Beijing Travel Guide.com

8/14/2019 Beijing Travel Guide.com

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YOURLOCAL GUIDE TO BEIJING

Welcome to Beijing! This guide will introduce you to all of the information that you needto know when in China's capital. How to get around; how to eat; where to go; what to see;it's all in here. I've even included a few pointers on language and culture that will add somecolor to your adventures in Beijing.

Take this guide with you as you go around the city, as its full of the Chinesenames and addresses of places to see and restaurants to try. Any time you get stuck, justshow your cab driver the characters of the place you need to go to or show your waiter thething you want to eat on the menu provided, and you should be in good shape. Also, dontforget to bring a copy of your hotels card with you so that you can always get home safelyor call for backup in extreme situations.

Please take a few moments to go through the online version of this guide:www.beijing-travel-guide.com. Youll find that it offers important updates, as the city isconstantly changing, and interactive features, particularly with respect to language, thatwill supplement what you carry with you while in Beijing.

!"#$%!

Warm regards,

Michael [email protected]


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Welcome to Beijing 5

What this guide offers you

The Excitement of Beijing 2008 6

Why the Summer Games were such a big deal to the Chinese

Chinas Olympics 7

What China calls its Games

Opening Ceremony 8

A look at the ways in which Chinese languageand culture influenced the Opening of the Games

The Olympic Colors 9

The special roles colors played in the Olympics

Chinese Culture 10

An overview of Chinese culture with a particularfocus on Food, Art, Confucianism and othertraditional concepts

Mandarin 15

Crash course in Chinese with a section on Greetingsand Basic Words study and impress your friends

Food 18

Four tips on dining etiquetteMenu 20

Menu advice and dish recommendations that willhelp you explore the many types of Chinese food

Getting Around Beijing 25

Explanation of the layout of Beijing and how to use publictransportation to get from A to B with the least amount of hassle

Shopping 28

Essential bargaining techniques for Western shoppers

Places 29

A list of the must visitPlace to See, Places to Shop andPlaces to Eat in Beijing, when youre not watching the Games

Recommendations 37

Restaurant and Bar picks that wont lead you wrong

Itinerary 40

The combination of Places and Restaurants that shouldGuide you through Chinas capital

Warnings 42

Please read these before you set out in the city!

Frequently Asked Questions 44

Additional information


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Map of China 47Basic lay of the land

My Story 48

Your author


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WELCOME TO BEIJING!

Welcome to the capital city of China. Beijing is a city where old and new come together ina fascinating mix of traditional and modern Chinese culture and lifestyle. Recently Beijinghas been all over the news because of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, an event that

the entire world watched. The Beijing Games were larger than life, and here are a few ofthe impressive figures that were associated with them:

1 first Olympics in China5 cost in RMB of the cheapest student tickets to the Games302 gold medals awarded in Beijing10,000 athletes who participated in the Beijing Games21,000 torchbearers along the Olympic flames 85,000-mile journey to Beijing7,000,000 tickets sold for the 2008 Summer Games4,000,000,000 spectators who watched the Games on TV and radio

35,000,000,000 the total cost in US dollars of all of the construction projects for theBeijing Olympics

This past year,culminating in the 2008 SummerOlympics, has been Chinascoming out party to the world.Lets use the Olympics to beginto better understand China andto learn about Beijing. And to

do this, well need to know alittle bit about Chinese history,language and culture.

So, why were theBeijing Games so special?


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THE EXCITEMENT OF BEIJING 2008

Over half the worlds population watched the Beijing Summer Olympics, which was thebiggest event in the world in 2008. We in the West couldnt talk about the stock market,climate change or human rights without mentioning Beijing 2008. Still our interest paled

in comparison to the excitement over the Games in China.After China won the right to host the Games in 2001, the whole country startedcounting down the minutes (literally, and on big digital clocks in places like TiananmenSquare) until 8 pm on August 8, 2008. Months before the start of the Games, you wereguaranteed to see the Olympics rings and Fuwa prominently displayed in almost everyChinese city. Multiple programs lauding the accomplishments of Chinese Olympians ranevery night on CCTV Olympics, formerly known as CCTV-5 the nation-wide sportschannel, but renamed for the Games. Daily newspaper headlines wondered aloud howgreat the Games would be. And in Beijing, the 2008 One World, One Dream sloganshowed up on billboards, t-shirts, bumper stickers and even in flower arrangements. It was

overwhelming. But why did the Chinese care so much about the 2008 Beijing Olympics?There are many ways to think about this. Here's one that puts the Beijing

Olympics in the context of recent Chinese history.The Chinese journey to

Olympic glory began in the 18thcentury. At this time, China was themost powerful nation in the world,and its population already numberedclose to 300 million (the population ofthe US today). The Qing, China's last

dynasty, presided over an economythat accounted for 1/3 of the worldsGDP (the US currently accounts for20% of world GDP), a territory thatincluded Taiwan and Hong Kong anda peaceful society that allowedtechnological innovation and the

development of culture. China was at the height of its power.In the 1700s, China was developed, cultured and proud and didnt care to interact

with the outside world. As they paid less attention to other countries, the ruling Qing became increasingly despotic and corrupt. Refusing to believe that foreigners could produce anything of value, China did not participate in the industrial revolution. Thecountry did not modernize with the West.

Isolationism worked for China until a trade dispute with the British brought aboutthe Opium Wars. In the 1840's and '50's, steam powered gun-ships sailed up Chinese rivers,and forced China once again to pay attention to the rest of the world. Chinas losses to theBritish in the Opium Wars were the beginning of the Middle Kingdom's downward spiral.For the next 90 years, the colonial powers of Britain, Germany, France and Japan tookturns beating up big, backward China. No longer an economic or political power, by thelate 1930s China had lost both Taiwan and Hong Kong, its once proud culture had turnedin on itself and challenged everything the Chinese had traditionally held close to heart andsociety was on the verge of civil war. It was a rapid and humiliating fall from greatness forChina.

A long march and a bit of luck brought Chairman Mao to Tiananmen Squarewhere he founded the Peoples Republic of China on October 1, 1949. Although many


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Chinese, swept up in the communist sentiment of the time, brimmed with hope that theywould soon return to their place of greatness in the world, they would not see this changeunder Mao. A series of ill-conceived attempts to modernize the economy and improvesociety ultimately left China, by the mid 1970's, right where it started under communistrule poor, backward and culturally bankrupt. Things began to change in 1978.

No matter if its a white cat or a black cat, as long as it catches mice its a good

cat. With these words, Deng Xiaoping initiated in China one of greatest economictransformation that the world has seen in modern times. In test cites, specialized economiczones in southern China, Deng applied pragmatic, market-based reforms to Chinasplanned economy. The success of these zones, like Shenzhen, encouraged the governmentto spread the reforms across the country. And thus they created China's capitalist socialist, free market command, hybrid economy.

August 8, 2008, marked the 30th anniversary of Dengs jumpstarting Chinaseconomic engine. In this time, Chinas economy grew at better than 8% per year, and inthe process it pulled roughly 400 million people out of poverty. Beijing is now one of themost important political centers in the world, and Chinese culture influences people

everywhere, from Europe to Latin America. The Summer Olympics affirmed to theChinese and the rest of the world that China is back.

This is why the Olympics became known as China's "coming out party" to theworld. This is also one reason why the Chinese were so excited for Beijing 2008.

China bundled many of its hopes and dreams for itself into the Olympics. It'seasy to see where the country wants to go in the future by looking at the way Chinamarketed the 2008 Summer Olympics.

CHINAS OLYMPICS

The Chinese government named the 2008 Summer Olympics the Green Olympics, theHigh-Tech Olympics and the Peoples Olympics.

The Green Olympics is the most prominent concept attached to the Games, andrepresents what China claims is its determination to protect the environment. Chinaseconomic boom has created terrible pollution problems. Some of the most significantproblems include:

1. Sixteen of the worlds twenty most polluted cities. Acid rain and smog in thesecities not only destroy buildings but also shortens the lives of an estimated750,000 people each year.

2. Erosion and desertification ofhundreds of thousands of acres of farmland. Thisleads not only to reduced harvests but also more frequent dust storms travelingfrom North-Central China and the Gobi desert to eastern cities such as Beijing.

3. Pollution of an estimated 70% of rivers and lakes that limits access to drinkingwater in rural and urban areas.

China estimates that it spends $64 billion each year addressing pollution problems andenvironmental damage.


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Under the banner of the Green Olympics, China plans on spending over $6.6billion in the next few years to improve the environment through recycling, reforestationand conservation programs. Moreover, China plans to rely less heavily on dirty coal plantsfor power and to increase its usage of environmentally friendly fuels such as natural gas,solar, hydro and other renewableenergy sources.

Beijing was also The HighTech Olympics. Amidst the massiveconstruction projects to build the newOlympic stadiums, brand new broadband, GPS and mobilecommunications networks have beeninstalled throughout the capital.Technologically advanced Multi-lingual Translator Machines werealso available to spectators. All of

these conveniences illustratedChinas commitment to transformingfrom the worlds factory to one of the worlds high tech economic centers.

The final concept of the Games, The Peoples Olympics, reminded spectatorsthat China hopes not only to spread the Olympic Spirit through the Games but also hopes tospread understanding of China and Chinese culture. The Chinese government has recentlyannounced a series of new programs to teach Chinese art, language and customs in preparation for the Games. One part of Chinese culture that these programs will have adifficult time teaching, however, is an appreciation for the past. China's all out effort tomodernize has destroyed many of its historic monuments from the hutongs in Beijing to

the archeological sites near the Three Gorges Dam. Recognizing that foreigners often cometo China to see ancient China, not skyscrapers, the government has announced that it hasredoubled its efforts to protect and refurbish ancient structures and cultural relics. I hopethey're successful.

THE OPENING CEREMONY

The Opening Ceremony of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad was held in the Beijing National Stadium at 8 pm on August 8, 2008. Designed by the award winning Swissarchitecture firm Herzog & de Meuron at a cost of $500 million, the stadium made nodistinction between structural elements and the buildings faade. This gave the stadium aweb-like appearance and a very apt nickname, the Birds Nest. 100,000 spectators piledinto the Birds Nest to join in the celebration of the Opening Ceremony, that famousdirector Zhang Yimou helped to produce. It was a spectacular show carried by CCTV andNBC to viewers across the globe!


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The Chinese consider the number 8 to be the luckiest of all numbers, so thestarting date and time of the Opening Ceremony was specifically chosen to bring good luckand good fortune to the Games. The numerical representation of the date illustrates why theOpening Ceremony was so lucky: 08 08 08 08; this is the 8th hour of the 8th day of

the 8th month of the 8th yearsince 2000. The Chinese

character for the number 8 is&, which you pronounce asb!. This character soundsvery similar to the Chineseword for prosperity, ' ,roughly pronounced ba inCantonese and pronounced f!,in Mandarin. Since the pronunciation of the Chineseword for 8 sounds just like the pronunciation of the Chinese

word for prosperity, 8 is a very lucky number in China. Therefore, Chinese try tomaximize the number of 8s in everything from phone numbers, to car license plates andeven the starting date of the Olympic Games. The more 8s in a number the better. The dateand time of the Opening Ceremony show that the Chinese hoped the Beijing Games wouldbe very lucky for spectators, athletes and China. And the Games were.

THE OLYMPIC COLORS

Over the past year, youve seen many advertisements for the Beijing Olympics. Whether onbillboards or TV, all of these advertisements have been colorful. Colors are important inChinese culture, and the colors used in every advertisement, sign and banner have beenchosen for specific reasons.

Colors can have many different meanings. Westerners associate green with goin some circumstances and envy in others. Red sometimes indicates stop and other

times it represents anger. Chinese are very sensitive to the significance of using certaincolors in certain situations. Colors are intimately intertwined with Chinese history andculture, and China gave special attention to designing the color scheme for the 2008Beijing Olympics.

This section gives a brief overview of the special significance the 6 official colorsof the Games. Each description contains the common name of the color, the officialOlympic name for the color and then a short discussion of the colors importance in theGames and Chinese culture.

WHITE: Jade White: In ancient times, Chinese intellectuals wore jade to

show their honesty and suggest that they were clean, pure-hearted andunselfish. Jade, which the Chinese use to make jewelry and sculptures, is alsoa symbol of luck.

GREY:Great Wall Grey: Grey is the tone of traditional Beijing architectureand can be seen everywhere from the grey Great Wall in the mountains to the


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grey siheyuan courtyards, which lie in Beijings hutongs. Grey symbolizes maturity, and aman will wear grey to suggest that he is wise.

BLUE:Blue-and-white Porcelain Blue: The shades of color in the blue and white porcelain bowl match the shade of Beijings bright summer andgolden autumn. The blue relates to the citys history and creativity.

GREEN:Chinese Scholar-Tree Green: This green tree represents the imageof Beijing, the harmony between man and nature and also symbolizesChinas hope for a Green Olympics. Chinese associate green with thespringtime, and thus the color is a symbol of life, the hope for new things tocome.

YELLOW: The Glaze Yellow: Roof tiles in Beijing, tree leaves in autumnand farmlands ripe for harvest in late summer are examples of the goldencolor of the glaze that covers Chinas landscape and history. This rich yellow

and gold color also represents nobility: During ancient times the Emperorwould wear beautiful yellow garments from head to toe and prohibit peasants from wearinganything of a similar color.

RED:Chinese Red: Red is the most famous color in China. Red lanterns, redweddings, and red palatial walls (just look at the Forbidden City) illustratethat red colors all aspects of the lives of Chinese in Beijing. Not only is redthe most prominent color of the official Olympic Emblem, DancingBeijing, but red is also the color of Beijing and China, as the red flag of Chinademonstrates. (Red is also the color of Communism, and this is another reason for the color

of the PRC flag.) Red symbolizes everything good: happiness, joyousness, and good luck.Almost all festival and celebrations will contain something red. For example, during themassive Chinese New Year celebration, families will give their children small red envelopsfilled with money as good luck gifts for the year.

CHINESE CULTURE

Remember reading about ancient Egypt, Greece and Mesopotamia in school, and findingout how advanced these civilizations were thousands of years ago? In order to begin tounderstand Chinese culture, you cant lose sight of the fact that China was and is one ofthose great, ancient civilizations. In more than 5,000 years of recorded history China haschanged and evolved but still remains China. The Chinese are very proud of their history,and a strong sense of this history permeates Chinese culture.

LANGUAGE: When people say they speak Chinese, they usually mean Mandarin Chinese,the official state language. That said there are many types of Chinese. Nearly every place

you go in China has its own dialect. For example, people in Shanghai will speakShanghainese just as those from Guangdong, formerly known as Canton, speak Cantonese.Although each dialect relies on the same set of characters for written expression, whenspoken the dialects are very different. If someone who speaks only Shanghainese meetssomeone who speaks only Cantonese, they wont be able to communicate.


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This was the situation in China for a long time. Although there was a writtenstandard, there wasnt a spoken standard for all Chinese for thousands of years. As you canimagine, this made ruling the country difficult. How can a government make laws and issue

commands when everyone speaks adifferent language? In order to unifythe nation and also create a more

viable political and economicenvironment, when Mao and theChinese Communist Party came to power in 1949, they made Mandarinthe state language. Today Chinese stilloften speak their local dialects butthey all also know how to speakMandarin.

Chinese language has anintimate relationship with Chinese

culture and with a careful eye you willbe able to spot the intersection of language and culture throughout the Games. The firstthing to understand is that the Chinese language is over 5,000 years old, originallyappearing as engravings in turtle shells. Chinese developed into characters that representedsimple nouns like sun or mountain or verbs such as cry. Many of these charactershave changed over the years but some remain strikingly similar to their original forms.

Language is one of the defining aspects of culture, and the Chinese take greatpride in preserving their language as a means of preserving their culture and history. They place great value on the ability to speak and write well. For example, in ancient China,those who held the highest rank in society were the intellectuals, the people who could read

and write. Below the intellectuals were peasants, thenworkers and finally businessmen. The amount of moneythat you had mattered little because it was your level ofeducation that determined your social rank. Anothermodern example of the emphasis the Chinese place oncareful language study is Chinese TV. The government,which controls all TV and radio broadcasts, only allows people who speak flawless Chinese to hold jobs as TVnews anchors and reporters to ensure all Chinese hearnothing but perfect Mandarin.

Written Chinese has tens of thousands ofcharacters, and is a very difficult language to learn how toread and write. Chinese children spend years practicingand memorizing in order to recognize the roughly 2,000characters needed to become literate. Remarkably, over90% of China is literate.

Whether an elementary school student in Beijingor a college student in New York, both begin studyingChinese by writing out individual characters over and over.There is no substitute for rote memorization. Graduallythe characters work together and form words andsentences. Much later it becomes clear that manycharacters have a history or a pattern that gives clues to the characters origin, meaning and perhaps pronunciation. For an example of how some Chinese words are built, look at theword for Chinas currency, the renminbi or RMB. It is written ()*. This is a simple


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construction because! means man or a person,!" means the people, and* is currency;hence, The Peoples Currency. Heres another interesting example: Look at therelationship between the words for tree, #, m, and wood, $, ln and forest,% , s"n. Two trees together make wood and a collection of three trees make a forest.Pretty cool. These patterns and more detailed versions abound in Chinese.

Chinese is also a tonal language: The inflection that you place on each individualword will change its meaning. This is often what makes learning Chinese so difficult forforeigners. For example, Mandarin Chinese has four tones: 1st tone is a high and level; 2ndtone rises; 3rd tone descends and then rises; and 4th tone falls sharply. The tone you use topronounce a given word will change its meaning. Look at the wide range of meanings thatthe word ma can have just by changing the tone:

1st Tone 2nd Tone 3rd Tone 4th Tonem! m m# m+ , - .

mother hemp horse to scold

If you arent careful with your tones, you might call your mother a horse in this situation.With other words and tones, imprecise pronunciation can be even more embarrassing withother words and tones.

FOOD: I will talk about food in greater detail in the Food section but here let it suffice tosay that food is a vital aspect of Chinese culture. Sharing meals together is one way for

families to preserve traditional Chinese values rentAng Lees filmEat, Drink, Man, Woman,/012, to

see an example of this. But food does more than justunite families: It sends signals to others. For example,enjoying certain foods in public, such as a simple bowlof noodles, can indicate that your family might be poor a bowl of noodles is one of the cheapest foods inChina so poor people eat more noodles than wealthy people. Ordering a particularly spicy dish or sweeterdish might lead others to believe you are from a regionwhere that food is most common: spicy in Sichuan andsweeter dishes in the south. Many foods have their own

historical significance, like a particular Hunan porkdish that was Chairman Maos favorite. Finally,ordering expensive, exotic dishes for friends is often asign of respect. Much can be learned about a personand a situation from what is eaten in China.

ART: The Chinese place great value on art of all types.Chinese calligraphy and painting, for example, areintimately related art forms because of the similar skillsand years of practice required to produce each type of

art. Calligraphy and paintings are produced by handwith a variety of inks and brushes. The Chinese

emphasize writing characters with the proper technique and the correct strokes in order towrite fluidly and beautifully. It is easy to see how the same strokes that combine to createcharacters can also be used to paint trees or bamboo. Many times Chinese paintings will


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have short poems written in one of the corners, combining calligraphy and painting. Themost well-known and expensive styles are the hu!ni#ohu, 345, which contains birdsand flowers and the sh!nsh$ihu, &'(, which is a landscape painting. (The previouspainting is an example of a sh!nsh$ihu and below, next to Confucianism, is a hu!ni#ohu.

You can see calligraphy, paintings, and other traditional Chinese crafts at theLiulichang culture street and Panjiayuan market. In both places you can purchase pieces for

relatively low prices, and in Liulichang you can even watch artists practice theircalligraphy and painting.

Performing arts are also very important in Chinese culture. I hope youll take thetime to listen to music created by traditional Chinese instruments like the erhu and guqin.Martial arts are still taught and practiced widely and it will not be uncommon to seeChinese people practicing Taichi in a park it wont be as much fun as watching peoplefight in mid air like in the movies Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon orHero, but these public exercises are very cool to watch. An interesting way to enjoy both of thesedisciplines is to attend the Beijing opera. Beijing opera or"6, j%ngj, combines brilliantmartial arts, gorgeous costuming, abrasive singing and an overly dramatic style of acting tocreate a show that I promise you wont forget. Chinese have performed Beijing opera forover 200 years and it is one of the highest expressions of Chinese culture. For moreinformation, look at Beijing opera under the Places to See section.

CONFUCIANISM: Confucianism has existedin China for over 2000 years, and it is themost important Chinese philosophy forWesterners to understand. Confucianthinking influences the behavior of the

individual in order to create a stable society.By practicing loyalty, piety, kindness, love,reliability, and righteousness the individualcan lead a good life its kind of like amore complicated version of the GoldenRule. These individual qualities form the basis of the five relationships that governConfucian society: master and subject,father and son, husband and wife, elder brother and younger brother and friend.

When the individual leads a good life andrespects these five relationships, a stablehierarchy will be established betweenfriends, through families all the way up tothe Emperor. All members of society will bein harmony, and this is the highest goal ofConfucianism.

In Confucian thinking, theindividual is not as important as thecollective well-being of society. This understanding of the individuals role in society still

exists in China. The One Child policy, where in order to control population growth thegovernment only allows families to have one child, is a rough example of this thinking inaction. Furthermore, one of President Hu Jintaos trademark slogans emphasizes aharmonious society, which reminds Chinese of, among other things, the Confucian viewof society.


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One of the most important Confucian concepts is filial piety, 7. Although thebasic notion is that children need to respect and honor their parents, filial piety cuts muchdeeper than that. Many Chinese feel that they owe so much to their parents that they cannever do enough for them; children can never pay back their debt. One product of thisfeeling is that in their own homes Chinese often take care of their parents into old age.Sending parents to a retirement home is unthinkable.

IMPORTANT CONCEPTS: The Imperial Examinations from Confucian times influenceChinese culture and society. In ancient China Imperial Examinations were given todetermine ones level of education and ability to serve in the government. Theoretically,regardless of ones wealth, social position or family connections anyone who did well onthe Imperial Examinations could rise to the highest ranks in the government. Becausegovernment officials were in charge of the collective wellbeing of society, the Emperorgave them the power to tax. This made government officials incredibly powerful and oftenvery wealthy. Therefore children studied diligently for the exams, hoping that they woulddo well and become a high-ranking government official. The Imperial Examination systemwas the only hope for social mobility in ancient China.

In practice the Imperial Examination system did not completely level the playingfield. People of high standing in the government with many connections could from time totime get their children preferential treatment or at least give them a better chance of doingwell on the exam. This system of connections, relationships, prestige and clout has a namein Chinese: guanxi, 89. Today in China, guanxi can be a product of party membership,family status, career success, access to power and old friendships. Instead of using guanxi

to gain an advantage on the ImperialExam, people with strong guanxi canoften get the best apartment in aneighborhood, the best table at arestaurant, and ensure that their childrenattend the best schools. Guanxi still permeates all facets of Chinese society,particularly in Beijing, and is sometimesfar more valuable than money.

Using guanxi to gain anadvantage on the Imperial Examcenturies ago or using it today to makesure a business transaction goes through

also has a name in Chinese: houmen, :;. This literally means back door. A product of ones guanxi, homen means the abilityto use special privileges or an alternative path to secure desirable commodities oropportunities. For example, high-level officials will use the back door or


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Mandarin Chinese is the most widely spoken language on earth! Unlike English orother Romance languages, which spilled out of Europe, Chinese does not have an alphabet.It has characters tens of thousands of them. The good news is that you only need to learna handful to get around Beijing. Im going to teach you what you need to know.

The standard form of spoken Chinese, )*, in China is Mandarin, =>, which,

inpinyin, is hny$ meaning the language of the Han people, Chinas ethnic majority. Itis also called ?@A, p$t&nghu meaning the common language. Pinyin is the mostwidely used Romanization system. Other systems, such as the Yale and Wade-Giles, areslightly different but also quite effective and typically found in other Chinese speakingdestinations such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. Here is the abridged pinyinsystem that I will use as a crash course in reading and speaking Chinese for all of you thatcant wait to try.

Three things to remember: (1) pinyin has fixed rules. The ch pinyinRomanization always sounds like the ch sound in American English; (2) pinyin pronunciations do not always perfectly correspond to true Chinese pronunciations. Thesystem uses an English base to teach non-English, non-Romance language, sounds; (3)Chinese is a tonal language. There are four tones and above each pinyin Romanizationappears either 1st tone -, 2nd tone /, 3rd tone v, or 4th tone \. These tonal marks arecalled diacritics and they help you to begin to differentiate between the many Chinesewords that have the same pronunciation. For example thepinyin word ji will sound verydifferent with a 1st tone, which is a sustained flat tone, versus a 4th tone, which is an angrysounding descending tone, similar to the sound you'd make when shouting, Hey! to getsomeones attention. Moreover, these different tones give the words different meanings.

Many times Chinese

teachers use hand gestures to helpstudents visualize and remembertheir tones and perhaps these gestureswill help you learn the tones. Forexample, flat, palm down handmoving evenly across an imaginaryline perpendicular to the floor willindicate a 1st tone, -. This 1st toneis very flat, almost like you aresinging and trying to hold a pitch.

Starting from the same position,usually chest height at the leftshoulder, and gradually raising thehand as it moves left to right will indicate a 2nd tone, /. The 2nd tone is similar to thesound of an inquisitive Hello? 3rd tone, v, is more challenging and shown by making av-shaped motion with the hand starting at the left shoulder, dropping toward thebellybutton, and then rising again to finish at the right shoulder. Finally, sharply movingthe hand from the left shoulder down to the right hip will demonstrate a 4th tone, \. Again,this tone should sound as if youre yelling, Hey! to get someones attention. Please keepthese tones in mind as you practice your Chinese.

The following crash course should allow you to get around in a pinch in China.Below are the phoneticized sounds and the tonal marks will be included later.

If you see: Say the Underlined letter combinations


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a ah, the sound when a doctor wants to lookdown your throat

c ts as in cats, therefore can is actuallyts ah-n

e her, just like the uh sound in duhi he, like knee

o or, or like moreq chin, so qing is just like ch-ing and quanbecomes chew-ah-n

u too, not the same as youx show, but this sh sound should come from

closer to the front of your mouth than theEnglish version

z seedszh drew

Most of the other letters and corresponding sounds are very similar to their Englishversions: ch, b, d, f, g (like the g in game), h, j (as in john), k, l, m, n, ng (as insong), p, r, s, t, w (as in want) and y (as in young). Vowels will combine but youshould read them one at a time using the pronunciation key from above: ao, ai, iu, ou, etc.

Finally, the following letter combinations are a bit tricky:

If you see: Say the following

zi, ci, si, zhi, chi, shi, ri For zi, ci, and si you need to mimic thesound of a buzzing bee, zzz. zi = dszzz,ci = tszzz, si = szzz. For zhi, chi, shi, and ri,when you make the buzzing sound try totouch the tip of your tongue to the front partof the roof of your mouth curl your tongueupward in what's called the retroflexposition.

ju, qu, xu, yu The u in these cases is a rounded vowelcoming from the front of the mouth and lips.It doesn't exist in English. The best way tofigure out how to pronounce, for example,the word xu is to start by saying the wordshe and rounding your lips as you holdthe word. Add each consonant in front ofyour newly discovered vowel and you're onyour way.

yan, ian The a is not the typical ah sound butinstead sounds like "and." Just add the "ee"sound of the letter "i" in front and you canthen pronounce words with "ian" in them.For example, "xian" is "sh-ee-an."


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ang, iang Unlike the previous rule, the "a" vowelremains the same as before, sounding like"ah." Therefore, "yang," for instance,sounds like, "y-ah-ng."

ao ow like allow or bow

ei ay like in bay or way

ie, ue, ye The e sounds like yes.

iu eo like Leo or Theo

ou "oh" like hoe

uo oh-ha little softer than Noah

Although this list doesnt cover every variation you might encounter, it gives youwhat you need to know to try to pronounced most of the pinyin Romanizations of Chinesewords in this guide. Here's how to use these rules to pronounce the names of the Fuwa,roughly pronounced, foo-wah with these guidelines:

Beibei Jingjing Huanhuan Yingying NiniBB CC ## $$ DD

bibi j%ngj%ng hu!nhu!n yngyng n%n%

bay bay jing jing hoo-an hoo-an yingying knee knee

Lets keep going and expand your vocabulary with a few of the phrases that you can use ona daily basis.

Greetings and Basic Words

English Chinese Pinyin

English EF y%ng wn (ing when)

Chinese GF zh&ng wn (dr-ong when)Beijing !" b'ij%ng (bay jing)

Hello/How are you? !+ n( h#o (nee how)Very Good. ,+ hn h#o (h-uh-n how)Good Bye. HI zi jin (ds-eye j-ian)Yes/Correct/Right JK du le (d-way le)No/Incorrect/Wrong LJ b du (boo d-way)Thank you. MM xi xi (sh-e sh-e)My name is______ NO ______ w) jio ______

(w-o j-ee-ow)Where is the bathroom? PQRST? c s$o zi n#r?

(ts-uh s-oo-o ds-eye n-ah-r)Left U zu) (z-oh-h)


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Right V yu (yo)

North ! b'i (b-ay)South W nn (n-ah-n)East X d&ng (d-ong)

West-

x%

(sh-ee)Front Y qin (ch-ian)Back : hu (h-oh)Inner Z ni (n-ay)Outer [ wi (w-eye)

NUMBERS: The Chinese numbering system is similar to the English system. In order to say

numbers 11-99, all you have to do is combine the characters that you already know. Forexample, 29 is two 10s and one 9: r sh j(u or./0. The same pattern hold for number101-999: 357 is three 100s, five 10s and one 7; s!n b#i w$ sh q%,123/4.

1 \ y%2 ] r3 ^ s!n4 _ s5 ` w$

6 a lu7 b q%8 & b!9 c j(u10 d sh100 e b#i1,000 f qi!n10,000 g wn

FOOD

You will be able to find food from across the globe in Beijing. From linguini bolognaise todouble quarter pounders with cheese, youll be able to get any variety of food that you want.However, you have to try real Chinese food while in Beijing.

Food in Beijing is delicious. There is no comparison between Chinese food from

Golden Panda Express down the road and the Chinese food in Beijing. In fact, youprobably wont want to eat at your local Chinese take-out place after your trip to Beijing.And the dining experience in Beijing, just like the food, will be different from what youreused to at home.

When you walk into a Chinese restaurant you will often see a wall of fish tanksteeming with all types of live seafood. That is just to show you that your food is fresh!


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Dont be alarmed. As you are staring at the fish tanks your hostess will ask you how manypeople you have and then take you to your table. Tell her your newly learned Chinese or just show her on your fingers. As you approach your table, you need to be conscious offour things:

1. Showing respect for age and rank or, as the Chinese say, giving someoneface, 56, minz, is very important. Although there are many ways of givingsomeoneface, the easiest way at dinner is to give the seat at the head of the tableto the eldest member of your party.

2. When ordering, you order to share. You dont order an appetizer, entre anddessert all for yourself as you do in the US. Everyone can discuss the dishes andorder a variety of items and share them. It's family style. This is a great methodbecause everyone can enjoy a wide variety of tastes throughout the meal. In moreformal settings, however, the host will do all of the ordering for the table.

3. Food in China may look a bit different than what you are used to seeing at yourChinese restaurant at home. You will see new meats, (the Chinese will eat allparts of an animal), vegetables and preparation styles. If you order a fish dish youwill probably get an entire cooked fish on your plate. Just try it! It wont bite youand I know that youll find that the number of dishes that you enjoy will faroutweigh the number that you dislike.

4. If you are out with Chinese, once the meal is over the real fun begins. Theconcept of everyone paying for his or her own share of the meal,787h, gf

gde, is foreign to Chinese well, they know it but its not practiced. Everyoneoffers to pay because they want to treat the others with respect it is similar tobeing a kind and generous host when friends visit you at home. Shouting and armwaiving might ensue in extreme cases but finally someone will win and pay thebill. The person paying knows, however, that the next time the group goes outsomeone else will pay the bill. Everyone should take turns paying and everythingwill even out. (If you are not out with Chinese, pay the bill as you would in anyother restaurant.)

Now that you know the basic principles of Chinese table etiquette, its time to learn

how to read a menu so that you know what youll be eating.In order to get you started on your culinary adventures in Beijing Ive included a list ofdishes to which youll easily adjust and find very tasty. After the short list of dishes, Iveincluded some key Chinese words or characters such as i, j%, which means chicken, sothat you can try to identify what youll be eating as you expand past the selections that Iveoffered. Dont be afraid to try something new!

MENU

Beijing Roast Duck or Peking Duck !"jk B'ij%ng k#oy


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A must try Beijing specialty! Slices ofroast duck that you roll in a smallpancake with green onion and hoisin sauce.Kung Pao Chicken lmin g&ngb#o j%dngDiced pieces of boneless chicken cookedwith peanuts and hot peppers. The real thing.

Diced Chicken & Green Peppers opin lz j%dngThis is a mildly hot, simple chicken dish.Beef Cooked in a Skillet qrst ti'b!n nuruLarge pieces of boneless beef cookedand served in a hot skillet with onions.Noodles with Braised Beef uvstw hngsh#oA very simple but tasty noodle dish nurumancontaining a few pieces of braisedbeef and some vegetables. A little

hot but you worth trying for the noodles.Shredded Pork in Garlic Sauce xytz yxi!ng rus%Long, thin shredded pieces of porkCovered in a garlic sauce the same saucefound on the eggplant. Basic and Delicious.Sweet and Sour Pork {|}~ t!ngc l(j(Sweet and Sour Pork TendersDeep Fried Sweet and Sour Pork t gloruA collection of deep fried pieces of porkwith a sweet and sour sauce and pineapples.

Typically a southern dish.Scrambled Eggs and Tomatoes ui x%hngshch#oScrambled eggs with stewed tomatoes. j%dnSimple and delicious!Eggplant in Garlic Sauce xyp yxi!ng qezOutstanding! An eggplant dish of sometype will become a staple at your table.This eggplant will be very different fromthat which you grill at home or even haveat a local Chinese place. Eggplant is preparedin nearly any style and is one of my favoritefoods. You have to try it!Spicy Tofu with Diced Pork , mp& duf$Japanese Tofu rb'n duf$Very delicate balls of tofu, almost likea custard, in a light sauce.Chinese Broccoli jelnA leafy broccoli that lacks thehead of its US counterpart.

Often served slightly salted.Mushrooms & Bok Choy mg* cix%nBok choy means vegetableHeart and it is easy to see the resemblancein these small, Chinese cabbages. The centerof the plate will have a pile of mushrooms


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braised in a brown sauce and the light, crispand slightly salty bok choy will circle themushrooms.Stir Fried Mixed Vegetables ch#oshi j(nciSugar Fried Bananas/Apples zy b!s%xi!ngji!o orA pile of small pieces of banana or apple z b!s%pngg$o

fried and covered in melted sugar. To eat,you grab one of them with your chopsticksand quickly dunk it in a bowl of water thatis provided. You will notice as you pull thepiece of fruit away from the pile, long, stickyskeins of sugar will trail off of your bite-sizedpiece making it impossible to eat. Once you dunkthe fruit in the water the sugar hardens and thestrands break away. Youre then left with asugary, fruity treat. Be careful because theinside will be very hot!Fried Doughy Bun w/ Condensed Milk zhmntuSmall doughy buns that you dip into a sweet,condensed milk sauce. Great stuff.Boiled Dumplings p jioziSteamed Buns p b!oziWhite Rice m(fnScallion Pancake ji!nb(ngLook for roadside carts with black skillets to

find these tasty, authentic Beijing snacks. Theyare thin, egg based pancakes with scallions,a slightly sweet brown sauce and sesame seeds.Some people call them Chinese crepes.Meat on a Stick vj sh!ok#oIf youre looking for snack food thats a littlemore adventurous than scallion pancakes, youshould try sh!ok#o. You will find little roastingstands on the side of the road and built in to thewalls of alleyways. They are easy to identifybecause you will see a series of tiny wooden stickswith small chunks of spiced meat roasting on themin the front of the stand/store. You tell the chefwhat type of meat youd like to try, anything from

bits of lamb to chicken hearts, and he roasts it rightin front of you for 1 or 2 RMB per stick. Be carefulof these if you have a weak stomach.

Beverages

Coca-Cola k'k)u k'leSprite xu'b


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Bottled Water kungqun sh$iIts a good idea to drink bottled water while inBeijing. China does not have the same watersanitation systems that we have in the westand its better to be safe drinking bottled waterthan sorry and resigned to spending a day or two

in the bathroom.Green Tea l+chThe Chinese will serve tea at almost every meal.The great advantage of tea is that it is natural,delicious, and safe to drink because it's madewith boiled water.Jasmine Tea 3 mlhu! chChrysanthemum Tea 3 jhu! chBubble Tea zh"nzh* n#ich

Coffee k!f"iBeer pj(uYou can get some of the more popular Americanand European brands of beer in China. However,you should try Tsingtao, (), one of Chinasbetter known beers. It is brewed in Qingdao,where the Germans taught the Chinese how tobrew the beer when they occupied the territoryat the beginning of the 20th century. Qingdaois also the location of some of the water-based

Games for the 2008 Olympics.Chinese Liquor bij(uYou should try it, but probably only once.Its terrible.Most famous brand of Chinese liquor moti j(u

If you go out to dinner with Chinese, they will most likely encourage you to havea few glasses of beer, "9, and Chinese liquor,. Glasses will be raised, toasts will bemade, and the cheer G!nb"i! :;! will be heard by all. G!nb"i! is the Chinese

version of cheers but seems to have a little more enthusiasm surrounding it than what iscommon in the US.

Here are some key characters that you can try to spot on the menu that will helpyou divine what is inside some of the dishes on menus in Beijing.

Meats

Meat t ru


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Chicken it, j%ruThis, as you can see is thecombination of the character forchicken,iand the character formeat,t. They are paired togetheron the menu to indicate what part ofthe animal you are eating remember the Chinese generally eatthe entire animal, all the way downto the feet of the chicken. The samecharacter pattern will follow for porkand beef.)

Pork t zh*ruBeef st niuruFish x yShrimp xi!rn

Bone gtouIf you dont want to dealwith chewing around bones as youeat make sure this character is not inthe name of the dish that you order.Instead, order something thatcontains one of the following twocharacters:)

Shapes of Food

Thin narrowly sliced meat z ortz s%, rus%Cubed/Diced n d%ngSlices panStrips taoPieces/Chunks (generally with bone)

Balls p wnzi

The Five Flavors

Sour su!nSweet tanBitter k$Spicy o lSalty xin

Preparation Methods

Stir-fried ch#o


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Steamed q%ngzh"ngPrepared in a spicy sauce ,o, mlo means spicy

and is a good characterto identify whenordering depending onyour preference for

spicy dishes.)Braised in a brown sauce uv hngsh#oDeep fried zhPrepared in a garlic sauce xy yxi!ngRoasted or baked j k#oAs in Beijing

Roast Duck: Beijing =!" and duck =kso if you put everythingtogether you get!"

jk.)

Menu Divisions

Category leCold Dishes langca leSeafood ha(x%an leVegetables sca leStir-Fry Dishes l%uch#o lePoultry j%aqn leFish x y leMeat t ru leSoup t!ng leBeverages j(ushu(Starches 0 zh$shDrinks / y(nlao

If youre a vegetarian you can alert your waiter by saying w) ch% s, and/or pointing to this: N. Although there are tons of vegetable dishes in China, manydelicious and unusual varieties not found in the US, sometimes its hard to keep themcompletely free of meat. Often little bits of meat are incorporated to add flavor. Inaddition, and this is important for vegetarians to keep in mind, cooking oils are typicallyrecycled so your plate of broccoli might have been cooked in the same oil as the pork thatsat a neighboring table. If you havent found a good meal in a few days, just visit aBuddhist vegetarian restaurant where you will be guaranteed a meat-free dining experience.

Finally, in order to bring your delicious meal to a close simply say mai dan or point to, which means Check, please! Try telling your waitress MM, xixi,which means thank you, or, h#o ch%, which means, the food was very good.You dont need to tip. Its not common practice in China.


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GETTING AROUND BEIJING

Beijing is a sprawling city with the Forbidden City, lG$g&ng, and TiananmenSquare, ;, Ti!n!nmn, are the center. Beijing is laid out in a huge grid and there are

six main roads that circle the city called ring roads. Youll most often use the second ringroad, known as rhun l+ or], and the third ring road, S!nhun l+,^, to get tothe different regions of the city. From time to time you'll use the fourth ring road, butyou'll seldom get out to numbers five and six. The remainder of the roads go north-southor east-west. These roads, which are typically smaller than the ring roads, will take youdirectly to your destination. The grid is easy to understand and navigate. The only difficultpart comes in remembering road names which usually relate to the landmarks and formercity gates of Beijing. However, in the "Taxi" section, I'll teach you how get deal with thisproblem.

You're going to have to use public transportation. Beijing's public transportationsystem is adequate and steadily improving for the Olympics; additional subway lines, newbusses and faster trains are being added. Moreover, although Beijings roads are typicallyincredibly congested, China plans on reducing the number of cars on the roads by half forthe Games in order to make traveling around the city easier and also to reduce pollution.

A combination of riding the subway, taking a bus and walking can get you almostanywhere within Beijing; itll just take you longer to travel in Beijing than youd normallyexpect. If you want to leave Beijing, its most common to use the train system. You cantake an airplane for longer distances but if time is not an issue, just take a train and enjoythe countryside.

As a Westerner in Beijing, youll most likely be taking taxi cabs for conveniencewhen returning to your hotel or heading down to Panjiayuan to shop. Therefore, I'm goingto teach you how to use a taxi first, and then cover the other methods of transportation inorder of the likelihood that you'll use them.

TAXI: The first time riding in a taxi in Beijing can be a likened to non-New Yorker's firsttime riding in a taxi in New York City, just slightly more harrowing. The cabs are generallynot well maintained and, when theycan, fly in and out of traffic withcomplete disregard for road signs and

normal traffic patterns. Most times,however, they are stuck in thecongestion of Beijings main roads.For all of the drawbacks of taking acab, it is by far the most convenientway to get around the city, and youare going to be taking cabs while inBeijing.When hailing a cab in Beijing, standon the side of the street, and look for

a cab that has its meter light on,signaling its open to pick up passengers. Extend your arm, and look at the cab. The drivershould respond by coming over and picking you up. Cabs sit 3 comfortably and 4 with alittle effort.

Once you're in the cab tell the driver exactly where to go. The best way to givedriver your destination is either to try to tell him the name of the place in Chinese or to


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write the Chinese characters of the place on a piece of paper and hand it to the cab driver.(For example, just writelfor the Forbidden City.) Another method for communicatingwith your taxi driver is to use your cell phone to call your hotel and put them on the phonewith your driver. However you choose to communicate, you should have an idea of whereyou are going and how you will get there before getting in a taxi or else the driver mighttake you for a scenic tour of the city in order to charge you more than he should. Everyone

is looking to make some extra money off of foreigners, and this is an easy way for cabbiesto do it.

After telling the cabbie where you want to go, you MUST make sure he puts hismeter on! Say "d# bi#o to remind him to start the meter in case he forgets. Withoutthe meter running, the cabbie can charge you whatever he wants at the end of your ride.Remembering to force the cabbie to use the meter will save you money. The typical rate forcabs is 10 RMB for the first three kilometers, and then 2 RMB for every km after that.Surcharges will be assessed for long distance rides and the starting rate jumps up to 11RMB after 11 pm. Once the cab ride is over, check the meter, pay your fare and hop out.There is no need to tip, as tipping is not a common practice in China.

You're going to be taking a lot of cab rides during your stay in Beijing. Justremember that you have to be an active rider and pay attention to what's going on. Withthese tips in mind you'll be fine.

Important language for cabs:

Put on the meter d# b(aoTurn right V yu gu#iTurn left U zu) gu#i

Go straight < zhi z)uStop the car ting ch"

WALKING: Beijing is an easy city to negotiate by foot. It is, however, somewhat dirty.Dont be surprised if light colored shoes become a few shades of gray darker over yourtime in Chinas capital. Also, I typically avoid wearing sandals, as Beijing streets are prettydirty. Finally, Beijing is a very large city so you will not be able to walk everywhere.Youll need to take public transportation to specific areas and then walk around on yourown once you get there.

SUBWAY: The Beijing subway system is easy to use and has been expanded in preparationfor the Olympics. Be forewarned, it will be very crowded! In general, the subway runsunderneath the major roads and follows the grid layout of the city. In order to find thesubway look for the blueq signs or ask someone, D ti' zhn zi n#r? Alternatively,you can have them look at your book and point to the following,qRST?

The subway fare is 2 Rnmnb, RMB,()*, the equivalent of roughly $.35and allows you to go wherever the subway runs. You can pay in cash or with a prepaidtransportation Smartcard that can be purchased at the subway station and used for subway,

bus and taxi rides.Swipe your card and head down to the platform. (If you're using a single ridecard, keep track of it because you'll need to swipe it again to exit the subway.) On theplatform you will see maps, in Chinese and pinyin, outlining the route of the respectivelines. Once on the subway you will also see a map of the subways route and hear anannouncement of each stations name as you arrive. Its a very easy system to understand.


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There are three important things to remember, however, when riding the subway:

1. When buying a card or boarding the subway or bus,the Chinese do not stand in line. They simply rush forthe counter or entrance in an every man for himself

fashion. Just be prepared to hold your own.2. The subway operates from 5 am until about 11 pm, soplan accordingly if youre going to use them for latenight excursions in the city.

3. Beijing has constructed four new subway and lighttrain lines for the Olympic Games. Get a subway mapfrom your hotel as soon as you arrive.

BUS: In an attempt to uphold its Green Olympics motto, Chinahopes to have 5,000 brand new, natural gas powered busses on

the roads by the start of the Olympics. It will cost 1 RMB toride them, just as it does now for their older counterparts, andthey will take you all over the city. These new busses will notchange the harsh reality of taking the bus in Beijing: Bus routesare hard to figure out; passengers will push and shove to get on

the bus; and once you do fight your way on, it will be overcrowded, hot and sweaty. Youremuch better off taking a cab.

TRAINS: Trains will take you outside of Beijing and allow you to explore other parts ofChina. Hopefully you'll have time to do this either before or after the Games.

The Chinese rail system is extensive and ever-expanding. Train stations are giant,imposing buildings thathave hoards of people infront of them jostling fortickets. Inside it's more ofthe same only herepeople will also be sittingand sleeping in groups. Itwill seem as if peoplelive on and inside of therail system, and manytimes this isnt far fromthe truth. Despite theseinconveniences, the trainscan be a great,comfortable way to seethe countryside, talk to people, and experienceChina.

You have four different options for train tickets: hard seat, soft seat, hard sleeper,soft sleeper. Short train rides will give you the two sitting options, and you should choosethe more comfortable soft seat. For longer trips, you'll you need to decide whether youwant to sleep in a 6-bunk car (top, middle, and bottom bunks on both sides of the isle) withother passengers milling about or a slightly more private, slightly more comfortable 4-bunksoft sleeper car. You'll probably want the soft sleeper.


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Please also remember to keep your ticket with you throughout your ride, as youllneed to display it to leave the train station at your final destination. Without a ticket toprove that you were in fact legally on the train, you may be forced to buy a second ticket toleave the train station.

BICYCLES: There are many types of bicycles in Beijing - classics with baskets in front of

the handle bars, collapsibles that professionals take to work, motorized rides that look likethey might grow up and become real motorcycles and, of course, just plain, old pieces ofjunk. But as a foreign traveler, you probably wont need a bike.

You will see people riding their bikes everywhere in Beijing, but particularly inthe less developed areas of the city. Cyclists have a tendency to travel in packs, so youllhave to be equally mindful of bikes and cars as a pedestrian.

TRAFFIC: You need to be careful crossing the road in Beijing. Cars WILL NOT stop foryou. Always have your head on a swivel and be ready for cars, bikes and busses to appearout of no where. Roads converge on vast intersections from every conceivable angle and

crossing the street requires more than the simple look left, right, and left again approach.Just be patient, stay alert and keep your party together until youre used to the trafficpatterns.

SHOPPING

Shopping in Beijing is what Westerners call bargaining. Only in expensive stores, hotelsand restaurants where the prices are fixed and the items are genuine, or can't be faked as in

the case of prepared food, is bargaining not allowed. In all other places, particularlymarkets such as Silk Street and Yaxiu, all of the items are fake and bargaining is a

must. The Chinese call their bargaining method ji#ngji, (). Learn it and get readyto use it. Dont get ripped off!

Learn how to bargain:

1. The customer approaches the vendor on his own volition, or the vendor barks outadvertising slogans and pulls, sometimes physically, the customer to her stand.

2. While the customer looks at the merchandise, a T-shirt for example, the vendorcompliments the customer on his potential selections and offers other items to thecustomer to consider/purchase. (During this step of the bargaining process it ishelpful not to show too much enthusiasm for the item that you eventually want to buy. If you are really excited about one particular item the vendor will beinflexible in the bargaining process betting that your desire for the item will forceyou into buying it at a high price. Be discrete and then attack with yourbargaining skills!)

3. Once the customer selects something that he likes he turns to the vendor and says,How much does this cost? D*o sh#o qin? ?

4. The vendor will punch a few digits into her calculator and show it to the customerto give a price all prices during the bargaining process will be typed into thecalculator. This price will be much too high, often 15 or 20 times the cost of theitem. For this T-shirt example, lets say the vendor offers 150 RMB.

5. The customer must say that the T-shirt is too expensive, ti gi le "K",and ask the seller to offer a cheaper price, "pin yi di#n" "". Don't offer a


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price yet. Let the seller keep coming down. Tell her the shirt is fake by pointingat it and saying "ji# de" "h", and then ask again for a cheaper price, "pin yidi#n".

6. This will bring the vendor down to 100 RMB. She will again as you for a price.When you feel that simply asking her to reduce the price of the shirt won't workanymore, make an offer. Offer a price perhaps 1/10th of the current price: 10

RMB.7. The vendor will say that the customers price is far too cheap and she cant sell it

to him for that much. She will then make counter offer of, say, 85 RMB and sayshe cant go any lower.

8. The customer once again says, No, too expensive. 20 RMB. (ti gi le "K")

9. This process will be repeated multiple times with the vendor saying things like,Fine! Ill give you a friend discount. This is a very good price. Other phrasesvendors use to maintain high profit margins are, "good quality" and "real (insertany brand name here)". Don't believe them. Once the vendor will no longerreduce her price with this casual bargaining, the customer must WALK AWAY.If the customer wants to get the best price possible he must walk away. Thevendor will follow after the customer after a second or two and then offer a lowerprice. (If she doesn't follow, go to another stand and try the process over again.)Another round of more agitated bargaining might ensue but the sale will be made.The Western customer must go through this process if he does not want to pay apremium for everything that he wants to buy. Remember, the Chinese feel thatWesterners can affordto pay more and want to get those extra RMB out of them.

Two additional tips: 1) Be friendly throughout the process. Smile as you demanda lower price and you'll improve your chances of getting it. Don't make it a personaldispute. It's just business. 2) Everything at the popular clothing, jewelry and antiquemarkets is fake. It's not a Gucci bag so don't pay for a Gucci bag.

PLACES

Below is a list of some of the most famous places to visit in Beijing. They are dividedinto Places to See, Places to Shop and Places to Eat and Drink. Following thislist of the most historic sites in Beijing, will be my list of recommendations ofrestaurants and bars, along with a suggested itinerary for your stay in Beijing. Let theadventures begin!

Places to See

THE GREAT WALL,, chngchngThe Great Wall is the symbol of China. You must see it! The most well known section ofthe Wall, Badaling, is about an hour and a half by bus away from Beijing. This site is oftenoverrun with tourists and a little too commercial. A better option, one that's in fact closer to


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Beijing, is the Mutianyu portion of the wall. Only about an hour from the center of the city,Mutianyu offers an original, 300+ year old section of the Wall and a small village with avariety of restaurants and stores. If you can spend a whole day at the Wall, try going to aless well restored, less touristy and less polluted section that's between 2 and 3 hours away,such as Jinshanling or Simatai. Both are beautiful.

No matter where you go, you'll see that the Great Wall is absolutely breathtaking.

Although the pollution from Beijing has cut down on some of the views that you will seefrom atop the Wall, it still remains one of the most spectacular places on earth. Justremember to bring water and proper shoes because it's built on the crest of a mountainrange and hiking up to the GreatWall and walking along itduring the summer will be aserious workout!

How to get there: One way to doit is to pick the section you want

to visit and have your hotelarrange the trip for you. On theother hand, if you're travelingwith a large tour group, just goalong for the ride. But the bestway to get out to the Great Wallis to go through the BeijingDowntown Backpacker's Hostel. These guys run day trips to all different sections of theWall. You'll be in good hands and have a great time! Tel: 86-10-84002429

FORBIDDEN CITY,l, g!g"ngThe ancient home of the Emperor and one of the most famous places in China. You willsee the large picture of Mao greet you at the entryway and then walk through wall afterwall, courtyard after courtyard to witness the grandeur of Imperial China. Today theForbidden City stands as ininteresting juxtaposition between oldand new China. Youll see aStarbucks hidden inside andconstruction cranes dotting theskyline outside of the ancient palace.The Forbidden City will be swarmed by tourists, particularly on theweekends, but remains a must see!

How to get there: You can do thisone on your own. Simply writedown the charactersl on a pieceof paper and show them to a cab

driver. Everyone knows where the Forbidden City is. Have an idea of where you're goingso you don't waste time and money on the cab. Alternatively, you can take the subway andget off at Tiananmen East or West Gate.

TIANANMEN SQUARE,; ti#n#nmn


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Tiananmen means Gates of Heavenly Peace. This square, which was enlarged underMaos rule to become the largest square in the world, with the capacity to hold over 1million people, is located in the heart of Beijing. Here is where the infamous student protestof 1989 took place and where the Chinese flag raising and lowering ceremonies take placeevery day. Maos tomb is at the far end of the square. The Great Hall of the People and the

Chinese National Museum form the other sides of the square. You should go, if you stillhave energy, after you see the Forbidden City, which is right across the street.

How to get there: You can do this on your own. Write down the characters; andshow them to your cab driver.Have an idea of where you'regoing so you don't waste time andmoney on the cab. Alternatively,you can take the subway and getoff at Tiananmen East or West

Gate.

SUMMERPALACE, , yhyun

Located in the north west ofBeijing, the Summer Palace is theformer summer retreat of Emperors from the Ming and Qing dynasties. The most wellknown former occupant of the park is the Empress Dowager Cixi. She reigned at the veryend of the Qing dynasty, roughly the 1890s, and diverted the countrys money from thearmy in her own pet projects. One of the largest of these projects was the reconstruction ofthe Summer Palace. Included in the reconstruction was the fabrication of a lavishly

expensive boat made of marble, whichshe kept for personal enjoyment.Needless to say, Cixi didnt do muchsailing with this craft. Today, partlydue to her reconstruction efforts,however, temples, pavilions, towers,

halls, and bridges surround the parkslarge central lake. Its a beautiful place to walk around. Make sure yousee the boat!

How to get there:Show your cabdriver. All of them will knowthat the Summer Palace is in north

west Beijing. Make sure you know this too! Because the Summer Palace is pretty faroutside of the city, many cabs will take circuitous routes to get to there in order to make

some extra money. Don't fall for it. Know where you're going. It might be helpful withthis one to ask someone at the front desk of your hotel tell the cabbie where you want to go,and tell him not to trick you.

TEMPLE OF HEAVEN,, ti#ntn


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Built in 1420, Tiantan served as a ceremonial temple throughout the Ming and Qingdynasties. You should go and see the Echo wall, which allows a whisper on one end of along wall to be heard clearly at the opposite end. The Three Echo Stones produce a similareffect. Also take time to stroll around the grounds.

How to get there: Tell your cabbie that you want to go to!;.

798 ART DISTRICT,bc&q$ ji! b# y sh qOut of run down Great LeapForward-looking factoriescomes Beijing well-knowncontemporary art district.Take a trip up here and getready to spend the day. Thereare many galleries displayinga wide range of cutting edgeart forms: painting, photography, sculpture andothers. When you get hungryor just want to rest your feet,there are also plenty of cafesand bistros that make great

places to grab a bite and recap what you

seen. Definitely worth your time.How to get there:Youll have to take a cab, because 798 is out in the north east of the city.Tell the driverbc&and if he doesnt get it right away, you can try 798s othernamep

THE PLACE,!"# sh moti#n ji%

The Place is a huge, brand newshopping center in the heart of theCBD or central business district.There are a smattering of decentshops and places to eat. The mainreason to go to The Place is to seethe worlds 2nd largest LEDscreen, which forms a glowingcanopy over the shopping center.

Just how big is it? It hangs 80 ft. above the shopping center, spans the 88 ft. width of thecenter walkway and stretches an entire city block. Check it out at night.

How to get there: Its over in the CBD not far from the Central Park and Fortune Plazaapartments. Tell your cab driver$%&'9()"#


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Places to Shop

LIULI CHANG, *+,!- , lulch&ng shch&ngThis is the best place to buytraditional Chinese handicrafts, paintings and calligraphy.You will walk down oldalleyways and wander intoshops that catch your eye.Inside of many shops you willsee art from around China andalso things being done byhand, right in front of youreyes. Certain shops will allowyou to pick from an Englishlist of Chinese sayings foranything from family

happiness to lasting friendship and have one of the calligraphers in the store make yourcalligraphy to your exact specifications; saying, size, paper color, etc. Here youll get greatprices by using the aforementioned Shopping techniques. (If you like Liuli Chang, alsocheck out Panjiayuan, Beijings huge flea-market, where you can buy all of the art andantiques that you want.)

How to get there: Show your cab driver a piece of paper with the following characters: *+,F./. The address is 0;W100 , if he is confused. Liuli Chang is southand west of Tiananmen square. If you want to take the subway, take Line 2 and get off atHepingmen. Walk south for 100 meters and you'll be there.

WANGFUJING SHOPPING CENTER,

?@ , wngf!j'ng yshFamous for its modern style and

flashy signs, Wangfujing is one ofthe best places to go for high endshopping in Beijing you can findalmost anything that youd find in NYC right here. It is a pedestrianonly avenue that allows you towander back and forth betweenstores. Itll probably be verycrowded on weekends so try to go on a weekday afternoon.

If you're looking for an adventure, go to the Wangfujing snack street,1234/. It's at the far end of the shopping p laza, walk away from Changan jie, and has allsorts of fun foods: scorp ions, silk worms and more. Grab a few beers or maybe somebaijiu for a bit of liquid courage and go prove to your friends that you are all that is man

How to get there: Show the cab driver/, and he should know where to go.


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Wangfujing is on East Changanjie,X/, not too far from the Silk Street Market.

SILKSTREET,A'B , xishu' jeJump off the subway at the Yonganli stop and youll be standing in front of the bargain

shoppers Mecca. Silk Street is a gigantic store and inside you can find anything fromcustom made suits and jewelry todigital cameras and artwork. Its awild time with vendors trying to sellyou their products around everycorner. Get ready to bargain beforegoing and just remember: If you canfake it, they will sell it. Have fun!

How to get there: Show your cabdriver5/!-. Silk Street is onJianguomen wai dajie,67;[/, just across from the Twins Mall, 8p9:, two big, green cylindrical

towers. You can also take the subway to the Yonganl i stop on Line 1.

PANJIAYUAN ANTIQUE MARKET, ;


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How to get there: Youll need to take a cab, and, again, most cabbies will know right wherethis place is. Tell them: >5!-?%;[/99(.

Places to Eat and Drink

HOUHAI,: , huha'If youre looking for more bars than clubs for your slice of the nightlife, you shouldhead over to HouHai. Here youll find a beautiful lake surrounded by many upscalerestaurants and bars. If the spirit moves you after spending time at the bar, you canalways take a boat out onto the lake to continue the night. Although this is one of the

best places in the city to walk around at night, its also great during the day. A

daytime walk around the lake will allow you to avoid the nighttime crowds.

How to get there: Every cab driver should know where : is, but just to be sure, tellthem to go to the Houhai Lotus Market, :@3!-!"which is the most well knownentrance to the park.""

NAN LUO GU XIANG,WABC "nn lu g! xing"Please don't miss this 700 year old, beautifully restored hutong,DE, which is not far

from Houhai. What's a hutong? A hutong is an alley between traditional courtyardhouses known as siheyuan,_FG. The siheyuan and the hutongs formed the center of

daily life years ago. They are a vitally important part of China's culture and history.Unfortunately, the government has bulldozedmany of the hutong areas to make room foroffice buildings, malls and everything else thatmakes up modern Beijing.

In the Nanluoguxiang hutong, you'll see

refurbished, traditional dwellings and get a tasteof what old Beijing might have looked like.Small stores, restaurants, bars and even a fewhotels line the street, but they do their best not tospoil the atmosphere. Food and drink typicallyhave more character to here than they do in other

parts of the city where people also go out toenjoy themselves at night.

After exploring Nanluoguxiang for a

few hours, make your way over to the Drum orBell towers (shown on the left). Built in the early1400s these towers once kept time for the city;

the bell rang during the day and the drum sounded at night. For a small entrance fee,


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both now afford great views of this well-preserved, historic section of Beijing. As thesun sets, head toward Houhai where you can grab a 3RMB beer on the street and enjoythe lake and the lights at night.

How to get there: Tell your cab driver you want to go toWABCDE . This is thesouthern entrance of the htng. Once you finish walking north through the hutong,hang a left to go toward the Drum and Bell Towers.

SANLITUN NIGHTCLUB DISTRICT,1CD9#B , s#nl'tn j'ub# jeThis is one of the most famous bar, restaurant and club districts in Beijing. There are

plenty of watering holes that cater to western tastes but you can also find a handful ofdistinctly Beijing establishments in the area. Its a lot of fun to just have your cabbiedrop you off on one edge of Sanlitun and then walk around for a while until you find a

place that suites your tastes. Once you decide on a bar, you might try a Beijingspecial, green tea and whiskey. Ganbei!

How to get there: Cabbies know where this is. Have them drop you off at the cornerof Sanlitun nan jie and Gongren tiyuchang beilu / ^}HW/IJJK-!and walk north.

KARAOKE BAR, KTV, KTV

There are many fun Karaoke Bars throughout Beijing. You can rent rooms fullyequipped with huge flat screen TVs, plush leather sofas and an array of microphoneand speaker equipment to accommodate any party. You typically rent the room by thehour, and the rates become much cheaper after midnight. Attendants are generallyhelpful when figuring out how to select songs and will bring you food and drink uponrequest. Go to sing and drink and enjoy friends. A must try while in Beijing!

How to get there: You have to be a little careful when selecting KTV sites. Some ofthem offer girls and other value added services. Stick to PartyWorld, formerly known

as Cashbox, venues. This high quality, reputable Taiwanese company won't put youand your friends in any awkward situations. Show the cab driver: L KTV. Thereare two locations. The first on Chaowai dajie in the Prime Tower:$%;[/22(MN:1O. The second at Xiwai dajie in Teng Da Plaza:[/168(PQ:.Go to the closer one.


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[One Child Policy?]

RECOMMENDATIONS

You only have a few days in Beijing, so a large catalog of restaurants, bars and clubs won'tdo you much good. Big lists also tend to lead to indecision, and youre not here to wastetime.

Restaurants

DA DONG PEKING DUCKRESTAURANTEF$kG

Nobody does Peking duck like Beijing. And nobody in Beijing does Peking duck like DaDong. Head to the well designed Dongsishitiao location for a classic Beijing meal. Theduck will be the highlight of the meal, but there are plenty of other dishes on the beautiful,coffee-table book of a menu that are outstanding in their own right. Must go in Beijing!

How to get there:

Dongsi shi tiao:XH/IJ22KLMRNSEO1-2T (5169 0328 ) This one!Tuanjie hu:UVPQR3KS,X1TUWXLV (6582-2892W

XIAO WANG FUX


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With three locations across the city, Xiao Wang Fu's is a growing success in Beijing. Dcorvaries by location, from Guanghua lu to Ritan to Hou hai, but the food remains the same:classic, home-style dishes that locals and foreigners love. I've eaten more lunches at theGuanghua lu location than at any restaurant in Beijing. I hope you'll stop by at some point.

How to get there:

Guang hua lu:Y'TXC2K (6591-3255)

Ritan Park:Z[%\ (8561-7859)Houhai:]^_`@- (661-5558)

DING TAI FENGab&

Forget your leathery, steamed or pan fried appetizers from back home, this world famousTaiwanese chain has the bestXXc (little soup dumpling) that you'll ever have. The menuisn't expansive, but you won't go wrong with a single dish. Very clean with outstandingservice, this is a great place for lunch or dinner, particularly for less adventurous eaters.

How to get there:Shin Kong Place (big mall): dNT87KMYef6S (6533-1536)Dongzhimen:Mg-C)B24K (6462-4502)

HATSUNEYhZijk

The only pure play non-Chinese restaurant that I'm recommending, Hatsune serves up someof the best Japanese food in town. The menu contains a wide range of high quality andcreatively presented sashimi, sushi and rolls but also has plenty of really tasty cookeddishes for those who dont want the raw stuff. The lunch box deals are a steal for a fillingmid day meal. Check it out!

How to get there:

Guanghua lu:Y'XTJ8KlZEOCm2T (6581-3939)

THREE GUIZHOU MEN1no!

Three guys from Guizhou, a province in the south of China, came to Beijing a few yearsago hoping to make it big in the blossoming modern art scene. They opened up a small

restaurant to support their fledgling painting careers. Although they never made it as artists,their restaurant, Three Guizhou Men, turned into one of the best places in town and hasgrown to 5 locations across Beijing. Guizhou food is very distinctive, a bit spicier andheartier than what you find in other areas. There's also a really interesting sour flavor foundin a few dishes that's definitely worth a try. Two thumbs way up!

How to get there:

Gongti Xi lu:pq-T8KS (6551-8517)Guanghua xilu:Y'-T6K (6502-1733)Guomao/Jianwai SOHO:drSOHO7KS1-2T (5869-0598)

KONG YI JIstu


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What a beautiful place. Bamboo and peony flowers, glass and dark wood, Kong Yi Jicreates a peaceful, courtyard setting around a pond in the center of the restaurant. The pondis tasteful and appropriate (unlike so many ponds and streams found in other Chineserestaurants) as Kong Yi Ji is a Zhejiang style restaurant. The Yangzi River flows throughZhejiang Province on its way toward Shanghai providing much of the food for the region.The pond and dcor pay homage to the restaurant!s roots. And so does the food, which is

authentic and outstanding in every respect. If you enjoy tea, Kong Yi Ji also has a very niceselection. Last but not least, the wait staff is kind and helpful, truly first rate.

How to get there:

West Gate of Chaoyang Park:v'[%T8K[[\ (6508 2228)

BAO YUAN DUMPLING HOUSEwg!6x

The combination of beer and dumplings is hard to beat, and one of the best places inBeijing to enjoy it is the Bao Yuan Dumpling House. Cheap and delicious. The menue is in

English and Chinese and offers a range of dishes in addition to dumplings, but focus onwhat the restaurant does best - !!. You can have the cooks vary the color of the outterskin of the dumplings to match what's inside of each. A plate of steaming purple and greendumplings is at least good for a conversation starter, so give the colors a try.

How to get there:

Maizidian: Just north of building 6 on Maizidian street:y6GB6KSQ" (6586-4967)

HAN CANGz{9S

Very good Hakka food, a style of cooking from southeastern China that is a little vinegary

and salty but not at all heavy, next to Houhai. Dark, unadorned wood tables and chairsmake for simple dcor. Emphasis is on the food. The 2nd floor offers a nice view of thelake.

How to get there:

Houhai: Go to the main entrance and bear to the right of the lake. It's a very short walk. ]^|}^X~ (6404-2259)

Bars and Clubs

LAN CLUB\Q

A very sophisticated night on the town must include substantial time at Lan Club. Thefantastic interior design by Philippe Starck, attracts almost as much attention as thecouture-clad clientele. This place is one of a kind in Beijing. You're welcome to do dinner,but drinks and the live music are probably more than enough.How to get there:

LG Towers:67;[/8p:4T

SUZIE WONG'S]^_`a

The most well known club in Beijing, each year Suzie Wong's puts another collection ofBeijing's best (fill in the clubbing superlative here) awards on its mantle. Self billed as1940's Shanghai meets 1920's New York, Suzie Wong's decor alone makes it worth the trip.


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Multiple levels, a couple of bars and one pretty popular dance floor give you plenty to do atSuzie's.

How to get there:

Chaoyang Park West Gate:$%b;

Q BAR

Some of the best drinks in town. As you take the crummy elevator to the 6th floor of theEastern Hotel, you might be thinking, Where the heck am I going? But this comfortablebar with outstanding drinks will reward your patience. A great place to meet friends for adrink, Q Bar only gets better when it's warm and you can sit outside on the rooftop.

How to get there:

Eastern Hotel on Sanlitun nanlu:^}HWcde6T

FACEBAR

This Southeast Asia themed lounge is a place to relax with friends. It has large comfortablesofas and chairs as well as a few pool tables and bar areas. Very cool antique-lookingfurniture. Sometimes a little older crowd, its not a place to get rowdy.

How to get there:

26 Dongcaoyuan Gongti behind the Cervantes Institute:IJWXf26(

CENTRO

If you're looking to have a scotch and soda with the business travelers, then Centro is your

place. Live music starts most nights at 8, and the bars pretty loud by that time. But thereare also sofas and armchairs around the perimeter of this sizeable bar and lounge if youdon't want to be in the midst of the action. You won't feel like you're in China when you'rehere, but that might be just what you want.

How to get there:

Kerry Centre Hotel lobby:g}Ge

ITINERARY

Below Ive set out a 5 day itinerary for Beijing. Each day is packed with activities,maybe more than it'd be possible to do at a comfortable pace. These are justsuggestions. Use them as starting points for planning what you want to see while inBeijing.

Day 1 Traditional Beijing

MORNING: Breakfast at your hotel. Take a cab to the Forbidden City. Plan on arriving

around 9:30 to give you plenty of time to walk around the area before lunch.LUNCH: Cab from Forbidden City to Dadong for Peking Duck. Have your hotel call aheadto make sure you have a table.


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AFTERNOON: Cab fromDadong to Nanluoguxiang.Walk north from the southernentrance to the htng. Shopa little bit, maybe grab asnack along the way. Exit the

htng and turn left on and walk down to theDrum and Bell Towers.

DINNER: Walk or Cab over toHouhai and eat at Han Cang,a delicious Hakka restaurantjust to the right of the lake.

NIGHT: Pick up an RMB 3 beer from one of the little stand on the side of the street, and gofor a walk around Houhai. Plenty of bars to stop in if youre looking for some action.

Day 2 Old and New Beijing

MORNING: Breakfast at your hotel. Cab to the Temple of Heaven. Arrive around 9:30 soyou can take your time walking around the temples and through the gardens.

LUNCH: Cab to Xiao Wang Fus at Ritan Park.

AFTERNOON: Shopping at the Silk Market. Dont forget to bring your bargaining skills.Youll probably want to stop by your hotel to drop off your bags of clothes, pearls andtrinket and shower. Get ready for a fancy night on the town.

DINNER: Kong Yi Ji.

NIGHT: Lan Club, not far from People 8.

Day 3 Great Wall

ALL DAY: Trip to the Great Wall. Get up early to make it out to the Simatai section or takeyour time and head out to Mutianyu. Both will be great. Bring lots of water, a few snacksand your camera. And dont forget, climbing the wall is pretty good exercise. Wearsomething comfortable and athletic in order to climb up and down hundreds of stone steps.

Day 4 Shopping and Art

MORNING: Breakfast at the hotel and then cab down to Panjiayuan. Pick up all sorts oftraditional Chinese arts and crafts.

LUNCH: Ding Tai Feng in the Shin Kong Plaza.

AFTERNOON: Cab up to the 798 art district. Explore the galleries and stop for a drink or asnack at any one of the cafes. Head back to your hotel to relax and shower before dinner.


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DINNER: Hatsune for Japanese

NIGHT: Suzie Wongs, not far from Hatsune, for another high class night out.

Day 5 Hutong andPalace

MORNING: Breakfastat the hotel, and thencab down toLiulichang. Strollaround the htng and perhaps pick up a few pieces of traditionalChinese art.

LUNCH: ThreeGuizhou Men

AFTERNOON: Cab out to the Summer Palace. Make sure to bring your camera and walkingshoes. Return to your hotel to shower and rest.

DINNER: Bao Yuan Dumpling House for local dumplings and beer.

NIGHT: KTV

WARNINGS!

CABS

Drivers will try to over chargeforeigners. Tell the driver where

you want to go and have an ideaof how you should get there.Use your Chinese if youve beendriving around the city for awhile. Rides within the cityshould cost between RMB10-25on average. A long ride out tothe Summer Palace might costup to RMB 45-50. The mostexpensive ride youll take will

be to or from the airport, whichwill be just about RMB 100.

ART EXHIBITS


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Near many of Beijings most famous monuments youll encounter young Chinese whospeak pretty good English inviting you to see their art exhibits. Although they will tell youthat they are co

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