Visit Beijing 北京 Blog

Ni hao! The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad will be celebrated from August 8, 2008 to August 24, 2008, with the opening ceremony commencing at 08:08:08 pm at the Beijing National Stadium in Beijing, China. Some events, including football(soccer), sailing, and new 10 km marathon swimming events will be held in other cities of China. With the equestrian events being held in Hong Kong, this marks the second time the same edition of the Olympic Games has been hosted by two National lympic Committees(NOCs). The Olympic games were awarded to Beijing, China by the IOC on July 13, 2001. The official logo of the games, titled "Dancing Beijing," features the character jing(meaning capital), referencing the host city. The mascots of Beijing 2008 are the five Fuwa, each representing one color of the Olympic rings. The Olympic slogan, One World, One Dream, calls upon the world to unite in the Olympic spirit. Athletes will compete in 302 even...

Ni hao! Coming home late at night from a long days sightseeing in Beijing, this is what we see walking home from the Dongzhimen Subway Station.There is always a very special feeling about coming home after a hard days work! And going sightseeing and shopping all day is the same kind of feeling. It means now you can relax! We come up on the long stairs from the Dongzhimen Subway Station, and are now on the Dongzhimen Wai Dajie side of the 2nd Ring Road. First we stop directly at the stairs ending part, because here they sell souvernirs and vegetables. We buy some vegetables for eating later at home. I wanted to find somewhere to buy some chinese CDs, so we entered the building you see at the left of the first picture. It is the Oriental Kenzo Building. It is a residential building with a shopping center at the lower floors. It is really super stores here. They have many different stores, but they are looking very expensive too! So we leave after a while, and walk into a side str...

Ni hao! How about the beer distribution in Beijing on bicykles with three wheels, or the sales of easy street food also on bicykles with three wheels and with an oil can as the barbecue cooking place between the two back wheels, or how girls sit riding back of a bicykle! What ever you do don´t park your car on the street! It will be very exspensive and your car is gone when you come back for it. The police takes away your car very fast! So when you walk on the pavement you should better watch out because the cars drive on them to park! Don´t relax or you will be runned over! Don´t throw you cigarett end in the street or pavement. It will cost you 50 yuan in legal fee from the police! These are some of the things you will notice during your visit here. It is better to know them before you go here! In another earlier blog post have already told you about the toilets! Always be prepared for these things. Don´t forget to bring your own toilet paper and so on. Another thing is that I...

Ni hao! You know I have seen most of the famous sights in Beijing. There are still some more left to see! The most famous are the Ming Tombs, the Temple Of Heaven, The Peking Man, many other temples, muslim and christian churches, many other parks, the underground city. I have seen the some of them from the outside, but it´s not the same thing. There is also the Drum and Bell Towers, visiting the Nanjing Brewery, and many different market places. I would also like to visit some museums, other than the Beijing World Art Museum, the different Beijing Railroad Stations and the CCTV Tower. I have seen the tower though. Just like many other of the sights. There is also a Botanical Garden and the Old Summer Palace ruins. So get ready for some more interesting reports of my next visit to Beijing! Zai jian! Peter

Ni hao! In this blog post I will try to show you a litle bit more about general advice during your stay in Beijing! First you have to understand that everybody is very nice, curious of us westerners(Lao Wei) and friendly. Most of the times when somebody seeks contact with you, they want to take your picture or talk to you so they can practise their english and learn more english from you! The chinese, specially the younger ones, are very interested in you as you are a westerner. You both look and behave different to them, and you really have to understand this as they come on to you all the time. Need a break from this, don´t come to China! My advice is take your time with them, talk to them, let them take a picture together with you in their mobile phone! You will make new friends and learn a lot about how the chinese people are! I will tell you about some examples of this, but firstly I want to tell you about the bad side also. It never happened to me during one months ...

Ni hao! In this blog post I will give you some tips on toilets in Beijing. You wonder why? I will tell you why! You only have to visit one of them to really understand why I am telling you this! Now you are in a hurry going to the toilet and you have just now found the place to go to. Number one you will find out that there are only porcelain toilet holes in the floor inside every door you open. They are called squat toilets in english. Now you will have to learn how to use them. Time is running out! I really needed to go here! The next thing you will do is to look for the toilet paper holder. There is no holder, and still worse there is no paper! This is what can happen to you if you do not read this blog post! My number one tip to you is: always bring your own toilet paper with you! If you do not have paper with you, you will find it very difficult to ask anybody for it, because your chinese language is very poor! My very useful and good second tip is: where ever y...

Ni hao! My local restaurant and late night pub at Dongzhimen Beixiao Dajie is my favorite restaurant to go to. It is my local place to go for beer and talking to people at night. I go here after my busy day touring all over the Beijing sights and walking the Nan Guan Park. After that eating at home or at another local restaurant. The personal is very helpful and service minded. They all speak chinese and some also speak russian. For me as an english speaking person this was a little bit more difficult. As I do only speak very little chinese. However the personel there had four persons working there that could speak some english. I give you some nique pictures of some of them. This place became something like a second home for me at late night. Here I could really sit down and relax after eating and Bejing sightseeing at late night. I used to go there something like 9 o´clock at night, returning home like 11 o´clock. In my regular way of sitting here included listening to the...

Ni hao! The Nan Guan Park in Dongzhimen Area, Dongcheng District in Beijing, is my local place to go to in the afternoon. I go here for one or two hours every day to relax and enjoy the beauty of this park! I am amazed by the local activity here in this park. Everybody living around here goes to the park to relax. All have their own reasons for going. It could be a lunch walk or an exercise round, or just to sit down and talk to friends or play checkers together. Some read the newspaper, some play the guitar and sing, some play congas or whatever! The old ones go there and the young ones go there. The Beijing chinese go there, so I don´t see many westerners go there. This park and the area around it is a residential living area for the richer chinese and westerners living nearby. But it is also the area for the average chinese people living in the old hutongs nearby. Entrance to the Nan Guan Park is free, and the service is good. The toilet facilities are very good as they hav...

Ni hao! A small blog post telling you about The Minan Residential Complex at Dongzhimen Nei Dajie in The Dongzhimen Area, Dongcheng District in Beijing. The southern border of the complex is Dongzhimen Nei Dajie. The northern border is Minan Jie, with Dongzhimen High School and The Russian Embassy on the other side of the road. The eastern border is made up by the 2nd Ring Road. The western border is Dongzhimen Beixiao Dajie, with the Nan Guan Park and Club 19 on the other side of the road. The Chinese name of the complex is Minan Xiaoqu. The area has at least seven guarded entrances. There are many small roads inside and the one our apartment is situated on is Dong Yang Wei Jie. It is very close to the Dongzhimen subway station. Here we go shopping daytime or nighttime! We buy food and Tsingtao beer inside the complex. We buy ready made food, vegetables, bread, noodles, eggs and early in the morning also our ready made breakfast! I go there myself and buy my own Tsingtao be...

Ni hao! The China Millenium Monument in Beijing 北京. All over the world, celebrations and festivities to usher in Year 2000 make up one of the grandest spectacles at the end of the century, as mankind strides towards the new century and millennium. New opportunities, challenges, and hopes are emerging over the horizon of China of the 21st century. The Chinese nation, with its splendid civilization of 5000 years, is on the threshold of an epoch of great renewal, as a future of yet greater splendour is arising in the East of the world. At the turn of the century and millennium, the China Millennium Monument. with its oriental cultural overtones and contemporary architectural art, will promote the national spirit by embodying an original style, displaying a modern aestheticism, and expressing hopes of the future. The China Millennium Monument, as China' s symbolic and commemorative building to welcome the Year 2000, is a gift for the world of the 21st century from the Chines...

Ni hao! What about bicykles in Beijing 北京! Everybody is talking about Beijing being the world capital of bicykles. This is true and it looks like everbody owns one. New cars are takeing over the scenery, but you will find very many bicykles on the streets also today! Beijing is believed to have some 10 millions bicykles on the roads. It is often a faster way to get around in this city. The more cars and busses, the slower traffic. If you don´t have a bike of your own you can rent a bicykle for some 10-30 yuan a day. It will deffinitely give you the best way of discovering Beijing in your own pace. A ride through some hutongs is recommended. China continues to be the world's leading country in bicycle production and consumption as the output of bicycles in China reached over 50 million in 2001. Chinese bicycles were also exported to over 100 countries and regions. The numbers of bicycles in Beijing has continued to increase over the past few years, reaching 10 million by the...

Ni hao! What about beer in Beijing 北京! China has three major beer brands. Yanjing beer is a malty, smooth lager beer from China. Brewed in the Shunyi district of Beijing, it is the most commonly available beer throughout Beijing, is the official state beer of China, and is one of the major sponsors of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The beer was first brewed in 1980, and continues to be made today. It is also exported to countries around the globe, including the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom. The beer is brewed the Beijing Yanjing Beer Co., Ltd, and its name comes from a former name for Beijing during the 5th-3rd century BC. Today, the Yanjing Beer Co. covers an area of 2,220,000 m². The company has approximately 20,000 employees, and is the largest beer manufacturer in China. They produced 3.11 million tons of beer in 2005 alone. In Beijing, Yanjing is widely available in restaurants, but is not generally available in bars and nightclubs. Because of Yanjing's low p...

Ni hao! Today´s blog is about the TV and radio in Beijing 北京. China Central Television or Chinese Central Television, commonly abbreviated as CCTV 中国中央电视台 is the major television broadcaster in Mainland China. Organizationally, it is a sub-ministry of People´s Republic of China's central government within the State Administration f Radio, Film and Television and as such it does not have any editorial independence from the PRC government. Its news reporting follows parameters directed by the Propaganda Department of the Communist Party of China. No negative meaning of this, but it is a fact to remember when watching TV. Most of its programming, however, is a mix of comedy and dramatic programming, the majority of which consists of Chinese soap operas. Like many media outlets in China, CCTV has had its state subsidy reduced dramatically in the 1990s, and hence finds it necessary to balance its role as a government agency with the practical fact that it must attract viewers so that...