Beijing Things to Do Tips by piglet44

WE went to the Great Wall at Mutianyu with Alvin. He was an excellent guide and we enjoyed it very much .The way up to the wall by cable car gives brilliant views, and the walk on the top was really awe-inspiring.Alvin gave us a lot of information about the history of the Wall and the whole experience was unforgettable.

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We enjoyed wandering around the hutongs around the Bell Tower area,and near to the Behai lakes, and in my opinion it is not necessary to take a rickshaw tour. It is much more fun to walk, to peek into the alleyways and people's houses but you had better hurry because this area is fast disappearing , and being "renovated".Some of the new shops have been built in the old style but appeared to me a little gentrified ,not so much the real thing as a replica.
The whole area is a lot of fun, though, especially the little bars and tea houses near to the lake.
We dived inside one and had a splendid cup of tea, when it started raining , and came out again when the rain stopped.

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Website: http://www.chinavista.com/experience/hutong/hutong

This is really hard to sum up in a few words.I didn't realize how huge the Forbidden City was.Although some parts of it were really crowded, especially the main big courtyard as you go in, there are lots of side corridors and rooms where you can wander around at leisure and try to imagine what it was like when the emperor and all his concubines lived there.It is really very impressive.I suggest getting a guide unless you are really knowledgeable about Ancient Chinese History. We had a guy called John who was good,although a little hard to follow at times.Just hang around at the main entrance before the ticket gate and you will be mobbed by potential guides so just pick one whom you can understand... some of the accents make this a little tricky.
Also take it slow- there is a lot to see here.

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Address: North of Tiananmen Square
Directions: In the Center of Beijing
Website: http://www.dpm.org.cn/

Being on holiday we didn't fancy getting up at dawn to see the flag being raised at Tianenmen Square, so we opted for seeing it at dusk. ON our last day in China at the end of the trip we returned to the biggest public square on earth to watch the traditional changing of the guard and lowering of the flag.It was hard to see much through the crowds,but nevertheless an impressive and exciting event. Thousands of Chinese and tourists standing together and straining to see and snap a picture over the heads of the crowds.
Check out our pictures... The square itself is huge as I said and has a number of interesting monuments around it, including one to the heroes of 1949.

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Directions: In the very center of Beijing
Website: http://www.roundtiananmensquare.com/index.html

I think I wrote about the Temple of Heaven somewhere else by accident, but just want to say it was a lovely place to visit. The grounds are beautiful, and lots of Chinese families come there to picnic at the weekends,and we saw people playing traditional chinese instruments and singing in the gardens. You need to buy a through ticket if you want to visit all the parts of the site inside.The other ticket is just for people who want to go to the gardens and not enter all the buildings of the temple.The audio guide was worthwhile too.

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We had not meant to visit this but we met some fellow Israelis on top of the Great Wall and they said they had seen the stadium from the top of a high building next to the Olympic Site and so our guide, Alvin said he would take us there too.
Actually it was more interesting than I had expected. We saw the stadium, the swimming pool and the strange Torch shaped building which are the athletes' living quarters.

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