Comments on: Tips for the Beijing Olympic Traveler

By: Imgladtheirgone

Imgladtheirgone — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 08:47:04 +0000

The best tip for any ex-pat who has lived in Beijing for many a year is this:

LEAVE BEIJING DURING THE MONTH OF AUGUST!

There will be so many hassles, it’s not worth staying.

There will be too many dumb three-week laowai tourists in the City who will cause all manner of problems for those who have lived in the city for years. Prices will go up, crime will go up, security will be tight.

Who needs that crap?

Long-time ex-pats should get out of Beijing for the duration of the games. As William Shatner sang, “Everyone hates a tourist.”

And by the way, it has been always the law that all foreigners are required to carry passports at all times. Some foreigners were just too stupid to acquaint themselves with that particular law. Whereas in the past, the PSB would look the other way when a foreigner was caught without “Papers”, now they don’t…the law is actually being enforced the way it should have been for the past twenty odd years.

By: Shu Jierui

Shu Jierui — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 20:25:07 +0000

I definitely disagree with nanheyangrouchuan, but it will be fun to read all of the new blog posts recounting everyone’s Olympic “experience.” Anyone have tix?

By: nanheyangrouchuan

nanheyangrouchuan — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 06:32:16 +0000

Watching the Olympics crash and burn will be spectacular fun. What a shyte hole of a country!

By: Jeremiah

Jeremiah — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:18:48 +0000

Brilliant. I agree with every one.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 08:01:32 +0000

Haha, great post Josh.

Though, not sure if ALL taxi drivers in China are from Beijing. I’m pretty sure we’ve got some here in Suzhou that are from Neptune… or was it Uranus?

By: Meg

Meg — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 06:23:35 +0000

Don’t forget about the taxi drivers who decide not to take you because you’re going too far, or they’ll have to turn around, or they don’t feel like it!

By: Nick

Nick — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 05:09:01 +0000

All true! I have ben trying to drum #1 into my Taiwanese girlfriend for the past 6 months. She can’t understand why in China simple excursions always snowball into monsterous cluster-f%#ks, why when taking a taxi to catch a train you should leave 30 min to an hour earlier than you normally would to allow for the very real possibliity that the taxi company will send you a llama or take you to the bus staton instead.

Unless you’re prepared for any eventuality here you will get screwed every time.

By: TheOtherRichard

TheOtherRichard — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 05:08:19 +0000

@Pappi,

the south end of the Square is about as close as cabbies are permitted to stop to the front gate of the forbidden city without risking a 200 RMB fine. Could be he knew exactly where he was going, the prevailing traffic conditions and positioning of the cameras - just had no idea how to tell your friend that he could not deliver her to exactly where she wanted to go.

By: Bill

Bill — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 04:46:15 +0000

8: You should be sure that the price is in RMB and not US$. It may change when you pay.
10: You should also ensure what the unit is when you find unit pricing, like $1/something. That something could be ounce, pound, kilogram, gram, or 100 grams, catty, 1/10 of a catty…

By: Yokie Kuma

Yokie Kuma — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 04:17:08 +0000

I (unluckily) have been to Beijing a few times and I am always amazed that the cabbies do know where places are that are not close by ….. their knowledge seems based upon the size of the fare