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BEIJING
At a glance |
General Information
| History |
Travel |
Attractions |
Tours
originating Beijing
Attractions:
Great Wall
| Forbidden City
|
Summer Palace
| Temple of Heaven
| Tiananmen Square
| Lama Temple |
Panda House at Beijing Zoo |
Chinese
Military Museum |
Museum of the Chinese Revolution |
Museum
of Chinese History |
Capital Museum
|
Beijing Museum of Ancient Architectures |
Tongzhou Museum |
Lu Xun Museum |
Beijing Art Museum of Stone Carvings |
Peiking Man
Site & Museum |
Song Qing-Ling
Museum |
Beijing Postal Museum |
National Geological Museum of China |
Beijing
Natural History Museum |
Clock Museum |
Palace Museum |
Chinese
Military Museum |
Xu Bei-hong Museum
|
Arthur M. Sackler Museum |
Beijing Art Museum
|
Great Bell Temple |
Museum of the Chinese Nationalities |
Ming Tombs
| Great
Hall of The People |
Monument to the People's Heroes |
Gongwanfu Tea House
| Imperial Garden
| Marco Polo
Bridge |
Ancient Observatory | Parks
| Beijing
Wildlife Park |
Poly Art Museum
Beijing at a glance:
Beijing, the capital of the
People's Republic of China serves the political,
economic, travel, cultural and transportation center of the nation. Location:
located at 40 north latitude and 116 east longitude; 43m above the sea level and
183km from the sea. Neighboring Areas: Hebei province, Tianjin
municipality. Physical Features: mountainous in the north and west;
flatlands in the southeast. Population: 12.16 million.
Area: 16,808 sq. km. Nationalities: Han, Hui, Manchu, and Mongolian. Average Temperature: -7 to -4C in January, 25 to 26C in
July.
See our Weather Page. Rainfall:
600mm annually. Beijing Traditional Arts:
Peking Opera, Quyi, Acrobatics, Puppet show, Symphony, Ballet, Song and Dance,
Drama. Local Cuisine: Beijing Roast Duck, Bingtanghulu Sweet.
 General
Information:
 Beijing lies in the north-west of the North China plain, not far from the
Western slopes of the mountains of Yanshan, and about 150km (93 miles) from the
Bohai Sea. A dense network of roads, railways and airways connects Beijing with
China's other major cities. Beijing, an autonomous city with the status of a province, is not only the
political center of the country, it also plays an outstanding part in the
nation's cultural, economic, scientific and academic life. Many trading and
industrial firms are situated here. The most important educational and cultural
institution include: nine colleges for the various sciences, the Academica
Sinica, several universities (including the university of Peking founded in
1898; the University of Qinghua founded in 1911, and the People's University
founded in 1950), technological universities, numerous colleges and institutes
(in particular the Central Institute for Nationalities and the Institute for
Foreign Languages), and research establishments, as well as museums and
libraries (including the Beijing University Library with its ten million volumes
and 22,000 periodicals), also the planetarium and the zoological and botanical
gardens.
History:
The historic city center dates from the
Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD) has
largely preserved its original appearance. Traces of the medieval city which was
divided into two parts can still be seen. It joined the four points of the
compass and consisted of the north city formerly known as the Tartar City which
was laid out on a regular rectangular pattern. This section was defended by a
20km (12mile) long wall with nine gates (two in the east, three in the south, and
two in the west and north sides). The south city was surrounded by a 14km/9 mile
city wall with seven gates.
The two city walls were completely destroyed, but two of the old gates are
preserved - the "Qian Men" behind
Mao Zedong's Mausoleum and the "Desheng Men" in the
north of the
Forbidden City.
After 1949 a permanent change in the appearance of the city took place. Owing to
a redevelopment program the majority of the city walls and numerous old houses
were demolished. Wide streets, various public buildings such as museums, sport
centers, airports, etc. emerged in their place and the underground, which runs
under the line of the former city wall, was built. Since the late 1970s an
endless succession of unimaginative, monotonous skyscrapers have been built as
well as tenement blocks to house the ever growing population, hotels,
administrative buildings, etc.
From the mid eighties the government has tried to carry out the redevelopment of
the old city more cautiously; this plan also includes restoring cultural and
historic relics. It is intended that usage of space will be reduced and that the
ecological problems will be solved.
 Travel:
By Air: Beijing International Airport (known locally as Capital
Airport) is 17 mile (27km) northeast of the city center. Beijing Capital Airport
is the busiest airport in China. Thanks to the opening of the new wing on
November 1, 1999, you no longer have to fight for a space in the endless queue
to check in. There are 34 international airlines which connect Beijing with 25
countries as well as 32 cities. There are also 64 domestic airlines and 5
inter-regional airlines connecting Beijing to all major airports inside China. By
Rail:
Beijing has two main train stations, Beijing Zhan (Beijing Station) and Beijing
Xi Zhan (Beijing West Station). Trains from Beijing go to all over China.
Backbone routes include Jing Guang (Beijing, Guangzhou), Jing Hu (Beijing
Shanghai). One can also take a train ride to Xian to the west and Harbin to the
North. The Beijing-Kowloon through train inaugurated in Beijing on 18 May 1997 arrived
in Kowloon station at 1:10 p.m. on 19 May 1997. It is the harvest of five years
collaboration in railway operation between the Chinese Ministry of Railways and
the KCRC. The Beijing-Kowloon through train consists of 9 passengers' coaches to
accommodation 448 passengers. It runs though a distance of 2,500km and
calls at 7 intermediate stations at Changping (Dongguan), Guangzhou East,
Guangzhou, Shaoguan, Changsha, Wuchang, Zhengzhou. By Road:
Take great care while going through the zebra crossing at intersections of the
roads, because some drivers in Beijing will only slow down or stop when there is
absolutely no chance for him to go on, otherwise he will make the last second
dash. Do pay attention to bicycles when walking. There are really over 10
million bicycles in Beijing. Before entering a cab, be sure to check it has a
meter. By Subway:
There are two subway lines in Beijing.
The Ring Line runs through Xizhimen, Fuxingmen, Hepingmen, Qianmen, Beijing
Railway Station, Chaoyangmen, Dongzhingmen and Yonghegong etc.
The First Line goes from Ping Guo Yuan (Apple Orchard) through Gongzhufen to the
famous Shopping area-Xidan. It is being extended to the east. If your
destination happens to be along the subway, the subway is definitely the best
choice. It is clean and safe - but at rush hour it could be very congested but
still better than riding a bus. The two subway lines cross each other at Fuxingmen Station. There is no escalator nor elevator leading to the underground subway station. The Subway Service Hour: 05:30 - 23:00. By Bus and Trolley:
Public bus & trolley bus are very convenient and inexpensive. Bus stations are
well marked with Chinese language signs. By Rickshaw:
If you want to experience the old Beijing, definitely go into the hutongs (old
neighborhoods). Take a rickshaw ride. Chatty and friendly, your rickshaw
chauffeur definitely knows their way around the old sections of Beijing City.
Attractions: (
= voted as the highly recommended
attractions to visit)
From the point of view of the tourist, Beijing is China's most interesting city.
Among the city's historical and cultural monuments are the Imperial Palace, the
Beihai park, the Coal Hill Park and Heavenly Temple. On the city's outskirts
there are many other sights, including the Summer Palace, the Fragrant Mountain,
the
Great Wall, and the
Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD) Tombs.
Tours originating Beijing:
|
Beijing Tour I |
1/2 Day Tour |
Covering
The Summer Palace
& lunch.
See Notes
 |
|
Beijing Tour II |
1/2 Day Tour |
Covering the
The Temple of Heaven
and
Tiananmen Square.
See Notes
|
|
Beijing Tour III |
1/2 Day Tour |
Covering the
The Forbidden City
& lunch.
See Notes
|
|
Beijing Tour IV:
Forbidden City
&
Temple of
Heaven |
1 Day Tour |
Tour
starts 08:30. Visit will be first made to the Pearl Market, then the
The Temple of Heaven where
the Hall of Praying for Good
Harvest inside has become the official symbol of Chinese tourism. Lunch
will be at the Imperial Restaurant inside, followed by the visit to the
largest square in the world - the
Tiananmen Square. The
first leg of the pretty long walk will pass the Tian'anmen Square, the
Heavenly Peace Rostrum, the Duan Gate till the entrance of the Forbidden
City - the Meridian Gate. The second leg will pass most of the major
buildings inside
The Forbidden City
including the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Middle Harmony, the
Hall of Preserving Harmony, the three halls in the rear yard, the Inner
Imperial Garden, till the appearance of the Martial Gate, out of our bus
is parked. Transfer will be made back to the hotel around 16:30 for a
short rest before the dinner which is followed by the spectacular Chinese
Acrobatic Show in the evening.
See Notes
|
|
Beijing Tour V:
Great Wall,
Ming Tombs
&
Cloisonne Factory
|
1 Day
Tour |
Tour starts at 08:00
and the first stop is at the Cloisonne Factory. Cloisonne is one of the
Chinese royal arts and crafts, exclusively used in the Imperial families
before 1911. By 10:30, you will
be at the
The Ming Tombs, particularly at the De Ling Tomb to
learn about Chinese Feng Shui and the luxurious tomb of each of the 13
emperors buried here, some with their wives, during the
Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD). Lunch. Bus will leave for the
The Great Wall
at 14:00. Tour ends back in the hotel around 18:00. After an hour's
relaxation, we go to the dinner show at Dai Ethnic Restaurant.
See Notes
|
|
Beijing Tour VI:
Summer Palace
&
Pandas |
1 Day
Tour |
Meet in the lobby at 09:00 And set out to see the pandas in
Beijing Zoo and then visit the largest
Imperial Garden in China -
The Summer Palace. Cruise will be taken from the Cloud
Dispelling Gate to the Dragon King Island (10 minutes) offering you the
chance to appreciate the splendid man-made beauty for the lake. Lunch will be
catered in the Tofu restaurant, where special bean curd Tofu could be
served. In the afternoon, visit the
The Lama Temple
located within the city proper and see the Buddha Statue in the All
Happiness Hall, being carved out of one single piece of white sandal wood
26m in length and 5m in diameter. It is also one of the records in the
Guinness Book.
See Notes
|
|
Beijing Tour VII:
Beihai Park
&
Bell Temple |
1 Day
Tour |
Be ready by 09:00 in the lobby and our tour will be starting from the
Beihai Park
and then our guide will walk with you to the Scenery Hill, the top point
within the city area and offers the best bird's eye view of both the whole
Forbidden City as well as the modern Beijing City. After lunch in a local
restaurant, lectures will be attended at the Chinese Herbal Medicine
Consulting Center. Professors and experts will be present to introduce you
various kinds of Chinese medicines. Tries on Chinese acupuncture,
acupressure or Chinese Qigong will also be encouraged there. By 16:00,
take a break in the hotel till 17:00 when the trip will be made to the
famous Peking Duck dinner followed by the fascinating Peking Opera Show.
See Notes
|
|
Beijing Tour VIII:
Marco Polo Bridge
&
Grand View Garden |
1 Day
Tour |
Morning trip starting 09:00 will a distance of 6 miles (10km) before
the arrival at
Marco Polo Bridge. Shortly after lunch back in the city, tickets will be given to
visit the
Grand View Garden, the most authentic example of the private
gardens as owned by rich families in old China. Tea
time back in the hotel 16:00 - 18:00. Our guide will take you for a little
walk through the zigzagging Beijing hutongs (s | |
