Beijing
Arts-and-crafts fans will get a kick out of this shop selling traditional clay figurines. Shelves are lined with 'rabbit gods' (兔儿爷; tùéryé), a folk-religion deity unique to Beijing. If you're feeling creative, you can roll up your sleeves and model your own from scratch, or paint one that's already been cast.
To make your own, ask 'néng ní sù ma?' (能泥塑吗?) If you fancy painting one, it's 'néng cǎi huì ma?' (能彩绘吗?). Expect to pay around ¥20 for your masterpiece.
1.91 MILES
Enclosed by 3.5km of citadel walls at the very heart of Beijing, the Unesco-listed Forbidden City is China’s largest and best-preserved collection of…
4.47 MILES
An oasis of methodical Confucian design, the 267-hectare Temple of Heaven Park is unique. It originally served as a vast stage for solemn rites performed…
8.11 MILES
A marvel of Chinese garden design and one of Beijing's must-see attractions, the Summer Palace was the royal retreat for emperors fleeing the suffocating…
2.93 MILES
Flanked by triumphalist Soviet-style buildings, Tian'anmen Sq is an immense void of paved stone (440,000 sq metres, to be precise) at the symbolic centre…
1.64 MILES
Beihai Park, inside the old Imperial City, looks much as it would have done in the 18th century when it served as Emperor Qianlong's private gardens. The…
3.31 MILES
This immense fortress, part of the Ming City Wall Ruins Park, guarded the southeast corner of Beijing's city walls. Originally built in 1439 but repaired…
2.61 MILES
Instantly recognisable by its giant framed portrait of Mao, and guarded by two pairs of Ming dynasty stone lions, the double-eaved Gate of Heavenly Peace …
5.02 MILES
Contemporary art meets communist history at this thrilling enclave of international galleries installed within China's model factory complex of the 1950s…
1. Confucius Temple & Imperial College
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An incense stick’s toss away from the Lama Temple, China’s second-largest Confucian temple is a haven of scholarly calm and contemplation. Come to wander…
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Converted from a princely residence to a lamasery in the 18th century, the Lama Temple extends through a crescendo of ever more divine halls in a whirl of…
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This largely renovated residence was the home of Mao Dun, the pen name of Shen Yanbing (1896–1981), a well-known author. He lived at the back courtyard…
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Beijing is surrounded by four heavenly altars, or tán, and Ditan (Altar of the Earth), situated in the north within grounds that are today a public park,…
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The restrained, grey-stone edifice of the Bell Tower (Zhonglou) is arguably even more charming than its resplendent other half, the Drum Tower (Gulou),…
6. Overseas Chinese History Museum
0.81 MILES
Charting the history of Chinese emigration from the era of the Silk Road to the present day, this is a terrific museum with full English captions…
0.82 MILES
Venerable bastions of time-keeping, the Drum Tower and its counterpart the Bell Tower were for centuries the tallest buildings in Beijing, lording it over…
8. Qi Baishi's Former Residence
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Known for the whimsical, often playful style of his watercolours, Qi Baishi (1864–1957) was an influential Chinese painter who lived in Beijing from 1917…