Baoding Day Trip: Solo departure for a weekend escape from Beijing

Weekend round trip from Beijing to Baoding in one day! 📍Route: Baoding Station➡️Zhili Governor's Office Museum➡️Baoding City Museum➡️Huai Army Office➡️Ancient Lotus Pond➡️Catholic Church➡️West Street The Zhili Governor's Office, Ancient Lotus Pond, West Street, and the church are very close to each other, and you can get there by bike or on foot. It was just too hot, so I visited the Governor's Office in the morning and went straight to the museum, and didn't come out to visit other attractions until about 4 pm. There is a bus from the museum to the Governor's Office, Guan Hanqing Grand Theater➡️Ancient Lotus Pond, and it takes about 20 minutes by taxi. Opposite the museum is Wanda, which has a Ferris wheel inside the building. It seems to be out of operation, but it looks very distinctive from a distance in the middle of the building. The Huai Army Office stops admitting visitors before 16:30, and there's a theater inside that's great for taking photos! The Ancient Lotus Pond stops admitting visitors before 17:00, and the park starts clearing out around 18:30? The lotus flowers haven't bloomed yet, so it might be worth waiting to visit. The Catholic Church is right across from the Lotus Pond, and there's an egg tart shop next door where you can try one for 1.5 yuan—after all, at this price, who needs a bicycle🚲 West Street is just an average experience, too crowded, a very ordinary commercial street, but there are many stalls selling lacquered fans that you can buy for fun. 🚗Transport: Beijing South➡️Baoding➡️Beijing West It's recommended to get off at Baoding Station, which is only a few bus stops away from the core scenic area, more convenient than Baoding East. I didn't visit the Paleontology Museum, as I'm not very interested in dinosaurs. 🌟Recommendations: There's still a bit of a crowd on weekends, but there's basically no queuing in the scenic areas except on holidays. Eating out is another story; the queue for the popular 'zhaobing' was at least 20 people long in the afternoon. I didn't eat at the popular internet-famous shop but randomly chose a place called 'Bainian Caozhen' under a residential building near the museum. The board intestine 'huoshao' was really delicious! I also had a green bean and milk drink at the nearby Wanda, which was not too sweet and quite refreshing. The Ancient Lotus Pond is a pretty little garden, and it's nice to sit in the pavilion and enjoy the breeze when it's almost closing time and there are not many people around. I saw many people avoiding the Baoding Museum, but I think it's quite good. Although there aren't many cultural relics, the museum's service is excellent. There was a volunteer child explaining the bronze mirror exhibition, and they even provided a heavy bronze mirror model for visitors to try out. I've visited many museums and often hear people ask how to use a bronze mirror, but it's rare for museums to let visitors try a model themselves—big thumbs up for this! ❗️You need to book in advance. 💰Cost: Round-trip train 53+24+food and drinks 70+souvenirs 30+admission 85 (Zhili Governor's Office and Lotus Pond 30, Huai Army Office 25) = 265