Sights & Attractions in Beijing

Wow, Beijing, where to start. Ok, the place is massive. Pack your walking shoes, and a rucksack to carry all the water you'll need to drink. There are attractions galore in Beijing, and unless you're some kind of martyr, accept that you can try and cram too much into a day. Some sights, like Tiananmen Square (free) can be "done" relatively quickly, however if you want to see Chairman Mao's body (also free), then add an hour or so on for queuing. Then there's the Forbidden City, ancient home of the emperors and government. This costs £6 to get into the main complex, and you could wander round here for hours, though 2 hours were enough for me and my ...  Read the complete review

Walking to the gate in Heathrow's shiny new Terminal 5, I decided to test out the rumour that all airline staff get emotional when you tell them it's your Honeymoon, go all gooey, throw away their professional integrity and upgrade you to turn left with the celebrities and politicians grandkids when boarding the plane, not turn right with the cheap seats. It's a lie. I asked everyone. I even ambush-questioned the pilot of our BA flight. Face to face as he walked past me in the departure lounge. Apparently approaching pilots isn't fashionable these days, and although somewhat startled, he still said no. 9 ½ hours in Economy it was then, ...  Read the complete review

Brief introduction The Summer Palace is located in the northwest suburb of Beijing. It was built in 1750 by an Emperor Qianlong to celebrate his mother's birthday. It was originally named Garden of Clear Ripples. Historically it was burned down twice by foreign invaders and was rebuilt by the governors of Qing dynasty. In 1924 the Summer Palace was formally opened to public as a park. In 1998 it was inscribed on the World Heritage List. What you can see? The Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake are the two big areas of the Garden. 1. East Palace Gate It's the front entrance to the ...  Read the complete review

The reason I wanted to go to Beijing was I wanted to visit mainland China, but pick somewhere simple and safe for my first lone journey. A must see landmark for me in China was the Great Wall, so this made Beijing the ideal location for a first visit. It is the capital city of the People's Republic of China and you will require a visa to be admitted to the country (which takes about 10 days to get). Beijing is hosting the 2008 Olympic Games, at which point the price of everything for tourists is set to quadruple (when I went in 2007 everything was very reasonably priced). But if you are heading out for the Olympics then do not fear, as this is going to be one ...  Read the complete review

Place of heavenly peace ... thats the english meaning of Tiananmen. It's kind of ironic that the place, where thousands of peacefull students died in the upset of 1989 has this name. Can we ever forget this pictures? As if I hear the words "Vietnam" or "Korea" I have to think of crying children with burned skin, thanks to US-american napalm, so if I hear "Tiananmen" I have to think of a lonly student in a white shirt, staying in front of 4 tanks. I was in Beijing in february of 1998 and also visited this place. It was a strange feeling. Me, grown up in the communistic part of Germany, faced with one of the greates crimes in ...  Read the complete review