Lonely Planet Beijing , livre ebook

Beijing

Contents

Plan Your Trip

Welcome to Beijing
Beijing's Top 13
What's New
Need to Know
First Time Beijing
Getting Around
Top Itineraries
If You Like...
Month By Month
With Kids
Like a Local
For Free
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping

Explore

Neighbourhoods at a Glance
Forbidden City & Dongcheng Central
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Activities
Drum Tower & Dongcheng North
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Activities
Temple of Heaven & Dongcheng South
Sights
Eating
Entertainment
Shopping
Activities
Beihi Park & Xicheng North
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Dashilar & Xicheng South
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Sanltun & Chaoyang
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Activities
Summer Palace & Hidian
Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Activities
The Great Wall
History
Ruin & Restoration
Visiting the Wall
Mutianyu
Gbeiku
Jiankou
Huanghua Cheng
Zhuangdaoku
Jinshanlng
Badalng
Hiking the Great Wall
Day Trips from Beijing
Ming Tombs
Chuandxia
Shidu
Wnping Town
Sleeping

Understand

Understand Beijing
Beijing Today
History
Historic Hutong
Arts
Architecture
Religion & Belief

Survive

Transport
Arriving in Beijing
Getting Around Beijing
Directory AZ
Customs Regulations
Discount Cards
Electricity
Embassies & Consulates
Emergency
Gay & Lesbian Travellers
Health
Internet Access
Legal Matters
Medical Services
Money
Opening Hours
Post
Public Holidays
Relocating
Safe Travel
Taxes & Refunds
Telephone
Time
Toilets
Tourist Information
Travellers with Disabilities
Visas
Volunteering
Women Travellers
Work
Language
Beijing Maps
Forbidden City
Dongcheng Central
Drum Tower & Dongcheng North
Temple of Heaven Park & Dongcheng South
Beihai Park & Xicheng North
Dashilar & Xicheng South
Haidian
Sanltun & Chaoyang
Summer Palace
Wudaokou

Table of Contents

Behind the Scenes
Our Writers
Welcome to Běijīng

Constantly reimagining itself as it races towards the future, yet inextricably linked to its glorious, notorious past, Běijīng is as compelling as it is complex.

Food Heaven
Food is an obsession for the Chinese and the dazzling array of different dishes you’ll encounter in Běijīng reflects the sheer joy locals take in eating. Dining out is the main social activity; it’s in restaurants that Běijīngers hang out with friends, romance each other, hold family reunions and do business, and the sheer variety of restaurants here is mind-boggling. Menus will have you salivating over succulent Peking duck, delicious dumplings and awesome noodles, but there’s food from every corner of China (and beyond) to be sampled too. From fiery Sìchuānese to Turkic–inspired Uighur cuisine, Běijīng's 60,000-plus restaurants cover every base.

Imperial Delights
Few places on Earth can match the extraordinary historical panorama on display in Běijīng. There are six Unesco World Heritage Sites in this city alone (just one less than the whole of Egypt). At its heart is the magnificent Forbidden City, a royal palace on a scale like no other. Běijīng is also home to sublime temples that aspire to cosmological perfection, while the city centre is criss-crossed by enchanting hútòng: ancient alleyways that teem with life today, as they did hundreds of years ago. And, to cap it all, the awe-inspiring Great Wall snakes its way across the hills north of town.

Architectural Ambition
It's not just the ancient architecture that wows tourists. Běijīng is also home to some of the world's most innovative modern buildings. The world's leading architects clamber for the chance to make their mark on this global powerhouse, and jaw-dropping structures such as the CCTV Building, Galaxy Soho, the NCPA concert hall and the Olympic Stadium are clear signs that Běijīng is not shy about proclaiming its status as China’s capital. Like the temples and palaces of the ancient past, and the imposing socialist realist monuments of the 1950s, these latest additions are built on a scale that screams, ‘Look at me!’.

Acrobats & Artists
Běijīng isn’t just the political centre of China – it’s the cultural heart of the country too. The nation’s top artists, writers, movie-makers and musicians converge here, making this the place to take the pulse of China’s ever-evolving cultural scene. With top-class museums, galleries galore, and an increasing number of music venues, there’s enough to keep you busy day and night. Běijīng is also the centre for the traditional Chinese performing arts. Whether it’s the mystique of Peking opera, tumbling acrobats or the graceful lines of Chinese classical dance that entrances you, the capital has it and more.

Performers at the Húguǎng Guild Hall | HUNG CHUNG CHIH / SHUTTERSTOCK ©


Why I Love Běijīng
By David Eimer, Writer
I am endlessly intrigued by Běijīng's ability to reinvent itself. Spending time here is to be on a permanent journey of discovery, where eye-popping buildings appear seemingly overnight, historic hútòng are transformed into hip hang-outs, and new venues open all the time. But some things never change in Běijīng and that is equally enticing. The food is always outstanding and the parks and temples remain oases of peace. Above all, I love being surrounded by the tangible evidence of China's amazing, dramatic history, whether it's the Forbidden City or the Great Wall. It's never boring here.
Běijīng's Top 13

The Great Wall
1 China’s most famous landmark, and one of the world's superlative sights, the Great Wall snakes its way across 17 provinces of China, but nowhere beats Běijīng as a base for mounting your assault. Scattered throughout the municipality are more than a dozen fragmented stretches, from the perfectly chiselled, to the charmingly dilapidated. You can get to them by bus, by train, by taxi…even by bicycle. And the adventurous can hike along it for days. The question isn’t whether to see the Great Wall; it’s how.
1 The Great Wall

THE GREAT WALL AT JĪNSHĀNLǏNG | APHOTOSTORY / SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Běijīng's Top 13

Forbidden City
2 The largest palace complex in the world, the Forbidden City encapsulates imperial Chinese grandeur, with imposing halls, splendid gates and age-old relics. No other place in Běijīng is invested with so much history, legend and intrigue. You could spend hours wandering its vast squares and high-walled passageways, which lead to delightful courtyards, gardens and minimuseums, while contemplating the enormity of shuffling your way around the place that 24 emperors of China called home.
1 Forbidden City & Dōngchéng Central

BRIAN KINNEY / SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Běijīng's Top 13

Tiān’ānmén Square
3 The world’s largest public square is a vast concrete desert at the heart of Běijīng. It’s also a poignant epitaph to China’s hapless democracy movement, which got a drubbing from the People’s Liberation Army here in June 1989. The stringent security can be off-putting, but such is its iconic status, few visitors leave Běijīng without coming here. Get up early and watch the dawn flag-raising ceremony, or wander by later on to see the surrounding buildings lit up at night.
1 Forbidden City & Dōngchéng Central

BRIAN KINNEY / SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Běijīng's Top 13

Hútòng
4 The heart and soul of Běijīng are its hútòng: the alleyways that criss-cross the centre of the city. Still home for many locals, these intoxicating, unique lanes not only tie the capital to its historic past – some lanes date back almost 800 years – but offer the chance to experience Běijīng street life in all its raucous glory. Wandering or cycling the hútòng during the day, and returning at night to the many bars and restaurants that now inhabit them, is an essential part of any visit to Běijīng.
1 Historic Hútòng

ROLF_52 / SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Běijīng's Top 13

Temple of Heaven Park
5 The ultimate expression of the eternal Chinese quest for order, Temple of Heaven Park is geometric perfection: a series of stunning shrines – including the iconic Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests – where the sons of heaven, China’s emperors, came to pray for divine guidance. Everything about them – colour, shape, sound – has an esoteric significance that's extraordinary to contemplate. Surrounding them is a delightfully soothing park, where locals come to stroll and dance, or to sit under the many ancient and gnarled cypress trees.
1 Temple of Heaven Park & Dōngchéng South

NINO H. PHOTOGRAPHY / GETTY IMAGES ©

Běijīng's Top 13

Summer Palace
6 The summer playground for China's emperors, the Summer Palace is a beguiling, superbly landscaped collection of temples, pavilions, gardens, lakes, bridges and corridors. Less formal than the Forbidden City, there is still more than enough elegance and beauty in its many structures to take your breath away. Clamber up Longevity Hill, pausing at the various temples that dot it, for splendid views across Běijīng, or promenade around Kūnmíng Lake and imagine what it must have been like to have had this place all to yourself.
1 Summer Palace & Haidian

LOVEGULI / GETTY IMAGES ©

Běijīng's Top 13

Peking Duck
7 You can’t leave Běijīng without sampling its most iconic dish. Once reserved for emperors and mandarins, Peking duck began to feature on the menus of the lower orders at the beginning of the 20th century. Now there are a number of specialist kǎoyā (roast duck) restaurants and the dish – juicier and more flavoursome than the crispy duck you get back home – is as much a part of Běijīng’s identity as the streets themselves.
5 Eating

PEKING DUCK SERVED WITH SIDES | BLUEORANGE STUDIO / SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Běijīng's Top 13

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