BEIJING FALL & WINTER GUIDE 2008/2009 The best places to eat, sleep and play in Beijing this fall and winter With more than 20 million reviews and opinions, TripAdvisor makes travel planning a snap for the 25 million travelers visiting our site each month. INTRODUCTION TripAdvisor, the most trusted source for where to eat, sleep and play in thousands of destinations around the world, has collected the best insider tips from its 25 million monthly visitors to produce a unique series of travel guides. In addition to the best hotels, restaurants and attractions for every type of traveler, you’ll get great advice about what to pack, how to get around and where to find the best views. Be sure to check out the guides at www.tripadvisor.com. Inside You’ll find reviews for more than 230,000 BEIJING hotels, 76,000 attractions and 435,000 restaurants on TripAdvisor.com. Learn from other travelers what to expect before you make your plans. Fifteen million inhabitants call ever-changing Beijing home. As the economy booms and the Chinese capital prepares for the 2008 Olympic Games, Beijing’s skyline is one of cranes and multistory blocks. But behind this hubbub of activity lies an ancient civilization steeped in a tradition and a culture that is alien to most Westerners. PACKING TIPS Beijing sprouted as a frontier trading post frequented by Mongols, 1. You’ll appreciate remembering earplugs. Koreans and tribes from Shandong and central China around 1000 They’ll help combat bustling Beijing’s taxi and B.C. But its significance stems from the 13th century, when Kublai construction noise. Khan inherited the city. 2. “Have your hotel’s address written in Chinese” to show to taxi drivers.— The city’s fascinating past makes it a captivating place to visit. Sights TripAdvisor Member, Norway such as the Summer Palace, the Forbidden City, nearby chunks 3. “It’s best to arm yourself with the Mandarin of the Great Wall at Badaling and Mutianyu and the inspiringly names of the attractions so the cab driver will know where to take you!”—TripAdvisor named Hall of Preserving Harmony and Temple of Heaven provide Member, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia glimpses into this great civilization’s staggering historical wealth. 4. “I know people who wear sandals in China, but there is a lot of dust, so you have to not Seasons in Beijing are very distinct, and temperatures range mind your feet getting really dirty. Light widely, from bitingly cold 25ºF weather in winter to hotter 80º color shoes will also get dirty. I usually wear walking shoes—something very temperatures in the summer. Spring and autumn are the most comfortable.”—TripAdvisor Member, Beijing popular times for travel, with temperate weather and clearer skies. tripadvisor.com 2 Top VIEWS BEIJING’S BEST VIEWS “When I bring friends or tourists to this area, Views from the Great Wall at Mutianyu “Qinglong Gorge is usually not on the tourist I always start them off at Jingshang Park. are “beautiful.” Situated in Huairou County, map. The scenery from the top of the mountain, When you climb to the top of the small 70 kilometers northeast of Beijing, this looking down on the gorge, is stunning. You hill, you get the most amazing views of the well-preserved section of the Great Wall is can bungee jump, take a speed boat around the rooftops of the Forbidden City. On a good over 2000 meters long, built on steep ridges dam to look at the gorge or take a ski lift up, up, day, you can see all the main central sights overlooking deep valleys. You’ll “have most of up to the top of the mountain for never-ending from that position. It is truly a great little the wall and towers to yourself.” Take the “ski views, including a bonus view of the completely insider tip!”—TripAdvisor Member, Beijing lift up and the toboggan slide down. Great fun!” unrestored stretch of Great Wall that links Jingshang Park (Yingshan Gongyuan), 1 Jing Shan —TripAdvisor Member, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Mutianyu to Simatai.”—TripAdvisor Member, Qian Jie, Opposite Forbidden City north gate, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Great Wall at Mutianyu, Huairou County Dog Cheng Qu Qinglong Gorge, Dashuiyu Reservoir, Mutianyu Where Beijing Tourism Authority Hotline: 6513 0828 to PLAY TOP 10 Attractions 1. Great Wall at Mutianyu, Huairou County, 6162 6873 6. Forbidden City (Imperial Palace), Tiananmen Square, 6513 2255, x615 2. Great Wall at Simatai, Gubeikou Town, Miyun County, 6903 1051 7. Tianaanmen Square (Tiananmen Guangchang), Chongmen District 3. Temple of Heaven (Tiantan), Yongdingmen Dajie, Chongwen District, 8. Grand View Garden (Daguanyuan), 12 Nan Cai Yuan St., Xuanwu District 6702 8866 9. Pearl Market (Hongqiao Market), 16 Hongqiao Lu, 6711 7429 4. Summer Palace (Yiheyuan), Haidian District, 6288 1144 10. Lama Temple (Yonghegong), 12 Yonghe Gong Dajie, Beijxinqiao, Dongcheng 5. Great Wall at Badaling (Badaling Chancheng), Yanqing County, 6912 1235 District 6404 3769 FAMILIES Purple Bamboo Park has rides for young It’s hard to resist the panda experience at the “I highly recommend the Beijing acrobats.” children and boat rentals. While there, be Beijing Zoo, though it can be “disappointing,” One of the best venues to watch “zaji” is sure to “drink tea by the lake. It’s the best because “you will not be able to interact with Wansheng Juchang, where the Beijing teahouse on the southern shore of the them. There are enclosures outside where you Acrobatics Troupe performs.—TripAdvisor lake.”—TripAdvisor Member, Beijing can get to see them without everybody around Member, Arizona Purple Bamboo Park, 45 Baishiqiao, Haidian, you. We spent two hours and did not see all of Wansheng Juchang, Bei Wei Lu, 6303 7449 6842 0055 the animals. The hippos were the highlight.”— TripAdvisor Member, Sydney, Australia Beijing Zoo, 131 Xi Zhi Men Wai Ave., 6831 4411 ROMANCE The Poly Art Museum is the first state-run “Nature lovers: A variety of tulips at Rent paddle boats at Beihai Park, originally museum on the mainland of China. Its exhibits Zhongshan Park are in stunning full bloom. built for Kublai Khan. It’s “a great way to tend to focus on ancient Chinese artifacts, There’s also the black tulip!”—TripAdvisor see average, day-to-day Chinese life.”— with special attention paid to the Bronze Age. Member, Singapore TripAdvisor Member Poly Art Museum, 14 Dongzhimen S. St., Zhongshan Park, East side of Tiananmen Beihai Park, South gate, Weijin Lu, Dongcheng District, 6500 1188 tower, 6605 5431 6404 0610 Call an Expedia Travel Specialist now 877 633 3716 tripadvisor.com 3 Where to PLAY BUDGET Is it Mao or is it Memorex? Upon the death Stroll around historic Tiananmen Square, “Worth seeing” is the Lama Temple, of Chairman Mao, a wax copy of the leader the largest public square in the world. “At a series of beautiful pavilions and an was created. See preserved remains—or sunrise and sunset the raising and lowering impressive 60-foot-high Buddha “carved perhaps the waxen idol; no telling which is of the Chinese National Flag was well worth from one piece of sandalwood.” Admission displayed at any given time—of Chairman the wait. Taking the time to really watch the is only $3.—TripAdvisor Member, Beijing Mao, free, in the Chairman Mao people made the square a true highlight for Lama Temple (Yonghegong), 12 Yonghe Memorial Hall. us.”—TripAdvisor Member, Atsugi, Japan Gong Dajie, 6404 3769 Chairman Mao Memorial Hall, Tiananmen Tiananmen Square (Tiananmen Guangchang) Square, 6513 2277 TripAdvisor members have posted more than 1,300,000 photos on the site. Beijing Tourism Authority The good, the bad and the very candid. Hotline: 6513 0828 It’s almost like being there! ADVENTURE Tackle your own Great Wall at Shou Ti If you get to Ditan Park early, you might The truly adventurous can attempt karaoke. indoor climbing gym. be allowed to join a martial arts class, such The number one choice is the popular Shou Ti Gym, 54 Baishiqiao Road, as kung fu or wushu, practiced with long Party World. “Karaoke bars are numerous 6833 5552, ext. 8389 swords or batons. and are worth investigating, if only for a Ditan Park, Yongehong Jie, 6421 4657 laugh.”—TripAdvisor Member Party World, Qian Gui, 6588 3333 “All I can say is WOW WOW WOW!” EDUCATIONAL/HISTORICAL “The Great Wall at Badaling is the top The Forbidden City is a 250-acre palace “We explored every nook and cranny of the tourist destination.” A less crowded six-mile complex consisting of more than 9,000 rooms. Temple of Heaven. We watched people stretch, from Jin Shan Ling to Simatai, “has “All I can say is WOW WOW WOW! It is one singing and playing instruments. Though amazing views and gives you a sense of just of the most amazing places I have been to. The the main temple areas are beautiful and how great an endeavor building the Great first day we were there for seven hours and did busy, go off to the sides and watch and Wall was.”—TripAdvisor Member not want to leave. It was wonderful just to sit, listen—it’s fascinating.”—TripAdvisor Great Wall at Badaling (Badaling see and absorb the splendor of this magnificent Member, Derry, Northern Ireland Chancheng), Simatai and Mutianyu place. I had goose bumps as soon as we Temple of Heaven (Tiantan), Yongdingmen entered.”—TripAdvisor Member, Australia Dajie, Chongwen District, 6702 8866 Forbidden City (Imperial Palace), Tiananmen Square, 6513 2255, ext. 615 RELAXATION To escape the city chaos, head for the At Fayuan Si, you can observe the lives “Tucked away from throngs of tourists,” the hutongs, Beijing’s narrow, twisting of Buddhist monks, from their chanting Grand View Garden is a modern construction residential streets.