Insight Guides City Guide Beijing

Insight Guides

• Publisher: Insight
• ISBN:
  9781786716712
• Edition: 8
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Travel

Modern Beijing is a dynamic and increasingly sophisticated city with a wealth of unique history and fascinating culture. Be inspired to visit by Insight City Guide Beijing, a full-colour guide to this captivating city.Inside Insight City Guide Beijing: A fully-overhauled edition by our expert author.Stunning photography that brings this ancient city and its people to life. Highlights of the city's top attractions, from the breathtaking space of Tiananmen Square and historic buildings of the Temple of Heaven to the dynamic creativity of the 798 Art District and cutting-edge design at the National Stadium.Descriptive area-by-area accounts cover the whole city from the Forbidden City to the Summer Palaces, and beyond on excursions to the Great Wall of China and Chengde.A comprehensive Travel Tips section includes all the practical information you will need for your trip, including getting around.Detailed, high-quality maps throughout will help you get around and travel tips give you all the essential information for planning a memorable trip.

About Insight Guides: Insight Guides has over 40 years' experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. We produce around 400 full-colour print guide books and maps as well as picture-packed eBooks to meet different travellers' needs. Insight Guides' unique combination of beautiful travel photography and focus on history and culture together create a unique visual reference and planning tool to inspire your next adventure.

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Southern Beijing

Sprawling for miles beyond ancient Qianmen Gate, this part of the city was traditionally poorer than areas further north. In the southeast is the spectacular Temple of Heaven complex, set within one of the city’s largest parks.

Main Attractions

Dazhalan and Liulichang shopping streets

Fayuansi Temple

Baiyunguan Temple

Tianning Si Temple

Temple of Heaven

Panjiayuan Market

The southern area of Beijing has long been the poorer side of town, ever since the Manchu invasion of 1644 relocated the local Han Chinese here – away from the nobles and military officials who chose to reside in elegant homes further north. The streets deviate from the strict grid pattern of most of Beijing, the pavements are narrower and the drainage inferior. Yet this has been a key area of development in recent years, resulting in large-scale development and the demolition of many historic neighbourhoods. Some interesting old streets remain, as well as important historical sites including the magnificent Temple of Heaven, together with the scant remnants of the Muslim Quarter at Ox Street and Niu Jie Mosque.

Outside the old railway station at Qianmen.

Richard Nowitz/Apa Publications

The Qianmen area

Just to the south of Tiananmen Square, beyond Qianmen Gate, is the area known as Qianmen. This used to be one of the busiest sections of town, situated as it was close to the gates in the wall linking the Inner (Tartar) City with the Outer (Chinese) City. In earlier times, officials would leave their horses outside Qianmen or Tiananmen gates before passing through the gates into the Forbidden City.

Teapots on Liulichang.

Ming Tang Evans/Apa Publications

To the north of Qianmen Gate was the so-called Tartar City, the spacious estates of the imperial household and tranquil temples set aside for ancestral and godly worship. To the south was the bustling mass of everyday life, where the pursuit of more earthly delights was also allowed. The brothels and opium dens of Qianmen were so renowned that Manchu officials – and even emperors in disguise – would come to sample their pleasures. The area was also famed for its opera houses – Mei Lanfang made his start in the now shuttered Guanghe Theatre in a little street just off Qianmen. Brothels are a thing of the past, at least in theory, and opera theatres are fast joining them. The area is now dominated by Qianmen Dajie, an ambitious and controversial pedestrianised shopping street done up in traditional style whose authenticity has been questioned by many. Two reproduction 1920s trams run slowly up and down its length, more popular as a photo opportunity than as a means of transport.

Named after the famous novelist, Laoshe Teahouse (Laoshe Chaguan; 老舍茶馆; daily 9am–10pm) on Qianmen Xidajie aims to give patrons a taste of Old Beijing with nightly performances of opera and vaudeville, traditional snacks and pricey cups of tea poured by staff bedecked in flowing gowns. It’s all for the tourists, of course, but certainly entertaining.

Traditional shops on Liulichang.

Ming Tang Evans/Apa Publications

Dazhalan and Liulichang

Dazhalan 1 [map] (大栅栏) is a long hutong heading west off Qianmen Dajie that boasts a 600-year heritage and is famous for its old shops and businesses that draw customers from the suburbs and the provinces, as well as overseas tourists. It was completely renovated before and after the Olympic Games and is now a pedestrianised zone. The name Dazhalan (often referred to as “Dashilar” in Beijing dialect) literally means “big stockades”, and is an echo of Ming times when the streets were closed off at the evening curfew.

One of Dazhalan’s best-known shops is the Tongrentang Pharmacy, which hoards secret recipes of the Qing court and is reputed to be the oldest Chinese medicine shop in the country, founded back in 1669. Tongrentang has not only survived, but flourished – it now has branches throughout China, around Asia, and even in such far-off places as London and Sydney. Other famous shops include the Neiliansheng Shoe Store, the Ruifuxiang Silk and Cotton Fabrics Store and various shops specialising in tea leaves and musical instruments.

A few unrenovated side alleys remain in the more chaotic style of old, though their days are certainly numbered. Further to the west through the maze of hutong is Liulichang 2 [map] (琉璃厂), literally meaning “glazed tile factory”, a shopping street restored in the 1980s to its original style, which offers a wide range of Chinese arts and crafts with a generous helping of kitsch. Its name derives from the five kilns that were established nearby during the Ming dynasty to provide glazed tiles for the palaces and halls being built in the new Imperial Palace. During the Qing dynasty, the area was inhabited by Chinese officials serving a Manchu government who were not permitted to live in the Tartar City to the north. A thriving economy grew up around the community, catering to the mostly male officials, young men studying for their civil service exams and the many itinerant merchants who passed through here.

Quote

“Loo-le-chang appeared to be the ‘Pasternoster Row’ of Peking. The street is nearly a mile in length, and almost every shop in it is a bookseller’s.”

Robert Fortune, 1863

There are many long-established companies on Liulichang. On the eastern stretch are most of the antique (or purported antique) shops. Here you can also find the China Bookstore (at No. 115), with its collection of old books, while Yidege (No. 67) has been selling artists’ and calligraphers’ supplies since 1865. Daiyuexuan (No. 73) is the place to go for quality paintbrushes, which it has been selling since 1916. The western branch of the street has bookshops and art galleries as well as more calligraphic supplies.

Beijing Opera at the Liyuan Theatre.

David Shenkai/Apa Publications

A short distance to the north is the Zhengyici Beijing Opera Theatre (Zhengyici Xilou; 正乙祠戏楼), the oldest Beijing Opera theatre constructed entirely of wood. It was built in the 17th century and has hosted many opera masters, including Mei Lanfang, but was later converted into a hotel, which eventually closed in 1949. Through much effort, the theatre finally reopened in 1995. It can seat 150 people.

Daguanlou Cinema

Opened in 1903, Daguanlou is the oldest operating cinema in the world. Originally a teahouse that put on opera performances, the venue started to show foreign short films between acts on a piece of suspended white cloth. The forward-thinking owner shot China’s first movie, Dingjun Shan, an adaptatio...