Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Chipotle and Other Wonderful Finds in Beijing



Ok, so it wasn’t a real Chipotle, but I had to get your attention somehow. It is called The Avocado Tree, and it is Chipotle’s Chinese cousin. Excellent food with Chipotle style burritos and many of the same choices as Chipotle. Also it was very reasonably priced.

In this area, near the US Embassy, there is also a mall with a Starbucks, several restaurants, a spa, a pool, and a GIANT import store in the basement.

At first this area is a bit difficult to navigate, but I will give you directions. First of all this map has south at the top rather than North; don’t let that confuse you.
1)   To get to this area take Subway line 10 to the Sanyuanqiao stop.
2)   You will exit by way of Exit B, the North East Exit.
3)   When you get the chance, you will need to cross the street. Because this is a busy highway, there are only a few places where you can cross the street.
4)   Walk Past the Hilton. The Hilton should be on your left and the Weston should be on your right, and you should be on the same side of the street as the Hilton. Turn left onto the road in front of the Hilton.
5)   You will now walk past the front entrance of the Hilton. Keep going until this road deadends into Dong Fang East Road.

To Get to the Mall
1)   Turn left and walk until almost the end of the road.
2)   It will be on your right.

To get to the Avocado Tree
1)   Turn left.       
2)   Walk to the intersection of Dong Fang East Road and Xiao Yun Road. Dong Fang East Road dead-ends into Xiao Yun Road.
3)   Cross Xiao Yun Road and go through a Chinese looking gate. You will probably think that you are going the wrong way, but just keep going. You will have to veer slightly to the right.
4)   Once you have walked through this area, you will reach a green gate. Go through it.
5)   Turn left. (Sorry, I don’t know the name if the road.)
6)   There will be several restaurants. The Avocado Tree is probably 5 or so restaurants down.

Another good find of the trip was the 365 Inn, a Hostel very near Tiananmen Square and many other tourist sights in Beijing. It was 130 RMB per person per night for a private room, and the rooms were almost China Hotel quality. Also, you cannot beat the location. While I did not take advantage of everything they had to offer, they had tours and trips to The Great Wall and such.


Lastly, I would like to recommend Mark as a driver to and from The Great Wall. I am not sure how it works with other people, but he picked us up at the Lishuiqiao stop of line 10. Then he drove us to the part of The Great Wall that we wanted to go to. We went to the Huang Ha part. Let me take this time to say that this part of The Great Wall is not for the faint of heart or the out of shape, like me. (I did not think that I would be able to finish the climb to get to the wall). However, it is remote and beautiful, and if you want to go to a part of the wall that is not over-run with tourists, this is the place for you. Back to Mark, he speaks excellent English, and he is very friendly and personable. His phone number is 138-1016-3719 or you can email him at markzhang2009@gmail.com



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