Beijing Destination Guide

China's capital city, Beijing, is a city as complicated as it is beautiful. Architectural epics are clearly recognised and it’s fun to see how Chinese fashion vacillated from landmark buildings in Beijing’s Forbidden City to its current feats of engineering, like Rem Koolhaas’s new design for China’s Central Television headquarters.

The same dichotomy is evident in the city’s urban plan. One minute you feel the size of an ant along its enormous avenues, the next you are gripped by claustrophobia in its narrow alleyways or hútòng. The 2008 Summer Olympics prompted unprecedented development to the tourist and transportation sectors. The National Center for Performing Arts holds a new opera, drama and music hall, and its extraordinary silver dome design by French architect Paul Andreu makes it a captivating sight to behold. But some of the best and essential things to see in Beijing are its historical centres: visit The Great Wall at Badaling or Tiananmen Square, and you will find more Chinese tourists than foreigners flocking to these impressive landmarks. Markets like the Maliandao Tea Market and the Zhaojia Chaowai Market are fascinating side trips, especially the latter, which is crammed with antique Chinese furniture, like lanterns and opium beds, and prices are always negotiable.