Tips on surviving Beijing

Lisa here. So I thought I'd start a new entry with tips on how to survive here based on our experiences and observations as an Asian westerner in Beijing. BTW...photos will come by soon as we travel more and get into internet cafes. There's hardly any here so if you want to start a business...internet cafes! We use the hotel security one and is quite expensive and it takes soooo long to upload them...so please be patient :)

Tips and tricks yo!

• Drivers here are crazy. If you want to attempt to drive ... go ahead. It's not advisable. If you do well and survive...well then you can pretty much drive everywhere! 
• Taxis that we took pretty much do their duties in getting us to our destination without giving us a run around. It's helpful to have the chinese address including your hotel's business card. We've gone to the service desk to get them to write down addresses and names in chinese for places we need to go to and it has been great!  
• Pedestrians do not have the right of way. You will be killed. We're surprised there's no fatalities often. Look many ways and get out of the way of every car! 
• You will hear lots of honking lol 
• There's a service road specifically for bikes and taxis and occasionally for cars that need to turn in that direction 
• Light are long...the wait is long...be patient :) 
• Peak hours ... if you need to go anywhere during peak weekday hours...you're gonna have a hard time. Every taxi is taken by those who need to cab to work and such. Either wait it out or go early. Be aggressive if you see anyone leaving the taxi and you want it! You gotta want it! 
• There are some taxi stands for you to wait at in the DT core esp by the railway station 
• Kids pee anywhere. So do dogs. There is no picking after them. Watch your step!
• Be sure to ask locals for help. They are sometimes more willing to help than the service people. 
• Know basic mandarin...it will help a little though you will still be frsutrated. 
• Buses...if you want to take buses to get around...get a map...I heard from Alien that it was very helpful to her - If you want to go to the Great Wall... go with a tour. It's far and it may be a bit frustrating if you get there on your own via a bus and/or van 
• Clothes...girls...you can get away with short shorts but please...wear a t-shirt when going around ... you can wear tanks on touristy areas like the great wall 
• You will notice that its quite humid and polluted...can hardly see the sun though it's still hot and it becomes dark very quick...like 7 pm in Sept. 
• Bring water wherever you go. Nestle is our brand so far that we've trusted. 
• They have recycling and garbage bins everywhere, please use them. 

OK...that's all we can think of for now. Hopefully it will help any of you out there. We'll probably add more as we notice things around us. Take care Lisa