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Modern Beijing Walking Tour
Tour Code: BW-02
Experience: Exploring the commercial center of Beijing
Start: Beijing Hotel
Finish: Oriental Plaza
Time: 2-3 hours
Reservation: Call (86) 10 67160201 ext 1006, 1005 or send your email to info@tour-beijing.com
Tour Review:
Wangfujing Area, the largest commercial area in Beijing, extends from Dong Chang'an Avenue in the south to Wusi Street in the north, and from Dongdan Bei Street in the east to Nanheyan Street in the west. It occupies 1.65 square kilometers, extending 2 kilometers from south to north and 1000 meters from east to west. With many construction projects under way, its planned total commercial and office floor area and plus other buildings, is about 3.46 million square meters, of which 1.2 million square meters is taken by the business area and 0.9 million square meters occupied by underground and above-ground parking lots and other publicfacilities.
Tour Details:
As Oriental Plaza is next to Beijing Hotel, actually you have a round walking trip of Wangfujing commercial area.
Wangfujing is the capital's well-known shopping street, now it becomes a pedestrian street, a window to show Beijing's modern life. It is worth strolling even if you aren't interested in buying anything.
Situated just a few blocks east of the Forbidden City, Wangfujing was a favorite residential neighborhood of the rich and the royals during the Ming and Qing dynasties and was named for the well that supplied the mansions of ten Ming Dynasty princes here. By the end of the 19th century, it was beginning to attract resident foreigners as well, including an influential correspondent for the London Times named Morrison, whose name became the street's as well for a time among Westerners. Tradesmen set up their shops on Wangfujing and the attached hutongs (alleys).
The walking tour is a round trip - north up Wangfujing and south down Dongdan - beginning and ending in the historic Beijing Hotel on Chang'an Avenue. It takes in old and new shops, cafes, open-air food street, religious shrines, art galleries and museums, historic spots, and even archaeological sites.
Walking steps as follows:
First take a taxi to Beijing Hotel (Beijing Fandian), which was opened as the Grand Hotel de Pekin in 1917 under French management. Enter at the east wing ( Building A ), on the Wangfujing Dajie(street), and wander through the lobby, from the old grand piano to the shopping arcades. Unfortunately, much of the middle section of the hotel was recently remodeled, but try to take a peek at the grand (very grand) old ballrooms at the top of the lobby staircases.
Beijing Hotel
Outside Beijing Hotel, turn east and go up the first street on your left, Wangfujing Dajie. On your right you will see a large book store and large Mcdonald's sign where the largest arts and crafts store is located.
Wangfujing Bookstore
Arts and Crafts Mansion and Mcdonald's
Sheng Xi Fu Hat Shop and Donglaishun Hotpot. Sheng Xi Fu Hat Store is a famous century old hat store - round hats, flat hats, small hats, big hats -- if it is a hat you are looking for this is certainly the place to start. Donglaishun is the best Mandarin hot-pot restaurant in Beijing is Donglaishun, on Wangfujing, the Fifth Avenue in Beijing. The mutton slices here are finer and thinner than anywhere else.
2008 Olympic Games Mascots selling outlet in Wangfujing
On your right hand, you will find a alley called Wangfujing Traditional Food. You will find lots of people coming in and out of a narrow street. Well, this is the famous Wangfujing open air daytime food street. You may follow the flow of people to have a bite of the local flavors.
Wangfujing Traditional Food Street
Wangfujing Traditional Food Street
After enjoying the local food, turn back to the main street - Wangfujing Street. On your right side, inside a lane, you see the famous Wangfujing Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant and Tianjin Goubuli Snack Restaurant.
Wangfujing Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant
Tianjin Goubuli Snack Restaurant
Swiss Watch Shop
Wangfujing Medicine Shop
Street Bar
Street bar
On your right side, you see Wangfujing Department Store. This was once Beijing's big-time department store. Though having had a face-lift, it still looks aging, sprawling.
Wangfujing Store
Sun Dong An Plaza (No.138), By way of abrupt contrast, at the next cross street (called Dong'anmen Dajie to the east, Jinyu Hutong to the west), head over to the other side of Wangfujing, and enter a 21st-century department store: Sun Dong An Plaza (no. 138), Beijing's glitziest shopping plaza, where you can wander for hours among its seven levels and multiple atriums, complete with glass elevators and chrome escalators. Bossini, London Fog, Burberrys, Flying Scotsmen. They're all here, along with a Mickey Mouse logo store (Toonsland), a Nike store, a McDonalds, and an espresso bar named Boodles. (There's also a Bank of China branch on the first floor, open weekdays only.) The supermarket, electronics, and large appliances are in the basement, and deeper in the labyrinth are eight movie theaters. You can find lots of old Beijing stuff on the underground floor, a teahouse, Beijing local prducts etc. Back out on the streets, convinced that Beijing has indeed caught up with the consuming nations of the West, cross back over to the west side of Wangfujing.
Foreign Language Bookstore (No. 235). This is a must for anyone interested in books, since it houses Beijing's largest selection of English-language materials on several floors. Just a few steps north, you are out of the walking street.
Foreign Language Bookstore
Now you are facing a across road. If it is dinner time, then we suggest you turn right where you enjoy local food on the famous Donghuamen evening food street from 18:00 to 21:30. As you continue north, look across Wangfujing. You can catch sight of a massive Catholic Cathedral, St. Joseph's (Dongtang), which looks beautiful after a recent renovation.
On the west side of the street you pass：
Tong Sheng He Shoes, Kodak, China Silk Shop (No. 133, quite small), and a tea shop at no. 119 with a nice selection of pots and a big drug' store. This brings you to a second major intersection, Dengshikou street, with the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza Hotel and the massive One World Department Store on opposite corners. It's time to: take a break. Wangfujing is filled with cafes and restaurants, inside and outside major hotels, but one bright new spot to pause is Timeless Medley, in the basement of the Tianlun Dynasty Hotel, 50 Wangfujing Dajie, open daily from 11am to 1am. Choose from more than 200 local snacks and enjoy the decor (famous Chinese movie scenes) in what's described as Beijing's first cafe to combine film and food culture. In the final block of your stroll up Wangfujing, you'll pass some new Western-style cafes (Boulevard Bistro, Red Lion Restaurant) and two Beijing institutions (the very strange subterranean Banpo Primitive Hot Pot Beer Hut, 26 Wangfujing Dajie, and the Capital Theater, 22 Wangfujing Dajie, which sometimes stages Western dramas).
At the big intersection with Wusi Dajie, visit the：
China Art Gallery (Zhongguo Meishuguan), 1 Wusi Dajie, which is the national art gallery of China and always worth a visit.
Ok, let turn back t and walk back again to Sun Dong An Plaza (No. 138), then turn right and you enter the Jinyu Hutong.
Three hotels on Jinyu Hutong Taiwan Hotel, Peace Novotel Hotel and Palace Hotel. The Palace Hotel, 8 Jinyu Hutong, with a waterfall in the marble lobby. The basement has the highest-end shopping in China, with the nation's first Armani, to go along with Cartier, Hermes, and others.
The lobby is a refreshing spot for tea or coffee before returning to Dongdan.
At the end of Jinyu Hutong, you turn right and walk southward along Dongdan Street. On the left you will find Dahua Cinema where. You may enjoy a Chinese film. Opposit the cinema you find the Capital Hospital.
Capital Hospital (Peking Union Medical Hospital, Xiehe Yiyuan), with an emergency clinic for foreign patients on the sixth floor. Part of this medical complex is in the mansion of a Qing Dynasty prince, part in a modern high-rise. The hospital was founded in 1915 and underwritten for decades by American millionaire John.Rockefeller.
Now you come across Oriental Plaza - the largest complex in Wanfujing area built by a Hong Kong Tycoon--Mr Li Jiachen where you can have a window shopping.
Oriental Plaza
To close this journey, head west to the Beijing Hotel.
| Cost: in RMB per person |
| Travelling Party |
Tour Cost Per Person |
| 1 person |
RMB 245 |
| 2 persons |
RMB 180 |
| 3 persons |
RMB 160 |
| 4 persons |
RMB 140 |
| 5 persons |
RMB 120 |
| 6 persons |
RMB 110 |
| 7 persons |
RMB 100 |
| 8 persons |
RMB 90 |
| 9 persons |
RMB 80 |
| 10 persons |
RMB 70 |
Inclusions:
The price above only covers the tour guide service.
Exclusions:
1) The cost for hotel transfer
2) Any entrance fees if necessary
3) Tips for the tour guide
Available:
Daily
Travel Tips:
Wear casually with comfortable sports shoes and pay attention to the climate in Beijing
Reservation:
1.Please use our online booking or send your travel request via email to info@tour-beijing.com. You are also welcome to call us at + 86 10 67160201 ext 1006 or 2007.
Phone after working hours: 0086 13520598855 or 13901312027 (24 hours).
2.Our real trip advisors will have your booking confirmed no more than 1 working day. We even take last minute booking if time is pressing. When your booking is confirmed, you will get a confirmation email or call from us, which includes the confirmed detailed itinerary with prices.
3. Way of Payment: cash payment ,credit card payment or wire transfer. Both RMB and hard currency are acceptable.
Currency Converter
4. Our tour guide will meet you at the Beijing Capital Airport with a signboard in your name.
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