Page 47 - (DK Eyewitness) Top 10 Travel Guide - Beijing

The Olympic Legacy ❮❮ 45

resembles a soaring dragon in red
and yellow, thus evoking traditional TOP 10 SOCIALIST MONUMENTS
Chinese colors and symbols.
National Center for
8
the Performing Arts
MAP K5
French architect Paul Andreu’s
silvery “Egg” (see p70) provides a
striking contrast to the monolithic
Socialist architecture of neighboring
Tian’an Men Square. The building is
surrounded by a reflective moat and
accessed by an underwater tunnel. Great Hall of the People
A part of the facade is transparent, 1 Agricultural Exhibition Center
so at night passers-by can see inside. MAP H2
LeSports Center
9 In 1959, for the tenth anniversary of
the People’s Republic of China, this was
Rebranded since the Olympics,
the host venue for the basketball one of ten buildings commissioned.
2 Great Hall of the People
games features a unique exterior MAP L5
design that gives the impression of Over 300 rooms built in 10 months.
movement, with boards alternately 3 National Museum of China
rising and falling. More than mere MAP M5
show, the aluminum alloy boards This museum is every bit as brutal and
reflect heat and reportedly result in ugly as the Great Hall, which it faces
60–70 percent energy savings. The across the square.
facility has a capacity to seat 18,000 4 Beijing Railway Station
people and is one of Beijing’s largest. MAP F4
CCTV Building
0 Prime illustration of 1959’s “size is
everything” approach to architecture.
MAP H4
The most striking addition to the 5 Cultural Palace of the
Nationalities
Beijing skyline is the headquarters MAP C4
of China Central Television. Designed The one “tenth-anniversary” building
by Dutch architects Rem Koolhaas of elegance. Its plan forms the Chinese
and Ole Scheeren, it is a gravity- character for “mountain.”
defying loop that pushes the limits 6 Minzu Hotel
of architecture. Its unusual design MAP C4
has prompted some locals to No Chinese motifs here – but it’s
nickname the building “Glass suitably monolithic and drab.
Pants” (trousers). 7 Military Museum of the Chinese
People’s Revolution
MAP A4
Owes a striking debt to Moscow.
CCTV 8 Natural History Museum
Building MAP E6
Neo-Classical Socialist Chinese – but
fairly nice once you’re inside.
9 National Art Museum of China
MAP M2
The largest art gallery in China.
10 Beijing West Railway Station
MAP A5
A 1995 take on 1959-style architecture.

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