
Language
The official language of China is Putonghua, known outside China as Mandarin. Putonghua is the native language of the north, but it is used across the country for communication between speakers of several other Chinese languages. English is not widely spoken outside of hotels.
Health Matters
Take out medical insurance before you travel. Beijing has private hospitals, but they are expensive. Pharmacies (yaodian), identified by green crosses, are plentiful. They stock both Western and Chinese medicine, and can treat you for minor ailments.
Security
Beijing is generally safe. Hotels are reliably secure, but managements don't accept responsibility should anything vanish. Be discreet when taking out your wallet and take particular care of bags, purses, and wallets at crowded tourist sites.
Local Prices
In general prices are cheap. Admission to most sights (the likes of the Forbidden City and Great Wall excepted) is less than a dollar. If you avoid hotel restaurants then you can eat well for under $ 10 a head. Taxis are cheap enough to be a viable way of getting around; expect to pay the equivalent of a dollar or two for most short trips around town.
Read More @ Source Dinoconda(4D Roller Coaster) Front train onride Mounted POV China Dinosaur Park
Comments