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Prior to the declaration, I have not been to any district other than Dongcheng and Xicheng districts.

How to get through the "Beijing Wanderer Night"#

• How to spend a night in Beijing without finding 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.
  • Including but not limited to: McDonald's, convenience stores similar to 7-Eleven, ATMs, restrooms, parks, subway stations, Haidilao, 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 ATMs as there were no chairs, and the broadcast in the ATM was too loud to stay.
  • 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 tolerate.
  • Strangely, the McDonald's and KFC near us were not open 24 hours. The 7-Eleven stores we found didn't have any tables or chairs.
  • The nearest Haidilao was full of college students.
  • The gaming experience stores were too expensive.
  • I don't know why, but there was almost a restroom 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 nearly 15 kilometers, since there was no hospital nearby, 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 regard. 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. They were all rice cakes and fried food, and they were too sweet. The water-boiled tripe was just average. 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 late night and early morning in Beijing is subjectively interesting. But for some reason, I didn't find any places that can be called "nightlife" destinations. The places I went to were either empty or filled with people, police officers, soldiers, and railings to maintain order and control the flow of people. Maybe I went to the wrong area?
  • Although, Beijing's use of armed police and military to maintain order is confusing. I can understand why they do it near the Great Hall of the People, but even near Jingshan Park, there is a guard post every ten steps. It seems excessive and maybe it's for deterrence, but I don't understand.
• By the way, while drinking coffee, I heard some people complaining, "The flag-raising ceremony was accompanied by a cold wind for a long time, and you couldn't see anything in the crowd. By the time the flag was raised, it wasn't worth it after waiting in line for so long and getting up so early." So I didn't participate in such activities. In fact, 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 road, only cars and streetlights. Your mind wanders, feeling the soreness in your legs, feeling the raindrops and cold wind that make you shiver. In the gaps between finding a place to stay, you feel your own existence. But it's like walking through a dream with dim streetlights, passing one utility pole after another. You look at the empty alleys and dark walls you pass by, suddenly realizing that at this moment, the city is like a puppet without control. These discoveries drive you to become a calm observer, observing every aspect of the city. And then you remember the infuriating 7-Eleven, having walked into three stores and not finding a single one with tables and chairs...

Remaining Questions#

• How can one have a more comprehensive travel plan?
  • The value of apps like Xiaohongshu lies in their abundance of practical examples that have not been explicitly proven or conditioned. They are clearly template-based, but they are convenient for those who don't want to spend time planning and thinking about how to make their trip interesting. So, after referring to the experiences on apps 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 to 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 not that dangerous. It's very safe, and I didn't even encounter any drunkards on the road (exaggerating, but it's important to have a sense of caution).
  • However, I think these are quite formal. I believe the key lies in:
    • Time. Although map navigation is very useful, I found that its time estimation is often inaccurate. You also need to determine your own walking pace and the approximate time for each sightseeing spot. Under this premise, the "x-day trip" plans on Xiaohongshu are not suitable to be directly adopted.
    • Dealing with accidents and contingencies. Things like "711 not having tables and chairs" need to be thoroughly considered. You should have multiple backup plans to handle such situations.
    • Determining the core goals and enjoyment of this 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 think for "travel planning apps," they should develop in this direction, calculating the user's available [time] and providing [contingency plans] based on empirical data.

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

Final Question#

• What exactly defines "expensive"?

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

  • You don't know if this will be your last trip. Should you set your budget based on the idea that this is your last trip and you may never enjoy it again?
  • You also don't know if this trip will provide something that subjectively exceeds its value or if it will bring personal growth and meaning. How do you measure that with a budget?
• How would you answer? Should you take a gamble?