Beijing Things to Do Tips by agaiax

Commune By The Great Wall Great Wall - Badaling Review

Commune by the Great Wall is a private collection of contemporary architecture. it is a valley near Badaling section of the Great Wall in which contemporary Asian architects displey their work.
Visit of the Commune makes a nice one day trip out to the outskirts of Beijing. The entrance fee is 120 RMB (12 EUR) and includes private guided tour of the area, visit of 3 selected houses and visit of the Club House with coffe/tea for free...
It is also possible to hire a house there - the Commune is also a very posh hotel.
Place is open from 9 am to 6 pm.
Be sure to choose a suny day for a visit!
Oh, there are also beautiful views of the Great Wall from the valley and from some of the houses...

Address: 50 km northwest of Beijing, Badaling

Directions: 5 km from the Badaling (the Great Wall). Take bus no 919 (8 RMB) to Badaling. Argue past the gate (they will try to sell you ticket for the wall - you DON'T need it), continue on the road for next 5 km. There are signs (a red star) pointing the way.

Beijing and Tsinghua University Universities Review

Just in short - Chinese Universities are really nice! Full of young and nice pople, usually set in a nice surroundings and there is loads of things to do...
Beijing University has some really nice and old architecture, great park around Beida lake (nice for an afternoon stroll), interesting museums and great night life.
Tsinghua University is even bigger, not so interesting in way of architecture (but has a great park worth visiting), but has an even bussier night life.
In both places you can find interesting (and usualy very cheap) art preformances, music events, there is also cinema, lectures and sport events...
It's a really good way to meet young Chinese people, talk with them, exchange the ideas and knowledge...
As a landscape architect, I'd like to recomend again - visit both parks!
It is much easier to see it all if you have a bike...

Address: Northwest of Beijing, Haidian District

Directions: Northwest of Beijing, Beijing University is situated near the Yuan Ming Gardens and the Summer Palace. Tsinghua University even more to the south from Beijing University.

Other Contact: www.pku.edu.cn/

Website: http://www.tsinghua.edu.cn/eng

Tian Tan at 6 am Temple of Heaven Review

Another great and beautiful monument of Cinese architecture and landscape architecture.
But what I really liked were the people there. I visited Tiantan couple of times and the best time to visit is early in the morning. They open at 6 am and if you want to experience the life of park (and not just see the temple) this is the best time to enter. There are groups of (mostly elderly) people walking, exercising, tai chi exercising (with swords an fans), taking their birds for a walk, dancing, playing, talking... socialising. It is great! Not like in my hometown, where older people stay home, watch tv, feel lonely and deppressed. It's really beutiful and uplifting.
And if you feel like it - you're always wellcome to join.
The park opens at 6 am and closes at 7.30 pm. You can buy a ticket just for the park (I think it's only 10 or 15 RMB) or you can buy a whole ticket including the entrance fee for the temple commplex for 35 RMB. No student disscounts.

Address: South of Tiananmen Square.

Directions: In the central part of Beijing.

Website: http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/beijing/heaven/index.htm

Gu Gong - The Crowded City Forbidden City Review

Everybody knows about the Forbidden City...
If nothing else, at least you heard about or saw "The Last Emperor"...
Nowdays the once closed and forbbiden palace is open to the public and so one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world.
I myself didn't like it much... Actually, I think I'll put it also in the Tourist Traps section.
It is huge and totally crowded with noisy tourists. Coloured hats and flags everywhere, so you can hardly see enything else.
If you go there (and it is a must in Beijing), try and look for the details: roof tops, roof endings, some delicate ornamented tiles in the walls, ballustrades and other small things. They are worth seeing.
Architectually it is a grand monument, a Chinese "Baroque" with its 900 m axis... but as any Baroque commplex - it was build for the Emperor, to display his power and glory. As such it was also made to be walked through in a straight line from the south gate to the north and not to zigzag among heaps of tourist groups... It somehow looses the charm.
The palace is open from 8.30 am to 4.20 pm in summer. The entrance ticket is 60 RMB (6 EUR), you can get a student ticket for 20 RMB at the main south gate (some of my friends had problems getting a student ticket at the north gate).

Address: North of Tiananmen Square

Directions: In the Center of Beijing

Website: http://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/beijing/forbidden.htm

Tea and Teahouses Teahouses Review

Famous 16th-century tea-master Sen Rikyu identified the four basic principles of what he called the "Way of Tea" as harmony, respect, purity and tranquillity.
The Chinese give great attention to their tea and the way they drink it. People have high requirements for the quality of the prepared tea leaf, the water they use to brew tea and the wares they use to prepare and serve tea.
But for us western tourists - it is just a nice opportunity to sit down, relax (your aching feet – from too much "must see activities"), and enjoy a nice coup of green tea.
My addvice on a tea: try Longjing (Dragon Well) tea (originates from West Lake, Hangzhou).

Directions: One can see teahouses scattered on the streets of China, much like cafes on the streets of the West.

Website: http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/cuisine_drink/tea/

But they are everywhere - Hutongs Hutongs - Bell and Drum Towers Review

"Hutong" means a small street or a lane between two courtyards, but the word can also mean a local community within the city made of hutongs and residences. A hutong is a unique form of residential community that exists only in China. It was a model for living in last couple hundreds of years (for rich and the poor) and it is rapidly vanishing in last couple of decades. So if you want a taste of real China in Beijing – take a bike or a pedicab and head to the central part of Beijing. You have to do some of the exploring and you'll find them on your own (it's more fun and you're not time limited). The other way is to take an organised tour from one of the tourist agencies (some may arrange with local people to visit their courtyards and rooms and taste their food). In any case, it is a really nice experience – a touch of local Chinese tradition, culture and way of life which is rapidly disappearing because of the growth of new high residential buildings.

Address: Central Beijing (around Drum and Bell Tower)

Directions: There are thousands of hutongs in Beijing, mostly in central area - just look around couple of corners... But they are everywhere!

Website: http://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/beijing/hutong/yard.htm

Chill out during the summer - Summer Palace

The Summer Palace (new one, the old one is situated more to the south) is the largest imperial garden in the world. It is also a nice example of classical Chinese garden architecture.
The park landscape is made of artificial Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake. On the hill you can find a Buddhist Lamasery complex, there is also a magnificent view of the lake; an island and the Seventeen-Arch-Bridge. Around the hill are located a complex of courtyard buildings – palaces and gardens (residence of Empress Dowager), a water market (a copy of Suzhou Market Street) a channel lined with shops in traditional buildings and other halls with additional garden architecture... All very nice and full of tourists.
I myself preferred the other part – Kunming Lake with its dams, causeways and different bridges. It makes a great one day trip (especially in spring when the cherries are blooming). Don't forget to bring a blanket and some food and drinks – there are loads of lovely places on the way for a nice picnic.
If you don't have enough time, I suggest you to choose either the Longevity Hill with its nice architecture (and you can still see the lake from the hill) or Kunming Lake in it's more "natural" beauty (also not so crowded) instead of trying to grasp it all in few hours. If you have more time (like I had), take 2 days, make 2 visits (once you pay the whole ticket, the other time just through ticket – it's chipper) and enjoy it peacefully.
Palace is open from 7 am to 5 pm, the entrance fee is 35 RMB (3,5 EUR) including entrance for the Water Market, Lamasery, residence... I couldn't get a student discount – but you can try.

Address: Northwest of Beijing, Haidian District

Directions: It is located in Haidian District, some 12 kilometers northwest of the centre. The chipest and fastes way to get there is to take a metro line 13 to Shangdi, then take a taxi to the palace.

Website: http://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/beijing/summer.htm

An evening stroll and expensive drink Beihai Park Review

In the centre of Beijing north of the Forbidden City lies an imperial garden – today's public park Beihai ("North See" in Chinese). It is oppen from 6 am to 8.30 pm. Entrance fee is 10 RMB (5 for students - but you have to be persistent).
Beihai Lake covers almost half of the park area. There are beautiful vistas from the lake shore and from the island in the middle. On the highest point of the island is Bai Ta (White Dagoba) the symbol of the park. It is especially nice there in the evening, when crowds of tourists leave the place and it is left to the local people strolling around, playing Chinese chess, writing on the paving with a brush and water...
After the walk through the park you can stroll by the channel to the north (near the Bell and Drum Tower) and have a drink at one of the channel's very popular, very posh (and expensive) bars.

Address: Beihai Park

Directions: In the center of Beijing City north of Forbidden City

Website: http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/beijing/beihai.htm

Non-turistic part of the Great Wall Great Wall Review

The section at Huanghua is a section of the great wall off the beaten track. Here you will find no ticket boots, noisy souvenir and food sellers, groups of red, yellow, blue hats and flags ... Just the Wall, some adventurers (I myself met 4 people on the wall) and locals. The locals can be the biggest problem. Since this is a non-touristic part of the wall, the locals decided to make some money of it on their own. They occupy the strategic points on the paths leading to the wall and on the wall itself and collect entrance-fee. It is just 2 RMB (0,2 EUR) and it is collected every few hundred meters... If you have time and will to argue (I literary climbed the wall, because I refused to pay and had to lift a rock defending myself – but it was fun and worth it) – you can try, otherwise I suggest paying. The locals leave their posts around 5 pm. and then the wall is entrance-free. Since the wall is out of tourist area you better prepare yourself for the trip. Be sure to pack necessary clothes, hiking-shoes, drinking water and a flash light. It is also possible to sleep over on the wall in one of the better preserved watch towers (be sure to bring your sleeping bag – it can get cold at night!).
This part of the wall is not renovated so you can experience a true relict of Ming dynasty with high and wide ramparts, intact parapets and watch towers. It is set in natural surroundings, with a lake, water reservoir, a river, fields and yellow ("huang" in Chinese) wild flowers (especially beautiful in summer).
To get to Huanghua take a long-distance bus no. 916 from Dongzhimen bus station and get off at Huairou (6 or 8 RMB – depends if it is air-conditioned). In Huairou you can take a mini-bus (2 RMB) or a black (illegal) taxi (30 RMB) to Huanghua. The last bus back to Huairou is around 6 pm. The bus ride (around 60 km north of Beijing) takes approximately 2 hours.

Address: HuangHuaCheng

Directions: Huanghuacheng Great Wall is 60 kilometers north from Beijing City and 29 kilometers of Huairou.

Website: http://www.travelchinaguide.com/china_great_wall/scene/beijing/huanghua.htm