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 | Beijing Off the Beaten Path | Tips 1 - 10 of 340 |  |
 | |  |  | Beijing Underground City: Under The Beaten Path: Beijing Underground City | Tip Rating:   |  |  | |  |
Beijing's underground city was built during the height of the Cultural Revolution in 1969 when it was relatively easy for Mao Zedong to find volunteers. The Chinese were sweet buddies with the Soviet Union at the beginning of the communist revolution, but things ultimately turned sour during a bloody border skirmish in northern Heilongjiang province in 1969. A system of tunnels, bunkers, and air raid shelters was then built from 1969 to 1979 by thousands of Beijing citizens in case of a nuclear attack. Fortunately the elaborate labyrinthe was never needed for defense purposes and today serves as one of Beijing's least known tourist attractions. Inside you can walk around some of the tunnels and see vacant facilities which were once meant to be hospitals, restaurants, schools, theaters, roller skating rinks, and barber shops. The temperature is maintained at 18 degrees Celsius throughout the year. If you can read Chinese then you'll enjoy the amusing nostalgic Chinese slogans and murals still visible on the walls, with Mao quotes calling for people to "dig deep" and hopefully "win the fight against American imperialists and Soviet revisionists" The only activity you might see is at an underground silk workshop where you can observe the entire silk-making process, but it is actually a recent addition contracted out to Jiangsu entrepreneurs hoping to sell pillow covers and pajamas to Hong Kong and Taiwan tour groups. Admission into the tunnel costs 20 yuan for adults and 10 for children. It's best to bring your own flashlight, which you can find available for sale (very cheap) at stores on nearby Qianmen Dong Dajie. Leave a Comment Phone: 6702-2657Other Contact: 62 West Damochang Hutong
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| | | | Hutongs: Houhai | Tip Rating: | | | | |
It may seem odd to Beijing residents to describe Houhai as 'off the beaten track' but you can hardly stick it up with the Forbidden City and The Wall as 'must see'. Houhai is the collective name for the two most northerly of the four lakes that run up from Zhongnanhai through Beihai Park and right up to the Second Ring Road. Although a generic name, the hub of Houhai is at the Silver Ingot Bridge which is the bridge at the narrow channel joining the two northern lakes. In all directions there are quiet hutongs, slowly disappearing from Beijing as the developers put up new skyscrapers. Actually, there are still thousands of hutongs in and around Beijing, but as most of the hip journalists and commentators can't get more than 200 metres from the Buddha Bar, they focus on the demolition of hutongs in this area. Many hutongs are being restored and renovated. There are good hutong tours by pedicab, but you can get a lot by just walking in any direction, around in circles and just exploring. People are friendly, but laowai will attract a lot of attention. Look for the architectural details, doorway design, the way people live out in the street as well, the community spirit, the frequent public toilets (most hutongs have no plumbing), the use of bicycles everywhere, the old stones used for dismounting from horseback. A little tip: if you get lost and it is hazy or you just can't tell directions from the position of the sun, look which way houses are facing. Most (but not all) houses face south (but remember that the main doorway could be on any of the east, south and west facades). Not infallible, but good as a rule of thumb. Getting lost in the hutongs is easy and actually part of the attraction. houhai has some very good restaurants, many good cafes and bars, and a very transient scene. It is becoming "passe" for the cool, trendy Beijing cognoscenti, but it is a definite step up from the crap on Sanlitun. Houhai is a good place for lunch after the Forbidden City or the Drum and Bell Towers. Leave a Comment
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| | | | Beijing's Parks: Beihai Park | Tip Rating: | | | | |
The North Lake Park was originally the private pleasure gardens of the earlier Chinese royal dynasties. The lake, and surrounding parks, allow you to get away from the noise and pollution of the city streets. You can hire a boat for an hour or two and just cruise the lake, perhaps heading up the steep steps to the White Dagoba to watch the skillful kite flyers, their creations soaring high above the city rooftops. On the southern edge is the old Round City - once an island in the lake, with its views over the private government compund of Zhongnanhai. Below the Dagoba the Temple of Eternal Peace descends down the hillside in steps, right to the bottom. Jingxinzhai (The Study of the Tranquil Heart) is still the quietest spot in the park, a small network of gardens, pools, rockeries and shrubs - a garden withinh a garden - where lovers come for a little peace. Nearby, further pavilions, temples and courtyards provide space for teahouses, for contemplation and even a small art gallery. In the spring, the park is awash with colour and fragrance, especially the stately magnolia trees. The finale for your afternoon should be to sit in the Five Dragons Pavilion and listen to the old men and women play their ancient instruments. As the music gets going, elderly couples get up to dance in the small pavilions. These performances are better than any you will pay to see. The best time to visit was during SARS, when the crowds stayed at home, hiding under their beds, but Beihai Park is a pleasure at any time of the year. Leave a Comment
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| | | | Walking the Foreign Legation Quarter | Tip Rating: | | | | |
Zhengyi Lu is a little known street running south from Dongchang'an, opposite the Beijing Hotel. It is a quiet avenue with a small park running down the middle, but just as the Forbidden City brings back memories of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, so Zhenngyi Lu brings back more recent memories of the foreign powers' influence on China at the beginning of the twentieth century. This is the heart of the Foreign Legation Quarter, the area where foreign countries built their diplomatic compunds. Suddenly, you are transported from China to the old streets of London, Paris or Moscow. Many of the original buildings have been converted and many have been demolished, but there is enough remaining to reveal the opulent lifestyles of the foreign ambassadors and traders one hundred years ago. Many of the buildings are now the offices of gipvernment ministries and authorities, so photography needs to be discrete: most entrances are guarded by unsmiling, heavily-armed soldiers who are not accustomed to tourists...this is "Off the Beaten Track" remember! The concession area grew quickly, but was very badly damaged by the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, and the area never really recovered, although many of the remaining colonial-style buildings date from the rebuilding at that time. Walk from Zhengyi Lu, turning right into Dongjiaomin Xiang and then north again to return to Dongchang'an by Taijichang Dajie for a ten minute glimpse of old colonial Beijing. The Insight Guide to Beijing has a good little map and explanation of which building used to belong to whom. Leave a Comment
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| | | | Rural Areas of Beijing: Getting out of Beijing | Tip Rating: | | | | |
The municipality of Beijing is more than just Beijing city. It is very easy and very rewarding to get out of the city, especially if you are a visitor and able to do it during the week. At the weekends, tens of thousands of Beijingers head for the hills, to the west and especially to the north, where the whole economy relies upon this weekly influx of city people. The Great Wall is in rural Beijing, and in Hebei province nearby, and I have put tips in the Beijing Shi/Huanghuacheng, Miyun and Haizi sections for the Great Wall at Huanghuacheng, Jiankou and Mutianyu areas. There are the silver pagodas and silver mountain at Haizi, and the great deep valleys north of Hairou and Miyun that lead into a fascinating mountainous area just an hour from the city. You can reach both Hairou and Huangcheng by city bus from Dongzhimen (forget about the train: although the Chifeng line passes Hairou and Miyun, it takes more than two hours to get from Beijing Bei to Hairou!). It is easy to rent a taxi for half or a fullday. Remember that once you get off the beaten track around Beijing, no English is spoken and no English will appear on sign-posts: you really will need to make sure our phrasebook has Chinese characters as well. However, it is worth the effort - just as New York is not the USA and London is not Britain, so Beijing is not China, but you will find China nearby, just an hour away by bus. Leave a Comment
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