Beijing: An Introduction

What seems like a vast and sprawling city with wide boulevards and many flyovers and motorways, the city can look quite bewildering. But in all this chaos that you see, there is actually order.

In the middle of the city lies the great Forbidden City, where there is 4 great ring roads. The second and third of these ring roads are essential to navigate around the city. The fourth ring road is handy to get to the airport and the neighbouring suburbs.

The city is composed of 10 great big districts and 8 counties in the surrounding area. The most interesting parts of the city are located in the eastern Chao Yang area as well as the central Dong Cheng districts which cover downtown Beijing.

Although the Chao Yang District is the real commercial and residential area of the city, it has great attractions for the tourist. The Chao Yang Park is here and the San Li Tun nightlife is in this area. The Jian Guo Men and the Ri Tan business and embassy districts are also within this area.

The Jian Guo Men Wai and Ri Tan districts will have lots of international tourists, as well as European and American businessmen strolling around. The main street in the district is the Jian Guo Men Wai Avenue, which is full of people and motor vehicles, as well as vendors with their stalls selling everything from pirate CDs to offering rickshaw journeys through the town. The tourists can haggle with the locals for all the beautiful wares for sale at the Silk Alley. There are lots of hotels around here. If it is all too busy and you need a little peace and quiet, head off to the Ri Tan Park and the tree lined streets of the embassy area.