Page 53 - (DK Eyewitness) Top 10 Travel Guide - Beijing

Entertainment ❮❮ 51

tickets, just show up at the stadium
on game day. Second in popularity is TOP 10 PARKS
basketball. The top team is Aoshen, 1 Bei Hai Park
which plays at the Beijing Guang’an Classic ornamental gardens with a
Gymnasium (Baiguang Lu; Map C6). large lake for boating (see pp24–5).
2 Chaoyang Park
Traditional Music
7 The largest afforested park in Beijing
If you can, attend a traditional
(see p49).
Chinese orchestral performance. 3 Di Tan Park
Sections of unfamiliar plucked Large green spaces and cypress
string, bowed string, woodwind, and trees, and the striking Altar of
percussion instruments compete for Earth (see p83).
attention in swirling arrangements. 4 Xiang Shan Park
The main venues are the Forbidden An hour’s drive northwest of the
City Concert Hall in Zhong Shan center but worth it for thickly wooded
Park and the National Center for slopes dotted with pavilions (see p99).
the Performing Arts (see p70).
5 Olympic Green
Subway: Forest Park
A 1,680-acre (680-hectare) green
space, Beijing’s largest park is home
to three Olympic venues (see p44).
6 Jing Shan Park
A hilly park with a pavilion providing
views of the roofscape of the
Forbidden City to the south (see p71).
7 Long Tan Park
MAP G6 • Subway: Tian Tan
Dong Men
Performance of traditional music Lots of lakes, a kids’ amusement park,
and an enchanting water-screen show.
Beijing Opera
8 8 Ri Tan Park
One of Beijing’s oldest parks, featuring
With its incomprehensible plots,
unfamiliar sounds, and performances an altar for imperial sacrifice (see p91).
lasting up to three hours, Beijing 9 Temple of Heaven Park
Opera is an acquired taste. Everyone This park houses several historic
should try it at least once (see pp52–3). structures and a vast expanse of
well-tended gardens, including a
Chinese Folk Dances
9 rose garden (see pp16–17).
Performances showcasing
China’s 56 ethnic minorities, or 10 Zhong Shan Park
Just outside the walls of the Forbidden
nationalities, feature traditional City, Zhong Shan offers a respite from
costumes and dances. Some shows the crowds (see p71).
are truly outstanding, such as Yang
Liping’s famous peacock dance.
Theater
0
Beijing is home to several
excellent theaters, where a few
established troupes perform
regularly. Canonical works such
as Lao She’s “Teahouse” are
increasingly supplemented by big-
budget Western musicals such as
“Rent” and “Aladdin on Ice.” See the Flying kites in a Beijing park
English-language press for what’s on.

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