Forbidden City 'Bargain' Tours? More Like Scam City! You've Been Warned.
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Alas, my experience in Beijing hardly met my expectations; I think it's worth sharing this story so that friends planning a trip to Beijing could be cautious.
- Don't fully trust taxi drivers' advice, especially when it comes to finding a good meal! They sometimes act like insiders for certain restaurants and take you to places where they can get commissions.
- We had done extensive research and planned to have dinner at Wangfujing Pedestrian Street(a popular shopping and dining spot in Beijing).
- However, after hiring a taxi and mentioning our intention of having dinner, the driver responded with an unsatisfied tone, "Why go there? It's nothing but a tourist trap!" And he implied that we don't understand the city well.
- Thinking we might learn something from these “native” locals, we agreed to listen to the driver’s recommendation.
- Consequently, we ended up at a place named “Duck Society.” The driver boasted that this was a must-go restaurant for the local people. But guess what? One of my recent companions who visited Beijing only a week ago also shared her similar disappointment at this very same establishment.
- The dishes here were overpriced yet tasteless.
- Furthermore, this restaurant didn’t even serve authentic local cuisine but rather fusion dishes. According to my knowledge, you would never find Peking duck with caviar being served at any reputable traditional Chinese restaurant!
- Our servers continuously recommended expensive dishes since they earned more from such sales.
️ Important heads-up, ladies and gentlemen: stay clear of potential traps below! ️- Don’t fall for it: Never naively trust a taxi driver's recommendations, especially near tourist attractions.
- Homework in advance: Do your utmost research on the places you intend to visit, and stick to your plans!
- Avoid falling into pitfalls:
- When a driver starts recommending other places along the way, you may gently insist that you’d rather visit the original destination you set.
- If the driver seems particularly persistent or takes an odd route, you might use a convincing excuse like “My friend just called me with last-minute plans changing.” Then, take the opportunity to get off and hire another taxi, or simply use a ride-hailing app.
- It's worth mentioning that the experience I had in Nanjing was completely different; taxi drivers there were genuinely friendly!
- Don't fully trust taxi drivers' advice, especially when it comes to finding a good meal! They sometimes act like insiders for certain restaurants and take you to places where they can get commissions.
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This post is just me venting about my personal experience. I hope others won't make the same mistake. If you've done your own research and made your own plans, trust yourself instead of blindly listening to others. Even if your plans aren't perfect, at least they're your own choices.
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For over a decade now, most licensed taxi drivers in Beijing have been from the city's suburban areas. Back in 1958, Beijing incorporated eight counties from Hebei province. So don't assume they're true 'Old Beijingers.' When they need to do something in the city center, they'll also say they're 'going to Beijing,' much like people from other provinces. They're technically part of Beijing and closer to the city center than other out-of-towners, but it's not quite the same.
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Seriously, what kind of travel guide would tell you to eat on Wangfujing Pedestrian Street?
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Xiaohongshu (a social media app)! I went to Ziguangyuan. It wasn't great, just average, but the price was reasonable, so it was acceptable, haha. My research wasn't very good either.
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Wait... is eating in Wangfujing a rip-off? I don't mean the Wangfujing snacks, but the restaurants inside the shopping malls. Are those a rip-off too? Someone going to Beijing tomorrow is genuinely asking!
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Most places to eat in Wangfujing are national chain restaurants. People who work in Wangfujing eat their daily lunches there. Maybe your expectations were too high, thinking you'd find gourmet delicacies just because you're in Beijing?
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Honestly, if your original plan was to eat on Wangfujing Pedestrian Street... then no matter which restaurant the taxi driver recommended, I think he was actually doing you a favor by helping you dodge a bullet.
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Well... there are plenty of shopping malls in the Wangfujing area. You can pretty much eat at any of them, can't you?
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Even if what he recommended was also a dud, at least he helped you avoid the epic disaster that is the Wangfujing Snack Street.
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I was frowning as I read through the comments above, but yours made me burst out laughing. Totally!!!
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Beijing, huh? It really depends on whether you like local cuisine. For Luzhu (pork offal stew), Bao Du (quick-fried tripe), and Chao Gan (fried liver stew), go to Qianmen. For Yang Xiezi (lamb spine hot pot), hot pot, and Halal sweets, head to Niujie. For Peking Duck, try Siji Minfu, 1949, or Shengyongxing... For old Beijing Zha Jiang Mian (noodles with soybean paste) and Wandouhuang (pea flour cake), go to Dawanjia... You can also find a spot in the Second Ring Road area to try Beijing Zhizi Kaorou (grill-plate barbecue). Sanlitun has international cuisine: Italian, Thai, Middle Eastern... You can also eat authentic regional dishes at the various provincial government liaison offices (Zhu Jing Ban). And then there's the Wenzhou cuisine recently featured in Xu Zhiyuan's interview with Chen Xiaoqing. I never thought Beijing was a food desert; it's just that people haven't found the right places or a taste that suits them. If it's your first time, you have to accept being a tourist – it's like that everywhere.
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Which Peking Duck restaurant is good in Beijing? Please don't say Quanjude.
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As a local, I also don't know many great Beijing-style spots. I scrolled through my own social media feed to give some tentative recommendations: 1. Peking Duck: Quanjude (specifically, search for the main branch – emphasis on this!). 2. Copper Pot Hot Pot: Man Heng Ji (on Zhaodengyu Road) or Le You Yuan (near Xizhimen). 3. Beijing Cuisine: Xingyuan Restaurant (Fuchengmen branch); Juqi (near the Deyun She crosstalk theater) and Xiao Diao Li Tang are also decent. Others: If you're near Xidan, besides the major chain restaurants, there's a place called Xidan Xiaoyuan that tastes pretty good. Feel free to add more, everyone! (Most small Beijing-style restaurants near tourist attractions or on the roadside are likely to be bad. You can check Xiaohongshu or Dianping beforehand, but they'll probably just be enough to fill your stomach, so don't expect amazing flavor.) Also, many of the truly old, time-honored Beijing shops are also letdowns now. The taste has changed, and so have the people.
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Excuse me, besides Quanjude, are there any other recommended Peking Duck places?
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Me too, I had a really bad experience.
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I had a terrible experience after coming here, so I just wrote about my honest feelings. Then people in the comments started flaming me, saying things like 'if you don't like it, don't come,' and even called me 'a princess with a maid's destiny' [implying I'm overly sensitive for my station], suggesting my bad experience was just because I'm poor. It's so infuriating!
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I feel that the young people in Beijing are generally okay; many are 'Beijing drifters' (people who've moved here for work or other reasons) or just here on business, and they're usually considerate to each other on subways and buses. The most annoying ones are the so-called 'Old Beijingers,' around sixty years old, with an overwhelming superiority complex. It's like the very air above their heads is sacred and inviolable. Even if you quickly apologize for accidentally bumping into them, they'll just keep nagging and nagging, very aggressively and self-righteously, saying things like: 'Do you have any manners? How were you raised?' I was stunned. A little bump on a swaying bus and suddenly I'm ill-mannered? I don't know common courtesy? I have no upbringing? In short, Beijingers left a very bad impression on me – so much fake politeness!
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After visiting, I finally get it. Especially the older folks, they have this deep-seated superiority complex, like they're looking down their noses at everyone. I was queuing for breakfast, not blocking anyone's way, and an old man just shoved me aside. I was speechless.
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Damn it, with short video apps being so popular these days, you're still asking taxi drivers for recommendations? The taxis you hail at tourist spots, often driven by non-locals, are the ones that will rip you off. They're not even from Beijing, so what does their behavior have to do with Beijing itself?