Foreign travelers want to know how many people live in Beijing or the actual resident population in Beijing. Well, according to the recent official statistics, Beijing’s actual resident population has reached 19.72 million by the end of last year (2009), of which there is 7.26 million floating population who live in Beijing over half year. From 2006,…
For foreign tourists, even domestic travelers, booking train tickets is a headache! There is no official online train ticket booking website for the individual market at the time of the writing. Though there are some train ticket booking travel websites available, they are unable to allow simultaneous online booking. And very often there is little possibilty of obtaining…
Today, a traveler named László sent me an email inquirying about some “sily” questions about the travel in Beijing, Xian and Guilin. I find these funny questions may be also useful to the potential tourists traveling to Beijing, Xian and Guilin. So I decide to have them posted here. He says that…
Every later July is the beginning time for students summer vacation here in Beijing and other parts of China. The summer semester lasts about 45 days. September 1 is usually the beginning day for a new semester. In China, July and August are the small tourist peak season mainly due to the student summer vacation…
Today is July 16, 2010, the third successive foggy day in Beijing. Beijing’s visibility is quite low like a greenhouse. Every year Beijing’s rainy season falls on July and August. Beijing rainy season features humidity and foggy days. If you happen to visit Beijing during rainy season, you are advised to pay attention to…
Begging is not banned in Beijing though it is not encouraged. Beggars in Beijing are commonly found in public places such as street corners, underpasses, malls, popular tourist spots, where they request money using cups, boxes or hats to collect the donations. 85% beggars in Beijing are professional beggars, only 15% are really poor men. In professional…
Plan your Beijing travel? Be vigilant about pickpockets! Pickpockets, like croaches, die hard. The thieves in Beijing are no exception like every large city in the world. The most endangered places are public bus lines, subways, airport, popular tourist spots and shopping centers as well. These crowded places are where pickpockets often cruise around. Tourists…
Today one of my former college mates surnamed Tian gave me a call. He says that he is in Beijing accompanying his daughter learning Chinese. He continues to say that everyday he has to escort her daughter to the language institution since her daughter doesn’t know how to cross the streets in Beijing! Mr….