Beijing, capital of the People's Republic of China, is the nation's political, economic and cultural centers as well as a hub of transportation and international exchanges. Situated on the nort hwestern tip of the North China Plain, the city consists of 18 districts and counties. As a world renowned ancient cultural city, it was home to Peking Man about 500,000 years ago. Beijing's history as a city goes back to 1045 BC. For a span of 800 years, Beijing was the capital of China, or to be specific, the provisional capital of Liao (907-1125) and capital for Jin (1115-1234), Yuan (1279-1368), Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911). As a celebrated international tourist center, Beijing's land is beautified by green trees and lots of well-manicured lawns, and strewn with former imperial mansions and other old buildings, religious shrines and modern structures. Beijing's folklore holds forth the fascination of old-time peculiarities. A rich heritage in culture and art brought to life by burgeoning urban development has made Beijing the dream place to be for travelers from around the world.

Abbreviation: Jing
Area: 16,800 square km
Population: 11 million

The province's mean temperature()

When shopping in Beijing, keep an eye on objects of art with an oriental or local flavour and cultural artifacts of different dynasties. Beijing is representative of the finest arts and crafts China has to offer, but it is better known for four major varieties: cloisonn, ivory carving, jade ware, and lacquer ware. Objects that are of both aesthetic and practical value include epigraphic seals, traditional stationery, antiques, calligraphy and painting, traditional musical instruments, silks and embroidery, jewelry and precious stones, classical furniture, cashmere sweaters and hand knitted sweater. Folk art hunters are invariably faced with a dazzling array of products which run the gamut from figurines made from dough, clay and brocade to kites, paper cuts and masks modeled after a variety of Peking Opera facial makeup. A cornucopia of merchandises, including famous brands from around the world and articles of daily use, are available in the city's galaxy of malls, specialty shops and supermarkets, whose cozy environments and considerate clerks guarantee a relaxed and satisfying shopping experience for every visitor to Beijing.

SHOPPING PARADISES

GIFT SHOPS

EPARTMENT STORES

DINING OUT

Beijing is an epicurean paradise offering a baffling array of Chinese dishes and local delicacies that guarantee to please the palate. Leading the cluster, however, are four major schools of cooking-Cantonese, Shandong, Sichuanese and Huai'an-Yangzhou. The city's major restaurants are in the hands of famous chefs with creative techniques, and the dining environment is elegant and cozy. Ordinary restaurants in the streets are cheap and practical. Credit cards and cheques are accepted in most hotels and restaurants, but you have to pay an additional 10-15% service Charge.
Peking Duck is representative of all exotic food Beijing has to offer. There are so many Peking duck restaurants in the city nowadays, but the Quanjude Peking Duck Restaurant, which has been around for the last 130 years and is running branches at Qianmen, Hepingmen and Wangfujing, is definitely the best.
Imperial dishes, made exquisitely with choice materials, are yet another salient feature of the Beijing school of cooking. In bygone days these dishes were prepared in the kitchen of the imperial palace for the exclusive delight of the emperor. Today, the Fangshan Restaurant in the Beihai Park, the Tingliguan Restaurant in the summer Palace, and the Dashanyuan Restaurant near the Palace Museum, have made these once secret dishes available to the public.
If you happen to be in Beijing in winter, you may choose to enjoy the Beijing style of hot pot with mutton as a major ingredient. Slices of mutton rinsed in a chafing dish are unusually yummy and refreshing. Donglaishun, Nengrenju and Youyishun are among the Beijing restaurants best known for their instant-boiled mutton.
The dishes of the Tan Family Kitchen, now available in the Dining of Beijing Hotel, were typical family fare in old Beijing. Kaorouyuan and Kaorouji restaurants on Xuanwumennei Street are known for their grilled meat.
There are a good variety of local snacks and refreshments in Beijing. These include almond junket, milk curd, tiny corn buns, eight-treasure porridge with lotus seeds, pea flour cakes, Fuling (Poria coccus) cakes, cakes baked in a clay oven and stuffed with minced meat, fermented soy bean milk, sauted pork liver,
Sausages, odd-odor bean curd, sugarcoated haws, sliced steamed cakes, sesame seed-speckled cakes, and sweet sour plum juice. The best snacks are found at night fairs, where traditional lanterns add a folkloric aura to scene.
Apart from Chinese dishes, Beijing's epicurean scene is also dotted with restaurants and bistros serving French, American, Italian, Russian and other Western cuisine. There is no lack of Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Indonesian and Thai restaurants as well. Mcdonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut and other Western fast food outlets are found all over the city.
Many local bars and cafes deliberately woo patrons with a foreign atmosphere. No street in Beijing has so many bars as Chaoyang Street and Sanlitun Bar Street, which are patronized by those wishing to relax by nursing a cup of coffee or sampling some vintage brews.

REVOLVING RESTAURANTS

GOURMET RESTAURANTS

ENTERTAINMENT

The charms of Beijing stem, first of all, from her authentic oriental cultural aura. As a famed old cultural city of the East and the cultural center of contemporary China. Beijing is steeped in a peculiar age-old cultural tradition that is as mature and splendid as the places of historical and cultural interest that pockmark the land.
With a history of nearly 200 years, Peking Opera is quintessential of traditional Chinese culture and holds an important position in the world treasure house of art. The singing in Peking Opera is highly variegated of rhythm and pitch, and the dancing has incorporated traditional Chinese martial art stunts. The facial makeup, colorful costumes and headgear of the characters never fail to hold the theatergoers enthralled. A stage costume is in itself a precious object of art. Apart from Peking Opera, the theatre of the Chinese capital abounds in local genres, such as the kunqu opera, the pingju opera, and the Hebgei clapper opera. Other local obsessions include witty talk shows, dagu (versified tales sung to the accompaniment of a small drum and other instruments), and danxian (story telling to stringed musical instruments). Puppet shows go back to 2,000 years ago in China. The numbers staged by the China Puppet Troupe are known for their vivid, flexible and some what exaggerated artistic features.
Acrobatics if another Chinese performing art that commands a popularity among visitors to Beijing. The China Acrobatic Troupe and the Beijing Acrobatic Troupe are both staffed with some of the country's finest acrobats who have many international awards under their belts.
Visitors to Beijing also have the opportunity to attend full-length dramas, operas and ballet, as well concerts staged by China's best philharmonic orchestras.
Folklore performances are available in some places of Beijing. Tianloule Teahouse, Dashalan Tourist Street south of Tian'an men Square, Lao She Teahouse, and Liyuan theatre are where visitors are entertained with state-of-the-art folk performances.
There are a myriad of recreational facilities in Beijing. Hundreds of hotels in the city are equipped with such facilities as golf courses, tennis courts, bowling alleys, swimming pools, roller-skating rings, fishing pools and horse racing courts. Nightclubs, recreational centers, discotheques, and cultural clubs can be found in every district of the city.
A number of bio-tour centers have emerged in Beijing recently. These include Beijing Wildlife Zoo, Badaling Bear Garden, and Beijing Birds' Paradise, where visitors can feed, frolic with or even cuddle some of the rare and precious animals and birds.
Festivals are part and parcel of Beijing's cultural life. Major ones are Spring Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, National Day and New Year's Day. Flower fairs, temple fairs and lantern shows are held during the period that spans Spring Festival and Lantern Festival. Beijing is the site of eight major temple fairs, including the ones held at Longtan Pool, Temple of Earth and Dongyue Temple. A series of tourist festivals are held annually in the capital city, such as Beijing Music Festival, international Choir Festival, Chinese Art Exhibition, Beijing International Tourist Cultural Festival, and Ice and Snow Festival of Yanqing County.

The venerated Chinese history has strewn the land of Beijing with sites of cultural and historical interest. Some of them, such as the Great Wall, Former imperial Palace, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, and the ruins of Peking Man at Zhoukoudian, are UNESCO-endorsed world cultural heritage sites. Imperial palaces, mansions, gardens and tombs are epitomes of classical Chinese architecture. Among the massive number of ancient buildings that have remained to this day are quite a few Buddhist monasteries, Taoist temples and Catholic churches, such as Yonghegong Lamasery and Big Bell Temple. There are 120 museums worth seeing, including Museum of Chinese History and China Art Gallery. Over 100 gardens are open to the public. As behooves an international metropolis, Beijing's skyline looks splendid with a jungle of tall buildings in varied and distinct styles. Chinese Ethnic Culture Park and Central TV Tower are among Beijing's recent crop of landmarks. You will not be disappointed if you have time to spare for a visit to the suburbs, where the scenery holds forth the fascination of sequestered repose and unperturbed serenity.

NEW TOURIST SCENE

Beijing botanical Garden
No botanical garden in north China matches the one in the national capital in size and variety. Sprawling at the foot of the Fragrance Hill in the northwestern suburb of Beijing, the Beijing Botanical Garden is home to 4,500 kinds of plants that are on display in nearly 20 exhibition zones, including a Peony Garden and a Lilac Garden.

World Park
This colossal theme park in Fengtai District is an assemblage of the scaled-down replicas of 106 reknowned scenes and sights from 30 countries around the world.

CCTV Tower
Equipped with high-tech recreational facilities, the 405-metre-high CCTV Tower in Haidian District enables visitors to feast their eyes on an all-encapsulating view of Beijing. Beneath the tower is Beijing's second aquarium, the Pacific Undersea World Exhibition

Beijing Amusement Park
The Beijing Amusement Park in Chaoyang District is a large facility with such facilities as a rollacoaster, pirate boats and sightseeing trains.

Beijing Fuguo Undersea World
This is another large, modern aquarium in Beijing which is in the possession of 6,000 tropical sea fishes in nearly 100 breeds and Asia's longest underwater tunnel (120 meters).

Old Beijing Miniature Candscapes
The city wall, shops, hutongs, teahouses and other scenes associated with life in 15th-century Beijing are recaptured in a collection of miniature structures in this theme park in Changping County, Beijing.

Grand View Garden
The Grand View Garden in Xuanxu District is one of a series of imitation ancient gardens built in Beijing in recent years by drawing inspirations from narrations in the classical Chinese novel A Dream of Red Mansions.

Minghuang Waxwork Museum
The Minghuang Waxwork Museum in Changping County is designed to capture life behind the vermilion walls of the Ming imperial palace by combining consummate waxwork art with modern audiovisual, acoustic and lighting techniques.

Chinese Ethnic Culture Park
The varied lifestyles of China's 56 ethnic peoples are captured in the Chinese Ethnic Culture Park near the Olympic Sports Centre in Haidian District. Life size replicas of villages of such ethnic groups as the Tibetan, Dong, Miao, Korean and Dai have been built in this park, where folk singing and dancing are performed and scenes of production and daily life relived on a daily basis.

Working People's Palace of Culture

Centrally located in Beijng, the predecessor of the Working People's Palace of Culture was built in 1420 as the Supreme Ancestral Temple for Ming and Qing emperors. Three magnificent halls constitute the palace's architectural centerpieces.

Ruins of Yuanmingyuan

Yuanmingyuan, or Garden of Perfection and Brightness, was built in 1709 as a Qing imperial garden. During its heyday, it was extolled as the "Garden of Gardens", a title it well deserved for it was a vast assemblage of gardens and landscaping feats. The unprecedented size and grandeur of Yuanmingyuan, however, are no more-it was ransacked and burned down by the Anglo French joint force in 1860. The remaining buildings were sacked once more by the allied forces of the Eight Powers in 1900. The ruins are preserved today and opened to tourists.

Zhongshan Park

Built in 1421, Zhongshan (Sun Yatsen) Park west of Tian'anmen Gate Tower was the site of the Altar to Gods of Earth and Grain During the Ming and Qing. Tucked away under rich foliage of ancient trees are the main hall, ancillary buildings, and an altar.

Lugou Bridge

The 260-metre-long Lugou (Reed Gully) Bridge in Fengtai District, known among Westerners as Marco Polo Bridge, is a famous ancient bridge built in 1189. What is most fascinating about the bridge is the 492 big and small lions carved in unsurpassed craftsmanship into the capitals of balustrade columns.

Jingshan Park

Facing Palace Museum's Gate of Divine Valour across a street, the Jingshan Park was an imperial garden during the Ming and Qing. The Jingshan Hill, situated on the meridian line of the city of Beijing, Provides a panoramic view of the capital.

Xiangshan Park

Lying in the northwest suburb of Beijing, Xiangshan (Fragrance Hill) Park was an imperial garden during the Qing. The peak of the hill, known as lncense Burner Hill, stands 557 metres above sea level. The park, one of the most picturesque spots of Beijing, looks its seasonal best in autumn, when the entire place is dyed crimson by maple leaves.

SANCTUARIES

Big Bell Temple

This famous Buddhist temple on Central North Third ring Road has been converted into the Chinese Museum of Ancient Bells. Among the hundred or so ancient bells on display is the Yongle Bell cast during the Ming. Weighing 46.5 tons, it is extolled as China's "King of Bells".

Biyun Temple

South of the Xiangshan Park in Beijing's northwest suburb stands the Biyun Temple, or Temple of Azure Clouds, a Buddhist sanctuary first built during the Yuan. In 1748, or the 13th year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing, the Diamond Throne Pagoda and the Hall of Five Hundred Arhats were added to the complex. Sculpture is a salient feature of the Temple of Azure Clouds.

Tanzhe Temple

Built prior to 1700 as the first Buddhist sanctuary of Beijing, the Tanzhe (Pool and Zhe Tree) Temple is perched majestically on a mountain slope once covered with zhe trees (Cudrania tricuspidata) in the city's suburban Mentougou District. Standing in the compound is a huge gingko tree, which is still growing luxuriantly despite an age of more than 1,000 years.

Wofo Temple

The Wofo Temple, or the Temple of the Recumbent Buddha, is a Tang Buddhist Establishment enshrined with China's largest statue of a recumbent image of Sakyamuni cast of 54 tons of bronze and 5.3 metres in length. The temple is found north of the Xiangshan Park.

Eight Great Sites

The Eight Great Sites refers to the eight ancient temples, which form a sacred Buddhist center in some wooded hills in Shijingshan District. One of them, the Lingguan (Divine Light) Temple, is enshrined with a tooth of the Buddha, the Eight Great Sites today has been converted into a public park where the natural beauty of the scenery remains largely unperturbed.

Jietai Temple

The Jietai (Ordination Terrace) Temple in the south of the Fengtai District was built during the Tang. Housed in the main hall of the temple is the renowned Ordination Altar, a white marble structure with a statue of Sakyamuni sitting on it. The entire temple is nestled in the shadows of old pine trees.

Niujie Mosque

There are more than 40 Islamic mosques that are open to the public in Beijing. The one on Ox Street stands out for its ingenious combination of traditional Chinese architecture with authentic Arabian influence.

Fahai Temple

China's best-preserved Ming murals with a Buddhist theme are found at the Fahai (Ocean of Law) Temple, a famed Buddhist sanctuary built in 1439 during the Ming. These murals figure prominently in the world history of wall painting.

Yunju Temple

The Yunju (Cloud Dwelling) Temple 70km from the city proper in Fangshan District was a Buddhist center during the Sui and Tang. It is lauded as Beijing's answer to Dunhuang because of its collection of 14,000 stone slabs caved with the full text of the Tripitaka (including sutra-pita ka, vinaya-pita ka and abhidharma-pitaka).

Baiyun Temple

The Baiyun (White Cloud) Temple in West District is the largest Taoist establishment in Beijing. It was built in the 713-714 period during the Tang. Buried in the compound are the remains of Qiu Chuji, a famed Yuan guru of Taoism who had lived in the temple until his death. For this reason Taoists in China regard the White Cloud Temple as their ancestral sanctuary.

Catholic South Church

Built 330 years ago, the South Church (known in Beijing as Nantang) is the oldest Catholic church in Beijing. The church, known for its elegant interior dcor, comes alive at 6:30 a.m. During weekdays, and on Sunday mornings as local Christians arrive for Mass.

SCENIC HIGHLIGHTS

Tian'an men Square

Large enough to hold 1 million people, the 440,000-square-metre Tian'anmen Square in the center of Beijing is the world's largest city square, where sunrises and sunsets are observed solemnly with national flag hoisting and lowering ceremonies. Tian'an men Gate on the northern edge of the square sued to be the front gate of the Ming and Qing Imperial Palace. The rostrum atop the gate, where national leaders review mass rallies or gala celebrations on important occasions, is open to tourists. The Monument to the People's Heroes stands in the center of the square. Behind Zhengyang Gate to the south sprawls Mao Zedong Memorial Hall; to the east is the complex which houses the Museum of Chinese Revolution and the Museum of Chinese History. The Great hall of the People stands on the western side. The night scene of Tian'anmen Square is definitely a MUST for any visitor to Beijing.

Former Imperial Palace

The 720,000-square-metre Palace Mueum, better known as "Forbidden City", was the imperial palace for the Ming and Qing. Built during the 1406-1420 period, it is the largest royal palatial complex in existence in China; ranging from the majestic to the exquisite, they bear witness to a nation in transition. Other tourist attractions on the premises include a huge stone ramp carved with intricate dragon and cloud patterns, Imperial Garden and Nine-Dragon Screen Wall. An immense trove of cultural artifacts and treasures of various dynasties, some of them on display in the Treasure Hall and the ceramics, painting, bronze ware galleries, are reason enough for UNESCO to adopt the Former Imperial Palace as a world cultural heritage site.

Temple of Heaven

China's largest temple and altar are found in Temple of Heaven, part of a 273 hectare park in Chongwen District today. Built in 1420, it was where Ming and Qing monarchs prayed for good harvests. Major structures are hall of Prayer for good Harvest, Imperial Vault of Heaven, Circular Altar, and Abstinence Palace. UNESCO endorsed Temple of Heaven as a world cultural heritage site in December 1998.

Beihai Park

Beihai Park, situated to the northwest of Palace Museum, is a typical imperial garden dating back to more than 800 years ago. Buildings are clustered around the famed White Pagoda on Qionghua (Jasper Flower) Island on the lake in the park's bosom. The island provides a vantage point for observing the landscape of Beijing. Major attractions are Circular City, Painted Boat Studio, Studio of the Tranquil Heart, Nine-Dragon Screen Wall and Five-Dragon Pavilions.

Great Wall

As an emblem of Chinese civilization, a cultural phenomenon of world caliber, and another UNESCO=endorsed world cultural heritage site, the 6350km Great Wall was in China's feudal years a mammoth defense bulwark that serpentines its way across mountains and valleys in the northern part of the country. The Great Wall came under construction in the 7th century BC. But it was Qinshihuang, the founding emperor of the Qin, who brought it to completion. Repeated extensions were done in later dynasties until the Ming. The 600-year-old Badaling Fortification in Yanqing county in northwest Beijing is representative of Ming sections of the Great Wall. The Great Wall looks equally breathtaking at such sections as Jinshanling, Mutianyu and Simatai.

Summer Palace

The Summer Palace (Yiheyuan) in the northwestern suburb of Beijing was built in 1750. by far the best-preserved imperial garden in China, it was endorsed by the UNESCO in 1998 as a world cultural heritage site. As a paragon of Chinese gardens, this huge garden includes Longevity Hill, whose beauty is set off by a multitude of halls, kiosks and trees, and Kunming Lake, a huge body of liquid silver. Major tourist attractions are Tower of Buddhist Incense, 17-Span Bridge, Long Gallery, Cloud Dispelling Hall, Marble Boat, Beamless Hall, Garden of Harmonious Delights, the theatre in the Garden of Moral Harmony, and Suzhou Street. The entire place is a de facto museum of China's classical architecture. Housed in these buildings are an immense collection of treasures and cultural artifacts.

Thirteen Ming Tombs

The Ming Tombs are scattered over an area 40km in circumference in Changping County. Thirteen Ming emperors who ruled China after they moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing were buried there. The largest is the Changling, built in 1413 for the remains for Zhu Di or Emperor Chengzu. Burial objects are on display from the underground palace of the Dingling, the tomb of the last Ming emperor, Zhu Yijun, and his two empresses. The Holy Way leading to the Ming Tombs is flanked on both sides by 30-odd men and horses and other animals carved in graphic images out of massive boulders. In terms of size, this group of stone sculptures is rare anywhere in China.

Yonghegong Lamasery

Yonghegong (Palace of Harmony and Peace) in Eastern District had been the mansion of Emperor Yongzheng during his days as the crown prince. After he ascended the throne he had it converted into a lamasery, which has remained as such to this day. Influences of Han, Manchurian, Mongolian and Tibetan architecture are palpable in this complex that consists of three finely crafted archways and five imposing halls laid out tastefully over an area of 66,400 square meters. Among the treasures in these halls is a 26-metre-tall statue of Maitreya (the Smiling Buddha), which is carved out of a single sandalwood trunk.

Beijing Zoo

The largest of its kind in China, the 90-hectare Beijing Zoo is home to 4,000 or so animals in 640 species, quite a few of them from other parts of the world. Among the endangered species are the giant panda, golden-haired monkey, northeast China tiger, antelope, black-necked crane and white-lipped deer, Beijing Aquarium in the zoo is billed as the world's largest continental oceanic aquarium-there are more than 10,000 sea creatures in it.

Tour of Hutongs

Hutong s are back alleys where old traditions remain very much alive and kicking. There are about 4,550 of them in Beijing, ubiquitous in these hutongs are quadrangle dwellings. Close by prince Gong's Mansion are some of Beijing's best-preserved hutongs. Touring these hutongs by the traditional pedicab is a special travel program of Beijing.

Prince Gong's Mansion

Situated in Liuyin Street in the Scenic neighborhood of Shishahai, Prince Gong's Mansion is the best preserved of all princely mansions of the Qing in Beijing. Attached to the rear of this pompous mansion is a serene garden with well-manicured lawns. A theatre stands on the premises, where traditional ballad-singing and story-telling performances are given every day.

Zhoukoudian-Home of Peking Man

An abundance of paleo-fossils has been unearthed along with ruins of the world's earliest fire-using primitive man, Peking Man, at Zhoukoudian in Fangshan District of Beijing, None of these finds, however, are more important than the fossils of Peking Man and Upper Cave Man and more than 10,000 stone tools, which qualify Zhoukoudian as a world cultural heritage site. A Peking Man exhibition on the spot is visited everyday by tourists from both at home and abroad.

TRANSPORTATION

Air

You may fly from Beijing to major cities in China and 54 cities in 39 foreign countries (see Chinese route chart). More than 40 foreign air companies have set up offices in Beijing.
Name of airport: Capital Airport
Distance from downtown: 30km
Information desk: 64563604
Booking a domestic flight: 66013336
Booking an international flight: 66016667

Train

You may also take the train and go to all the capitals and major cities of various provinces and autonomous regions except Tibet, Hainan and Taiwan. Foreign visitors, compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and overseas Chinese may buy train tickets at Beijing Railway Station or the International Waiting Room on the ground floor of West Beijing Railway Station. Tickets are booked or withdrawn within one week's grace time. Passports and some other documents are required when booking or buying train tickets. Call 65129525 for information at Beijing Railway Station. Call 63216253 for information at West Beijing Railway Station

Getting Around

As a convenient means of transportation in Beijing, taxis are patrolling the streets or waiting at the airport, railway stations, hotels, and tourist destinations 24 hours a day. A taxi ride costs 10 yuan for the first 3 or 4 km and 1.20-2.00 yuan for each additional km. A taximeter is fitted to each taxi to automatically computer and indicate the fare due.
There are two subway lines in Beijing, which cross each other at Fuxingmen Terminal where passengers can transit from one line to the other without going out of the station. Each terminal along the lines is a major mass transit center in the city of Beijing. Operation hours: 5:00-22:30.
The smooth and extensive roads of Beijing have given rise to a unique and fascinating tourist service-pedicab tours-available at major hotels and in downtown Beijing. Tourists may also choose to ride a bicycle into the city's numerous back alleys and hutongs to discover or experience local customs and habits.