Other things to do
Beijing is the capital of one of the world’s oldest and richest cultures, and there is a huge amount to see and do there.
while in Beijing don’t miss:
- The Forbidden City and the Imperial Palace – a treasure house of the Chinese Emperors, with amazing beauty and also stupendous bad taste.
- The Temple of Heaven
- The Summer Palace – don’t miss the lake and stone ship built for a seasick Empress
- Tiananmen Square – Mao Tse Tung’s tomb and site of May Day parades and the 1989 protests
- Genuine Peking Duck – thin strips of the crispy skin being the delicacy
- A Chinese street market – see the citizens of the world’s largest Communist state revert to their capitalist roots.
- The Great Wall of China is 75 kilometres (46 miles) north-west –get there at dawn if you can, for a stunning sight without the crowds.
- Visit the Ming Dynasty Tombs on your way back from the Wall.
see more of China - it’s huge, ancient and fascinating
If you’ve time before or after the games, you might want to see more of China. A 7 or 8 day tour would including stunning experiences - perhaps the Terracotta Warriors of Xian, cruising on the Yangtze River and visiting Shanghai.
If you are coming via Hong Kong, consider a Li River cruise in the amazing Guilin landscape of south China.
