Beijing Walking Tours
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www.tour guide.nameTaking a stroll in Beijing can be hard work. The main boulevard, Chang'an Dajie, is a soulless and windswept thoroughfare, and the rest of town seems to be a huge construction site choking on dust and car fumes. These strolls will show you a gentler Beijing, where tallow-faced, rheumy-eyed octogenarians push cane shopping carts through even more ancient tree-lined hutong, where young lovers clasp hands nervously as they gaze across the Back Lakes, and where pot-bellied cab drivers quaff beer while enjoying boisterous games of poker or chess in the middle of the sidewalk.
You'll need your wits about you. No one in Beijing seems capable of walking in a straight line. Pedestrian crossings are purely decorative, and newly installed crossings with traffic lights are widely ignored by motorists. The car, particularly the four-wheel-drive, dominates both the road and the sidewalk. Environmentalists, town planners, and doctors all argue that encouraging private car use will be a disaster for Beijing's residents. But the capital already boasts the highest rate of car ownership in China, and car sales grow by around 20% every year. Foreign car companies and their partners in the Party count the cash, but don't pay the cost.
Start As Oriental Plaza
Time:2-4 hours
As Oriental Plaza is next to Beijing Hotel, actually you have a round walking trip of Wangfujing commercial area.
Wangfujing is the capital's well-known shopping street, now it becomes a walking street - it becomes a window to show Beijing's modern life. It is worth strolling even if you aren't interested in buying anything. The oldest business entities in Beijing is its newest presence are right along Wangfujing. Time-old silk shops and open-air markets stand shoulder-to-shoulder with ultramodern shopping plazas.
Situated just a few blocks east of the Forbidden City, Wangfujing was a favorite residential neighborhood of the rich and the royals during the Ming and Qing dynasties and was named for the well that supplied the mansions of ten Ming Dynasty princes here. By the end of the 19th century, it was beginning to attract resident foreigners as well, including an influential correspondent for the London Times named Morrison, whose name became the streets as well for a time among Westerners. Tradesmen set up their shops on Wangfujing and the attached hutongs (alleys).
The walking tour is a round trip - north up Wangfujing and south down Dongdan - beginning and ending in the historic Beijing Hotel on Chang'an Avenue. It takes in old and new shops, cafes, open-air food street, religious shrines, art galleries and museums, historic spots, and even archaeological sites. Walking steps as follows:
Beijing Hotel (Beijing Fandian), which was opened as the Grand Hotel de Pekin in 1917 under French management. Enter at the east wing ( Building A ), on the Wangfujing Dajie(street), and wander through the lobby, from the old grand piano to the shopping arcades. Unfortunately, much of the middle section of the hotel was recently remodeled, but try to take a peek at the grand (very grand) old ballrooms at the top of the lobby staircases.
Outside, turn east and go up the first street on your left, Wangfujing Dajie. In the first block on your left (west side of the street), there is a photo shop and a big book store on your right as well as a large McDonald's sign.
Wangfujing Traditional Food Street Once in the walking street, on the left side, you will find lots of people coming in and out of a narrow street. Well, this is the famous Wangfujing open air daytime food street. You may follow the flow of people to have a bite of the local flavors.Wangfujing Department Store Farther up the walking section of the street, you'll find Wangfujing Department Store (No. 255). This was once Beijing's big-time department store. Though having had a face-lift,it still looks aging, sprawling.Sun Dong An Plaza (No. 138), By way of abrupt contrast, at the next cross street (called Dong'anmen Dajie to the east, Jinyu Hutong to the west), head over to the other side of Wangfujing, and enter a 21st-century department store: Sun Dong An Plaza (no. 138), Beijing's glitziest shopping plaza, where you can wander for hours among its seven levels and multiple atriums, complete with glass elevators and chrome escalators. Bossini, London Fog, Burberrys, Flying Scotsmen. They're all here, along with a Mickey Mouse logo store (Toonsland), a Nike store, a McDonalds, and an espresso bar named Boodles. (There's also a Bank of China branch on the first floor, open weekdays only.) The supermarket, electronics, and large appliances are in the basement, and deeper in the labyrinth are eight movie theaters.
Back out on the streets, convinced that Beijing has indeed caught up with the consuming nations of the West, cross back over to the west side of Wangfujing and head a half block north to the:
Foreign Language Bookstore (No. 235), located on the floor above Dunkin' Donuts. This is a must for anyone interested in books, since it houses Beijing's largest selection of English-language materials on several floors.
Just a few steps north, you are out of the walking street. Now you are facing a across road. If it is dinner time, then we suggest you turn right where you enjoy local food on the famous Donghua evening food street from 18:00 to 21:30.
As you continue north, look across Wangfujing. You can catch sight of a massive Catholic Cathedral, St. Joseph's (Dongtang), which looks beautiful after a recent renovation. On the west side of the street you pass:
Tong Sheng He Shoes, Kodak, China Silk Shop (No. 133, quite small), and a tea shop at no. 119 with a nice selection of pots and a big drug' store. This brings you to a second major intersection, Dengshikou street, with the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza Hotel and the massive One World Department Store on opposite corners. It's time to: take a break. Wangfujing is filled with cafes and restaurants, inside and outside major hotels, but one bright new spot to pause is Timeless Medley, in the basement of the Tianlun Dynasty Hotel, 50 Wangfujing Dajie, open daily from 11am to 1am. Choose from more than 200 local snacks and enjoy the decor (famous Chinese movie scenes) in what's described as Beijing's first cafe to combine film and food culture.
In the final block of your stroll up Wangfujing, you'll pass some new Western-style cafes (Boulevard Bistro, Red Lion Restaurant) and two Beijing institutions (the very strange subterranean Banpo Primitive Hot Pot Beer Hut, 26 Wangfujing Dajie, and the Capital Theater, 22 Wangfujing Dajie, which sometimes stages Western dramas). At the big intersection with Wusi Dajie, visit the:
China Art Gallery (Zhongguo Meishuguan), 1 Wusi Dajie, which is the national art gallery of China and always worth a visit.Ok, let turn back t and walk back again to Sun Dong an Plaza (No. 138), then turn right and you enter the Jinyu Hutong.Three hotels on Jinyu Hutong Taiwan Hotel ( 3 * ), Peace Novotel Hotel ( 4*) and Palace Hotel. The Palace Hotel, 8 Jinyu Hutong, with a waterfall in the marble lobby. The basement has the highest-end shopping in China, with the nation's first Armani, to go along with Cartier, Hermes, and others.
The lobby is a refreshing spot for tea or coffee before returning to Dongdan.
At the end of Jinyu Hutong, you turn right and walk southward along Dongdan Street.On the left you will find Dahua Cinema where. You may enjoy a Chinese film.Opposit the cinema you find the Capital Hospital.1 Capital Hospital (Peking Union Medical Hospital, Xiehe Yiyuan), with an emergency clinic for foreign patients on the sixth floor. Part of this medical complex is in the mansion of a Qing Dynasty prince, part in a modern high-rise. The hospital was founded in 1915 and underwritten for decades by American millionaire John .Rockefeller.2 Now you come across Oriental Plaza - the largest complex in Wanfujing area built by a Hong Kong Tycoon-Mr. Li Jiachen where you can have a window shopping.
To close this journey, head west to the Beijing Hotel.
Route Two : Traditional BeijingLiulichang Cultural DistrictStart: Hepingmen subway station ( down Nan Xinhua Jie )Finish: Qianmen subway station (Qianmen Gate, south end of Tiananmen Square )Time: 2-3 hours
To begin, take a taxi or walk straight south from the Hepingmen subway station down Nanxinhua Jie lying from north to south . When you walk down Nanxinhua Jie, you find below the interesting places:
On your left side, you first come across over 100-year-old Beijing Quanjude Peking Roast Duck Resturant. At Quanjude, ducks are immesed in condiments unique to the restaurant and are roasted directly over flames stoked by fruittree wood. The best roasted duck is date-red, shining with oil, but with a crisp skin and tender meat. Eating Peking Duck is also one of the two things you are absolutely supposed to do while in Beijing. The other one is climbing the Great Wall.On the back side of Quanqude Peking Duck Resturant, you will find a hutong ( narrow lane ) named Qianmenxiheyan Jie on your left side when you walk down Nanxinhua Jie. Just walk into the lane about 100 meters, you will discover the oldest existent opera house in Beijing. It is an ancient wooden structure theatre with more than 300 years' history. The Chinese Encyclopaedia marks Zheng-yi Temple Theatre as a" complete theatre architecture". It was built earlier than many famous operas in western countries, such as the French Comedy Theatre in Paris and Kar-vine Park Opera in Britain. Zheng-yi Temple Theatre, the only well reserved, wooden-structure theatre in Beijing, regarded as a mile stone in Chinese theater developing history and credited by some scholars as "living fossil in Chinese theatrical cultural history". There is excellent daily performance of Chinese operas, such as Beijing Opera, Kun Qu opera and Hebei Bangzi opera. Open Hour: 7: 30 PM. Price: RMB 150. Also you can pay RMB 10 to enter the opera house to have a close look.After finishing the visit to Zheng-yi Temple, turn back, again enter Nanxinhuajie. A few steps down , you will find youself melting into Liulichang Street - main part of Nanxinhuajie. On both side of the street there are plenty of storefronts and vendor's stalls selling collectibles and art supplies, including the renowned:
The China Bookstore which carries a hodgepodge of classical Chinese books and piles of foreign-language books on Chinese culture. It's a good place for book lovers to "get lost" in the stacks.
Rongbaozhai (shop No. 19, north side, open daily from 9am to 6pm), the most prominent shop on the west section of Liulichang. It sells woodblock prints, copies of famous calligraphy, historic paintings (reproductions), and art supplies. It is one of Beijing's top art shops and well worth browsing. The shop at no. 34 (south side) carries old books, and the store next door (no. 36) has an interesting selection of Chinese musical instruments
Jiguge (No. 132-136), which offers reproductions of famous Chinese paintings and scrolls, clay tomb figures, rubbings from stone tablets, and fine jade carvings. Jiguge also carries a wide range of Yixing teapots and teas, which you can sip at a table in its teahouse daily from 9am to 11pm.
Wenshenzhai (No. 92), once the chief supplier of fans and paper lanterns to the Forbidden City.
Finishing visiting Liulichang still down Nanxinhuajie, soon you find a big street sign in suspension pointing to Far East Hotel eastward on your left side. Entering the appointed narrow lane called Tieshouxiejie, you start to have the long hutong trip linking Nanxihuajie to Dashilan street. And the first interesting place you 'll come across is a 100 year old hotel-Far East Hotel. Just opposit the hotel, you 'll see an international youth hostel - Far East International Hostel. You can buy IYHF party card at the front desk, by the card you can reserve any room in one of the International Youth Hostels all of the world.
The "Long March" from Nanxinhuajie to Dashilan is as frustrating, yet as fascinating, to walk. The frustration comes first from the fact that much of the narrow ( Tieshouxiejie in west part and Dashilanxijie in easr part ) is not meant for strollsand many of its long blocks are monotonous, shabby, and uninteresting. Yet there are fascinating walks, utterly unlike any found in the West. Some of these walks, however, are embedded with their own frustrations. Street signs are difficult to spot and interpret, addresses are omitted from buildings, and the sidewalks are not only crowded with other pedestrians, but with bicycle parking lots, construction sites, vendors and their carts, card players, laundry strung between doors and trees, and even a brazenly parked car or two. More than once you may find yourself walking in the streets and gutters just to get around these obstacles, yet it is just such obstacles that make a stroll through Beijing so fascinating.Well, after the eastward walking until you come to a gate and the start of a pedestrian-only cobbled street - Dazhalan pedestrian shopping street (Dazhalan Jie, also called Dashilan Jie). It is a bit more modern than Liulichang, but quite interesting. Relax and enjoy the window shopping.
In the first block on the right side you'll come across, in order:
Neiliansheng Shoe Store (No. 34), established in 1853, and still the place to buy footwear.
Tongrentang Traditional Medicine Shop (No. 24), established in 1669, Beijing's most celebrated pharmacy.
Take a break… If you're ready for a rest, stop in for a cup of tea and a Chinese steamed pastry right next door to the traditional medicine store at the Zhang Yi Yuan Tea Shop, 22 Dazhalan Jie, open daily from 8am to 7pm.
Ruifuxiang Silk and Cotton Store, established in 1893. It's on the north side. Within its gaudy marble entrance is a vast selection of silks and clothing. Once the prime outlet for Qing Dynasty royalty and rich merchants, it's open daily from 8:30am to 9:30pm.
Qianmen Women's Clothing Store, with suits, blouses, and a selection of wool and silk fabrics that can be custom-tailored. Open daily from 8:30am to 9pm.
On the south side of the street is the:
Liubiju Pickle Shop, still going quite strong after 400 years.
This marks the end of the Dazhalan pedestrian mall. Make an immediate left turn (north) up the side street known as:
Zhubaoshi Jie, which means "Jewelry Street." This street was the gateway to a major brothel and the theater district up until Liberation (1949). Today it is a major outdoor bazaar of stands and carts selling inexpensive clothing, collectibles, and edibles. (Although few tourists are made ill by the food here, I advise against partaking, as the quality is not up to the standards of hotels and restaurants.)
Ahead looms:Qianmen (Front Gate). North of the Zhubaoshi bazaar is the traffic arc that leads to the south end of Tiananmen Square. To the northeast you'll see the old Front Gate (Qianmen, officially known as Zhengyangmen), a towering remnant of the city wall, through which the emperors passed on their annual procession from the Forbidden City to the Temple of Heaven. You can ascend the tower at two points for excellent views of Tiananmen Square to the north and the Dazhalan District you've just strolled to the southwest. There's also a fine photographic exhibition of the streets and walls of old Beijing.
Winding Down From Qianmen Gate you can go in any direction. The world's largest KFC is a block west on Qianmen Xi Dajie. A few blocks south, at 32 Qianmen Dajie (the old Imperial Way), is the city's most famous Beijing duck restaurant ( Quanjude Kaoyadian ), open daily from 10:30am to 1:30pm for lunch and 4:30 to 8:30pm for dinner, the perfect ending to a day on foot in old Beijing
