Beijing Shi Favorite Tips by victorwkf Top 5 Page for this destination

Huge vats at Forbidden City

Favorite thing: When you are inside the Forbidden City, you will see many huge copper vats like those shown in the photos. The vats are actually for fire fighting during the ancient times. They were filled with water so when there was a fire, water would be readily available (in a way, these are the ancient version of our modern fire hydrants).

Changing of Guards

Favorite thing: I managed to catch the changing of guards when I was at the Forbidden City in April 2008. After that, those guards who were off-duty had a game of basketball outside the Forbidden City in their uniforms (see photos). Very interesting indeed :)

Traditional Architecture

Favorite thing: When it comes to traditional architecture, China is perhaps one of the best in the world in view of its long and grand history. This can be truely felt at Beijing city since it is the capital city of China for many years now. When you visit the various historical attractions, you will find that the traditional architecture is very detailed and impressive, and each have its own meaning, background and story to tell (especially carvings of mythical creatures such as dragon, phoenix, unicorn and other creatures in Chinese folklore). Not forgetting, most of the ancient monuments at Beijing are very huge and will take many hours if you wish to cover every corner.

Art & craft in Beijing

Favorite thing: When you are in Beijing, it is worth checking out the famous art & craft here, especially the jade, silk, porcelain etc. However, it is suggest that you buy these valuable items from reputable stores to assure the good quality, as there are many shops which may not sell you the real stuff or sell you sub-standard products. If you like antiques, you can visit the Panjiayuan Market which sells a lot of so-called antiques but they are most likely not the real expensive ones.

Local people relaxing at Temple of Heaven park

Favorite thing: When you visit the Temple of Heaven, you will see many local people relaxing at the entrance and park area. Some of them will practice dances, taichi etc while others will practice their calligraghy skills by writing Chinese calligraphy on the cement ground using water so that it will not vandalise the place.

Language problems?

Favorite thing: English is more and more fequently spoken and written, so there is less of a language problem in Beijing and it will get better with the coming of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. In fact if you go around the tourist attractions, most of the signatures have English language so it is really quite easy to move around Beijing and it surroundings.

Ethnic Minority Hospitality

Favorite thing: When I was staying at Guangxi Hotel in Beijing, I was given good hospitality by the staff of the hotel, who are mainly from Guangxi province in south-west China which consists of many ethnic minority tribes such as the Miao people and Yi people. During my stay there, there are colourful and lively performances, as well as trying many dishes of the Guangxi province :)

Rising standard of living

Favorite thing: If you have been to Beijing years ago and then now, one thing you will notice is that the number of bicycles on the road has decreased a lot and the number of cars have increased a lot. This shows the rising standard of living, together with the modern skyscrapers, shopping, what people are wearing etc.