Have You Ever Been to Guijie ?

Guijie (Ghost Street).Located in Dongzhimen, Guijie is an essential part of life for Beijing citizens. Despite that fact that

life here is colorful and peaceful in daytime and at night, far from being gloomy and scary, many ghost stories can be heard from the old timers. According to them, the name Guijie originated from Gui(鬼)jie(街), meaning a street haunted by ghosts; there were many shops selling coffins here with few shoppers several decades ago; business prospects seemed to be dimming since 1997, when the real street of catering came into being, thus spreading its name as a street haunted by ghosts.

Going to the Great Wall, and Becoming a "Real Man"

My first encounter with the Great Wall was here. Its size, its beauty, the

setting and the spectacle of its history made me and everyone I was with fall silent as we approached. Standing on top of the Wall for the first time was awe inspiring. It would be a marvelous feet to build this by today's standards, but while up there I began to think about the people who built this wall so very long ago. Without today's technology it must have been very arduous and dangerous work. Keeping out the barbarians from the north, the Chinese people sacrificed their bodies, their blood, sweat and tears to make this wall. My friend Kyle summed up our mood when he said "You gotta give them this, the Chinese have done something amazing here!" And he was absolutely right, they had.

Fun Things to do in Beijing at Summer Night

Things to do in Beijing Night -  Qianmen Street

Things to do in Beijing Night -  Solana

Things to do in Beijing Night -  The Palace

Things to do in Beijing Night -  Tiananmen Square
 

Things to do in Beijing Night - Water Cube

Things to do in Beijing Night - Bird’s Nest 

 

Things to do in Beijing Night - Guomao Area (China World Trade Center Tower III)

 

Things to do in Beijing Night - Old CCTV Tower

Things to do in Beijing Night -  Acrobatics Show

Things to do in Beijing Night - Peking Opera Show
 

Things to do in Beijing Night - Kung Fu Show

Temple of Heaven - A symbol building of Beijing

Once I thought that the Temple of Heaven is just the place for emperors to worship the heaven so besides the main hall there won't be any other attractive places deserve to visit. However I was completely wrong after personally visited there. And I would like to share my experience in the Temple of Heaven to the other attractions except the three main buildings – the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest, Imperial Vault of Heaven and Circular Mound Altar.

Taiji Ball

Actually the Temple of Heaven now has become a big park. Also in order to let tourists feel easier to visit, every entrance of the park offers the electronic tour guide (Chinese cost 10 Yuan and foreign languages cost 40 Yuan). If you are traveling all by yourselves it will help you a lot during the tour. I entered through the East Gate and got the view of the main hall – the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest, beautiful. Walking towards it, on the right side there is a big square for people to do exercises. On the ground there set different kinds of exercise equipments and hundreds of people playing there during the day time. Some are playing Taichi Ball, some are dancing, some are playing shuttlecock, so happy. They were all very friendly and invited me to join them.

Handcrafts

Went on the journey I saw a lot of people sitting on the gallery crocheting small things including hats, bags, purse and little animals, so lovely. Hiding from the bright sunshine, I bought a hat for 35 Yuan, beautiful! This gallery is called "72 Long Gallery". Why got this name since it is not very long actually? This is because it has 72 gaps. The decorations and the color are all very simple and elegant, symbolizing the serious atmosphere of the sacrifice. This gallery is the road to the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest.

Cypress Forest and the Flower Garden

Went on you will find the Cypress Forest and the Flower Garden. On both sides of the clean road setting chairs for tourists to have a rest. Sitting on the chair, with gentle breezing, green trees, relaxed! In Cypress Forest there planted the old trees with hundred years history. In the garden there plant different kinds of flowers including peony, the Chinese rose and others I did not know the name. During the period of midsummer, here will be the flower sea. Never miss the beautiful scenery in the garden during your tour of the Temple of Heaven.

Resource:http://www.beijinglandscapes.com/beijing-travel-blog/beijing-temple-of-heaven.html

Learning Chinese Cooking by Travelling in Hutong

I'm very interested in Chinese food and Chinese cooking. Surf the internet and look for Beijing tour routes. "Beijing Cooking Learning Tour", oh that's what I want! Online book the tour directly.
It's the time for the trip. At 9:00 am the English speaking tour guide picked me up from my hotel and drove to Beijing Cuisine School. Oh, how beautiful dishes! In the cooking school I learnt cooking three different dishes from beginning to end, getting to know the secrets of excellent Chinese culinary skill. The experienced expert of the school told me how to prepare the dish and the steps of cooking. I feel it very different. Thanks to the expert's help, after about two hours I finally finished the three dishes. I still couldn't remember the names of the three dishes, but enjoy the three dishes as my lunch I felt very happy and satisfied though the taste is a little bit strange.

My Lunch

After lunch, the tour guide drove me to a local vegetable market in the downtown area where local community people come for purchasing vegetable, meats, the many spices and other life necessities that make Chinese cooking special. There I saw many local citizens buy the vegetables. Then we move okn to one of the branches of the century-old traditional Daoxiangcun Foodstuffs Store. The store used to produce light snack served to the royal family or governmental officials in the Qing Dynasty. Now it has become one of the local people's must-have snacks of Beijing. The dessert here looks both delicious and delicate, so I bought six boxes for my friends to have a taste.
The tour finished in the early afternoon. I'd like to walk around to see local Beijing life. Once heard that there is a famous Hutong called Nanluoguxiang, where have many local snacks, different kinds of special shops and bars, so in the afternoon I went there. It deserves the reputation! Nearly 1000 meters long Hutong stand so many special shops and bars. There I bought a T-shirt with the design of the Peking Opera mask.
Today I really have a nice trip of "Beijing Cooking Learning Tour" which I did learn a lot of Chinese food. Also the trip to Nanluoguxiang gave me a deep impression.

Resource:http://www.beijinglandscapes.com/beijing-travel-blog/cooking-learning-tour.html

Essence Tour of Beijing - Follow the Steps of Hutong

When the traffic jam, vehicle exhaust and no parking lot affect the convenient and mood of driving, bike, the once outdated transportation media, nobly become the favorite choice of trip and leisure under the call of low-carbon lifestyle.
Low-carbon times, riding bike for trip is an ideal choice. No matter the locals or guests, prepare or rent a bike to visit the hutong in inner of Beijing in leisurely time, you will have better feelings. Parking in the front of some interesting shops, choosing the wonderful goods or taste the local snacks, you are harvest enough in this special Beijing tour. Follow us quickly!

Essence of Beijing - Hutong

Beijing, the gathering place of hutong, has various famous and non-famous hutongs. The composition of chess game and the laugh of aunts are the sceneries in hutongs forever. In the courtyards of hutongs, always there are old trees and do not know how old they are, may be the jujube tree, cypress or Chinese scholar tree. When the sun is shining brightly, aged people talked with each other and kids playing around this tree. I guess, it is happiness for most of ordinary people.
Start from North Street of Dianmenwai, you can visit the Drum and Bell Tower first. Walking south along with the Drum and Bell Tower, you will find the Yandaixiejie, the oldest oblique street in Beijing, located at north of Dianmen, about 230 meters in length. You could not belittle the short street, it gathers various characteristic shops, restaurants and wine bars. They decorate this street livelier.

Yinding Bridge

Out of Yandaixiejie, it is the famous Yindingqiao Bridge. It is said that you can see the distance Xishan Mountain in fine day. That is one of the Yanjing Eight Scenes. Pass the Yindingqiao Bridge, you should have good time among hutongs in Shi Cha Hai area. Built depend on the terrain, these hutong is natural. Anyone courtyard here, you could find the historical site easily.
Riding the bike, you are leisurely in lively hutongs, to enjoy the sunshine and strong Beijing culture in the air, and surrounding your soul.
Wandering in these hutongs, you are lucky to find many interesting things and delicious tastes. Just walking and wandering, you have good time in afternoon of Beijing…

Resource: http://www.beijinglandscapes.com/beijing-travel-blog/essence-tour-of-beijing-1.html

Things to do in Beijing - Beijing Bus Day Tour

A lot of things to do in Beijing that you should not be miss. Among many interesting thing to do in Beijing, we will suggest this one trip that will bring you to explore the old and modern Beijing in one day. Some tour detail below:

Price From: US$ 30( 192 CNY )
Departure: Daily
Tour Duration: about 8 hours include lunch
Pick-up place and time: Your City Center Hotel about 8:00am
Finishing place and time: Your City Center Hotel around 5:00pm
Payment Method: Cash, Credit Cards, Wire, Western Union
Tour Guide Language: English
Feature: One day group tour presents Hutong, Lama Temple, Panda Zoo and the Olympic Stadiums. Experience the modern and ancient Beijing beauty during short journey with considerate service.

Detail Itinerary:
1.Pick up at your hotel between 7:20am and 8:30am, and then drive to Beijing Zoo first, for about 40 minutes visiting you can see the lovely Giant Pandas.
- Beijing Zoo: China’s and World’s largest treasure house of animals and birds, also there are pandas.
2. After visiting the Panda House, move on to the Lama Temple. 1 hour tour for the mysterious Tibet style Buddhism temple finishes at about 11:00am. Then, you will have 45 minutes to visit the Chinese traditional handicraft silk carpet factory. After that, you will be arranged to have lunch with locals in a typical Beijing resident’s house at 12:00.
- Lama Temple: The largest and most perfectly preserved lamasery of Gelug Sect in present day Beijing.
3. After lunch, you will be arranged to visit the old Beijing lanes by rickshaws. During 2 hours hutong tour, you will visit the typical Chinese quadrangles, primary school and many famous old buildings, where you can explore the real life of ordinary people in Beijing.
4. Next destination is the Olympic Stadium where you have 45 minutes to take pictures outside the Bird’s Nest and Water Cube. If you are interested in the inner structure, the tour guide will help you in purchasing the entrance tickets, and you could have the inner visit on your own.
5. On the way to your hotels, we also arrange a short visit to a China Tea House for you to enjoy tea ceremony. Transfer back to your hotels, tour end.

Price including:
1. Pick-up and drop off service from your hotel;
2. Air-conditioned vehicle van;
3. Entrance tickets of sightseeing;
4. Driver and English speaking tour guide explain the sightseeing about the tour;
5. A typical Chinese lunch.

Price excluding:
Tips to the guide and driver.

Resource: http://things-to-do-in-beijing.com/1-day-hutong-lama-temple-panda-house-olympic-stadiums-bus-tour/

Different Sections of Great Wall Sightseeing in Beijing

No visit to the Great Wall seems you did not visit Beijing. I decided to have a Great Wall tour to explore the fact of the Great Wall. This passage is for reference only.

Badaling Great Wall

First arrived at the most famous section – Badaling Great Wall. Badaling Great Wall is the most well-preserved section, also the most representative section, the essence of the Great Wall in Ming Dynasty. At same time, if you have visited other sections of the Great Wall, you will discover this section is well-maintained by government, and opened as the tourist part for travelers. The Great Wall at Badaling is the advanced guard of Juyongguan Pass, the important pass of the Great Wall. With the height of 1,015 meters, this section is strategically located and difficult of access and is the outstanding of the Great Wall. With superior geographic location, Badaling Great Wall is the important transportation for Shanxi Province, Inner Mongolia and Zhangjiakou City. Badaling Great Wall was listed into the World Cultural Heritage and one of the Seven World Wonders.

Mutianyu Great Wall

Second, the Mutianyu Great Wall, located at Huairou District of Beijing, 73 kilometers from Beijing downtown. The Great Wall at Mutianyu connects the Juyongguan Pass in west and Gubeikou Great Wall in east, which is the military pass since ancient times. Now it is one of the most well-preserved sections of the Ming Great Wall. The right seasons for the Great Wall at Mutianyu include spring, summer, autumn and winter. Different time, you will enjoy different feelings of the Great Wall. In spring and autumn, the view of Mutianyu is always attracts large number of tourists. The winter of Mutianyu is famous for its scenery of snow, but bad weather is not fitful trip.

Huanghuacheng Great Wall
Third, the Hanghuacheng Great Wall, famous water Great Wall, was built in Yongle Emperor of Ming Dynasty with 600 years history. After capital was built in Beijing by the Emperor of Ming Dynasty, and tomb was built in north of Huanghua Town, the Great Wall is not only guarded the north gate of Beijing, but also protected the Ming Tombs. Huanghuacheng Water Great Wall is shaped by the river dam result in the water level higher, so the lower section was flood in the water. This is unique scenery in sections of the Great Wall. Huanghuacheng Great Wall is the only one Great Wall has three sections in water in China.
Above is my exploration to three sections of the Great Wall, according to your needs and like, choose the fitful section to enjoy the scenery of the world famous Great Wall. It is only three sections, if you like, you can visit more sections of the Great Wall, you will find more interesting things and views.

Article Resource : http://www.beijinglandscapes.com/beijing-travel-blog/sightseeing-different-great-wall-in-beijing.html