You won't survive in China if you don't know how to speak Mandarin, thanks to my friend, Dex, hehe. Here are some of the videos he made, nice edit!


The Best Peking Duck



Explore Beijing



Shanghai 1st Day



Dining out at Shangahai



Just Arrived at Beijing

We spent 2 nights on a train, from Shanghai to Beijing then the other way around.

The train ticket that we got from Shanghai to Beijing is just a seat ticket because all the sleeper tickets are sold out for that day, now I believe that you need to buy train tickets in advance in order to have a sleeper tickets. That's what been said on http://www.seat61.com Seat tickets are cheap ( 228RMB i think ) but not so comfortable ( literally, it was a pain in the ass! ) hehe, so we learned our lessons.

The moment we arrived in Beijing, we bought tickets going back to Shanghai for a soft sleeper tickets in advanced. It was great, nice bed, you have your own room, quite expensive ( 478 RMB for upper deck and 499 RMB for lower deck ) but all worth it. The food was great, an extra rice would only cost 1RMB ( cheaper than the price in Manila, hehe)


Subway is the cheapest and fastest form of transportation in Beijing, it only costs 2RMB, no matter what station you go or you will come from.

Watch our train video made by my friend:

Cebu Pacific flights going to Shanghai from Manila is usually during night time. ( if you have enough budget to take another airlines, please do so, i don't recommend this airline ). Arrival in Shanghai is around midnight, you can't expect to ride in Maglev train going to the city but taxi are always around.Taxi's flat rate is 11 RMB sometimes its 10.
If you plan to go to Beijing by train on next day, there is a small chance for you to buy a sleeper train ticket since tickets are already on sold for 10 days in advance before the day of departure. If you prefer to travel on your own, here is our own itinerary:



Day 1 - Shanghai
9:30PM - Depart from Manila
12:15AM - Arrive in Shanghai
1:00 AM - Stay on our friend's house ( 30 minutes ride from Pudong Airport)
2:00 AM - Party @ Windows Bar in Shanghai
5:30 AM - Breakfast @ City Diner
6:00 AM - Go home to sleep
10:00 AM - Wake Up call, buy tickets going to Beijing
11AM - 5PM - Roam around Shanghai
6:00 PM - Go to Shanghai Railway Station near People'S Square
7:30 PM - Train departs from Shanghai ( 11 hrs of travel going to Beijing) 228RMB for seat train tickets ( sleeper tickets are soldout ). Go to seat61.com to read more of train details.

The rest... spend a night on the train ( pain in the butt! )



Day 2 - Beijing

7:30 AM - Arrive in Beijing, go straight hostel, we stayed at Leo Hostel. Twin bedroom is worth 260 RMB, there are dorm rates that are much cheaper but with shared bathroom.
10:00 AM - Buy tickets going back to Shanghai for the next day ( RMB 499
for the soft sleeper train, this is recommended ) Eat breakfast
11:00 AM - 6PM - You can go to Forbidden City, Shanghai Museum, Beijing Olympic Statdium, walk around Quianmen Road

Entrance Fees:
Forbidden City - 40 RMB
Beijing Olympic Stadium - 50 RMB - its just a ticket to go see the stadium, there arent any games for you to watch.





7PM - Dinner, we tried a Pecking duck worth 90RMB ( single serving only )
9PM - Party at bar, goodluck if you can find english music, hope you'll enjoy.
12AM - Go home. Lights out.


Day 3 - Still in Beijing



6:00 AM - Wake Up Call
7:00 AM - Leave hotel and go on a tour to Great Wall ( 2 hours ride going to Mutianyu )( 260 RMB for the tour which includes transportaion only and no guide, that's the hotel rate, pretty expensive, entrance fee is included )
9:00 AM - Arrive on Great Wall.


9 - 12PM - Walk walk walk on Great Wall ( worth 56 RMB including cable car going up and tobogan slide going down the mountain, pretty fun! )
2:00 PM - Back to hostel.
3PM - 6PM - Watch dvd in hostel, hehe, we watched Borat although ive already seen it.
7PM - Back to Beijing Railway Station. Spend a night again on the train but we have the soft sleeper train, the food is great on the train restaurant.

More Links from Pinoytourist:

• Best of Mt. Pinatubo Photos
• December 2005.MT PULAG, BENGUET
• Kota - Kinabalu ITINERARY
• Jan 2006 - MT KINABALU, MALAYSIA and BRUNEI
• March 2005 , PALAWAN

Day 4 - Back to Shanghai
7:00 AM - Arrive in Shanghai again
8:00 AM - Check in to the affiliate hostel of Leo Hostel which is Mingtown Etour Youth Hostel,

better room than Leo with same rate on twin room ( 260 RMB a night with private bathroom)
9AM-6PM - Shanghai Zoo to see a panda, walked around the city
8PM - Dinner with friends staying in Shanghai
9PM - Bar hopping ( 2 bars only, hehe ) We went to The Shelter and then back to Window's bar with Filipino waitresses.
4AM - Go home.Lights out.



Day 5: Still in Shanghai


12PM - Check out hostel but we still left our luggage.
12-5PM - walked around the city ( Nanjing Road, Pearl Tower, The Bund Grand Raffles Mall )
6PM - Picked up our luggage in hostel, had rest for a while
730PM - Back to our friend's house. Packed our things.
10PM - Arrived in Pudong Airport, terminal 2 if youre on Cebu Pacific


Day 6: Manila, Philippines
4AM - Back to Manila! whew!