A trip to the big Jing
By Rajeev K. Manocha

My journalist friend Chiang was to be both my guide and driver in Beijing. He met me at the airport upon my arrival and then my first leg of the journey got an abrupt start. His house was downtown, about an hour's distance from the aerodrome. It was late November and the weather had become chillier. Chiang told me it may come down to 1 or 2 degrees in the days to come. The curtains had just come down on the Beijing Olympics. More than just a sporting event, the Olympics truly mirror the feeling that national boundaries can be transcended for a dream shared by all citizens, Although I had never been to Beijing or any city of the People's Republic of China before, yet a 'fresh' feel on the city's roads,buildings and surroundings told me the tale of the remarkable change the city had gone through in preparation of that mega event.
Chiang's first name reminded me of the ousted president of China after the Chinese Revolution, Chiang kai Shek. He called the city 'Jing' like most locals of Beijing. The city is the capital of the People's Republic of China and is also the political, cultural and international exchange center. With a time-honored history and splendid culture, Beijing is one of the famous historical and cultural cities and ancient capitals in the world. Jing has a great variety of tourist sites, so my friend did not forget to bring the travel guide book on Beijing for me so that I do not miss any significant site of tourist interest.
We set out early the next morning and started roaming around the city. That actually was to be our routine for the next couple of days. I was enthralled by its natural surroundings. It is located at the northern tip of the roughly triangular North China Plain which opens to the south and east of the city. Mountains to the north, northwest and west shield this city. The Great Wall of China, which stretches across the northern part of Beijing Municipality, made use of this rugged topography against nomadic intrusions from the steppes. Mount Dongling in the Xishan ranges and on the border with Hebei is the municipality's highest point, with an altitude of 2303 meters. Major rivers flowing through the municipality include the Yongding River and the Chaobai River.
The urban area of Beijing is situated in the south-central part of the municipality and occupies a small but expanding part of the municipality's area. It spreads out in bands of concentric ring roads, of which the fifth and outermost, the Sixth Ring Road, passes through several satellite towns.
The Heart of Beijing
Famous Tian'anmen and Tian'anmen Square are at the centre of Beijing and are directly to the south of the Forbidden City, the former residence of the emperors of China. To the west of Tian'anmen is Zhongnanhai, residence of the paramount leaders of the People's Republic of China. Running through central Beijing from east to west is Chang'an Avenue, one of Beijing's main thoroughfares.
Chiang loved his heritage and talked a lot about China's glorious past. He took me to Thirteen Tombs of the Ming Dynasty situated at the outskirts of urban Beijing but within its municipality. They are the lavish and elaborate burial sites of Ming emperors which have been designated as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The archaeological Peking man site at Zhoukoudian is another World Heritage Site within the Beijing municipality and it contains a wealth of discoveries, including one of the first specimens of Homo erectus, and an assemblage of bones of the gigantic hyena. There are several sections of the UNESCO World Heritage Site- Great Wall of China- that are on the outskirts of the municipality, most notably Badaling, Jinshanling, Simatai and Mutianyu.
I found that Beijing contains several well-preserved pagodas and stone pagodas such as the towering Pagoda of Tianning Temple, which was built during the Liao Dynasty from 1100-1120, and the Pagoda of Cishou Temple, which was built in 1576 during the Ming Dynasty. Several historically important stone bridges are also located in Beijing, including the 12th century Lugou Bridge, the 17th century Baliqiao Bridge and the 18th century Jade Belt Bridge. The Beijing Ancient Observatory displays pre-telescopic spheres dating back to the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Architectural Surprises
The story of architecture does not end there. Jing had more architectural surprises for me. The city is also known for its siheyuan, the courtyard houses and alleys, although they are increasingly disappearing due to the growth of city constructions and are giving way to high-rises. Jing has several well-preserved neighborhoods of shiheyuan including some of the grander courtyard houses such as the Prince Gong Mansion. There are hundreds of museums in Beijing besides the Palace Museum in the Forbidden City and the National Museum of China. Other major museums include the National Art Museum of China, the Capital Museum, the Beijing Art Museum and the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution, the Geological Museum of China, the Beijing Museum of Natural History and the Paleo zoological Museum of China.
Three styles of architecture predominate in urban Beijing. First, the traditional architecture of imperial China, perhaps best exemplified by the massive Tian'anmen -the Gate of Heavenly Peace, which remains the People's Republic of China's trademark edifice, the Forbidden City, the Imperial Ancestral Temple and the Temple of Heaven. Next there is what is sometimes referred to as the "Sino-Soviet" style, built between the 1950s and the 1970s, with structures tending to be boxy, bland and poorly made. Finally, there are much more modern architectural forms -most noticeably in the area of the Beijing CBD and Beijing Financial Street.
Beijing of the early 21st century has witnessed tremendous growth of new building constructions, showing various modern styles from international designers. A mixture of both old and new styles of architecture can be seen at the 798 Art Zone, which mixes 1950s design with a blend of the new and modern.
Beijing being a city with scenic beauty has great many parks and gardens. The Beijing Zoo is a center of zoological research that also contains rare animals from various continents, including the giant panda of China.
Beijing is renowned for its opera too. Beijing opera or Peking opera, is well known throughout the world. Commonly lauded as one of the highest achievements of dialogue and codified action sequences, such as gestures, movement, fighting and acrobatics, much of Beijing opera is carried out in an archaic stage dialect quite different from modern Standard Mandarin and from the Beijing dialect.
Those Indians who love Chinese food but have not been to standard Chinese restaurants of in India may be in for a shock. Actually they are accustomed to an unauthentic Chinese cuisine available with hawkers and petty restaurants in India, prepared mostly by Nepalese cooks with Mongol looks. The Chinese meals and their preparation in Jing are different and they are eaten in typically indigenous style. In the recent years many north Indian businessmen have settled here and some eating houses with Indian food have also flourished. But they are very rare and costly and not up to the mark. Anyway, you can always enjoy the local meals. Mandarin cuisine is the local style of cooking in Beijing. The Peking Roast Duck is perhaps the most well-known dish. The Manhan Quanxi ("Manchu-Han Chinese full banquet") is a rare traditional banquet originally intended for the ethnic-Manchu emperors of the Qing Dynasty; it remains very prestigious and expensive. The Fuling Jiabing is a traditional Beijing snack food.
I have heard many a rumour about communist nations and their cities but so far I could feel the Beijing never seemed to be a forbidden city. With Chinese strides in the international business arena, it has become the most sought after place of China followed by Shanghai for traders and businessmen from all parts of the world. There is nearly every type of accommodation available for the visitors.

Tourist attractions
Boasting abundant tourism resources, Beijing has opened more than 200 famous attractions to the public. The metropolis contains 7,309 historical sites, of which 42 are under state protection and 222 under city protection. A lot of walking is needed to explore these fantastic sites but you will surely find the effort very satisfying.
Beijing being a mix of a classical and modern city reflects the energy and optimism of China as a whole. It showed its potential during the 2008 Beijing Olympics which may definitely be dubbed as the greatest Olympics ever held in the world.
The Olympics have not only given a great boost to city's image in general but have raised the opportunities for tourism. The shopping opportunities in particular have been enhanced a great deal. Besides all this, you can shop at the old and famous Wangfujing Street which sells almost everything, or make a trip to the Xidan Shopping Street where many large Summer Palaces and Kunming Lake shopping centers are located. Other interesting shopping areas include the Xiushui Market and the Liulichang Culture Street.
So, if there is only one travel destination you can visit in China, Beijing is definitely the city to visit.

The city is the capital of the People's Republic of China and is also the political, cultural and international exchange center. With a time-honored history and splendid culture, Beijing is one of the famous historical and cultural cities and ancient capitals in the world.