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Disclaimer: I have not been to any district other than Dongcheng and Xicheng.

How to get through the "Beijing Wanderer Night"#

• How to spend a night in Beijing without staying in a hotel, here are some suggestions:
  • As the title suggests, after looking at the hotel prices, I decided not to stay in a hotel. Based on some experiences I found online, I thought I could find some other places to sleep.
  • These places include but are not limited to: McDonald's, convenience stores similar to 7-Eleven, ATMs, restrooms, parks, subway stations, Hai Di Lao, study rooms, hospitals, internet cafes, bookstores, and gaming experience stores.
  • Unfortunately, the parks in Beijing, at least the ones I could go to, were not an option because it was raining that day and my friend and I were not dressed warmly enough. The cold wind at night was unbearable.
  • It was not possible to sleep in the subway or at the ATM as there were no chairs, and the ATM announcements were too loud.
  • Internet cafes were too noisy. The so-called private rooms were just a curtain separating a small area, and there were no power outlets to charge devices. The whole place smelled like smoke, which I couldn't stand.
  • Strangely, there were restrooms almost every 800 meters in the places we went, and they were relatively clean. Although there were no chairs, we rested there for an hour.
  • After walking for almost 15 kilometers, we couldn't find a hospital nearby, so we took a gamble and found an unattended study room where we managed to sleep for only 24 yuan.

Thoughts on "Wandering"#

• Jokingly, Beijing is not very friendly in this aspect. It doesn't treat homeless people well at night.
• If I hadn't vomited because of the hotpot, I could have visited more places. I was disappointed with the "local food" in Beijing. They were almost tasteless and not as good as in other places.

  As my friend said, "I spent almost 30 or 40 yuan on the pastries in Niujie, and they were all rice cakes and fried food. They were too sweet. The shuǐ bào dǔ (water-boiled tripe) was just okay. I thought it would be something special, but it's just tripe blanched in hot water with sesame sauce. I feel cheated. And the lamb hotpot..."

• However, although the process was painful for me, it was expected. Walking in the streets of Beijing in the late night and early morning was subjectively interesting. But for some reason, I didn't find any places that could be called "nightlife spots." The places I went to were either empty or filled with people, police officers, soldiers, and barriers to maintain order and control the crowd. Maybe I went to the wrong area?
  • Although, Beijing's use of armed police and military to maintain order is confusing. I understand why they do it near the Great Hall of the People, but even near Jingshan Park, there were guards every ten steps. It seems excessive and maybe just for show. I don't understand.
• By the way, while drinking coffee, I overheard some people complaining about the flag-raising ceremony. They said, "We endured the cold wind blowing for so long and couldn't see anything in the crowd. The flag was raised before we knew it. It's not worth it after waiting in line for so long and waking up early." So, I didn't participate in such activities. In hindsight, wandering in Beijing at night was worth it for me. It was painful but interesting.
  • In the East and West districts of Beijing at night, there was no one on the streets, only cars and streetlights. Your mind wanders, feeling the soreness in your legs, the raindrops and cold wind that make you shiver. In the gaps between finding a place to take shelter, you feel your existence. But it's like walking through a dream with dim streetlights, passing one electric pole after another. You look at the empty alleys and dark walls you pass by and suddenly realize that the city at this moment is like a puppet without control. These discoveries drive you to become a calm observer, observing every aspect of this city. And then you remember the frustrating 7-Eleven. We went to three stores, and none of them had chairs...

Remaining Questions#

• How can one have a well-planned travel itinerary?
  • The value of apps like Xiaohongshu lies in their numerous practical examples without explicit prerequisites or proofs. They are clearly template-based, but for those who don't want to spend time planning and thinking about how to make their trip interesting, they are convenient. After referring to the experiences on platforms like Xiaohongshu, how can one design a more comprehensive plan?
  • "Brainstormingwild imagination," I think there are several ways:
    • Two approaches:
      • Use your own rich experience and external knowledge, understand your physical condition and local information, and travel according to predetermined content.
        • I use this approach for places that are not very safe.
      • Based on the content of "Travel Thoughts (2)," determine a few target destinations or activities. In the face of many unknowns, plan the next destination based on limited information and adapt accordingly.
        • This is the approach I prefer because it's fun, and Beijing is relatively safe. It's too safe, I didn't even encounter any drunks on the streets (exaggerating, but it's important to be cautious).
  • However, I think these are just formalities. I believe the key lies in:
    • Time: Although map navigation is useful, I found that its time estimation is often inaccurate. You also need to determine your walking pace and the approximate time you will spend at each attraction. Under these circumstances, directly adopting the "x-day trip" plans from platforms like Xiaohongshu is not suitable.
    • Dealing with accidents and contingencies: Things like "711 not having chairs" need to be thoroughly considered. You should have multiple backup plans to handle such situations.
    • Identifying the core goals and enjoyment of the trip: Yes, this is the most important aspect. How can you simply adopt other people's suggestions? You should think about what is best for you.

    I believe that for "travel planning applications," they should develop in this direction, calculating the user's [time] and providing [contingency plans] based on empirical data.

  • By the way, Gaode (a Chinese mapping app) has a mini-program in its app that offers multi-destination shortest route planning similar to Google Maps. Interested readers can explore its functionality. It could be a reference.

Final Question#

• What exactly is considered "expensive"?

  Instead of saying "expensive," it's more about how to determine a budget.

  • You don't know if this will be your last trip. Should you set the budget based on the assumption that this is your last trip? Maybe you won't be able to enjoy it again in the future?
  • You also don't know if this trip will provide something that subjectively exceeds its value. Or, how do you measure the growth and significance this trip brings to you with a budget?
• How would you answer? Should you take a gamble?

Written on May 12, 2023, in memory of the tragic Wenchuan earthquake.