🇲🇽 Mexico City Recs and Reflections

Hot-air balloon over Teotihuacan

Probably the most memorable scenery you can easily access.

We got up absurdly early and watched the sun come up while floating over Teotihuacan and the Pyramid of the Sun. Beautiful even if you’re normally skeptical of touristy bucket-list activities.

After the balloon ride, definitely spend time walking the archaeological site itself rather than treating the balloon as the whole excursion.

One of the parts I liked most was actually learning how little we definitively know about Teotihuacan. Even the name “Teotihuacan” came later from the Aztecs; the people who built it left relatively little written history behind.

A few things our guide talked about that I found fascinating:

• The city was a major trading center with connections far beyond the Valley of Mexico.
• Pigments and luxury materials traveled huge distances through Mesoamerican trade networks.
• Human sacrifice was part of the religious world of the city.
• There are still major debates about who governed Teotihuacan and exactly why it declined.
• Fire and internal conflict seem to have played a role near the end of the city’s peak.

The uncertainty honestly made the place more interesting to me. You’re walking around one of the largest ancient cities in the Americas and there’s still a surprising amount we don’t know.

Museo Nacional de Antropología

It’s enormous. I’d budget at least half a day rather than trying to rush through it.

The museum gives much better context for basically everything else you’ll see around Mexico: Mexica/Aztec civilization, Maya civilization, Teotihuacan, Olmec cultures, and the huge diversity of Indigenous cultures across the country.

I visited Teotihuacan first and the Anthropology Museum afterward, which worked really well because the museum filled in a lot of the historical gaps.

An element I enjoyed for the artifacts is that it was the real-life version of what was depicted in my childhood media. I enjoyed watching The Road to El Dorado (2000) where they played Pok-ta-pok and in the first photo are real ones! Likewise going inside the ruins felt a bit like Tombraider/Indiana Jones.

Chapultepec Castle

Worth doing together with the Anthropology Museum since they’re both around Chapultepec.

The castle itself is interesting, but honestly one of the biggest reasons to go is the view over Mexico City and Paseo de la Reforma.

You also get a very different slice of Mexican history here—emperors, presidents, independence, revolution—after spending a lot of time thinking about pre-Hispanic Mexico.

Mexico City is one of those cities where you can have an incredible meal at basically every price level. Make sure you get reservations early though, as we missed out on some by not booking in advanced enough.

Taquería Orinoco

I went so many times. This is a classic chain if you didn't go here, did you really go to CDMX?

Entremar

Seafood-heavy, finer dining

Yakumanka

Peruvian seafood rather than Mexican, but I really enjoyed it. Ex: Ceviche is Peruvian / South American in origin.

These are the more upscale neighborhoods. I think a tour guide said Carlos Slim (richest person in Mexico, lives here). Worth staying in these areas to know it would be reliable and convenient, while if you're coming from the U.S. won't be too expensive. We personally stayed in Lomas meaning "the hills" because it was very residential with 6+ bedrooms (as nearby were a bunch of compounds, definitely for diplomats too). Interesting how in every language, The Hills is the expensive part of town lol.

Supra Roma

Rooftop in Roma. Really good views and easy place to go with a group.

Departamento

Late-night spot where I ended up going out with friends. Less about the views, a little more dancing and house-party like than formal club.

Lucha libre

I watched a non-trivial amount of WWE as a 6 year old. Reminds me of Rey Mysterio. Still haven't watched Jack Black Nacho Libre yet though. Anyways, genuinely entertaining and a cultural classic, worth seeing if you have the time but not necessary.

BYD + Huawei stores

It was actually super interesting to me to stumble across stores that cannot exist in the United States (because of Tariff Policy).

The BYD store had electric vehicles that were rock solid for <$15,000USD and more premium lines like in the video that were ~$45,000USD. Huawei store had the world's first tri-fold smartphone and the flagship that DXOMark claims has the best camera on any smartphone. With tariffs, BYD and Huawei can continue to independently innovate to the point where America has no clue what's going on because the stores aren't allowed. In 2026, there isn't THAT big of a difference in this hardware cutting edge besides the price point. But could 10 years from now, could this have been the divergence point like Soviet Union in the past? I hope not. But after visiting Shenzhen's Huaqiangbei (where BYD and Huawei are headquartered, it gives me idea on how likely that is..) Other random tidbit reflection that I had was that as I was shopping at a mall, I expected most things to be manufactured locally. But as I went to a random home goods store, similar to Bed Bath and Beyond, everything was still imported Hecho en China...

Being Asian in Latin America

First the FUNNIEST thing is that the K-Wave is really strong in Mexico. Just see how big this crowd was for BTS.

So we got a fair amount of "Can we take photos with you?" While just walking around. I know some people get mad at the concept because you can feel like a zoo animal, but personally I love it. This has happened to me in also Egypt, India, and Nigeria. My funny story for this one is that, I would see kids with their parents walk up, literally with the BTS phone sticker on the back and ask "Koreano?" to us. A few times I would say "No, Chino. O Estado-Unidense". And I would see them get slightly disappointed. At some point I said "F it, I'll just make them happy, and say 'Si, Koreano'" 😂 and off they took pictures with a great smile. Second, I dedicate a small section to my friend Juan. You already have a bias in your head when reading the name "Juan" and wouldn't expect that Juan is completely ethnically Chinese (even more precisely, we have the same ancestral region-Taishan, Guangdong area), but completely raised in Sonora, Mexico. I first befriended him in San Francisco. He was literally the ONLY other person I've ever met that already knew about the Torreón Massacre↗ (opens in a new tab), which is one of the, if not the largest lynching in North America ever where 300+ Chinese laborers were killed in Torreon Mexico in 1911. I can go on and on about that topic, but one thing I draw from such is that xenophobia is generalized to nativism, power, and economic threat rather than race-specificity. ANYHOW it was epic to hang with him in Mexico City (and thankful to him because he originally put together the trip to begin with) and expand my mind to different forms of diaspora, where we discussed thoughts on cultural identity when it comes to dating, exchanging, retention, Third-Culture Kidding.

Third, one of Juan's favorite memory spawned by my funny traditions where in most countries I travel I propose that we can go to my favorite Chinese-American activities: Go to either a McDonald's or a Chinatown-was that before the Lucha Libre night we went to a Cantonese restaurant. We chose to visit the restaurant "Hong King" that was founded in 1963.

To my surprise there isn't really a Chinatown at all in Mexico City. I've been to a thriving one in Buenos Aires but in CDMX itself it's pretty much just a few families that have 2-3 stores scattered in a larger neighborhood. Anyhow it was a real pleasure to meet the restaurant owner and she was very happy to talk to us in Cantonese as it's very very rare for her to come across anyone Chinese to use it. It was fun to hear her family's immigration story and even connect with her niece who later stopped by, showing that she made a Mexican version of Egg Rolls (in the video!)

Friendship

Shout out to the crew: Juan, Adam, Kera & Teddy, Sharon & Sushil, and Sam. It was so much fun to travel with y'all. A lot of good memories just boolin' at the Airbnb, being introduced to watching such a weird series (Sharon's Don't Hug Me I'm Scared), or thankfully Kera's RSVPs in advanced to da good spots. Also won't forget hanging out by the park's water fountain, talking about exes and doing deep Hinge profile review 😂. Traveling together in a group always just reaffirms to me how much stronger satisfaction I get in experiencing new places, new activities together than solo traveling. Lovely times, lovely times 🫶.