Capital of China, Beijing

As one of the most important cities in China, Beijing is a place I have to introduce you. Beijing is a vivid metropolis spiked with high-rises, changing and growing at a furious pace. For over a thousand years, the drama of China's imperial history was played out here.Although Beijing becomes a very different modern city, it still remains spiritually, culturally, and politically the heart of the nation.If we say Shanghai and Hongkong may be where the money is, Beijing attract people to come for its culture, politics, history, and arts.
I asked many of my American friends about the first impression or the first things they would think of China. Not surprisingly, they gave me mostly the same answer that is the Great Wall and Panda. Thus, the first place we are going to see is the Great Wall.

Many people misunderstand that the Great Wall is just a wall located in Beijing. In fact, the Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications made of stone, bricks, wood and other materials. It was built as early as the 7th century BC along the historical northern borders of China from the east to west in order to protect the Chinese Empire against Mongolia. The major part of the Great Wall is composed of 3,889 mi sections of actual wall, 223 mi of trenches and 1,387 mi of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers. The spot of the wall scenery many tourists usually go is the closest one called Ba Da Ling about 1.5 hrs drive from the Beijing city. 

The forbidden City, where the emperors of several dynasties lived, is located in the heart of the city. This place is massive with its complex consisting of 980 buildings and covering 7,800,000 sq ft. There used to be approximately 9,000 people including emperor, his wives, some of his family relatives and maids, servants living here. It's separated from the rest of the city area by a moat. After the liberation of China in 1949, Tian'anmen square was constructed right besides the Gate of Heavenly Peace of the Forbidden City. So you can see Chairman Mao's portrait hanging above the central entrance of the Forbidden City.

How about the life of folk people who were living outside the Forbidden City in Beijing? Hanging out in the Tea house was most popular thing to do in old time of Beijing. Many tea houses nowadays are reserved for their tradition. I'll take you to my favorite one called Laoshe Teahouse. It has become a chase teahouse these days. The interior decoration remains old Beijing style. Find yourself a comfortable seat, then you can enjoy a cup of tea and some Beijing snacks, pastries while you are watching traditional shows in Beijing including Peking opera, local acrobatics and talkshows. Here for your curiosity, I have some records on those fantastic performances(Peking opera, acrobatics with plates,and Sichuan opera mask change) taken in my past teahouse experience.

Another place is also a good place to relax. It is Houhai Lake which you can spend all night walking around, eating snacks, hitting the bars, exploring good live music, biking around, boating on the lake, etc. People here are super crazy about their night life. There are hundreds of all sorts of bars here. After browsing around for a while, I'm sure you can settle down for some music in some bar, and order a glass of beer with some grilled shish kebab:) At this moment, you would realize how beautiful your life can be.   

 

Next I wanna take you to one of the oldest streets and a famous snack street nearby Wangfujing shopping center of Beijing where some snapshots of me were taken in front (the left two in the grid below). Then the Olympic park built for 2008 Beijing Olympic is a popular spot you gotta visit. I was super excited when I went back to China and saw the Bird Nest Stadium and the Water Cube  Aquatics Centre in 2009.   

798 Art Zone/District, it's a collection of art galleries, boutiques and cafes is a hotspot for the arty crowd and for tourists who are interested in some new attractions in Beijing.This huge complex of Bauhaus-style buildings was originally an electronics factory 50 years ago. When it's closed down in the 1990s, artists moved in and converted all these cheap spaces into art studios. Nowadays, you can easily find some fresh contemporary art here. That's why I LOVE THIS CRAZY PLACE.  

It's a really limited introduction to Beijing.Beijing has too many interesting places to see. I have been to Beijing 8 times, but never got tired of this city.Every time, I felt time flying so fast and I'm so in love with Beijing. Not exaggerated to say, one month to explore this tremendous city is even not enough at all. Come to Beijing, it's gonna be a wonderful experience ever.