Beijing
In Bejijing again after 5 years.
And back at Wang Jong offices, only this time at building A.
The city hasn't changed much. It looks more clean -- Olypics might have helped it. Surprisingly the traffic hasn't been bad. It only takes 10 to 15 minutes(by taxi) to get to work from hotel, which is around 6kms away.
I am staying at Crown plaza hotel sun palace. Old timers(from Goldfinch and Amber) would know we have always stayed at Holiday Inn. It's a nice hotel and thanks to the late booking, got access to club lounge, where evening snacks are free :) The service is excellent. Upon knowing we're vegetarians they prepared sandiwiches for us and kept them locked until we showed up. They were just making sure that they were served just to us. My room is on 19th floor and can see plenty of city from the window. But then it's Beijing where there're tons of tall buildings across the city.
At Wang Jing towers, Olay Cafe is gone where I've had many a lunch years ago. But there's a new cafe which is called Memoire cafe. I recall that the seating was same in Olay cafe too. It could just be a change of name, but I couldn't recognise any of the waitresses.
Tried the subway yestersday and surprised to see how much it has improved from last time. It's neat, fast and the stations are equally well-maintained. Another thing to note is it's extremely cheap -- 2RMB anywhere(well, most of the city.) That's like Rs.16 at present conversion rate. There's a high value for the RMB(Yuan) unlike Indian Rupee. The manimum taxi fare is still 10RMB. I can't believe they have not increased it for 6 years.
Hilong market(Zhongguangcun) is as crowded as ever. And you still have to bargain like crazy. Also visited Tiananmen square yesterday. The place was crowed with tourists and locals alike. Undoubtedly one of the landmarks of Beijing. We were approached by a couple girls, probably to fleece us but we knew better than to entertain them. Do look up on net for tea scams/tea tasting scams in Beijing.
Today I leave for Bangalore and hope to come back to Beijing again.
And back at Wang Jong offices, only this time at building A.
The city hasn't changed much. It looks more clean -- Olypics might have helped it. Surprisingly the traffic hasn't been bad. It only takes 10 to 15 minutes(by taxi) to get to work from hotel, which is around 6kms away.
I am staying at Crown plaza hotel sun palace. Old timers(from Goldfinch and Amber) would know we have always stayed at Holiday Inn. It's a nice hotel and thanks to the late booking, got access to club lounge, where evening snacks are free :) The service is excellent. Upon knowing we're vegetarians they prepared sandiwiches for us and kept them locked until we showed up. They were just making sure that they were served just to us. My room is on 19th floor and can see plenty of city from the window. But then it's Beijing where there're tons of tall buildings across the city.
At Wang Jing towers, Olay Cafe is gone where I've had many a lunch years ago. But there's a new cafe which is called Memoire cafe. I recall that the seating was same in Olay cafe too. It could just be a change of name, but I couldn't recognise any of the waitresses.
Tried the subway yestersday and surprised to see how much it has improved from last time. It's neat, fast and the stations are equally well-maintained. Another thing to note is it's extremely cheap -- 2RMB anywhere(well, most of the city.) That's like Rs.16 at present conversion rate. There's a high value for the RMB(Yuan) unlike Indian Rupee. The manimum taxi fare is still 10RMB. I can't believe they have not increased it for 6 years.
Hilong market(Zhongguangcun) is as crowded as ever. And you still have to bargain like crazy. Also visited Tiananmen square yesterday. The place was crowed with tourists and locals alike. Undoubtedly one of the landmarks of Beijing. We were approached by a couple girls, probably to fleece us but we knew better than to entertain them. Do look up on net for tea scams/tea tasting scams in Beijing.
Today I leave for Bangalore and hope to come back to Beijing again.
posted by Srikanth | 12:09 AM
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