It may be a dry and cold winter, but Houhai still presents the opportunity to spend a lazy weekend afternoon and evening in one of Beijing’s prettiest areas – kids and adults alike.
Last Tuesday saw one of Beijing’s better winter days. A perfect blue sky, complimented with crisp, still weather. Why would I want to waste one of these precious days stuck inside? In any normal winter, this would have been the perfect time to head out to Nanshan or Huairou and have a ski, or even just a lazy stroll around a snow covered park.
With not a drop of snow is sight, ice activities have become the new winter option, and where better than Houhai? It’s cheap, easily accessible, the lake is enormous and the thought of skating in the midst of the hutong with the bell and drum towers as the backdrop is a thought unparalleled in any other city.
Things have changed a tad at Houhai compared to last year. Everything seems to be a little more organized. Everyone now is now given a small electronic card as opposed to receipts. You still have to pay just to get on the ice (5 RMB, 10 RMB on weekends). Ice skating costs 20 RMB for decent rental skates with a 30 RMB deposit as does the ever popular for couples ice chairing. If you have your own skates then you only need to pay for the park ticket.
Ice bicycles cost 30 RMB per hour with a 100 RMB deposit and finally the new addition of ice dodgem cars that glide around the lake for 20 RMB per 10 minutes. These ice dodgem cars would be a lot more fun if they had their own designated section to drive around, so you can actually bump into cars, and not other people.
For eating, on the lake choices offer up Hutong Pizza, No Name Restaurant and the Vietnamese Nuage the northern shore. A short walk away on Jiuguloujie is the Vietnamese-French fusion restaurant Little Saigon. For stylish Beijing Duck, Quandude can be found on the Western shore.
For those who will be in Beijing for the Spring Festival and are looking for something to pass away the day, Houhai still remains one of Beijing’s best places to be. The time to go would be late afternoon where the lake isn’t as crowded and the restaurant and bar lights begin to illuminate the lake. An afternoon skate ties in nicely with dinner and bar plans within the lake’s vicinity.
There is no comparison to the overpriced Bird’s Nest Snow Park, and it is a far more convenient and a less lame equivalent to the Yuanmingyuan Ice and Snow Festival. Houhai comes with the added bonus of NOT having to put up with mindless and poorly staged ‘cultural’ performances. Houhai presents simplicity, You and the ice.
Get your skates on!
