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Eating and Drinking Beijing
51 Reviews The Y files, where Y stands for "yummy!". Peking duck is, according to some, the dish that represents the city the most. I'm not really a fan of duck (or fowl) but I went to China with as much of an...
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Spitting Beijing
14 Reviews The Chinese are huges fans of hocking up everything in their throat and spitting it anywhere and everywhere. They believe that it is a hygenic thing to do, more so than our western tradition of...
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Shopping/Bargaining Beijing
23 Reviews They have some really nice handy craft in China, and they can be pretty cheap, if you are a hard bargainer. Bought the picture for RMB50 in a shop. Thought it was a good bargain, I bought 4. When it...
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Language Beijing
9 Reviews The Chinese authorities certainly have quite some sense of humour, don't they? Do you understand what they are trying to tell you? Or warn you?? But then again, they have come a long way...... At...
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Taking Photos Beijing
11 Reviews I met the lady in the Temple of Heaven Park, early in the morning. She was very friendly, started talking to me (of course, apart from 'Ni hao' I couldn't understand what she was saying) and when I...
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Dress Code Beijing
3 Reviews The Chinese people dress more conservatively than Westerners. Men do not wear shorts and women do not wear sleeveless outfits. Chinese women also do not wear tracksuits. Blue jeans, however, are...
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Morning Exercises Beijing
9 Reviews Like what I've Said, senior citizens of Beijing Never had it so easy that after retiring at 55 years old, they are well taken care of by the government and provided with sustainable needs that they...
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Beijing Opera and Acrobats Beijing
14 Reviews Acrobatics have a long tradition in china, and going to see a show can be recommended. I went to a show with a guided tour, witch might not have been the best thing to do if I wanted to see top...
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Festivals Beijing
18 Reviews During NewYear's, Beijing needs you to wear earplugs. First things said first, consider the public offices to be closed but not restaurants or all of the shops. In fact that is when many people make...
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Toilets Beijing
8 Reviews personal hygiene set for sale available at hotel rooms for 20 RMB and has towels, bath liquid soap, shampoo, lotion, tootbrush and toot paste. for people who forgot to pack their toilettries after...
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Streets and Traffic Beijing
11 Reviews Beijing Order Car Rental Co. The Price List CarModel Airport-transfer One-day downtown BJ £¨RMB£© £¨RMB£© M-BenzS600£º 800 2000 M-BrnzS350£º 700 1600 Coaster£¨20seats£©£º 400 800 AudiA6£º 350...
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Hutongs Beijing
10 Reviews Red as a color of positive affirmation in China is one the ways to articulate otherwise solid, colorless walls of the buildings or as in this case, one of the gates to a residence in a hutong - a...
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Games Beijing
4 Reviews Well, if you are in Beijing and don't know what MahJong is probably you haven't ventured out of your hotel premises. Every second street you go to youl wil find people playing it. OK, so what the hell...
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Superstitions Beijing
8 Reviews Chinese tradition has a special veneration for mountains. That was a problem in Beijing, with the emperor's palace staying in a very flat area. The solution? Building a mountain. Thus we can see...
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Art and Galleries Beijing
4 Reviews During 2011 Chinese National Day, I saw this beautiful Lotus and Jade Flowers displayed near the South Gate, Temple of Heaven. Chinese has own beliefs and understanding of Lotus and Jade. The...
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History Beijing
8 Reviews In ancient China people divided the night into five Gengs. A Geng was an ancient time unit used to divide the night, every Geng marked a Shichen (another time division unit which is the equivalent to...
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Cloisonne Beijing
1 Review Cloisonne: Beijing is where cloisonne making originated. The earliest was made in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). The best was made during the Xuan De period (1426-1456) of the Ming Dynasty. During the...
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Besides the main buildings and monuments on the main route (south to north) of the Temple of Heaven, do spend sometime to explore the east and west portions which consists of other buildings of this big compound, such as the Divine Kitchen, Double Ring Pavillion, Butcher House, Long Corridor, All Flowers Pavillion, Beamless Palace, Easting Palace, Divine Music Office etc.
The most impressive and famous structure in the Temple of Heaven must surely be the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. This is one of the most famous temple in China as well as a national icon which is commonly seen on travel brochures. If you look at the internal architecture, it is very impressive and consists of very high ceiling supported by curved wooden beams which are very colourful.
After passing through the Chengzhen Gate, there is a wide and open walkway as you head towards the famous Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. Somewhere in the middle distance is a bridge called the Danbi Bridge.
After visiting the Imperior Vault of Heaven and the Echo Wall, you will need to pass by the Chengzhen Gate as you head north towards the Danbi Bridge and the Hall of Prayer of Good Harvests (which is the most impressive building in the Temple of Heaven).
The Echo Wall is the famous circular surrounding the Imperial Vault of Heaven. It is said that if you stand on one side of the walk and talk softly, a person from the other side of the wall can hear it due to the design and material used to make this wall. So be careful of what you talk when you are here :)
After entering the Zhaoheng Gate (south gate), you will reach the big and open Circular Mound Altar. This was where the emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties pray to the heaven for protection and prosperity. In the centre is a raised round marble stone called the Heavenly Center Stone (see photo) where there is supposed to be a strong resonance when one speaks while standing there, thus enhancing the prayers. Many tourists like to take photos standing on this stone and there is usually a long queue, so you have to line up and wait :)
The Zhaoheng Gate is the south gate of the Temple of Heaven and this is where most tourists start their visit by working their way northwards through all the major monuments and finally reaching the north gate. The whole trip takes about 3 hours at a leisurely place and cost RMB$35 entrance fee.
Just read my other local customs tip 'The wolves...the wolves' and it made me laugh as I was talking about the moon festival two years ago and how I had been given a box of mooncakes by my work, but that they looked too nice to just eat myself and how I would take them home to my mum at Christmas!!! Well they never went back to Gibraltar thats for sure and I stuck to my word and didnt eat them myself. In fact theyre still sitting on my balcony...oh dear..no-one got to eat them in the end!The Mid-Autumn Festival, is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth moon, around the time of the autumn equinox. In the Western calendar, the day of the festival usually occurs sometime between the second week of September and the second week of October. This day was also considered a harvest festival since fruits, vegetables and grain had been harvested by this time and food was abundant. The...
First of all, is it a cock, a cockerel or a rooster....are the only differences the American and British ways of saying it, or are they different animals? I don't think i've ever called a cock a rooster?Hhhmmm....Anyway, moving on....This year is the year of the Rooster (let's call it that for the sake of it) and I shall tell you a little bit about this particular year...Courtesy of http://www.taichicenter-chicago.com/rooster.htmlThe optimism of the Monkey year overlaps the year of the Rooster, but the Rooster tends to be overconfident and is prone to come up with nonsensical plans. While the colorful Rooster brings bright and happy days, he also dissipates energy. Better stick to practical and well-proven paths. Forget about that controversial best seller you were going to write. No get rich quick schemes this year, please! It may require a great deal of effort this year to resist going...
When I first heard of these it made me giggle..for quite a while actually! Not because I had reverted back to a 14 year old who thinks all those play on words are hysterical, but merely because it sounded so revolting!!!Have you heard of Haw Apples before? In supermarkets here, you see haw juice, haw biscuits, haw ice-cream and the best one of all is haw flakes!!! I mean how utterly disgusting does that sound!!!?Anyway, these are haw apples, mini apples which are quite sour and are available mostly in the winter time. They have liquid sugar, almost like caramel poured all over them mixing in well with the sourness of the apple, and they do wonders for your teeth!!! Now they are moving up market and makig these delights with strawberries, apples, bananas and kiwis...the haws are still my favourite though.
Park Plaza Beijing Wangfujing Beijing
4 Reviews and 773 Opinions Located centrally in the Wangfujing area, this hotel is close to everywhere you want to get to...
Beijing Huakun Manor Hotel Yanqing
0 Opinions
Shangri-La Hotel Beijing Beijing
6 Reviews and 223 Opinions I stayed there in April of 2007 and was at first disappointed when the driver approached the...
Reviews and photos of Beijing Shi attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Beijing Shi sightseeing.
Q: is it ideal to book my train ticket on my arrival to beijing 3 days before departing to xian? or it has to be done online 15 days...
A: most of the online tickets are over-priced.You can just do it in Beijing when you are there...3 days before the departure will be fine for the Xian ticket
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