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A Dirtbag’s Guide to Beijing

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 When it comes to cities, Beijing is a beast unlike any other. With over 21 million residents, China’s capital city moves fast and never stops, pumping millions through its vast transportation arteries every day. Unlike their counterparts in Shanghai and Hong Kong, Beijingers hold tight to their Eastern traditions, working hard to protect and promote the culture and language that gave rise to Asia’s superpower. In fact, despite popular tourist attractions like the Forbidden City and the Great Wall of China, English speakers are few and far between, which makes navigating the city a uniquely challenging, and often hectic, task. But for those who can get past this perfect storm of travel chaos, Beijing is a cheap travel paradise. In addition to its cultural wealth, the city serves up an abundance of good, fresh, and unique food, and can keep people—all 21 million of them—on the move. For those looking to squeeze the most out of the Middle Kingdom without opening their wallet, here’s an inside look into China’s bustling capital city.—Kade Krichko

PHOTO: Kirillv17 | Dreamstime.com

Before You Go

Download a VPN, now. The Great Firewall of China is a real thing, meaning that your Internet will be censored (read: No Facebook, Google, or YouTube, among others) to a degree you never thought possible. As many young Chinese are already doing, download a VPN program (most are free for 30 days) and get free Internet through a proxy service. It may sound complicated, but it’s not, and it’s super necessary.

PHOTO: Lucidwaters | Dreamstime.com

Take the Subway

If you don’t want to spend your entire trip in traffic, learn to love Beijing’s subway. The expansive metro system can get you just about anywhere you need to go in the city even if your Mandarin is a bit, um, non-existent. Multi-trip passes can save you money, but at a little over 25 cents a ride, it sure beats sitting in downtown gridlock. Remember to keep your subway ticket, as you won’t be able to leave the subway without it (wonder how we figured that one out?)

PHOTO: Lcc54613 | Dreamstime.com

Eat Street Food

It’s no secret that the best food in Beijing is found on the street. Yes, the urban legends of questionable meats and even more questionable food handling aren’t completely unfounded, but the bustling Hutong neighborhoods dish a wide variety of amazing food for impossibly low prices. CiQiKou Dajie near Ciqikour station is an entire street so full of food stands, you’d need a lifetime to try them all. Pick up a Szechuan noodle bowl or Beijing duck for under $5, and grab real local cuisine minus the tourist price tag.

PHOTO: Max Smith via Wikimedia Commons, [public domain]

Learn Some History

If there’s any doubt of China’s military obsession, a quick visit to its primary military museum should clear all of that up real quick. The Military Museum of the Chinese People’s Revolution is an over-the-top display that is as interesting as it is terrifying. When was the last time you went to a museum that’s largest wing was called the Hall of Weapons? That’s what we thought. Admission is free, just bring a passport.

Get Your Dose of Art

A little bit of Brooklyn in the heart of China, the 798 Art District is one of the largest collections of modern artists in the country. Carved out of a decommissioned military factory, the 798 features nearly 20 galleries, restaurants, and bars as well as performance spaces in the Dashanzi District off the 403 bus. Entry to the area is free as are many of the galleries, so getting your dose culture (and counter-culture) doesn’t have to break the bank.

PHOTO: Max12Max via Wikimedia Commons, [CC BY-SA 4.0]

Go to a Basketball Game

China is the land of misfit NBA players, just ask the nation’s capital. For as low as 80 RMB (roughly $11) spectators can catch former NBA bad boy Stephon Marbury lead the Beijing Ducks against China’s best professional basketball players at the 18,000-seat MasterCard Center (with their help the team has won three league championships in five years). Tickets are sold at the stadium box office starting four hours before tip-off.

PHOTO: Lucidwaters | Dreamstime.com

Head for the Hills

Beijing is a flat city, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get above it all in a hurry. As the hordes descend on the Forbidden City, take a detour to the hills of Jingshan Park to get a birds-eye view of the temples for less than a dollar (at $12, a ticket inside isn’t going to hurt much either, but we digress). From the park, take in sweeping views of the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, and skip the hassle of China’s biggest tourist trap

PHOTO: Courtesy of the Shangri-La Hotel

Take Advantage of Happy Hour

If you need to get away from the rush, just go up—way up. On the 80th floor of Beijing’s tallest building sits Atmosphere Bar and arguably the best happy hour in the city. The specials rotate but often include an all-you-can-drink cocktail hour for roughly $15. This is a classy joint (it’s part of the Shangri-La Hotel), but if you’re looking for a sunset, fast Wi-Fi, and a good green tea with bourbon, it’s worth putting on a clean shirt.

PHOTO: Red Lantern Hostel

Get a Good Night’s Sleep

When the night winds down, skip the city lights and rest your head in the quiet comfort of the Red Lantern Hostel. Located in the sleepy ZhengJue hutong neighborhood near the Jishuitan subway station, Red Lantern offers good Wi-Fi, clean bedding, and safe storage for around 85 RMB (about $13) a night in four-person bunk rooms (with a minimum two-night stay). Grab breakfast in the main building’s covered garden and plan your day in peace.

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The Luxurious Way to Experience Tokyo’s Cherry Blossom Season

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cherry blossoms

Palace Hotel Tokyo’s Blossoming Tokyo package immerses guests in the beautiful cherry blossoms that bloom throughout the city during the spring months. Over the course of a three-hour tour, guests will be chauffeured to Tokyo’s most scenic sakura-spotting locales in a luxury car.

Interested in taking your Instagram to the next level? The hotel’s concierge can, at an additional charge, arrange for a professional to photograph guests among the blossoms. No filters necessary!

The package (which features additional add-ons such as a workshop on mochi making, a lesson on the art of flower arranging, as well as a seasonal bento box lunch tasting) is available from March 1 through May 31.

To learn more about the Blossoming Tokyo package visit Palace Hotel Tokyo.

PLAN YOUR VISIT with the Tokyo Travel Guide.

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Travel Tips

Today Is National Plan for Vacation Day!

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vacation day

Today marks the first-ever “National Plan for Vacation Day,” created by the organization Project: Time Off, which estimates that 55 percent of employees in America do not use all of their allotted vacation days.

In fact, Americans skipped out on 658 million days in 2015, many of which couldn’t be recouped the next year because they didn’t roll over. What’s the reasoning behind the overzealous work ethic?

For one, employees are glued to their computers and phones, available at all times, and able to work anywhere that has Wi-Fi. We also have fears associated with taking time off: work will pile up while we’re away, or employers will see us as replaceable.

And some of us are bad at planning—by the time we get around to thinking about vacation, our calendar has already filled up for the year. Making time is worth it, though; as it turns out, vacations are actually quite good for employees and have benefits similar to meditation. Many employees found their own concentration had improved and were able to get more done after returning from vacation.

It’s still early days for 2017, so Project: Time Off is urging employees to work out a schedule today, so you can make sure that PTO doesn’t go to waste, even if it means having a conversation with your boss.

Now, the fun part: where should you go with your pent-up wanderlust? Our staff recommends places like Bordeaux, Cape Town, and Kiev, (but maybe skip Dubai and Times Square).

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Travel Tips

Test Drive Google’s Totally Amazing Arts and Culture App

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Picture yourself standing within inches of Chagall’s magnificent ceiling at the Paris Opéra, examining every last detailed brushstroke of the surrealist masterpiece. Or strolling through the back streets of Paris in the company of urban explorer and photographer David de Rueda. This is the stuff art dreams are made of, experiences that only the luckiest of art aficionados may have the chance to enjoy—if they’re really, really lucky.

But thanks to a new Google online platform, you don’t even need to leave your home to relish in some of the world’s most amazing art. Since not everyone has the time or money to travel the world appreciating global culture or the connections to access such masterpieces, the Google Cultural Institute has partnered with more than 1,100 institutions, making available more than 400,000 artworks and 5 million photos, videos, manuscripts and other documents online, to everyone, for free. And not just make available, but curated with virtual tours, online exhibitions, a searchable database, and a bounty of other ways to experience the world’s foremost cultural treasures. It’s a platform called Google Arts & Culture, available via website and app.

Admittedly, the site is a little confusing to navigate. The best thing to do is just play and see what you discover. You will be rewarded wherever you end up. The homepage changes daily with different features, while the hamburger menu provides navigation to artists, art movements, partner institutions, and the like.

Here’s a primer on the absolutely-do-not-miss highlights.

Explore a Database of Artworks

Frida

You can sort through thousands of masterpieces from thousands of museums in more than 70 different countries. Use the search tool to search for anything: shoes, all things silver, Egyptian cats, Bordeaux, whatever you choose. You also can search by artist, medium, art movement, museum (search by partner), even object. Or scroll through an artist’s repertoire by time period (for example, see Rembrandt’s evolution as an artist, one painting at a time, here) or color (see here).

Zoom in to See Masterpiece Secrets

Google has devised advanced technology to hone into the extraordinary detail of images, paintings, artifacts and more, far beyond what you can see with the naked eye. One of the most amazing stories concerns Paris Opéra’s ceiling by Marc Chagall. Chagall’s son, David McNeil, had always heard that his father had painted a picture of him as a baby but he never knew where it was – until they found it embedded in the Paris Opéra ceiling, near the Stravinsky panel, during this Google project. Take a peek here.

Take a Virtual Tour

Castle

Get up close and personal to hundreds of art institutions and cultural icons—the Statue of Liberty, Sagrada Familia, Fenway Park—where you can drag your finger around the image and tap to move through an exhibit or location in a museum-themed version of Google Street View. It’s like you’re personally visiting the site, studying what’s on the walls, on the floor, in the next room, whatever interests you, without actually being there. And it’s not just big museums here–check out, for example, the Wyeth-Tootle Mansion in St. Joseph, Missouri. Some also require the use of a virtual reality viewer to enhance the experience (such as Google Cardboard; the website shows you how to make your own; see here).

See Secret Spaces in 360

Join urban explorer and photographer David de Rueda in an exploration of Paris’ secret side in a feature called Curio-Cité, best seen on your mobile phone with a virtual reality viewer and headphones. This is just the first of many such explorations to be created.

Get Good Old-Fashioned Museum Info

MOMA

Should you be planning to physically visit a museum, you can check opening hours, its location on a map, and daily events.

Enjoy an Interactive Online Exhibit

Google offers a series of different online exhibits in which you can delve into archival materials, objects, and stories typically not available to the typical museum visitor. There are straightforward museum visits as well as curated exhibits centering on various themes. The American Democracy collection, for example, brings together more than 70 exhibits and 2,500 artifacts from 44 institutions dedicated to the preservation of U.S. political history and American democracy. Take a peek here. That said, the behind-the-scenes tour of London’s Natural History tank room, curated by Oliver Crimmen, the museum’s Senior Curator of Fish, has to be one of the more unusual tours you’ll find. Among the things he’ll show you are specimens collected by Charles Darwin during his voyage aboard the H.M.S. Beagle.

Read Fascinating New Stories About Art Every Day

Daily

Google experts post featured new stories every day, offering insight (and photos) into different angles of art and culture. Recent ones include: “Weird Histories: The Peacock Room,” exploring the history of Whistler’s beautiful London dining room, currently at home in Washington’s Freer Gallery; ”Virtual Herbal Garden,” taking you to the Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences; and “Black and British: A Forgotten History,” a four-part series delving into Britain’s slave narrative. As you will see, these are not light and fluffy fillers!

Enhance a Personal Visit

If you find yourself taking a physical tour of a museum, check out a new feature that several museums are offering through Google Arts & Culture. With Art Recognizer, you point your phone at a painting to access a bounty of info about it. For now, this is available only at Washington, D.C.’s National Gallery of Art, Sydney’s Art Gallery of New South Wales, and London’s Dulwich Picture Gallery. But Google is planning to roll this out in museums around the world, so stay tuned.

There’s Much, Much More

Yangzhou

Just play around with the website and you’ll come across all kinds of fascinating offerings. The folks at Google are constantly innovating–there’s even a page that shows their experiments at the crossroads of art and technology. You can bet this site will continue to be massaged and improved upon and enlarged. Stay tuned!

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