Beijing tour information, Beijing travel information, Beijing Tourist Attraction, Beijing China

From May 8 visitors with the passes will be entitled to free admission to two of 10 landmarks in the capital, including the Summer Palace and the National Center for the Performing Arts, Shanghai Morning Post reported today.

The authority plans to mail out 2 million passes - 700,000 for Beijing residents. People can apply for the passes at Ctrip.com and while each adult is entitled to one free pass, adolescents can get two free passes.

Visitors using the passes need to show a valid ID and the promotion will run until the end of the year. The authority also plans a series of lucky draws for pass holders.

Beijing, Capital City of China

As the capital of China, Beijing is one of the world's truly imposing cities, with a 3,000-year history and 15.3 million people (2005). Covering 16,808 square kilometers in area, it is the political, cultural and economic center of the People’s Republic.

bird's view of the forbidden city, see the forbidden city from the air
Bird's View of the Forbidden City

Situated in northeast China, Beijing adjoins the Inner Mongolian Highland to the northwest and the Great Northern Plain to the south. Five rivers run through the city, connecting it to the eastern Bohai Sea. Administratively, the Beijing municipality equals the status of a province, reporting directly to the central government.

location of beijing, beijing location map
Location of Beijing

Rich in history, Beijing has been China’s primary capital for more than seven centuries. China’s imperial past and political present meet at Tiananmen square, where the Forbidden City palace of the emperors gives way to the Great Hall of the People congress building and the mausoleum of Chairman Mao Zedong. The old city walls have been replaced by ring roads, and many of the old residential districts of alleys and courtyard houses have been turned into high-rise hotels, office buildings, and department stores. Beijing, a dynamic city where the old and new intermingle, remains a magnet for visitors from inside and outside China.

Beijing is a city of broad boulevards, now full of traffic and pulsating to the rhythms of commerce and entertainment. Museums and parks abound, including the Palace Museum of the Forbidden City and Beihai Park in the center of town. Nearby, the China Fine Arts Museum (Zhongguo meishuguan) exhibits the work of contemporary artists. China’s ancient past and recent history are on view at the Museum of Chinese History and Chinese Revolution at Tiananmen. Antiques, crafts, and books can be found at Liulichang, an old antique market district remodeled in the 1980’s to reflect the style of the old city. Some of the spirit of Old Beijing is also preserved at Qianmen, south of Tiananmen, with stores that date to the early 20th century and beyond, including the Tongrentang Traditional Medicine Shop, first established in 1669. Beijing Opera performances and acrobatic troupes keep those traditional entertainment forms vital, while contemporary music clubs and discos thrive in an era of liberalization and prosperity.

An Old Street in Downtown Beijing

The Forbidden City (Imperial Palace, Palace Museum, Gugong)
At the city center is the imperial palace complex of 24 Ming and Qing dynasty emperors. In imperial times it was called as the Purple Forbidden City from the association of the emperors with the color of the Pole Star. Surrounded by 10 meter (32 feet) high walls and gates and a 50m (164 ft.) wide moat, it was inaccessible to ordinary people, but well populated by imperial family members, their servants and staffs, officials, and guards.

The major ceremonial buildings of the palace are aligned on a north-south axis that extends beyond the walls toward the Temple of Heaven complex and Yongding Gate in the south. The main entrance to the palace complex is via the Meridian Gate (Wumen), from which the New Year was announced each year by the emperor, proclamations were read, and the fate of prisoners decided. Past five white marble bridges and the Gate of Supreme Harmony, a great courtyard could accommodate up to several thousand people for state ceremonies such as the imperial weddings.

The three most important ceremonial buildings are on the north-south axis, raised on a high white marble terrace, and accessed by ramps carved with ornate dragons over which the emperor was carried in a palanquin. The three main halls and associated side buildings formed the outer courtyard of the Forbidden City, devoted primarily to official and ceremonial functions, but including imperial libraries and studies. The inner chambers at the rear of the Forbidden City included private living and sleeping quarters of the imperial family, divided into three palaces and twelve courtyards. The Western Palaces were the residences of empresses, concubines, and princes. The Eastern Palace halls are now used as museum exhibition spaces, devoted to ritual bronze vessels, ceramics, craft objects, antique clocks, and paintings, including objects from the imperial collections and archaeological finds. The back precincts include the Palace of Aging Peacefully (Ningshou Gong) where the Qianlong Emperor of the late 18th century spent his retirement years.

Official Site of The Forbidden City :

The Forbidden City of Beijing (with English and Japanese language links)

tiananmen square, center of beijing
Tian'anmen Square - the world largest

Tiananmen Square
Just south of the Forbidden City is Tiananmen Square (The Gate of Heavenly Peace Square), the largest inner-city square in the world that can hold up to a million people. It was cleared in 1958 to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic, replacing an older open space in front of the Gate of Heavenly Peace, the main entrance to the imperial city, that had a longer history of political importance. On May 4, 1919, students demonstrated here against provisions of the Treaty of Versailles following World War I that were considered unfair to China. The May Fourth Movement spawned here was a widespread movement for political and literary modernization that impacted the rest of the century.

After the founding of the People’s Republic, Tiananmen Square became symbolic of the socialist state through the construction in 1959 of the Great Hall of the People on its western side, and the Museums of Chinese History and the Chinese Revolution on its eastern edge. In the same period, a Monument to the People’s Heroes was erected in the center of the square. In addition, following Chairman Mao Zedong’s death in 1976, a Chairman Mao Mausoleum building was erected directly on the main north-south axis of the square. It contains the preserved body of Mao in a crystal sarcophagus, along with a standing marble statue of the Chairman. China’s imperial past, revolutionary history, and political present are all represented vividly in Tiananmen Square.

Temple of Heaven
Located in the southern part of the city, close to the main north-south axis leading to the Forbidden City, is the Temple of Heaven complex of ritual buildings. The halls and altars here are round, symbolic of heaven. A counterpart Earth Altar in the north of the city uses the square profile symbolic of earth; temples of the sun (in the east) and moon (west) complete a ceremonial surround for Beijing that made it not only a political capital but also a ritual center, shaped in the form of a cosmic diagram.

The emperor, as Son of Heaven, performed priestly as well as ruling functions. Each year on the day of the winter solstice, following three days of fasting and meditation, the emperor would offer sacrifices and pray for a good harvest at the Altar of Heaven, a three-tiered round white marble structure, built in 1530 and reconstructed in 1740. The round altar sits on a square base, symbolic of the meeting of heaven and earth, a theme carried through in the shape of the complex as a whole, a semicircle atop a square.

Just north of the Altar of Heaven is the octagonal Imperial Vault of Heaven building, which contained tablets of the imperial ancestors and astronomical plaques of the constellations and meteorological occurrences. The outer wall of the Vault of Heaven Hall is known as the Echo Wall, from its ability to transmit even whispered voices around its length. Farther north is the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, originally built in 1420, remodeled in 1545, destroyed by lightning in 1889, and rebuilt in the following year, in part using Oregon fir wood for the supporting pillars.

West of these buildings is the Altar of Farming, where each year in spring the emperor personally ploughed eight furrows to symbolically assure a good harvest. The Hall of the Year Gods (now housing the Museum of Chinese Architecture) was where the emperor sacrificed to the gods of the year and asked for a good harvest.

Official Site of Temple of Heaven:

Temple of Heaven, Beijing (with English, Japanese, Korean language links)

summer palace, beijing
Summer Palace

Summer Palace
Fifteen kilometers (9 miles) to the northwest of Beijing is the Summer Palace. Now a large park of 716 acres, it was formerly the imperial garden retreat from the summer heat of Beijing. Surrounding hills shelter the site, and the Kunming Lake provides a cooling effect. The site was used as an imperial park as early as the mid-12th century, and continued as an imperial garden in the Ming and Qing dynasties. In 1860 Anglo-French forces burned the site to the ground. It was reconstructed by the Empress Dowager Cixi in 1888, using funds that had been reserved for building a modern naval force. The large marble boat that sits immobile by the edge of the lake is an ironic reminder of the waste and mismanagement that led to the decline of the imperial state.

Official Site of Summer Palace:

Summer Palace of Beijing (with English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Russian language links)

The Great Wall
The Great Wall is perhaps China’s most famous and most mythologized site. Several sections are conveniently visited from Beijing, including at Badaling, the most popular site, about 70 km (43 mi.) northwest of Beijing and at Mutianyu, 90 km (56 mi.) northeast of Beijing. These impressive brick and earth structures date from the Ming dynasty, when the wall was fortified against Mongol forces to the north. The Ming wall is about 26 feet tall and 23 feet wide at the base, and could accommodate up to six horsemen riding abreast. Watch towers were built on high points every 200-300 meters or so with small garrison forces that could communicate with fire signals or fireworks. These stretches of the wall are part of a system that extends from the Shanhaiguan fortress on the Bohai Gulf in the east to the Jiayuguan fortress in the west, altogether some 6000 km (3700 mi).

The Ming sections of the wall are only a late stage in a long history, much of which has little to do with the present structures. The wall is most often associated with the First Emperor of China (Qin Shi Huangdi, reigned 221-210 BC), who after unifying China by conquest undertook to link up previously existing sections of walls belonging to conquered states, but on a course far to the north of the present wall. The First Emperor mobilized massive conscripted labor forces, including convicts and prisoners, by some accounts up to a million strong, to conduct this building campaign.

While the Great Wall in its various versions had real military defensive functions, it also served symbolic purposes. For long periods Chinese populations lived north of the wall and nomads or semi-nomads lived south of it. The wall served as a symbolic reminder of dynastic authority and also of cultural distinction between settled agrarian culture and cities on the Chinese side and pastoral horsemen on the other. It continues today to serve as a marker of cultural and national identity.

Beijing Hutong (Alleys)
Beijing has about 4,550 alleys, which were scattered around the Forbidden City. Most of the alleys came into being during the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. On both sides of the Hutong (alleys) are traditional siheyuan, the traditional Chinese compound with houses around a courtyard. The face-in structure has been seen as manifestation of the introspective Chinese culture. One of the best ways to visit the alleys is to go by pedicabs. With someone else pedaling for you, you just relax and take a good look at the alleys. The best route for a pedicab tour is around the Prince Gong’s Residence, where there are quite a few interesting alleys like the Dajinsi (Big Golden Line), Xiaojinsi (Little Golden Line), and Liuyin (Willow Shade) alleys.

Beijing;s hutong, alleys in Beijing
Hutong in Shishahai, Xicheng District, Beijing

Official Sites of Two Section Great Wall in Beijing Area:

The Great Wall (Badaling Section) (with English Link)
The Great Wall (Mutianyu Section) (with English, Japanese, Korean language links)

Beijing's Underground City For more than 20 years, Beijing’s Underground City, a bomb shelter just beneath the ancient capital’s downtown area, has been virtually forgotten by local citizens, despite being well-known amongst foreigners since it officially opened in 2000.

More Information about Beijing:

Information Link: Beijing Zoo
China Internet Information Center - Beijing Zoo was initially named Ten Thousand Animal Garden which was built in 1908, proving that it already has had a history of more than 90 years. It is located in Xicheng District of Beijing City, beside Beijing Exhibition Hall, facing Beijing Astronomical Observatory...
Where Can I Find 24-hour Stores in Beijing?

Many people feel summer evenings are much more agreeable than daytime. It's cooler and the neon lights create a glittering skyline. So to enjoy the evening, some prefer to have fun and stay up until late at night. In case that they may need some snacks, drinks or things urgently to have fun, Beijing has many convenience stores operating around the clock to serve their needs at any hour.

Seven-Eleven

Seven-Eleven has lots of food on hand, like instant noodles, biscuits, potato chips, chewing gum, as well as magazines, newspapers, hair care products, batteries, cigars, beer and even Chinese Maotai wine, which is a must for a formal Chinese banquet.

Seven-Eleven features fresh -made food as well as fresh local food, such as deep-fried dough sticks, soybean milk, hot rice porridge, and various breads.

Location: No.5 Dongzhimei Neidajie, Dongcheng District

Tel: 010-84060189

Beijing Green Tree Market

Green Tree Market features Korean goods ranging from food to things for daily use. Here ice cream lovers can find original Korean ice cream which are reasonably priced, about 10 yuan each.

Green Tree Market also has a counter dedicated to Korean skin care product line The Face Shop, which aren't too expensive. Shoppers who are hungry late at night can also find fresh sushi here, which are made by chefs on the spot.

Location: No.18 Wangzhuanglu, Wudaokou, Haidian District

Tel: 010-62318113

Hi-24

This is the favorite spot of middle school students who come here for lunch.

Hi-24 stores are usually not big and things here are priced a bit higher than most other convenient stores. Yet here shoppers can always find the latest snacks and drinks. Besides, at Hi-24 stores shopper can also recharge their IC bus transportation card here.

Location: No.178 Di'anmen Waidajie, Xicheng District

Tel: 010-64045257

Xu Yong's Photo Tour of Beijing's "hutongs".

Hutong Exploration
Cycle around the interesting old hutong, listen to the guide elaborate the beauty of Beijing's history, hutong life, customs, and architecture. Visit a 100-year-old whorehouse before moving on for a 15-minute sojourn around an antique market nearby. The last stop is at Houhai for a tea or beer break before cycling back to the hotel.

Price: 100 yuan (US$12) including bicycle rental and English speaking guide. 70 yuan (US$8.4) for those with their own bike.
Time/date: 1 to 4:30 PM, October 23
Meeting place: the entrance of Beijing International Hotel, 9 Jianguomennei Dajie, Dongcheng District, Cycle China staff will carry a flag with Cycle China logo.

Reservations are required at reserve@cyclechina.com.

Poems and Music
Come to appreciate Chinese classical music and hear about the stories of the related poems. Understand how Chinese people connect the two to create a specific image to express their feelings and cultivate their minds.

Price: 50 yuan (US$6)
Time/date: 7:30 to 9 PM, October 27
Place: Inside the Kent Centre, northeast of Lufthansa Center, Anjialou and Liangma Lu, Chaoyang District
Tel: 86-10-6432-9341

Xinjiang Dance
Learn about Xinjiang dance, one of China's most typical folk dances, with professional dancers and national first-class dance teachers.

Price: 60 yuan (US$7.2)
Time/date: 7 to 8:30 PM, October 24, 31
Place: Peking Opera Photography House, inside Kent Center northeast of Luftansa Centre, Anjialou, Chaoyang District
Reservation at 86-10-6432-9341

Olympic 2008 Special Links: Beijing Tour

Beijing Related Report Links

A friendlier Beijing The municipal authorities seem to have finally made up their mind to seriously do something about the city's chaotic day-tour market. This has been long overdue.

Beijing is among the most popular tourist destinations in China. The multitude of spots of cultural significance lends the city a timeless appeal to travelers from afar.

Except for those who are familiar with the city's quite decent public transport network, most travelers have to rely on the variety of day tours to visit most of its famous tourist attractions. In fact, day tours are so far the best way, especially for individual travelers on their first trip to the city, to appreciate what Beijing has to offer.

But taking a day tour is not always as easy or enjoyable as it should be.

Inadequacy of information is of course one of the difficulties. In spite of all the advertisements for day tours one can find on the Internet, in guide books, or on sign posts at bus stops, navigating the city's day tour market and finding the one that best suits your needs can be frustrating and exhausting at the same time.

Let alone strangers who may not know a thing about our language, even long-time local residents may have difficulty in finding the right place for information about some rather commonplace day tours. .

Of course many travelers come here with a rough idea of where to go. But once there, they can sometimes find things to be quite different.

We have had a constant feed of complaints from tourists about irresponsible or even dishonest day tour operators. In some extreme cases, tourists were taken to places other than their desired destinations, or even forced to buy "souvenirs" so their guides could take kickbacks.

It would not be fair to say the authorities have been indifferent. We have heard about calls and moves to install order and standards. But improvement has been surprisingly tardy over the years.

Given tourism's potential to be a major source of local revenues, this is truly bewildering.

Now that the authorities are beginning to do the clean-up - they have disqualified four tourist sites from the local day tour market for such offenses as cheating - we hope they can go far enough this time.

Such moves are not only essential for tourists' experiences in the city, but also for a healthy future for the local tourism industry.

It is not just for the upcoming Olympics that the city needs to take measures to make itself more tourist-friendly.(China Daily June 9, 2008)

Foreigners Favor Siheyuans
China.org.cn Nov. 20, 2004 - A great number of siheyuans have been sold to foreigners in Beijing since the city launched its new trade policy early this year. Siheyuans are traditional residential compounds with buildings surrounding a courtyard. Old Beijingers, especially the rich and powerful, used to live in these once high-status houses. However, many contemporary residents, who felt they were inconvenient, have moved into modern housing as the city has developed. (full coverage...)

The total population of Beijing is expected to exceed 15.5 million by 2010
Chinanews.cn Aug. 2, 2005 - A Beijing-based research institute on demographics predicts the number of people in the city will reach the peak of some 17 million in 2025. The institute suggests Beijing may also witness a rising number of elderly people, about six million by 2045. It adds the number of migrant people in the city hit nearly 4.1 million in 2003, with a growth of about one million from 2000. More than 80 percent of them are engaged in wholesale, retail, catering, manufacturing, construction and service sectors. By the end of 2003, there were more than 14.5 million permanent residents in Beijing.

Beijing opens defense tunnel to tourists
Xinhuanet April 6, 2005 - Beijing opened an old defensive tunnel about 10 meters underground to tourists Wednesday. The tunnel, built by volunteers in 1969, is known as "Beijing's Underground Great Wall," said Wang Junliang, an official at Qianmen's community labor service management center, which manages the tunnel. "Most native Beijingers dug tunnels at home in the four downtown districts of Dongcheng, Xicheng, Chongwen and Xuanwu in those years," said Wang. "But most tunnels were just around three meters deep and were filled up over the past decades." ..(full coverage)

Better-looking Taxis Attract Eyes in Beijing

Xinhua News, Mar. 22, 2005 - In the early spring of 2005, more and more new and good-looking taxis have attracted eyes in Beijing. All the new taxis have two colors in upper and lower body, one is yellow, the other is red, green, or purple. Starting late last year, old taxis in Beijing began to change. Now, for the first time, two colors are used on taxis and different companies can choose

their own colors according to their preferences. Taxis are regarded as the "name card" of a city. In past years, taxis were basically painted yellow or red. Some foreigners who came to Beijing for the first time wondered why Beijing had so many fire engines on the streets. Especially in the scorching summer, red taxis sometimes induced a fretting mood. It is believed that brightly colored taxis can provide comfort and easy feeling for passengers. The choice of the color this time also reflected public opinion, as many Beijing citizens voted for their favorite color online. So far, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hangzhou have already changed the colors of their taxis, with different colors representing different companies. The changed colors of the clothes of Beijing denizens symbolizes China's reform and opening-up policy of the early 1980s, while the change of taxi color now also indicates a more cheerful and confident nation.

Taxis in Beijing Airport Go the Extra 10km
CRI.com Jan. 26, 2005 - Beijing Airport is taking measures to help short distance passengers get a taxi home quickly. New regulations stipulate that cabs taking passengers within 20 kilometers one way can join a short distance line after they back to the airport, so that the driver needn't wait a long time to find the next passenger. Currently, the airport only allows the taxis that run within 10 kilometers one way to wait in the short distance line. Since many people live in the business areas about 20 kilometers away from the airport, the new regulations will surely make their lives easier.

Visitor Number Control in Attractions in Beijing

CRI.com Jan. 25, 2005 - A new regulation about restricting the number of visitors entering certain tourist attractions will be implemented in Beijing from March 24th. According to the regulation, in the golden tour week or weeklong holidays, usually lasting from May 1 to 7 and October 1 to 7 every year, when the density of population exceeds one person per square meter indoors or one person per 0.75 square meters outdoors, the number of visitors will be restricted. Restrictions will also be imposed on numbers entering places of entertainment, supermarkets, cinemas and restaurants in the future.

Beijing Cabs: Gas Prices Up, So Maybe Fares Up

China Radio International, August 27, 2004 - Beijing cabs may soon charge extra because of the gasoline price hike. The plan has already been submitted to the municipal government. Since the gasoline price went up Wednesday, the second time in rise this year, taxi drivers will have to spend an average of some 500 yuan (RMB), about US$60, more a month. Meanwhile, increased fuel prices are also putting pressure on public transportation. In Jinan, the capital of east China's Shangdong Province, cabs have been charging passengers an extra yuan to compensate for higher gas prices.

Foreigner Tourists Practice Tai Chi in Beijing
June 12, China Daily - On the morning of June 10, Over 30 foreign tourists from a European tour group could be seen practicing Tai Chi with local people in Beijing's Temple of Heaven.To promote traditional Chinese culture in preparation for the upcoming 2008 games, a local tourism agency in Beijing has planed a series of tourism activities with an intense Chinese flavor. Bicycle tours of Beijing's Hutongs (traditional alleys) and learning Chinese Tai Chi are among them. (Click for pictures.)

Beijing Buses to Extend Operation Hours

CRIENGLISH.com Apr. 9, 2007 - The operation hours of 91 bus routes in Beijing will be extended to 10pm starting on April 14. Xinhua News Agency reported the move is to further optimize the municipal bus network. The operation time of the 91 routes will be prolonged by one hour on average. Some routes will be extended by up to two hours.New routes will also run to bridge certain gaps and cover weaknesses in the current bus network. The new routes will be a supplement to the new Beijing subway line No. 5, as well as two special express bus routes expected to begin operation this year. The adjustment will bring convenience to residents living in more than 100 residential areas.

Handbook Available for Easy Stay in Beijing
CRI, Nov. 13, 2006 - The Foreign Affairs Office of Beijing Municipality recently held a release ceremony for the Handbook for Foreigners in Beijing at Xidan Bookstore. Starting now, foreigners travelling to Beijing and local expats can benefit from the pocket-sized handbook, which provides useful information on a variety of issues, including entry, taxes, business, travel, religion, adoption, medical care and marriage. A detailed map of the 2008 Beijing Olympic's stadiums is also available on the last page of the book. The handbook is printed in both English and Chinese. Statistics from the Foreign Affairs Office show there are over 70,000 foreigners living in Beijing. The city also receives 3.5 million foreign travelers annually.

Traditional Goods Favorites Among Foreign Travelers in Beijing
CRI Jan. 31, 2007 - According to the latest statistics from the Beijing Tourism Administration, travelers arriving China spent US$1,033, or about 8,000 yuan, per person last year in Beijing. In addition, the income of foreign exchange from tourism surpassed US$4 billion for the first time. According to the Beijing Evening News report, Ms. Li, An English tour guide with considerable experience, revealed that silk, pearl and cloisonne are the three favorite goods purchased by foreigners who come to Beijing. (Click for full story)

Beijing's Dining Streets
China Daily, Mar. 28, 2007 - Food speaks louder than god. This is true in Beijing, that's why the restaurants here are filled with people during dinning hours. To refresh your knowledge of Beijing's dining scene, here compiles a list of nine of the city's dining streets. Each has its own charm: one dedicated to seafood, one diners may come across Chinese pop stars, one features foreign restaurant. Let's explore. (Click for full report.)

Traditional Goods Favorites Among Foreign Travelers in Beijing

CRI January 31, 2007 - According to the latest statistics from the Beijing Tourism Administration, travelers arriving China spent US$1,033, or about 8,000 yuan, per person last year in Beijing. In addition, the income of foreign exchange from tourism surpassed US$4 billion for the first time.

According to the Beijing Evening News report, Ms. Li, An English tour guide with considerable experience, revealed that silk, pearl and cloisonne are the three favorite goods purchased by foreigners who come to Beijing.

In previous years, tourists used to be taken to traditional arts and crafts stores, but they now ask to be taken to the Silk Market in the central business district or Hongqiao Market near the Temple of Heaven.

Many foreign travel agencies arrange tours to the Silk and Hongqiao Markets as part of their packages. The tour guide revealed they are becoming better known globally and the reports of reasonable prices and quality goods there help boost their profiles. Many foreign travelers have become more interested in shopping at these traditional places for locals and always have a lot of fun there.

In addition, other favorite clothing markets for Beijingers are also becoming popular with foreigners, including the Yaxiu Market near the Workers' Stadium and Jiayi Market opposite the Kunlun Hotel.

Beijing's Old City Disappearing Rapidly
China.org.cn by Wang Qian, Sep. 20, 2006 - China.org.cn by Wang Qian, September 20, 2006Qizhi, vice president of Tsinghua University' School of Architecture at a forum held Monday on Beijing's environment and the construction of a city fit to live in. (Click for full report)

Beijing Prisons Open to Public Visits
Xinhua News, July 27, 2006 - Prisons will be less secretive in China from now on. Beijing has decided to open several of its once sealed-off prisons to regular public visits. A Beijing jail opened to the public on Wednesday is the second in the city, following Beijing Women's Prison, opened earlier this month, to welcome outside visitors on certain days. People over 18 years old can now apply for a one-day visit to Beijing Prison, located in the suburbs about one hour's drive from downtown Beijing and home to nearly 2,000 male convicts sentenced to more than 15 years behind bars, the prison authority said. (Click for full report)

Beijing to Build Second International Airport

China Daily, July 31, 2006 - With extension work already underway at the Capital International Airport, plans have been unveiled for a second airport for Beijing. The new airport will be built after the 2008 Olympics, said a civil aviation administration official. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) recently called for authorities to speed up their consultations on where the new airport will be. (Click for full report)

Secret Villages Revealed
China Daily - Tourists can now stay in traditional Chinese villages without even leaving Beijing municipality. Centuries old villages in Yanqing, about a 90-minute drive from the Beijing City center, are now offering tours for the first time ever. Resting on pristine countryside, the villages are often overlooked by tourists rushing to the overcrowded Badaling Great Wall. Three small villages now offer 15 yuan (US$1.88) meals and accommodation for as little as 15 yuan (US$1.88) a night.(Click for full report.)

Beijing Plans 3 More Subway Routes

Xinhua News, February 10, 2006 - Beijing has mapped out plans to build three more subway routes to provide faster traffic links between the city center and the outer areas. Construction will start before 2010 on Huangcun Subway Route linking the downtown areas with Huangcun, a satellite city in southwestern Beijing, No. 15 Route, a light rail route to Shunyi District in the northeast, and No. 11 Route running through the southern part of the city, said sources attending a meeting Thursday on Beijing's communication work in the coming five years. (Click for full report)

Beijing Travel Tips

Temple Fairs in Beijing
China Internet Information Center, Jan. 28, 2006 - Temple fairs are a Beijing custom that dates back to the Liao Dynasty (916-1125). In the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368), the bustling temple fair in Chenghuangmiao (Temple of the City God) Street -- present-day Chengfang Street -- Became particularly famous. During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), temple fairs became widespread, and under the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) their numbers further increased. After the Revolution of 1911, however, large permanent markets were established and temple fairs gradually disappeared. (Click for full report)

Beijing Braced for 'Bang' Holiday
China Daily, Jan. 27, 2006 - Excitement is mounting for the upcoming Spring Festival not least because residents in Beijing and other cities can mark the celebrations again with a bang. Many areas such as the capital banned firecrackers 12 years ago because of an increasing number of injuries involving the explosives. But now regulations are being relaxed, people are in party mood. (Click for full report)

New Beijing Museum Puts on Maiden Show
Xinhua News, Dec. 17, 2005 - The new Beijing Museum, built with investment of 1.23-billion-yuan (US$152 million) reopened on a trial basis Friday, displaying various antiques as well as the old folk culture of Beijing. The museum, which focuses on life in Beijing in bygone days, covers an area of 63,390 square meters, with a 2,000-square-meter central hall. The reconstruction project lasted four years. "The new Beijing museum has 13 themed exhibition rooms displaying 5,622 items. The collection is the largest in China," said Han Yong, the curator of the museum. According to Han, 80 percent of the rarities are being showcased for the first time in China. To make it more convenient for visitors, 1,000 computerized-navigators have been installed to give visitors introductions on the exhibited items. Information is also given in English and Japanese. Other languages will be added in the future. The venue is expected to receive 2,000 visitors daily and tickets will be 20 yuan (US$2.5) each for the trial operational period.

Asian Tour Diary: Beijing
Unitedrant.co.uk, Aug. 8, 2005 - China will hold some exceptional memories for me; on arriving at our Hotel, the Novotel Xinqiao in Beijing, a number of trips were made available to us by our brilliant tour guide Steven. With his goatee beard he was only a bowler hat and suit short of being "Odd Job" from the James Bond movies. Dave and I set out to find Tiananmen Square, which is the largest city square in the world... (click for full story)

Beijing Taxi Passengers Can Enjoy TV Programs
Xinhua News Aug.15, 2005 - Taxi passengers in Beijing can enjoy television programs now as more than 1,000 local taxis have been furnished with mobile TV sets, the Beijing Daily reported on Saturday. A small TV screen is fixed above the front seat of the taxi, and can play programs automatically after the driver presses the meter. The passenger can turn up or down the volume by himself. The television will shut down automatically 30 seconds after the driver lifts the meter. It is expected that 10,000 taxis will be equipped with such TV sets by the end of this year as nine taxi companies have signed agreements with the Beijing Mobile TV Co., according to the newspaper. The mobile TV company will launch a special channel for taxi passengers on next Monday, an official was quoted by the newspaperas saying. Beijing bus passengers are already enjoying mobile TV programs provided by the same company.

Beijing plans to build a buffer zone to safeguard the Imperial Palace
People's Daily, July 18, 2005 - The plan will effectively protect the traditional style, features and historical authenticity of the environment surrounding the palace, said Chinese officials. .. According to the plan, the zone will include the following areas: from Zheng Yang Men (South-facing Gate Tower) in the south and the two sides of Tian'anmen Square, to the area of Di'anmen and the Second Ring Road in the north composed of the five historical cultural preservation streets and areas of the Shishahai Park, the Forbidden City, Guozijian Street, and North and South Luoguxiang. The zone covers an area of 1,377 hectares or 1,463 hectares if the imperial palace included, said Kong Fanchi, deputy director of Beijing Cultural Relics Bureau. (full report)

Yuanmingyuan Ruins Park to Open in October
Xinhua News, Feb. 20, 2005 - The western part of the Yuanmingyuan Ruin Park will open to public in October this year, an official of the palace said Friday. Yuanmingyuan, the Chinese emperor's private pleasure garden, was built in the early 18th century and was once known as "Versailles of the East." It was overrun by British and French infantry in 1860. In preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the western part of Yuanmingyuan, consisting over 20 scenic sites, has been undergoing renovations since 2004.

Beijing's New Bar Street to Open in Suburb
Chinanews.cn April 21, 2005 - China's largest bar street, located in Beijing's suburban Huairou's Chengmiao Township, will soon open its doors to welcome customers. Named "China's First Bar Street", the project has broken ground and will take up 19.54 hectares of land to create 94,000 squares meters of construction footage. The cost is estimated at 460 million Yuan (US$55 million). Beijing's existing world-renowned Sanlitun, currently China's bar capital, is only one-third of the size of Bar Street. (full report)

Beijing Facts and Figures

Population: Over 16.3 million (By the end of 2007)
Area: 16,800 square km
Time and Weather: Beijing Current Time and Weather
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Beijing Related Blogs

Beijing Related Report Links

Beijingers opt for suburban travel in shortened May Day holiday

Beijing drops as tourist destination -Xinhua News (April 10, 2009)

History in the making

Why I as non-Chinese speaking foreigner let myself ride subway

Beijing Related Exhibitions

Shopping in Beijing

China silk market traders protest "fake goods" label - Reuters

Beijing Silk Street (Market) and Pearl Market
Wangfujing: Wangfujing Avenue is Beijing’s Champs Elysee, a shopping heaven for both Beijingers and travelers. It was built in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and was Main Avenue of the empire’s capital. In the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), it was given the name of Wanfu (prince’s residence) because a prince’s mansion was built there. By the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), its name was changed to Wanfujing. Over the years, the avenue has become the capital’s major shopping center, where most of Beijing’s prestigious stores are located. Almost all the people from outside Beijing will try to make a trip to Wanfujing and enjoy a shopping spree.
A grand reconstruction project was launched in Wangfujing in 1992. Though the eight years of renovation has cost Wanfujing a lot by scaring away more than half of the shoppers, the face-lifting of the avenue more beautiful but also attracted more customers. The avenue is definitely more beautiful, with newly paved and widened road, and fancy shopping malls erected. The stories on the avenue are enjoying a boom. The Wanfujing Department Store, for instance, had about 400,000 customers during the first day of its re-opening.
Liulichang Street
Walking on Liulichang Street is a nice experience of Chinese culture. The buildings along the 750-meter long street are all traditional Chinese buildings, with red wooden pillars and grey bricks. All the buildings are treasure houses which sell antiques, Chinese paintings and artefacts. Most of the stores on the street are old and famous. Take Rongbaozhai (Chamber of Honour and Treasure) for instance, the store has a history of more than 200 years, and has a huge collection of paintings by famous painters, seal cuttings and antiques. It also frames pictures and auctions antique paintings and calligraphies. On the street, there is even a restaurant named after Chinese culture guru Confucius. In this Chinese-style mansion where all the waiters and waitresses are dressed in traditional Chinese costume, you will have a taste of the old-fashioned formal Chinese dinner.

Useful Links about Beijing Travel and Tour

Beijing General Information

Beijing International (Official Beijing Guide by Beijing Government)
Beijing! Travel Tips
Beijing Airport Information
Beijing's Temple Fair Information for 2006
Beijing Map
Beijing City Metro Map
Beijing Electronic Map
Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau
Beijing Bars and Pubs

International Media Coverage: Beijing

Bustling Beijing. MSNBC

Beijing Tourist Attractions: