Beijing Travel Guide
Information and Advice

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Why Travel to Beijing, China?

For centuries this huge and historic city has been the centre of the Chinese state and was 'different from any western capital because it expressed its culture in spatial harmony and stone' [Michael Sheridan], with gracious courtyards, narrow streets, grand temples and curious artefacts scattered here and there.
Unfortunately ever since Chairman Mao's great leap backward in the 60's, Chinese leaders have focussed on eliminating old city harmony and replacing it with style-free concrete apartments and broad, blank slabs of asphalt, none more so than in the few years since Beijing was chosen to host the Olympic Games.
A million people were moved out of their homes to accomplish the 'modernisation' of the city and now just 5% of old Beijing is intact, while extraordinary structures such as the National Theatre [picture above right] are admired [and designed by] by foreigners, but locals dislike them; they derisively call the theatre 'the big turd'.

There's still much to see and do for tourists in this new millennium Beijing, but it's sadly not so much about mooching around medieval monuments in splendid isolation, it's more about a quick, noisy and jostled look at a tarted up Forbidden City [along with 15,000 Chinese tourists a day], then off for some shopping, eating, drinking and dancing - just like a dozen other world capitals redesigned by aesthetically blind bureaucrats.

Downside:
- The city pollution can be breathtaking, literally, due to overwhelming traffic, under-controlled factory emissions and dust storms.
- Ubiquitous construction sites are both visually and audibly unpleasant.
- Major sights are overrun with tourists, Chinese tourists.
- much of modern Beijing consists of a dull grey lattice of eight-lane ring roads.
- Don't be surprised to see rampant western consumerism at work, this is not old China.

Beijing Travel Guide, climate:
Best: April - May [tho' dusty], Sept, October
OK: June-August [hot, up to 35C, wet and crowded]
Worst: Dec, Jan [extreme cold, down to 20C]; 1st week of May [Chinese holidays so sights are very crowded]; the Chinese New Year [February sometime].

Length of stay:
Minimum worthwhile stay, not incl. flights: at least four days to see some of Beijing and take a trot along the Great Wall. Recommended: One week plus.

Beijing's main attractions:
Dawn is a great time to start sightseeing with just about any park hosting groups of t'ai chi devotees; or wander the few remaining streets of old Beijing in search of Chinese oddities such as little old men with their caged birds.

The 15thC Forbidden City aka Palace Museum [picture top left], and possibly Mao's Mausoleum [Great Hall of the People] in Tiananmen Square.
A natural starting point for any Beijing traveller is Tiananmen from where Mao launched the the 60's revolution and confirmed China's full- throttle communism.
The 800 building Palace Museum is a must and requires at least a day of attention as it was home to 24 Ming and Qing emperors and China's imperial core for 500 years so it's stuffed with treasures.
Buy the full-complex ticket if possible to get complete access, you don't have to visit every place!
A shuffling glance at Mao's embalmed body is a definite maybe too.

The city's new architecture is as eye-popping [and that's not necessarily a good thing] as the old stuff, led by the National Opera House [picture top right, also known as 'the big turd' by local people] and the latticed National Stadium.

Beijing is oriented on a 'Dragon's Vein' north to south axis, so following this line is a natural tourist route.

North of Tiananmen:

Coal Hill Park. Just north of the Forbidden City is this peaceful park where the last Ming emperor hanged himself as Manchus successfully invaded the city.

Shichai Lake. Bordered by ancient alleyways [hutongs] and village-style suburbs that are sadly being overrun by Beijing's building boom, the lakeshore is the place to get an idea of old Peking's community lifestyle. Wander alone or easily find a pedicab driver to give you a tour in some kind of English, including home visits.
Two other highlights of Shichai Lake are the magnificent Drum and Bell Towers, visible from all around the area and Lotus Lane's cluster of watering holes for parched tourist throats.

South of Tiananmen:

Qianmen, just south of Tiananmen Square, is another fascinating little labyrinth of hutongs crammed with odd little shops, traditional eateries and most bizarrely a bomb-proof undergound city.

The Temple of Heaven, 2km south of Tiananmen, is one of Beijing's greatest hits, a stunning piece of multi-coloured Ming design and wood workmanship finished in 1420 AD, the temple sits on the spot where Heaven meets Earth and the emperor [aka the Son of Heaven] consequently conducted many ceremonies.
The main building, the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, is built entirely of wood without use of nails and is the structure that appears in most pictures.

Functioning Beijing Temples:

The Baiyun Guan or White Cloud Temple is a tranquil, non-touristy and fully functioning Taoist temple west of Tiananmen.
The nearby 400m high TV Tower offers an incredible view over Beijing at a high price.

Yonghe Gong, a Tibetan Lama temple [Buddhist] built in the 17thC is popular with tourists and contains many gorgeous mandalas, statues and gardens, though the temple's authenticity as a real place of worship is questionable - it makes a convenient political statement.
It's conveniently located next to the Yonghe Gong metro stop.
100m away down the street west of Yonghe Gong is the cool but somewhat confused Kong Miao Confucius Temple and museum.

Beijing Transport:
Taxi travel is well metered and not expensive, including the airport run, while most drivers have heeded the authorities' demands to learn some English. Pedicabs are more amusing but less price controlled.

The Beijing 'burbs:
For a look at how the other half lives ride the metro out to Pinguoyuan and take a walk.

Biking:
In spite of the criss-crossing freeways and dirty air biking is still big here, particularly as a way to explore the remaining warren of alleyways. Rentals easy to find.

Short Trips out of the City:

The 18thC Summer Palace, aka Yiheyuan, across a huge lake from Beijing's centre, is a wonderfully classic piece of royal Chinese architecture and park with fantastically ornate roofs, colourful temples, dragon tiles and splendid gardens.
Yiheyuan is where emperors and their courts retreated for almost 1,000 years [this palace is relatively new] when summer oppression kicked in and consequently it's where any sane traveller should go when the metropolis gets too much.
Rowing boat rental is available and lake skating in winter.
Access: other than taking taxis or buses you can now get to the Summer Palace more dramatically by ferry from behind the Exhibition Centre.

The Great Wall of China. A simply staggering sight an hour or so out of the city, Badalang is the traditional target for a half day trip [70km/ 45 miles NW of the city], offering a picture of the Chinese countryside as well as being en route for the Ming Tombs, otherwise known as Shisan Ling [40km NW], a group of lavish resting places for 13 emperors, though this is more attractive for its hilly, wooded surroundings than for the tombs intrinsic interest.
The Great Wall Museum is educational.
However, Badalang is unfortunately a favoured destination for zillions of Chinese tourists too, so if you have more time and prefer a spectacular and less peopled view of the wall head for Mutianyu, take the cable car halfway up and start walking.
Travellers with even more time and need for solitude could target beautiful Simatai or Jinshanling sections.
Getting to Badalang/Ming Tombs: avoid tours which tend to arrive at the busiest times and not stay long enough.
Public buses known as tourist buses with numbers written in green are low cost and run regularly on this route. e.g. #1, #2, #4, #5.

Beijing Cuisine:
Some of the city's best food can be found in little local restaurants or street stalls so don't hesitate to dive in where other tourists fear to tread but locals are scoffing and slurping.
The day and night Wangfujing Food Market, for example, offers haut cuisine at low prices.

Roast [Peking] duck is a speciality of course, though touristy offerings are often poor quality so get a local recommendation before splurging.
A terrific north China speciality is Hotpot, often including lamb, tofu and cabbage among other ingredients.
For the adventurous eater there are lightly barbequed scorpions, sea cucumber, silk worm kebabs, snake bladders, cockroach a la king and more exotica available from market stalls.
Chinese wines can be excellent, especially the yellow wine [huang jiu] and rice wine [mi jiu].
And for those dependant on western food, no problem, KFC rules Beijing.

Beijing Nightlife:
Traditional tourist entertainments such as the Beijing Opera and Chinese acrobats are still popular and recommended but live music bars patronised by locals are the new wave, offering everything from heavy metal to zither music.
Wild nightclub scenes, often DJ'd by foreigners, are commonplace.
That's Beijing ex pat listings paper is the best source of what's on information.

Beijing Festivals Information:
January/February, New Year Parade with many dragons and much dancing.
Feb/March, the Lantern Festival, lighting and carrying paper lamps, some of strange design.

Accommodation:
Pleasant little hotels in the city centre with good atmosphere cost around $100 per night for a double.

Shopping:
The Dashanzi district is Beijing's art area and packed with all sorts of creations, old, new, cheap and priceless.
Curio City or the Friendship Store for odd little goodies and gifts.
Panjiayuan Dirt Market is a lively place for travellers looking for cheap and cheerful arts and crafts souvenirs.

Art Galleries:
The Red Gate gallery in Jianguomen Beidajie features brilliant avant-garde art while the Wan Fung Art Gallery in a part of the imperial palace offers less dramatic but still contemporary work, Nanchizi Dajie.

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Pictures by: Martyn Unsworth [Tiananmen] and Xin Zhu [National Theatre].