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Modern Beijing Self-Guided Tour
Beijing is a fast developing metropolitan city with a blend of old and modern. To help you explore its ultra modern and trendy side, we have proposed for you the one day self-guided modern Beijing tour, which covers the visits to National Grand Theater, Xidan Commercial Street, Beijing Financial Street, The China Millennium Monument, CCTV Tower, National Stadium (nest), National Swimming Center ( Water Cube ), Central Business District (CBD) and Wangfujing Commercial Street. Most of the places are either reconstructed or renovated, representative of Beijing's modernity. Move!National Theatre (National Center for Performing Arts)
The egg-shaped theatre is designed by the French architect Paul Andreu, the designer of the terminal of the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. The National Grand Theatre, situated west of the Beijing's central Tian'anmen Square, has a huge glass and titanium dome-shaped structure surrounded by water. The National Theater is composed of the three halls nestled inside the egg. The 2.68-billion-yuan (US$328 million) theatre will hold 6,000 people. It is regarded as the Egg due to its smooth, translucent exterior and ovoid shape. With its modernity, it is in the strong contrast to the Stalinist-style building of the Great Hall of the People and the golden eaves of the Forbidden City. Over 16,000 cubic metres of water enough to fill 42 Olympic swimming pools is poured into the lake on which the Egg will "float".Open Hours: 9:00 - 17:00 (closed on Monday)
Admission: CNY30( adults); CNY15 (children)
Tel: 0086-010-6655 0989; 0086-010-6655 0000 (ticket booking)
How to get there:
Bus 1, 4, 10, 20, 37, 52, 726, 728 and 802 to Tian'anmen West;
Subway Line 1 and get off at Tiananmen West Station, Exit C.
How to visit National Center for Performing Arts
Xidan Commercial Street
Xidan Commercial Street is located on Xidanbei Dajie, west of Tiananmen Square. It is well known for commerce, entertainment, dinning, and finance etc. It is the second modern street in Beijing just after Wangfujing Street. Xidan commercial street starts from Xuanwumen intersection in the south to Xinjiekou Huokou to the north. The street is totally 5.4 km long. Its runs through three commercial areas of Xidan, Xisi and Xinjiekou. You can find the famous Xidan Department Store, the Xidan Shopping Center, the Xiangyun Chinese Fine Goods Store, a street market and a big flower market.How to get there:
Take subway line 1 and get off at the stop of Xidan and Exit K and F1
Financial Street
The Beijing Financial Street is located on the east side of the second ring road, the area between Fuchengmen and Fuxingmen. The financial street is 1700m long from north to south and and 600 wide from east to west. More than 10 skyscrapers have been erected on the street. A lot of financial institutions like Head office of China Construction Bank, Bank of China, Commercial and Industrial Bank of China, Communication Bank of China, China Securities Regulatory Commission, CITIC Industrial Bank and other big banks in China have already entered the financial street. Several deluxe hotels are nestled in this area like Ritz Carlton Hotel, Continental. Over 200 big enterprises have moved into the financial street. The financial street will become financial center of financial institutions and business buildings in Beijing. At same time it will be equipped with all kinds of service facilities like telecommunication, business, catering and cultural and entertainment etc.How to get there:
Take subway line 1 or line 2 and get off at the stop of Fuxingmen, Exit A and B
China Millennium Monument
The China Millennium Monument is dubbed China's symbolic and commemorative structure to usher in the Year 2000 the new Millennium. It is a present for the 21th century world from the Chinese people, standing in China's capital Beiling for ever. The China Millennium Monument occupies an area of 4.5 hectares and a total floor space of about 42,000 square metres. It lies between the Military Museum and the Central Television Compound, with the Yuyuantan Park to its north and the West Beijing Railway Station to its south. The China Millennium Monument is composed of immovable cloisters and rotating monument surface, a pointer of 45 meters pointing to the blue sky is put on the upper side of the moument, It will remind you of sundial in the Forbidden City. Surface of round altar is "Tianren Square" with an area of 1,700 square meters and inclination angle of 19.4 degree, it rotates one circle a day. It has not only a big open-air stage for performance, but also an exhibition hall.Tel: (010)59802222
Add: Jia 9, Fuxing Road, Haidian District, Beijing
How to get there:
Take subway line 1 and get off at the stop of Military Museum, Exit A
China Millennium Monument
China Central Television ( CCTV ) Tower
The China Central Television (CCTV) Tower is the highest building in Beijing, China. It has an observation platform at the height of 238m, and the top of its antenna rod is as high as 405m. It offers a panoramic view over the city from its revoving restaurant and watch deck. It is listed as one of the members of the World Federation of Great Towers. The tower was first constructed in 1992, and has the broadcasting equipment for China Central Television ( CCTV ). It is situated in the west of Beijing, near the Gongzhufen subway station and Yuyuantan Park. It will be replaced by the new headquarters of CCTV in Chaoyang District, designed by Rem Koolhaas. An interesting race to the top of the tower is held every year with a climb of the 1484 steps leading up to the observation platform.Address: No.11, the Middle of West 3RD Ring Road, Haidian District, Beijing
Post Code: 100142
TEL: 0086-010-68411964 (customer service), 0080-15101055446
Public Bus:
Take bus Nos. 323, 624,809,811,40,64, Yuntong102,Yuntong 103,Yuntong 201, get off at Hangtian Bridge South stop
Beijing Subway:
Take Subway Line 1, get off at Gongzhufen Station and walk north (The opposite to the west gate of Yuyuantan Park)
Free parking service is provided on condition of having buffet up.
How to visit China Central Television (CCTV) Tower
National Stadium (Nest)
Situted at the Olympic Green, it has a floor space of 258,000 sq meters. The National Stadium in Beijing is the main stadium for the 2008 Olympic Games. It is often dubbed the "bird's nest" because of its featuring grid formation. The twig-like structure and the bowl-shaped roof are the masterpiece of the project. It is designed by Herzog and DeMeuron. The most unique feature of the structure is its "cushion" system which can fill the spaces within the building's facade to regulate wind, weather, and sunlight. It can accommodate 91,000 visitors and will host the opening and closing ceremonies, the track and field competitions and the football finals during the 2008 Olympic Games.Open Hours: 9:00 to 18:00
Admission: CNY50; CNY25 for students
Getting there:
Bus 386, 656, 660, 689, 696, 740, 753, 939, 944 or 983 and get off at Yayuncun Stop;
Subway Line 8 and get off at Olympic Sports Center Station, Exit B2
How to visit Bird’s Nest and Water Cube
National Swimming Center ( Water Cube )
It is designed by the design consortium composed of the China State Construction Engineering Corporation, China State Construction International (Shenzhen) Design Co Ltd, PTW Architects (Australia) and Ove Arup (Australia). The National Swimming Center will be the only important Olympic venue that is built by donations from compatriots from Hong Kong and Macao. It has a total floor space of 50,000 square meters with a seating capacity of 17,000. The whole project costs about US$100 million. The center will be used for swimming, diving, synchronized swimming and water-polo games during the Olympic Games 2008. After the games, the center will turn into a large water recreational center open to the public. It is dubbed "cube" because of its semi-transparent "bubbles" spread out all over its surface with a shape very similar to the structure of "H2O".Open Hours: 9:00 to 21:00
Admission: CNY30 for adults; CNY15 for students
Getting there:
Bus 386, 656, 660, 689, 740, 753, 804, 827, 939, 944 or 983 and get off at Beichenqiaoxi Stop;
Subway Line 8 and get off at Olympic Sports Center Station, Exit B1.
How to visit Bird’s Nest and Water Cube
Central Business District (CBD)
The Beijing CBD or Beijing Central Business District is a projected part of Beijing city. It is located in the eastern urban area between the 3rd Ring Road and the 4th Ring Road with a total area of 4 square kilometers. This area has the unique district advantages in terms of its infrastructure facilities, rich land resources and busy business atmosphere. It has about 3000 companies, among which are 500 multinational corporations, 570 foreign representative offices, 160 foreign-funded banks, insurance companies and agencies as well as over 200 intermediary services. There are over three million square meters of the existing business infrastructure facilities, covering China World Trade Center, Motorola Plaza, the Kerry Center, Hewlett Packard Plaza etc. where house scores of famous multinational companies and financial agencies, such as Hewlett Packard, Ford, Motorola Samsung, BNP Parisbas Group. Preently, of the 160 of the world's Top 500 enterprises with their offices in Beijing, over 120 have established their offices in the CBD and its nearby areas.How to get there:
Take subway line 1 and 2, get off at the stop of Guomao, Exit A and B
Wangfujing Street
Wangfujing is Beijing's most trendy shopping district. It is a blend of international shops and narrow alleys of stalls. There are also cinemas and big bookstores. Foreign Language Bookstore, the largest in China is a good recource for travellers. The main street is pedestrianised and ideal for walking. At the south end, Oriental Plaza provides exclusive high fashions shops. Even if you don't want to buy anything, it's a nice area for watching people and learning sometthing, finding the richer, more trendy side of Beijing.Wangfujig Street is easily accessible through taking Subway Line 1 and getting off at Wangfujing Station. Benches and bars are available, making it easy for you to have a short break if you feel tired.
Wangfujing Street
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