Insight Guides City Guide Beijing (Travel Guide eBook)

Insight Guides

Description

Insight Guides City Guide Beijing

Travel made easy. Ask local experts. 
Explore one of the most exciting cities in the world with this inspirational travel guide.

From deciding when to go, to choosing what to see when you arrive, this guide to Beijing is all you need to plan your trip and experience the best this city has to offer, with insider information on must-see, top attractions like the Imperial Palace, the Great Wall and the 798 Art District, and cultural gems like the picturesque Black Lakes area, the unforgettable Tiananmen Square and the beautiful environs of the New Summer Palace.

Features of this travel guide to Beijing:
- Inspirational colour photography: discover the best destinations, sights and excursions, and be inspired by stunning imagery
- Historical and cultural insights: immerse yourself in Beijing's rich history and culture, and learn all about its people, art and traditions
- Practical full-colour maps: with every major sight and listing highlighted, the full-colour maps make on-the-ground navigation easy
- Editor's Choice: uncover the best of Beijing with our pick of the city's top destinations
- Key tips and essential information: packed full of important travel information, from transport and tipping to etiquette and hours of operation
- Covers: Tiananmen Square and Surroundings; The Forbidden City; Southern Beijing; The Lake District and the North; Eastern Beijing; Western Beijing; The Summer Palaces; Western Fringes; The Great Wall; Further Afield

Looking for a comprehensive guide to China? Check out Insight Guides China for a detailed and entertaining look at all the country has to offer.

About Insight Guides: Insight Guides is a pioneer of full-colour guide books, with almost 50 years' experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides with user-friendly, modern design. We produce around 400 full-colour print guide books and maps, as well as phrase books, picture-packed eBooks and apps to meet different travellers' needs. Insight Guides' unique combination of beautiful travel photography and focus on history and culture create a unique visual reference and planning tool to inspire your next adventure.

Sujets

• Cantón (China)
• Mandarín
• Shanghái
• Pekín
• Bradt
• Beijing
• Travel
• Guangzhou
• East
• 2020
• 2021
• Mandarin
• Eyewitness
• Asia
• China
• Hangzhou
• Chengdu
• Marco Polo
• Shanghai
• Xi'an
• Canton (Chine)
• Pékin

Informations

• Publié par: Apa Publications
• Date de parution: 01 janvier 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781839052170
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 7 Mo

Extrait

How To Use This E-Book

Getting around the e-book
This Insight CityGuide e-book is designed to give you inspiration for your visit to Beijing, as well as comprehensive planning advice to make sure you have the best travel experience. The guide begins with our selection of Top Attractions, as well as our Editor’s Choice categories of activities and experiences. Detailed features on history, people and culture paint a vivid portrait of contemporary life in Beijing. The extensive Places chapters give a complete guide to all the sights and areas worth visiting. The Travel Tips provide full information on getting around, activities from culture to shopping to sport, plus a wealth of practical information to help you plan your trip.
In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.
Maps
All key attractions and sights in Beijing are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map] just tap this to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.
Images
You’ll find hundreds of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of Beijing. Simply double-tap on an image to see it full-screen.
About Insight Guides
Insight Guides have more than 40 years’ experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. We produce 400 full-colour titles, in both print and digital form, covering more than 200 destinations across the globe, in a variety of formats to meet your different needs.
Insight Guides are written by local authors, whose expertise is evident in the extensive historical and cultural background features. Each destination is carefully researched by regional experts to ensure our guides provide the very latest information. All the reviews in Insight Guides are independent; we strive to maintain an impartial view. Our reviews are carefully selected to guide you to the best places to eat, go out and shop, so you can be confident that when we say a place is special, we really mean it.

© 2017 Apa Digital (CH) AG and Apa Publications (UK) Ltd




Table of Contents
Beijing’s Top 10 Attractions
Editor’s Choice
Introduction: China’s Ancient Capital
The Beijingers
Decisive Dates
From Ancient Times to 1949
Communism and Modern Times
Life in the New China
Religion
Insight: Traditional Chinese Medicine
Food and Drink
Arts and Crafts
Insight: Beijing Opera
Introduction: Introduction
Tiananmen Square and Surroundings
The Forbidden City
Southern Beijing
Insight: Beijing’s Park Life
The Lake District and the North
Insight: Life in the Hutong
Eastern Beijing
Insight: Modern Art
Western Beijing
Insight: Beijing’s Unusual Restaurants
The Summer Palaces
Western Fringes
The Great Wall
Insight: Building the Wall
Further Afield
Transport
A-Z: A Handy Summary of Practical Information
Understanding the Language
Further Reading
Beijing Street Atlas


Beijing’s Top 10 Attractions

From the Forbidden City to the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square and the Temple of Heaven, Beijing has no lack of magnificent sights. Here are 10 of the best.



Top Attraction 1



Imperial Palace Museum (Forbidden City) . One of the few remaining parts of the ancient capital and centre of the city. For more information, click here .
Fotolia


Top Attraction 2



The Back Lakes area . For all the neon-lit bar action, the few remaining hutong and locals’ outdoor activity makes the area around Houhai perhaps the most picturesque part of the city, particularly on summer evenings. For more information, click here .
Ming Tang-Evans/Apa Publications


Top Attraction 3



Great Wall . Though Badaling is most popular with domestic tourists, the crowds make it less appealing to foreign visitors. Mutianyu is better. For more information, click here .
Lee Hin Mun/Apa Publications


Top Attraction 4



Tiananmen Square . This gigantic open space at the heart of the city is simply like nowhere else on earth. For more information, click here .
AWL Images


Top Attraction 5



National Stadium (Bird’s Nest Stadium) . Built for the 2008 Olympics, the latticework structure is an iconic design, and a superb – albeit costly – legacy of the sporting spectacular. For more information, click here .
Lee Hin Mun/Apa Publications


Top Attraction 6



New Summer Palace . Conceived on a grand scale, this is one of the most beautiful gardens in the world. For more information, click here .
Fotolia


Top Attraction 7



798 Art District . The creative centre of the capital, albeit with creeping commercialism. For more information, click here .
Ming Tang-Evans/Apa Publications


Top Attraction 8



Beihai Park . Part of 2,000 years of landscape design in Beijing, Beihai is a wonderfully relaxing place to unwind. For more information, click here .
Ming Tang-Evans/Apa Publications


Top Attraction 9



Lama Temple . Spin a prayer wheel at this venerable Tibetan place of worship. For more information, click here .
Ming Tang-Evans/Apa Publications


Top Attraction 10



Temple of Heaven . Dramatic ancient buildings set amid what is arguably the nicest park in the city. For more information, click here .
iStockphoto


Editor’s Choice

Setting priorities, saving money, unique attractions… here, at a glance, are our recommendations, plus some tips and tricks even the locals won’t always know.




Tiananmen Gate, an iconic sight.
Lee Hin Mun/Apa Publications


Ancient Buildings

Tiananmen Gate . The iconic landmark from which Mao proclaimed the founding of the PRC, and which still features his portrait. For more information, click here .
White Dagoba . This large white Buddhist stupa in the midst of verdant Beihai Park has long been a city landmark. For more information, click here .
Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. The iconic circular building at the centre of the Temple of Heaven complex. For more information, click here .
Hall of Mental Cultivation (Forbidden City). The living quarters of Emperor Qianlong, the Empress Dowager and Pu Yi. For more information, click here .
Marco Polo Bridge (western fringes). This magnificent old bridge survived being the site of the first battle in the build-up to World War II. For more information, click here .
Tomb of Yongle (Ming Tombs) . The best Ming tomb. Yongle was largely responsible for building the ancient capital. For more information, click here .
Little Potala Temple, Chengde. An extraordinary copy of Lhasa’s Potala Palace in the Qing emperors’ relaxing summer resort. For more information, click here .



The unique East is Red dining experience.
The East is Red


Only in Beijing

Natural History Museum. Attractions include preserved human cadavers. For more information, click here .
Beijing City Planning Museum. A huge scale model of the city. For more information, click here .
Ancient Observatory. A unique sight: astronomical equipment dating back to the 13th century. For more information, click here .
The East is Red. Beijing does retro-kitsch like nowhere else – and nowhere more vibrantly than at this unusual restaurant. For more information, click here .
798 Art District. Beijing’s unique art district in the northeast of the city features numerous venues in converted factories. For more information, click here .



The essence of the old city at the Bird and Fish Market.
Imaginechina


A Flavour of Old Beijing

Hutong. Wandering around the streets that thread their way through the fast-disappearing old neighbourhoods is the best way to connect with the city’s past. Prime areas are around the back lakes. For more information, click here .
Laoshe Teahouse. The city’s most famous traditional teahouse hosts daily performances of Beijing Opera. For more information, click here .
Huguang Guildhall. Another old-style venue in which to witness Beijing Opera. For more information, click here .
Bird and Fish Market. Caged songbirds, crickets and Koi carp for sale. For more information, click here .



CCTV (China Central Television) headquarters.
iStockphoto


Modern Beijing

National Centre for the Performing Arts. Known locally as “the Egg”, this was the city’s first avant-garde modern building. For more information, click here .
CCTV headquarters. This spectacular modern structure lies close to the Third Ring Road. For more information, click here .
Sanlitun Village . This bar and restaurant district is probably the best place in the city to get a feel for the new generation of youthful, moneyed, aspirational Beijingers. For