We have two booked tours, great wall and forbidden city – our wall trip got moved to another date, it was supposed to be today. So looking for something to do – the internet recommended a walk in the park, since the weather is sunny and warm.
Its a bit tricky figuring out what sights needs tickets and not. And if they need ticket – can you just show up or do you have to book 1 month in advance. For the parks it was a mix, but luckily no need for prebook of tickets.
Houhai is the northern part of the lake in Beijing centre. Its free for all and shows of some beautiful spots as you walk along the water.
There are botas for rent, people swimming in the water and lots of different shops and street vendors along the way. Not to crowded either, or – it got a bit crowded midday, but not completely crazy.
We hade som great icecream at the end of the first lake, it hade like 5 Michelin guide stickers – so we tried a green one and a yellow one. Great stuff ! 😀 .. The square that was towards the end of the first lake got a bit crowded and crazy, quite touristy. But still – very scenic area, and with the weather at its best behaviour it was still a supernice walk.
We saw a cat with a gold chain, looking very confident and determined.. It will haunt me for a long time. I think it was plotting…..something..
walinkg out of the first park, we come to the Baihai park, this has an entry of 10cyn – thats approx 14 nok.
One of the several sights in this park is the wall of dragons – a huge sculpture supposedly the largest in the world. Both sides had dragons – altso the roof had lots of ornaments.
There where also a small Chinese garden within the park.
The walk is nice, with lots of several hundred year old trees, different flowers and other plants. And of course the great scenic view of the lake. Towards the south west exit there are a few restaurants and Slowboat Brewing has a 3storey taphouse here, so you can enjoy the view with some excellent beers.
There are two routes to take, we did the west side, the other side will give you access to the big temple across the water – along with other buildings and temples. Next time we will have to do that side to – we spent several hours here, it was about 4 km walk with a few stops and sight along the way, so time just flies away.
