| Reviews and photos of Beijing attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Beijing sightseeing. Beijing Map |
 | Beijing Things To Do | Tips 1 - 10 of 2882 |  |
 Beihai Park by chewy3326Leave a Comment Directions: From the south shore, take a Y5 ferry, or enter the park through the north entrance.
|
Visiting Beijing?
Read reviews about Beijing Hotels
Real Reviews from Real VirtualTourist Members.
 Wearing Red in Tiananmen
Square, Beijing by jumpingnorman
Tiananmen, translated in Chinese, as the Gate of Heavenly Peace is ironically the site of the brutal repression of massive demonstration for democratic reform on June 3-4, 1989. It did serve as a suburban residence for emperors, a place in the countryside yet near the capital.
This is considered the largest public square in the world and is located at the center of Beijing. Tiananmen Square is composed of Tiananmen Tower, Monument to the People's Heroes, Great Hall of the People and Mao Zedong Memorial Hall.
When I visited, there was some sort of Chinese Holiday and it was nice seeing the throngs of citizens enjoying this humongous complex. I was also wearing RED to go with walls and the Chinese flag, and also for good luck Leave a Comment
|
 | |  |
 Lantern with restaurants
in background by aussiedoug
My attached photo is just one of the lanterns. My camera didn't have a powerful enough flash to capture what I was after which was to show not only the lantern, but also its reflection in the car's rear window. Now imagine how this looks like when multiplied by quite a few over a 1 kilometre (or more) stretch of not overly wide street.
I'll be adding a restaurant tip from this street. Leave a Comment Address: Dongzhimen LuDirections: If you would be coming by the subway/metro then you will need to get off at Dongzhimen & after coming out of Exit A turn right & follow it around till you see the street with the trees & lanterns stretching straight ahead in front of you.
|
| | |
 Hou Hai - Back Lake by aussiedoug
However, counted myself very lucky to see a little of it on our Hutong tour as explained a little in the above must see activity.
Please enlarge the accompanying photograph as it shows you just a glimpse of how beautiful this area obviously is. I would suggest on the little I saw it also has some very interesting sightseeing, some equally interesting shopping (that we saw glimpses of, but didn't have time to explore, in Pipe Tobacco Alley) & apparently some great coffee that I really would have enjoyed because I experienced a dearth of "good" coffee during my week in Beijing. Apparently there are also some very good restaurants around here too.
The entire Back Lakes Area (Shicha Hai)consists of 3 lakes - Qian Hai -Front Lake which connects to Hou Hai - Back Lake (see my photo looking back down Hou Hai from near Qian Hai) & Xi Hai - West Lake (now why wasn't it called slightly farther back lake - lol!) I read somewhere that these lakes were dug out during the 14th century to berth barges that were bringing the emperor goods to the Forbidden City.
I wish we had had a full day to explore this area. If you are going to Beijing & have a 5-7day stay in mind I strongly suggest you allow yourself a full day to do what I wish we had been able to do. Leave a Comment Address: North of Tiananmen SquareDirections: If you were using the Subway then I'dsuggest getting on Line 2 - the Circular Line & getting off at Jishui Tan Subway station which would put you close to Xi Hai - West Lake
|
| | |
 Pipe Tobacco Alley by aussiedoug
Of course it didn't elicit the superlatives from me like the others or go beyond superlatives which I think the Great Wall does. Instead it was relaxing & lovely, interesting & genuine. We were lucky enough to have a lovely "local, local guide" by the name of Jou Lie. She introduced herself as "Jolly" saying that was close to her name in English & did indeed describe her quite well. I was really lucky as I started the tour in a pedicab by myself, but because of the requirements of some of our party Jou Lie ended up riding with me & I had a fascinating conversation with her getting some insights into a "real" Beijinger's life.
This was part of our tour package. The Frommer's Beijijng Guide suggests doing a walking or cycling tour of some hutongs & I think this is a good idea for independent travellers with good map reading/sense of direction skills. However I was very happy to be pedalled round while doing whatever walking was required.
The most interesting part of our hutong tour was walking through "Pipe Tobacco Alley" near the Bell Tower. On this tour I felt I was near the real people's Beijing to a much greater extent than, of course, the 'big' tourist attractions. Although the other end of Pipe Tobacco Alley apparently has some of Beijing's trendiest cafes. Would have like to have tried some of them. Maybe next time! Leave a Comment Phone: (10) 66 135 213 (our pedicab no)Directions: There are many hutongs scattered around the city. The area I enjoyed most on our tour was around Hou Hai/Qian Hai, part of the Back Lakes District. Especially Pipe Tobacco Alley - Yandai Xie Jie.Website: http://www.chinavista.com/experience/hutong/hutong
|
| | |
Visiting Beijing?
Read reviews about Beijing Hotels
Real Reviews from Real VirtualTourist Members.
 Hall o Prayer for Good
Harvests by mke1963
The great complex of the Temple of Heaven is in 273 hectares of stunning forest, and this alone makes it an unusual place: line upon line of Chinese cypress, Chinese juniper and scholar trees. Some of the cypresses are more than 600 years old. Dr Henry Kissinger, when he visited the Temple, stated that while the USA could recreate the Temple of Heaven if it desired, it could not create the trees. It is the trees that give the Temple of Heaven its character. Other Chiese parks and temple complexes are usually open, with plenty of grass, but here the eye is caught only by the blue sheen of the juniper and the cypress. Despite the massive crowds that visit the Temple, the surrounding forest somehow soaks them up and acts as a buffer. Leave a Comment Address: Tiantan DongluDirections: East entrance is most used by visitors
|
| | |
 The sacred stones by mke1963
The numerous associated buildings have been converted to extremely interesting themed displays on various aspects of the emperor's worship: the order of procession, the timetable of activities, the beautiful musical instruments and the costumes.
I will add other 'Must Visit' reviews on specific parts of the Temple of Heaven, but recommend this as a real highlight of Beijing. It is well cared for, there is great respect from Chinese visitors, minimal commercialisation, but perhaps not enough cafes or restaurants (and I never thought I would say that of a temple in China!). They are working on wheelchair access, and many of the steps now have ramps, although the smaler buildings will remain inaccessible. I suspect it is a matter of time before even these are made wheelchair-friendly. Leave a Comment Address: Tiantan Donglu
|
| | |
 The clogged up streets of
Xiushui Shichang by jono84
The streets can be immensely crowded but you can spend hours just wandering, ear-wigging on the destructive haggling battles and seeing what there is to offer, and being lucky not to escape without being involved in one yourself!!
One important thing, just keep your wallet in a safe place, as you maybe the unfortunate victim of a professional at work....
I strongly advise this as a must-see if you have afew hours free, and a craving for a gift to take back home. Leave a Comment Address: Xiushui ShichangDirections: Easy to get to, its just through the subway from the Yong'anli metro station. Or by foot, its around 4km down the main stretch (Jianguomenwai Dajie) from Tiananmen Square.
|
 Myself as Crazy Emperor of
Qing Dynasty, Beijing by jumpingnorman
I was also allowed to walk around with it, and they had a little bit of trouble asking me to remove it because I was having so much fun, hehehehe….The silk was so smooth against the skin and I just pretended I was from the Qing Dynasty (I don’t even know what year that was!).
Definitely this activity is not for the “shy” type though…lol. I dare you… Leave a Comment
|
 Tiananmen Gate by filipdebont
Maybe it is one of the most famous views in Beijing.
In front of this gate there is a kind of moat. Like this there are several beautiful bridges across it.
Lucky for us, people who like to make (beautiful) pictures, some are closed, and like this it was possible to make a picture without people on it. This is not so evident when you are visiting Beijing.
On both sides of Mao’s picture there are two big slogans. Leave a Comment
|
|
- Scitech Hotel Beijing
No 22 Jianguomenwai Avenue, Beijing - Marco Polo Parkside Beijing
No 78 Anli Road , Chaoyang District (opening in 2007), Beijing - Jade International Youth
5 N Zhide Alley, Beiheyan St, Dongcheng District, Beijing - Beijing Longxi Hotspring Resort
8 ShunJing Avenue, PangGeZhuang Area DaXing, Beijing - Rich
1 Jia Nan Xinhua Street, Beijing - Holiday Inn Beijing-Lido
Jichang Road and Jiang Tai Road, Beijing - Shang Yuan
40 Gaoliangqiao Xiejie, Haidian District, Beijing - Hui Qiao
19 Hui Xin East Street Chao Yang District, Beijing - Beijing Jintang Hotel
No.2 Zhixincun, Tayuan, Haidian District, Beijing - Ao Ya Hotel Beijing
169 Beiyuan Rd, Chaoyang District,, Beijing - Capital Hotel Beijing
3 Qian Men East Street, Beijing - Green Park Hotel
6 TianZhuZhong Street-A, Shunyi District, Beijing - King's Joy Hotel Beijing
81, Meishi St., Xuanwu District, Beijing - China Resources Hotel
35 Jian Guo Road, Beijing - Tsinghua Unisplendour International Center, Beijing
East Gate, Tsing Hua Universty, Beijing
|
