Beijing Free and Easy Blog: Last Day

Hongqiao Market

It was very near to Bestay Hotel Express Tiantan Beijing.
If you are interested in pearl or jewelry, visit Hongqiao Market on the 2nd floor.
There is another building behind it that sells jewelries.
Surprisingly, the 1st floor wasn't selling any pearl or jewelry at all.
There were electronics, toys, souvenirs, accessories, etc.

Bought myself a Gorilla Pod, that could 対応する taiou suru support a SLR camera.
First quote was CNY80.
"No", I said
"How much you want?"
"CNY50", I replied
"CNY60," she said.
My heart started to move. Thought it was reasonable. Maybe I could agree.
But wait..."No, CNY50 is my final price", I said trying my luck.
"Deal!" she said.

Hahaha....got myself for CNY50.
Perhaps I could go lower, but since I started with CNY50, that`s cool with me too.

Tips: Don't agree on the first price. Start by cutting half the price. Go up a little from there. If you can't get the price you want, just walk away. Sometimes the best deal comes when you walk away.

Qianmen

Qianmen is another interesting place at the far end of Tiananmen Plaza.
Before you go to the Qianmen Shopping Street, you might want to visit the China Railway Museum which is more of a Victorian style building.

China Railway Museum. Next to Qianmen Subway Station Exit.

I 思わなかった omowanakatta never thought Qianmen could this beautiful.
I thought it was just another street like the Wangfujing Street.
But no, it was so different from Wangfujing Street.

Me and Qianmen Street

I would recommend you to consider Qianmen instead of the Wangfujing

Blend of east and west. McD at far end.

I like the 調和 chouwa blend of modern stores and the grey bricks of Chinese houses.
I like the fusion of Western & Eastern brand side by side on the same street.

Tram also called Ding Ding Car because of the bell sound it makes.

Ding! Ding! Ding! The tram is coming.
They call it the Ding Ding Car.
Go onboard and it will take you from one end of the street to the other end for CNY 20 one way ticket.

If you are looking for a お買い得品 okaitoku hin good bargain.
Get off the main street and go to the back street.
You can get some silk scarf for as low as CNY10 per piece.
I bought 3 and I am pretty satisfied. They are smooth and nice enough for me.

Good bargain at the Qiabackstreet

Also there are some CNY 5 shops. Everything is sold for CNY 5. No need  交渉する koushou suru to bargain.
I saw a cap with a panda on top. It was sold for CNY 33 at Jingshan  Park.
Here I can get it for CNY 5.

There are also some local food, mostly cookies, biscuits and soft buns.

CCTV tower

Being in Beijing, I thought I should not missed out the iconic CCTV tower.
Took the subway all the way to Gongzhufen station.
Came out and I didn't see anything iconic.
I saw a tower, but it isn't in a squarish shape.

Old CCTV Tower at Gongzhufen

Oh gosh, this is the 古い furui old CCTV tower!
There is another 新しい atarashii new CCTV tower!

I had to take the subway Jintaixizhao station, which is at the other end of the line.

It is quite a big station. Exited the wrong station and got lost.

Asked a few person to get to the tower.

That's the 中国語が話せるの利点 chuugokugo ga hanaseru no riten benefit of speaking Chinese.

Finally, I had reached the tower.

It was tiring after all the wrong routes taken, but when I finally reached, it was satisfying.

New CCTV Tower at Jintaixizhao

Night Flight

Took a taxi to the airport.
Taking the night flight back to Malaysia.

It was a very satisfying trip from planning, making it happen and visiting all the places we wanted to.
We are glad we did a free and easy tour. We didn't have to visit the factories or any outlets where tours would usually bring us to. Could had wasted much time there.
We had our time fully used on enjoying Beijing.

We also did it on a budget. With very little money spent, yet we are very happy.

It was a great trip.

If you are planning a trip, we would to make it great for you too.
Leave us a comment. We will get back to you.