"Beijing - Host of 2008 Olym ..." a Beijing Travel Page by Susanna1975

Take a taxi no matter how short the distance looks in your map, because it will be a long walk and the taxis are cheap (as well as safe if you request the driver to put the meter on).

Hutongs are cosy neighbourhood areas with narrow alleys and they are about to disappear when bigger building are replacing these one floor apartments. This is easy place to see how the locals live. Hutongs have been quite an essential part of Beijing city, but now only some are going to be saved and rest are torn apart.

Do not buy anything on the given price (unless you are in government store with fized prices - although bargaining is possible in some of the government stores). Usually it is said that you should get at least 2/3 of the rate given to you at first, but in my experience you can get 9/10 off the price. Remember that raw material and labour do not cost hardly anything in China. If you want to pay overprice, go to your hotel lobby bar - there you can find really overpriced tea as well as everything else.