Beijing Off the Beaten Path Tips by Chris_Dahlia

A TOUR OF THE 'HUTONG' (small avenue)

Nowadays, there are organized tours of Beijing hutongs for foreign tourists.

You can make reservation at the Beijing Hutong Culture Development Company, or buy at your own hotel.

You will be taken by pedicab (a tricycle cab),which was very common to the old days to see the Bell and Drum Towers, one or two former palaces of the imperial princes, some interesting hutongs and even to pay a visit to an ordinary Beijing family in the compound houses.

If you are there at a meat time, you may be invited to a family 'banquet' with local dishes.

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SI HE YUAN

Traditionally most urban Chinese used to live in quadrangles called siheyuan or 'four-side enclosed courtyards.' These courts, as the name implies, are formed by inward-facing houses on four sides, closed in by enclosure walls.
Not only residences but ancient palaces, government offices, temples and monasteries were built basically on the pattern of the siheyuan, a common feature of traditional Chinese architecture.

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Native Production

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Providing special description of various unique productions of ancient Beijing like antiques, jade, silk, Chinese trational paintings and calligraphy, cloisonne, lacquerware, procelain and more¡­

A good place to find a wide selection of antiques is at Liulichang. Liulichang is a street in Xuanwumen, and many of the stores are quite old. This area has everything from scrolls, to jade articles to decades-old cigarette advertisement posters. There are definitely treasures to be found here, but it is hark to tell genuine antiques from dirty fakes. Real antiques are supposed to bear a red official seal that proves their authenticity, but sometimes real omen don't have it and fake ones do. The best attitude to have is: if you like it and you can bargaining down to a price you can accept, just go for it. Small jade articles and silver trinkets make great presents for people at home and they are easy to take on the plane.

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PANDA

As all know, panda is so precious animal from China. If you visit China but don't visit panda, that will be a pity. Why don't you go to Beijing Zoo then?

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PEKING UNIVERSITY
It is the best university in China with long history. There are also some nice view in the campus which is worth seeing.

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