"Booming Beijing" a Beijing Travel Page by saa73

*****NEWSFLASH: My Beijing friend told me Chinese authorities raised the entrance fees to historical sites from 1 Dec 2004. Hence all entrance fees quoted in my report should now be doubled!***********

This must be one of the most interesting cities I've ever visited. As most visitors to China enter eithe through Beijing or Hong Kong, I would safely say that Beijing would make a better entrance for the first time visitor.
It is a tourist, food lover and shopper's haven, and all at great value for money. You have the grand buildings of Tiananmen Square built in true communist style, the Imperial grandeur of the Forbidden City, the tombs of the Ming emperors and not forgetting the must-see Great Wall of China!
Being the upcoming "tailorshop for the world", you find a great variety of clothing, fabrics, silk, at ridiculously low prices, and that's before bargaining! Of course, China's also famous for its imitation goods, from the fake Polo shirts and lately, imitation cars!
Beijing is growing at a tremendous pace, especially with the Olympics to be staged there in 4 years. Buildings, highways and railways are being built at a frenetic pace. Multinationals are setting up offices in gleaming new skyscrapers, and you see many European car models such as VW and Peugeot on the streets. Yet for all the development, there are many parts of Beijing that still retain the old world charm, such as the bar area near Qianhai lake and the small alleys or hutongs with quaint little shops. Beijing has a lot to offer for the food lover. Forget about the Chinese food you may be used to in your home country. Remember, China is huge and the diversity of this country is reflected in the cuisine. From North China, you get Peking Duck, Lamb Hotpot and cold cut cucumber salads, fried eels, watch out for fiery cuisine from Szechuan province, Xinjiang cuisine is reminiscent of Arabic food and of course, Cantonese food is famous world wide. Yum!