Peking Opera

Peking Opera has entertained Beijingers for over 200 years with its elaborate costumes, ear-splitting arias, dazzling martial arts and musical dialogue. Most Peking Operas are unintelligible to the untrained viewer, but they are usually based on folk tales, famous novels and fairy tales and are a pleasure to watch if you know the basic story. Some of the bigger theaters have subtitle message boards in English and Chinese so even if you don't know the story you can still follow along. Characters are classified into three basic categories: the male roles, called "sheng", females roles or "Dan”, and clowns or "chou", the nature of each character is shown through the different colors of the facial makeup. For example, red usually means evil or sly and black and white face makeup denotes authority. The fantastic silk costumes are works of art in themselves. Although Chinese youths are more eager to listen to pop music than go to a Peking Opera, recently, there has been a mini-revival in the art form, and there are quite a few places to go and listen to Peking Opera. You can get a good taste of what Peking Opera is all about at the Liyuan Theater in the Qianmen Hotel, Chang'an Theater, Huguang Guildhall, which features nightly performances that are a medley of different operas. The shows are light on the singing and concentrate more on action like tumbling and martial arts and are therefore more foreigner-friendly.

Acrobatics

Chinese acrobatic troupes have traveled to many countries around the world and have amazed audiences everywhere. The usual tourist reaction to a Chinese acrobatics show is something like "whoa! that was so……" you are not sure what to say. The contortions and balancing acts are quite incredible and sometimes seem almost superhuman, or super rubber human. You will be at the edge of your seat through most of the show saying "don't fall, don't drop it!" and incredibly, they never do.

Art galleries

Art lovers beware! There are a ton of art museums and galleries in Beijing, and if you are not careful, you could spend your whole trip wandering about in them. There are thousands of years of art to be explored in Beijing,and all styles are represented: from mega-ancient calligraphy and landscape paintings, to ultra-modern abstract body art.

China Art Gallery

The museum boasts a rich collection of artistic master-pieces by famous Chinese painters and sculptors. It is also the most important venue for art exhibitions in the capital city. Some 100 Chinese and foreign exhibitions are held here all year round.
Add :1 wusi Dajie
Open:09:00-16:00
Bus :111
Trolley:109 112 103 104
Tel:64016234

China Arts and Crafts

A large art gallery for the storage, exhibition, repurchase and sale of Chinese art and craft items. The fifth floor houses 500 craft masterpieces. The gallery is located in the same building, the Parkson Shopping Center.

Add:northeast side of Fuxingmen Overpass
Open:9:00-16:30
Bus: 1 4 52
Tel: 66012024

Sports

Long-distance running is a traditional sport in Beijing. An annual Spring Festival Round-the-City also hosts marathons including a world-class competition recognized by the International Amateur Athletic Federation.

International and national sports competitions are usually held in spring and autumn. The important venues are the National Olympic Cente, where the Asian Games were held in 1990,and the Worker's Stadium in the eastern suburban region.

Other favorite sporting events include table tennis, volleyball, badminton, swimming, martial arts, and soccer. Recreatonal sports are very popular so you should book courts in advance. Most hotels have health clubs, swimming pools, tennis courts and saunas with massage. If you are in Beijing for any substantial length of time, you should consider joining a health club, otherwise it is hard to stay in shape.

Festival & Holidays

There are lots of traditional festivals and holidays in China, and Beijingers observe them all and enjoy them to the fullest. Most are marked by getting together with the family, eating, drinking, and general merry-making just like any-where else. Besides the traditional Chinese holidays like Spring Festival, nowadays many young people celebrate western holidays like Christmas and Halloween. These are not formally observed, but it is a good excuse to party and lots of bars and hotels have special activities during these holidays.

Spring Festival

Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year, is the celebration of the beginning of the lunar year. It usually occurs in late January or early to mid-February. This festival is celebrated by Chinese people every-where in China and overseas. The main thing to do on Spring Festival is get together with loved ones and make (and eat) jiaozi, Chinese dumplings.Red envelopes containing money are distributed to little kids. In past years, during Spring Festival Beijing would be shrouded by a cloud of blue smoke and the sounds of blue smoke and the sounds of fireworks could be heard everywhere, not to mention the sirens of firetrucks on their way to the scenes of countless fires. Now firecrackers and other explosives are banned in the city so it is much safer, if not so festive. But if you are here during Spring Festival, it is worth it to spend the holiday with a Chinese friend's family. Also during this time, there are many "Temple Fairs," which feature lots of yummy snacks and interesting, colorful handicrafts. This year's Spring Festival marks the beginning of the Year of the Rabbit. If you were born in the Year of the Rabbit, you should wear a red string around your waist or wrist for good luck.

Mid-Autumn Festival

Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month. At this time the moon is full, and the day is also known as the Moon Festival. The round shape of the moon represents reunion, and this day should be spent with your family. If you are not with your family, you should go out at night and look at the moon so in that way you can still be together.

This was originally a harvest festival, and on this day people eat round "moon cakes." In the 14th century, rebels would pass messages to their cohoris in moon cakes to plan the overthrow of the Yuan Dynasty emperor. Today, different moon cake fillings include pork,eggs,lotus seeds,sugar and red bean paste. The sweet ones, though tasty, are so sweet that it is difficult to eat an entire one, although they are not very big.

National Day

In addition to traditional festivals, National Day, on October 1, is the most important national festival. During the celebrations, Beijing is elaborately decorated. Streets are lined with flowers and colorful flags and buntings, and red lanterns are hung on the gates of shops and official buildings. The official reception and celebration are held in the Great Hall of the People while various kinds of performances and operas are shown at all theaters. At night, decorative lights are on throughout the city, providing a great evening out for families to enjoy the night scene out on the streets.

A grand parade and elaborate fireworks display is held in Tian'an men Square every fifth or tenth year, with a massive parade and show.

New Year's Day

In addition to celebrating the lunar new year, Chinese people also observe the solar new year. Offices usually get one or two days off at this time, and Chinese people seize the opportunity to go on short trips or go home to see relatives.

Beijing's nightlife is rich with fun and local color and has something for all tastes. From wild discos to serene teahouses to walks in the moonlight, you can do it all in this city. Most bars and discos stay open until 2 or 3 in the morning, and some go from dusk till dawn. Previously, entertainment as we know it was limited to fancy hotels, but not any more. This is Beijing, 1999, and you are sure to find something to your liking.

Night life

Twilight in Tian'anmen Square

Visitors can take a rickshaw along Chang'an Avenue, the widest street in the world, to Tian'anmen Square. The enter on foot through the Gate of Heavenly Peace and across the Gold Water Bridge to Wumen Square, the front yard of the Forbidden City. Twilight in the square, with fabulous lighting and fountains with changing patterns, can be nostalgic and pensive. After strolling along the eastern moat of the imperial palaces, you can take a taxi from Wangfujing to your hotel.

Folklore Performances

Night performance venues such as the Lao She Teahouse, Tianqiao Happy Teahouse, the Liyuan Theater, the Huguang Guildhall and the Beijing Wuyi Diyuan offer a wide repertoire of traditional arts, including Peking Opera, martial arts and other folklore arts. Visitors can watch the shows, while sipping tea and nibbling away on snacks. For the address and telephone numbers of the above venues, please refer to the List of Theaters.

Evening snacks

Beijing's open-air night snack markets are open all year round. If you live near the Wangfujing area, the snack market at Dongdan is the right place to go. While the Donghuamen Night Snack Market is convenient for those living around the Palace Hotel. These markets are a scene of the real life of the city although they are usually very crowded. There, visitors can not only find out bow some Chinese enjoy their evenings, but also taste many typical Chinese snacks including wan-ton, tea soup (chatang), mutton skewer (yang rou chuanr) and fried glutinous rice cakes (zhagao).

Bars

A few years ago, the only place to go to sit and have a drink was at overpriced hotel bars. But now, Beijing is practically bristling with all types of bars and clubs. The main concentration of bars is in the area known as Sanlitun (Three Mile Village). This area, which is nestled in the Embassy District, is basically made up of two streets going north to south off of Gongti Beilu (Worker's Stadium North Road). There are generally nore foreigners on the south street. Most of the bars are open during the day as restaurants, and then, depending on where you go, become blazing on where you go, become blazing pits of drunken debauchery, quiet dens of social drinking or venues for amateur and semi-professional rock or jazz bands. We've got the full range here.

Night Shows

Being the cultural center of China, Beijing stages many shows, both Chinese and Western. A few hotels, including the Gloria Plaza, put on dinner shows. The Beijing This Month magazine, published around the 1th of each month, runs a comprehensive listing of shows around town in the What's on section.

Recreational Centers

Recreational centers offer a wide range of services including dancing, bowling, swimming, sauna and massage.

Movies

Cherry Lane Movies at the Sino Japanese Youth Exchange Center is an exclusive place in town that puts on excellent Chinese films with English subtitles on every other Friday night. Each show is usually followed by a 30-minute discussion with the people involved in making the film (Tel:65224046). Please refer to the What's On section of Beijing This Month for their schedule.

Most large cinemas in town put on midnight show on weekends. Please refer to the day's Beijing Evening News for their schedules.

Karaoke and Discos

Karaoke is a hugely popular activity in Beijing. It is basically a bar with rooms that you rent out for however many hours, which is equipped with a TV and stereo system and two microphones. It can be a lot of fun to hang out with your frends and belt out songs all night long. Most of the songs are in Chinese, and it used to be that the only English selections were "Happy Birthday"and "Yesterday Once More,"(still a big hit), but more and more karaokes have extensive English language "menus"now too.

Beijing is chock full of discos. Tickets range anywhere from 50-100 yuan and they are usually open from around 7pm to 2am, sometimes later. The biggest disco is JJ's and they have lucky draws and guest singers every night. Most discos have some sort of performance, the most wild one being the "cage dancing"and "modern dance" at Hottop Disco on the east 3rd Ring Road. Talk about "reform and opening up policy!"

Nightclubs

Nightclubs are ideal places for business people after a hectic schedule and busy negotiations. The interior of the clubs is usually lavishly decorated, and guests can realx with live music and guests can relax with live music and refreshing drinks. Some nightclubs are, however, only open to members.

Teahouses

Recently teahouses have seen a big comeback in Beijing and other parts of the country. It is now quite fashionable to go to a traditional teahouse for some good old fashioned tea-appreciation. The atmosphere in teahouses is usually calm and tranquil, and combined with the beautiful waitresses who serve you the tea, almost intoxicating. Some teahouses have performances of Peking Opera or traditional Chinese instruments. This is a nice relaxing way to spend an evening.