Experiences in Beijing

Before I start I’ve got to say Beijing is an amazing city! The bustling streets and bright lights are unlike no other city in the world, it definitely has a different energy to a place like New York or London.

Teaching English over here has been a blast and it will become a memory and a place that I will never forget, there is so much to see and do from visiting part of the Great Wall of China to hanging out near Tiananmen Square where you can see the Monument of the National Heroes, the Great Hall of the People, the National Museum of China and not forget the Forbidden City.

Silk Street is the place where you would find most tourists would shop but Sanlitun is the real shopping hotspot, it’s an area filled with cafes, bars, restaurants and some of the best shops in the city. As a bit a pop culture nerd, there’s a really cool store called Polyphony that sells comics and records, I can lose myself in there for hours.

Eating out is actually reasonably priced for such a big city with a 3-course meal for two at a mid-range restaurant costing around 200RMB (around £11 each), the dish I would recommend that you should try the Peking duck, it’s a must-have in Beijing! The dish is an amazing combination of spring onion, cucumber and sweet bean sauce with pancakes rolled around the fillings. I would also recommend the hot pot when the weather is a bit cooler, it’s a perfect dish to warm you up.