Beijing Things to Do

On a trip around Asia and Australia, Asha and Brock’s second stop is Beijing, where they spent a few days exploring the history and culture in and around the city.

A perfect tour for young and old and especially those traveling with children, a Panda tour to Beijing Zoo is simply a must during your stay in this fabulous Chinese city.  For a low-stress, low-cost day out, look into a day Panda Tour that will usually take you to the famous Lama Temple, which was once the resident of a royal court in Beijing. It is one of the largest and most significant operating Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in the world.

Located in the area within Beijing’s 2^nd Ring Road, the ancient networks of alleyways known as hutongs are home to classic examples of Chinese architecture that date back to the 13^th century. Once home to generations of aristocrats, bureaucrats, and royals, the demographic playing field in these historic neighborhoods was very violently leveled or even upturned after the Communist takeover in 1949, resulting in a massive influx of poor and working class residents. This class inversion has been reversed somewhat since then, and many celebrities and government officials now call the hutongs home (not least among these being the controversial reformer Zhao Ziyang, who spent 15 years under house arrest following the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989).

Housed in a decommissioned factory building in Beijing’s Chaoyang District, the 798 Art Zone is often referred to as the SoHo of Beijing. Since 2002, the artistic community in China’s capital has found a home in the massive space for one of the most unique and inspiring contemporary art galleries in the country. Keeping in touch with its proletarian roots (the factory, built by the East Germans as part of a large complex, was primarily used for the construction of electronics), the art at 798 is edgy, challenging, and always intriguing.

Adventurous foodies who find themselves in Beijing would be remiss to skip out on the Donghuamen Night Market, located at the northern end of the Wangfujing business district. Since 1984, stalls at the market have been opening up at nightfall to shock visitors with bizarre treats from both northern and southern China.

China isn’t typically a destination associated with beer drinking, but each August, the coastal city of Qingdao plays host to the Qingdao International Beer Festival, the largest of its kind in Asia. During the two-week festival, Qingdao Century Square will host breweries from around the world as they sample their brews to the visiting public.