It’s polluted. I’ve actually yet to see the sky during my stay, or at least any blue sky. The city has remained covered in a depressing light brown layer of smog the entire time. The streets seem to be mostly wide avenues that create massive city blocks, so as you walk around you don’t feel as if you are in the ‘downtown’ of a city of inhabitants. It’s just huge block after huge block, where you walk on wide footpaths and must cross many major intersections.
Speaking of walking around Beijing…doing so in August is absolutely France Email List exhausting with this heat and humidity. I’ve been drenched in sweat about 80% of the time I’ve been here! Forbidden City, Beijing The people I’ve encountered during my wanderings have been friendly, if not a little sneaky and dishonest, and more people speak English than I was expecting. The food I’ve eaten – ranging from noodle soup to roast duck to other random dishes that I randomly chose from the photos on the restaurant menus and don’t really know what they consisted of – has been decent.
The prices are about average, nothing that I would classify as very cheap but it’s not too expensive either (hostel room – $15 USD / meal – $6 USD / metro ride – 33 US cents). With that said, you do have to watch out when spending money as even the staff in the hostel try their hardest to get some extra money from you as often as possible. People will make up anything in order to convince you to part with your money right away. While I was standing outside of a restaurant trying to decide whether or not to enter, a waiter came outside and told me that I should come inside because they had their best dish ready and they were closing in twenty minutes.