Beijing Tourist Sites

Overview of site visits organized as part of the course, as well as a few suggestions for self-guided tours around Beijing

Sightseeing in Beijing

PSU-PKU Summer Exchange Program organizes group sightseeing tours for PSU students on the weekends which will cover all the major places of interests in Beijing like the Great Wall, Forbidden City, and Summer Palace etc. For those who want to explore more about Beijing and get more experience, you can make self-organized tours. A group tour with Chinese classmates is highly recommended for the sake of safety. Hutong

Hu Tong Tour

HuTong-- Bystreet in Beijing. Hutong is a word from Mongolian, which is a residential area (in northern china, especially in Beijing). It's a meeting-point of culture, custom and history that need us protect it earnestly.

Relevant website and videos:

http://www.chinatoptours.com/guide/guidecontent/Beijing-Hutong.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx180oVCpzw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GASqYeog6_4&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88kcbcBalMM&feature=related

Teahouse Theatre Tour

Despite the coffee invasion, Beijing is still ultimately tea territory, and many of the most pleasant sipping experiences are to be had in the small teahouses that lie scattered about the city.

Traditional teahouse entertainment disappeared from Beijing after 1949, but some semblance survives in a number of modern teahouses that have grown up with the tourism industry. Snippets of Beijing opera, cross-talk (stand-up) comedy, acrobatics, traditional music, singing, and dancing flow across the stage as you sip tea and nibble snacks. If you don't have time to see these kinds of performances individually, the teahouse is an adequate solution. If you're looking for a quiet place to enjoy a cup of jasmine and maybe do some reading, look to one of the real teahouses.

Bar Tour

This will be a different experience from the bar tours at Penn State. People come to bars to chat with friends and socialize. There are several districts, each with its own atmosphere and social connotations. The city's oldest and still most popular district is Sanlitun, located between the east second and third ring roads around the Workers' Stadium (Gongren Tiyuchang). The area's name comes from Sanlitun Lu, a north-south strip of establishments a long block east of the Workers' Stadium that at one time contained practically all of the city's bars. Now known as North Bar Street (Sanlitun Jiuba Jie), it has been overshadowed by other clusters of bars on South Bar Street (also called Dongdaqiao Xiejie) a half block east of the City Hotel, in the Xingfucun area north of the stadium, and scattered around the stadium itself. Bars here are rowdy and raunchy, and packed to overflowing on weekends. Bars and clubs in Haidian, the city's university district to the northwest, congregate around the gates of several universities and cater to a predictable crowd of local English majors and foreign students. bar tour2

The fastest-growing spot is the Back Lakes (Shicha Hai or Hou Hai), a previously serene area north of Bei Hai Park, which has become very hip. Neon has become a common sight, and several dance clubs are in the works, but for now this remains the finest place in the city for a quiet drink.

Beijing bars generally open around 5 or 6 pm and stay open until the last patrons leave or until the staff decides it wants to go home, usually by 2 am on Friday and Saturday nights. Several of the Back Lakes bars double as cafes and open as early as 11 am.

Shopping Tour

The three most famous shopping markets in Beijing are: The Silk Market, The Pearl Market and the Ya Show market.

Silk Street lies in Xiushuidong Jie (East Xiushui Street) off Jianguomenwai Dajie, near the US Embassy. There are about 300 stores crowded in the 1 li (547 yards) long street. Bargaining is an eternal theme in Xiushui Street. It is a favorite place for bargains and is frequented by the resident foreigners in Beijing. Whatever you wish to buy, be it bags, shoes, handicrafts or sweaters, you may haggle enthusiastically with the shopkeepers for the best price. Most of the shopkeepers can speak a little simple English. It is interesting to see them holding a calculator, discussing the price with a foreigner in their broken English.

The Pearl Market (Hong Qiao Market)

It is a well known market dealing with pearls from around the world. More than 1,000,000 visitors come to Hongqiao Market to buy pearls yearly. Even the former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has been to Hongqiao Market three times as she was very impressed with the beautiful pearls. Apart from pearls, the market also offers seafood, digital products and silk.

Ya Show Market

Yashow is a paradise for bargain hunters in Beijing, a big draw for the tourist with some money to spend and some serious shopping to do. It is located to the west of Sanlitun bar street in the northeast of Beijing. Yashow is surrounded by the bars, restaurants and cafes of the Sanlitun area, the hottest eating and drinking area for tourists in the city.

Qianmen Dajie

Qianmen Dajie is one of the oldest and most famous commercial streets with a 500 year old history. As an ancient street in Beijing, it is an assembly place of time honored shops, including Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant and Du Yi Chu Shao Mai. This street was re-built as it was in the 1920s, when it was extremely prosperous. Most of the time honored shops are back along the street. Furthermore, trolley cars re-appear in the street, after being absent for 40 years.

Da Shi Lan

Lying to the northwest of Qianmen Dajie, Da Shi Lan is also a busy street in Xuanwu District. The street was named as Lang Fang Si Tiao in the past. It is 300 meters (328 yards) long but a bit narrow. Both sides of the street are crowded with stores which are busy with visitors coming and going everyday. As a flourishing old street, there are many special time honored shops passed down from older generations. Tongrentang Chinese Herbal Medicine Pharmacy, which was opened in 1669, is the most famous pharmacy for Chinese herbal medicine in the country. Ruifuxiang Silk and Leather Store which started in 1893 offers all kinds of beautiful high quality silk.

Relevant Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPeXpGrO8wE&feature=related