After four years, I finally made it back to Seoul for a visit. Not only a visit to Seoul, but a journey of three capitals of Asia: Beijing, China; Seoul, South Korea; and Tokyo, Japan. Initially, E and I were planning of just visiting Beijing and Seoul. However, E’s cousin planned to get married in Tokyo around the same time so we figured that we might as well add it on.

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This whole trip was possible through the United Miles program. Generally, a plane ticket that had multiple stops would be quite expensive. However, we purchased one ticket using up all the miles we had left, and had to purchase one extra. We probably spent around $500 total for the tickets. So anyone who is considering entering into some mileage program, I would highly recommend it.

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We worked our way west to east, so our first stop was Beijing. We spent about 3 full days in Beijing. E still has family in Beijing, so many of our meals were spent eating great food with family. E was also in charge of the planning of Beijing, and I just followed along. We arrived in the evening on a Saturday. Usually, after a long plane ride, I need to eat food that is easy on the stomach. So of course I choose seaweed soup. Nice and light to get my stomach settled and food in me.

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On our first full day, we did something that I have wanted to do since I was a child— visit the Great Wall. After eating a savory Chinese breakfast of soymilk and Youtiao (savory Chinese doughnut). We took a bus to visit the Great Wall at Mutianyu. The Great Wall was much different (better) than I expected. We walked along the wall until we could get to a point that had not been renovated. Initially, I thought it would not be strenuous and more like a stroll. I should have figured anything outside a Chinese city is always strenuous, including the Great Wall. I love hiking, but I dislike stairs and of course there were a lot of stairs. Still despite how difficult of a climb, I was still excited to have finally visit the Great Wall and on a day with gorgeous weather and not too crowded. Since the Great Wall is a full day trip, we went home to meet E’s family for dinner at a restaurant, where we ate a variety of delicious Chinese dishes that I cannot recall what they were.

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I must say, Chinese breakfasts are quite wonderful. Easy to get, not too expensive, and delicious. While we ate a lot of wonderful food in China, our breakfasts may be the most memorable to me. The second morning, we ate baozi (bun dumplings) and jianbing (chinese style crepe). After breakfast, we planned to tour Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City; however both were closed for some event. Instead, we walked to the Temple of Heaven, visited the park and the sites within the park. Then left central Beijing to visit the Summer Palace. It probably was a good thing that we didn’t stay in central Beijing. The pollution was particularly horrible that day and by the time we left the Temple of Heaven, my eyes and throat were burning a bit. While the Great Wall at Mutianyu was probably my favorite destination on the China portion of this trip, the Summer Palace is a close second. A bit more crowded than Mutianyu, but the grounds around the palace were quite peaceful. However, after a long day of walking and visiting, I was ready to head back and get some dinner. That night our dinner plans consisted of Peking Duck and other dishes with E’s family. As usual, food is always well enjoyed.

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On our third day, the pollution seemed to have settled a bit, so we tried once again to visit the Forbidden City. Unfortunately, we did not enter into the Forbidden City. Although we knew that we needed IDs to enter into the area, we did not know that the ID had to be our passport for entering into the Forbidden City. We both had our driver’s license with us, but for safety purposes, we both don’t go out with our passport, unless needed. Since we did not have our passport, we skipped the Forbidden City and spent more time at Beihai Park. We enjoyed a nice leisurely boat ride on the lake and felt much more relaxed than we would have if we dealt with crowds. We then took a bus to the Wangfujing market, where we found China’s unique cuisine, such as grilled spider, scorpions, and seahorses. However, we passed on those for baozi, octopus tentacles, and bingtanghulu (candied fruit, specifically Chinese hawthorn). After eating all the yummy food, we were ready for the next destination on our food tour: Capitals of Asia – Seoul.

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Until next time,

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