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Beijing Travel Guide  Content  1. Introduction     The 2008 Olympics     Beijing pictures    Maps of Beijing 2. Getting to Beijing     3. Getting around Beijing     4. What to do & to see in Beijing     The Forbidden City     The Temple of Heaven     The summer Palace     Tian’anmen Square & Hutong     Jingshan Park, Shichahai, and Tibetan Lama Temple (Northern Beijing)     Other places of interest in Beijing     5. What to do & to see around Beijing     North: The Ming Toms and Longqing Gorge     North: The Great Wall     West: The Western Hills     West: Zhoukoudian & Peking Man Site     East: The Qing Tombs     6. Chengde     Chengde : Bishu Shanzhuang     7. Shopping in Beijing  8. Beijing Opera, Shows, and Nightlife Introduction  While Beijing’s modern appearance owes much to the Communist era and the recent influx of capitalist cash, its most impressive and inspiring monuments are recognition of its long imperial tradition. The scale of the city, with its population of 15 million, can initially be overwhelming, but even a short meander into one of Beijing’s remaining hutong districts brings you close to the realities of daily life and all of a sudden the city seems human again.    While the vast number of construction sites, flyovers and mirrored skyscrapers can come as a shock to those hoping for a view of the years when Beijing was the emperor’s seat, a visit to any one of the principal imperial sights (the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven or the Summer Palaces) easily remedies this.     However, the greatest of Beijing’s, if not the world’s, sights lies north of the city. The Great Wall never ceases to amaze and it’s worth spending a couple of days out of the city to fully appreciate its majesty.   If you have enough time and want more imperial splendor, the rugged countryside around the capital holds Ming and Qing tombs, while, farther afield, the Mountain Resort at Chengde was long a popular emperor’s haunt and has some wild scenery along with its subdued palaces and grand temples.    Orientation  Beijing is a vast sprawling city, its grid-plan centered on imposing Tian’anmen Square and the Forbidden City, outside of which it is encircled by a series of numbered ringroads that form the city’s main traffic arteries.    The central city is divided into districts: west of Tian’anmen Square is Xicheng, to the east Dongcheng leads into Chaoyang, while to the south the Temple of Heaven lies in Chongwen and, west of here, Xuanwu contains the city’s Muslim quarter. In the far northwest Haidian has the old and new summer palaces and these days it’s also getting a reputation for a lively nightlife and restaurant scene.    Farther out from here, things become distinctly more rugged in the Western Hills, where you’ll find the Fragrant Hills and Badachu and, to the south, the temples of Jietai and Tanzhe    Tours  Although it’s perfectly feasible to get around and see all the sights by yourself, if you want to skip some of the hassle (and fun) of getting about, or have limited time, then there are plenty of agencies who arrange tours. All the major hotels have agencies, and hostels run budget versions of the same along with more adventurous trips, including hikes along the Great Wall.    Some hostel trips require a minimum number of passengers to operate, but during the summer months this is seldom a problem and, as many of the hostels operate joint tours, you should always be able to get to where you want to go, even if you have to wait a day or two. Most of these tours include transport and entry fees as well as an English-speaking guide. However, while these trips are inexpensive and convenient, they can be rushed and leave little room for independent exploration.     There are also companies that specialize in taking you places which are more difficult to stumble across by yourself and these can be worthwhile to escape the crowds, particularly for the hutong and trips out to the Great Wall. Beijing pictures   The 2008 Olympics    In China, eight is a lucky number and the Zhang Yimou choreographed Olympic opening ceremony will commence on the eighth day of the eighth month of 2008, seemingly automatically securing success but, just to be sure, Beijing has been doing everything it can to prepare for its 16 days in the world spotlight.    Incredible new structures are popping up all over the city (and indeed the country), none more impressive than the trio of extraordinary buildings in the Olympic Green – the National Stadium, the Aquatic Center and Digital Beijing.    Urban planning has stepped up a notch and all the major sights are getting a facelift, along with improvements to the transport system and the closing down of heavily polluting factories. Satellite cities are being built to contain Beijing’s ever-spiraling population and the “Green Great Wall” of trees is being planted to try and reduce the dust storms that tear through the city every summer.     However, while much is being made of the advantages of this infrastructural investment, the additional US$1 billion revenue that will be raised during Olympic year and the 1.8 million jobs that will have been created during the whole project, there is an uglier side to the Olympic picture. Human rights groups around the world were appalled when Beijing was awarded the event, as it seemed to condone abuses as long as money was being made.     I was here when the Olympic committee came to inspect Beijing as a potential venue in 2000 and witnessed first-hand the walls erected to hide the low-quality housing on the road from the airport and I read about how thousands of beggars were carted out of the city. These methods helped to attain the prize and it seems they will be used again during the actual event – 300,000 houses have been demolished and their residents removed (sometimes forcibly). It’s also reported that mentally handicapped people and vagrants will be ejected from the capital.     Over 70 new laws have been passed in order to suppress anti-government groups such as Free Tibet. Thus it’s unlikely that such groups will be allowed a voice at the Olympics, but, even if they manage to protest, you have to hope that China, nearly two decades after the Tian’anmen Square Incident and ever more aware of its international standing, will refrain from any draconian action. Having seen the six years of tremendous investment that has gone into the Olympics, my guess is that the 2008 Games will only reaffirm what the world is starting to realize – China has arrived!    Factfile  Locations: Beijing (athletics, badminton, diving, judo, soccer, shooting, swimming, taekwondo, weight lifting), Hong Kong (equestrianism), Qingdao (beach volleyball and sailing), Qinghuangdao (soccer), Shanghai (soccer), Shenyang (soccer), Tianjin (soccer).    Logo: The Dancing Bear logo for the 2008 Olympics is an ingenious piece of work that uses the Chinese character jing (meaning capital) in traditional seal style to also portray an athletic and open-armed individual, embodying the slogan for the games, “One World, One People.”    New Events: BMX, wushu (kung fu) and marathon swimming, among others.    Tallest Competitor: At seven feet six inches, basketball player Yao Ming is the tallest athlete ever to take part in the games.     Medal Hopes: Following promising performances in the Asian Games, China expects to win at least 20 Olympic medals.    Visiting During the Olympics  If you’re thinking of an Olympic visit, be ready for a spectacle, but also for crowds – it’s estimated that there will be an extra 2 million visitors to Beijing during 2008, 300,000 of whom will come from overseas.    In spite of the government regulations limiting hotel prices during the Olympic period, many hotel and hostel owners are already planning their price hikes, so be prepared to pay over-the-top rates and reserve as soon as possible – tour companies are already taking bookings.     Getting around should be facilitated by the new subway lines that will have opened, and the reduced number of vehicles allowed on the roads.     Back to:  Cities and regions of China homepage China Travel guide homepage Links • maps of beijing and beijing region • map of beijing summer palace • map of beijing temple of heaven • map of beijing forbidden palace museum • beijing and chengde glossary • Getting to Beijing • Beijing attractions - The Forbidden City • Beijing attractions - Tian’anmen Square and Hutong • Beijing attractions - The Summer Palace • Attractions around Beijing (North) : the Ming Tombs • Attractions around Beijing (North) : The Great Wall • chengde travel guide • xi’an travel guide • shanghai travel guide • suzhou travel guide • guilin travel guide • yangshuo travel guide • guangzhou travel guide • chongqing travel guide • beijing travel guide