A weekend in the city
While Beijing is a vast, sprawling metropolis with a bulging pre-Olympic population of 15.4 million, business travellers may be thankful to learn that many sites are clustered around the city centre.
Split into 18 districts, the heart of the city includes the infamous Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Houhai and the north are where the old alleyways, or hutongs, wind wearily around newly sprung apartments blocks on the road to the Olympic Park. To the east is Chaoyang, beloved of expats, in which sits the Central Business District and most shops, bars and nightlife. The poorer part in South Beijing hosts the Temple of Heaven while the Financial District in the west has started to offer its own style of bars and malls.
If you have 48 hours to spare, and have visited Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, you'll have more time to properly explore Beijing's hutongs. Think about a pedicab tour from the Hutong Tourist Agency (+86 10 6615 9097). This can take around half a day and will give you an insight to Beijing's street life – older people sitting around playing mah-jong, or an arranged visit to a local family.
For an alternative peek into Beijing life, crash its arts scene. 798 Art Zone is an art district in the Chaoyang district of Beijing that houses a vibrant eclectic community. Chairman Mao images, slogans from the Cultural Revolution and bizarre sculptures characterise this most avant-garde of China's art enclaves.
From here, hop in a cab to Yashow Market if you need to pick up cheap DVDs or gifts for business clients back home. Nearby Ritan Park – Temple of the Sun – is also a lovely spot for some peace and quiet after the hectic hutongs. The numerous restaurants nearby are famed for their Peking duck – perhaps you saw your dinner earlier in the park?
Alternatively, try Donghuamen night market for such gastronomic delights as bullfrog, scorpion and grasshopper variety. If the snakelike delicacies can't tempt you and you've had enough of Chinese food, try the Tree, (43 Bei Salitun Nan, Chaoyang District,
treebeijing.com) which does wood-fired pizza and over 40 Belgian beers - ideal if you're searching out a trendy ex-pat crowd. Alternatively, ride up to the Buffalo Club, (
buffalostone.cn). There are quite a few great joints and bars in this district in a pleasant location around a lake.
You deliberately stuffed yesterday full of activities so that you could relax today on a day trip to the Great Wall of China. If you fancy a quieter section of the mythical wall, head to Simatai, an eerie and peaceful retreat ideal for trekking some 70 miles out of town. But one day might make the more popular tourist destination of Badaling (
badaling.gov.cn) more feasible. This is the 5,000km stretch that is visible from space. Admission buys you entrance to the Great Wall Circle Vision Theatre as well as the Great Wall Museum. Tour bus 1 from Quianmen in the city should get you there in about an hour.
24 hours in the city
Wake up with the sun in the early dawn and amble down to Tiananmen Square. Vast, yawning and empty, you'll witness the dawn flag-raising ceremony before the city rises.
For many, Tiananmen Square will always be synonymous with the tragic incidents of spring 1989 when hundreds, possibly thousands of pro-democracy protesters, many students, were mown down by Deng Xiaoping's government troops. The killings left a sour taste in the mouths of international governments. But as a visitor, business or personal, you cannot fail to visit this largest public square in the world measuring around 444,000 square metres. Don't be surprised to see that it's as vast and flat as the plains on which Beijing is sprawled. You could easily spend a couple of hours stretching your legs both here and in the surrounding Foreign Legation Quarter, home to international secretariats and grand old buildings.
Peckish? For business travellers craving some un-Chinese fare, try Caribou Café (32, Quianliang Hutong, Dongcheng, +86 10 8402 1529), for a Parisian feel. More authentic pleasure seekers can visit Chuanban (5 Gongyuan Toutiao, Jianguomennei Dajie, Dongcheng +86 10 6512 2277). Popular with locals, as Sichuan's provincial office it will offer cheap and cheerful authentic Sichuan fare.
Now hit the Forbidden City, an absolute must. In the city's heart, Beijing's most visited tourist attraction is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was commissioned in 1406 by Ming Emperor Yongle taking nearly 14 years to complete. You, however, will need at least half a day to experience the grandeur of China's imperial past.
The 1987 film The Last Emperor was shot here, offering western audiences a view of a once hidden treasure. Start at the South end where you will pass by Chairman Mao's portrait on Tiananmen Square then through the Meridian Gate. You will skirt the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Gallery of Clocks and Watches and other celestial fantasies from bygone days.
By early evening, you'll be ready to sample the city's nightlife. For dinner, and if expense accounts permit, try The Courtyard (95 Donghuamen Avenue Beijing, 10006 China,
courtyardbeijing.com/courtyard.html).
One of Beijing's most upmarket and sophisticated restaurants, from here you'll enjoy an unparalleled view of the East Gate and the moat of the Forbidden City. You get international cuisine such as cognac-sauternes-infused foie gras brulee, pineapple confit and a glass of sweet white wine from Cotes de Bergerac (phew!) to cashew nut crusted lamb chops, Xinjiang-style ratatouille, sweet potato mash, roasted garlic demi glace. If you fancy a tipple, take your pick from the 500-strong wine list.
Now fuelled by food and liqueur, you may want to shake off that excess energy. No trip to the city is complete without a visit to the infamous World of Suzie Wong (
suziewong.com.cn). This is Beijing's most visited bar and club, mimicking the opulent surroundings of 1930s opium dens.
If you're after something less commercialised and more avant-garde, try China Doll (second floor, Tongli Studios, North Sanlitun Lu, Chaoyang, +86 10 6416 7968). Slink your hips here with Beijing's glitterati where revellers include fashion photographers and models.
One hour in the city
The 2008 Beijing Olympics (
en.beijing2008.cn/) have forced the city's ancient imperial grandeur to give way to major and rapid reconstruction in its northern quarter. Breathtaking skyscrapers, such as Rem Koolhaas’s CCTV building, are springing up around the Olympic Park in Houhai, just north of the centre. The Olympics will draw in some 500,000 visitors, 10,000 athletes and 20,000 journalists - so right now is the most exciting time to experience the pre-games fervour.
If you only have one snatched hour in this pulsating city, grab a cab – Beijing has some of the cheapest taxis in the world – and head up Houhai. On your way to the Olympic Park you will witness the ramshackle charm of Beijing's old alleyways or hutongs that lattice the city like a rabbit warren. This is the lake district around Beihai Park, the former pleasure grounds of the imperial family.
If your hour happens to be rush hour and you're going nowhere, hop out in the hutongs and walk to get an authentic glimpse of the way old Chinese life used to be. Hutong heaven. The Drum Tower, and nearby Bell Tower stand in a vibrant spot, having flourished since the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), when they stood behind the imperial palace. Then follow Doufuchi Hutong to the Temple of Confucius and the Lama Temple, taking in the street hawkers and hole-in-the-wall snack huts.
In the vicinity is also Dajingchang Hutong, a narrow twisting lane that will sneak you a peek into some of the elegant four-walled courtyards of Beijing – a rare sight as an increasing number get demolished to cater for the Olympic hordes. Or try Mao'er Hutong, which is overrun by rickshaws but crammed with history. Here is the birthplace of Empress Wan Rong, the last emperor's wife. Here too lived Feng Guozhang, a northern warlord. Amble further up east and you'll hit Nanluogu Xiang, a bristling market packed with stalls and western-style cafes where you might just have time for a well-earned beer.
