By 2020 Beijing will be the most visited city in the entire world and you will come to see why. You will learn about the Chinese people and their way of life and appreciate it with every breath that you take. How the way a person’s handwriting is a judge of the person’s character. You will learn why the Chinese love opera, martial arts and acrobats because of the musical basis of the three of them. It is a phenomenal area filled with interesting attractions to see, restaurants, theatres, museums are abundant.

China is third in size only to Canada and Russia and having that many people in one place you will be amazed at how well they all get along and quite well in fact. There is a cooperative spirit among the people in Beijing and you will notice that character the very first few hours you spend there. It is a spirit of the people in the city of Beijing and you will like it as well as appreciate it very much.

With all there is to see and do and places to stay you will enjoy your trip to the highest extent. You will want to see The Forbidden City with its 9,000 rooms, yes, that is correct, rooms numbering 9,000 in a residence that was used for the Qing Dynasty.

At The Temple of Heaven you can hear an echo of a whisper down a long corridor. Visit the Beijing Planetarium and the Beijing Aquarium for more wonderful sightseeing. Then, eat, drink and celebrate at the nightlife spots throughout the area. Fun and happiness and lots of smiles are abundant in this most phenomenal city of Beijing.

Tongzhou’s advantage of location and its role in history decide that it is not only an important part of the canal culture, but also an inseparable part of Beijing’s culture.

As a local comprehensive museum of social science, Tongzhou Museum has two parts of display: “Ancient Tongzhou” is composed of 114 representative cultural relics, among which there are 2 first-class, 9 second-class and 57 third-class pieces. The display introduces the long history of Tongzhou from neolithic age to the Republic of China, with the period from Western Han to Qing Dynasty as the key. “Water Transportation and Tongzhou” mainly displays pictures hanged on the wall.

In addition, there are such cultural carriers as iron anchors, wall bricks and china pieces excavated from underground. All the relics and pictures lively show the relationship between Tongzhou and water transportation and the important position of Tongzhou in China’s water transportation history.

Many princes and princesses of the royal family in Ming and Qing Dynasty have chosen Changping as the place where their tombs were built. In the Changping Museum, you will know aboriginal tribes that depended on natural conditions to live chose this place five thousand years ago, from which you can see the good weather and rich agricultural products. Although five thousand years are only a twinkling to history, you can still look back to history and look forward to the future. After your visit to Changping Museum, you will appreciate the contribution of our ancestors and the bestowment of the nature.

Address: South of the east Fuxue Road, Changping District, Beijing

Bus Route: Bus 345 (branch) to Dongguan general stop of Changping; 314, 357, 376, 845, 912 to Dongguan stop of Changping

Self-drive Route: From Deshengmen to the north for about 35km along Jingchang high way until Changping District, then to the east until the back of the University of Petroleum

Closing Time: Monday

Nearby Sites: Ming Tomb, China Aeronautic Museum, Tank Museum, Juyongguan, Yinshanta Forestry and Xiaotangshan Hotspring

Admission Fee: RMB 5 Yuan (temporary)

Tel: 8610-69741095

The whole museum is divided into North Garden and South Garden with an area of 450,000 square meters. There are 16 national villages in the North Garden including those of Qiang, Oroqen and Hezhe ethnic groups.

There is the biggest domestic casting iron sculpture, artificial tropical banyan forest, water-eroded cave, Panlong Waterfall, rock pictures and supernatural wood of Alishan in the North Garden. There is national museum, Sculpture Square and over 20 national villages in the South Garden. All buildings adopt the proportion of 1:1. 

There are 5,622 items on display, almost 10 times the number of exhibits displayed at the old venue.

Construction on the new museum started four years ago. The Beijing municipal government decided that a bigger venue was necessary to put on display more of the museum’s 200,000 relics.

To make visits more convenient for foreign visitors, English and Japanese services are available. Other languages will be added in the future.

A multi-purpose hall can be booked for meetings and functions, and there are plans to use it for academic lectures, seminars or movies for the public. The hall is equipped with presentation facilities including other services such as a multi-language interpreter service.

The new museum also features a cultural and museum activity area for the public. Planned activities include pottery making, a presentation showing how relics are repaired and preserved, Chinese ink rubbing, and face-painting Peking Opera style.

In the interactive multimedia hall, visitors can look forward to “The Treasure of the Capital Museum” and “A Look at Beijing”.

“The Treasure of the Capital Museum” provides high-definition photos of cultural relics.

“A Look at Beijing” features archive pictures of Beijing, historical sites, dramas and operas, and traditional folk art.

A digital movie hall opens its doors at 09:05 AM, with presentations every half hour. Designed much like an omni theater, the arc-shaped screen presents a viewing angle of 120 degrees.

The building was one of ten famous architectures built in 1959 to mark the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic. The Museum of Chinese History was in the South Wing while the North Wing housed the Museum of the Chinese Revolution. They were both opened to the public in 1961. The building has a rectangular exterior and faces the Great Hall of the People. Twenty-four square pillars make up the magnificent west gate portico. With its classical color and imposing structure, the whole building is an important part of the panorama of Tian’anmen Square.

The menu is really extensive and they have a great and reasonably priced Peking Duck (Kao Ya).  Their Gong Bao Ji Ding and Jing Jiang Rou Si are also highly recommended.  Also, no matter what you order, it comes in super-sizes.  This can be extremely economical if you have many mouths to feed.

The restaurant is clean and tidy for a budget restaurant but its very popular so it tends to get a little noisy and the cigarette smoke can becoming annoying.  But you could say this adds to the Beijing feel.

This restaurant is situated a fair hike from the city centre.  Best to take a taxi to get there.

This small restaurant serves some great Chinese home style cooking and has service with a smile.  They don’t speak English but have a lot of experience with foreign guests’ attempts at Chinese.  Give it a try.

We particularly recommend the Lazi Ji Ding (Spicy Diced Chicken) and Zha Ji Pai (Deep fried breadcrumbed chicken breast), pictured above.

This place is located opposite the Jin Ke Long supermarket to the south of Chaoyang Park.  You can take the 710, 752, or Mini 3 buses from Da Wang Lu subway station heading north.  Or of course, by taxi using the directions at the foot of the page.

You can cook meat kebabs at your table or have them cooked for you.  The other thing we strongly recommend here is the Beef Mix Rice (Niu Rou Gai Fan).

This restaurant is a great example of modern traditional Chinese dining.  The menu is extensive and the taste is authentic.  The cleanliness and hygiene is budget to mid-range, but bear with it or you’ll miss some great, value for money food.