Page 73 - (DK Eyewitness) Top 10 Travel Guide - Beijing

Tian’an Men Square and the Forbidden City Area ❮❮ 71

built of glass and titanium and takes A DAY AROUND TIAN’AN MEN
the form of a giant parabolic dome – SQUARE AND WANGFUJING DAJIE
earning it the nickname “The Egg.” Susu
Entrance to the building is through
an underwater tunnel. Former Residence
of Writer Lao She St. Joseph’s
Church
Jing Shan Park
9 Imperial Haidilao
MAP L2 • 1 Wenjin Jie • 6404
Temple
4071 • Bus: 5, 111, 124, 810 • Open Ancestral Hot Pot Wang-
Zhong
6am–9pm daily • Adm Tian’an Men Shan fujing
Dajie
Park
Jing Shan (Coal Hill) lies north of the
Forbidden City. The hill, created from Oriental
Plaza
the earth that was excavated while Mao’s Mausoleum
building the moat around the palace
complex, was meant to protect the MORNING
emperor and his court from malign
northern influences, which brought Arrive early to beat the crowds
death and destruction according to at Mao’s Mausoleum (see p19)
feng shui. The park is dotted with and shuffle through for the
permitted few minutes in
pavilions and halls, but the highlight the presence of the Great
is the view over the Forbidden City Helmsman. The Forbidden City
from the hilltop Wancheng Pavilion. can be saved for another day, but
climb the Tian’an Men (see p18)
for the views from the gallery.
From the gate, walk east along
the Imperial City wall, soon
arriving at an entrance over­
looked by most visitors: this
leads to the Imperial Ancestral
Temple, an ancient place of
worship. Take a walk through
Zhong Shan Park and stop by the
box office to check about concert
tickets before heading east to
Wangfujing Dajie and the Oriental
Plaza mall (see p60). Browse
Beijing’s first ritzy shopping
district, then hit Haidilao Hot Pot
(see p73) for lunch.
AFTERNOON
View from the hill of Jing Shan Park Wander up Wangfujing Dajie,
making sure to look in the
Zhong Shan Park
0 chopstick and tea shops. At No.
74 is the attractive St. Joseph’s
MAP L4 • 6605 5431 • Subway:
Tian’an Men West • Open 6am–9pm Church, which is well worth a
look. Immediately before the
daily • Adm • www.zhongshan-park.cn church is a crossroads: head
Northwest of the Tian’an Men, Zong away from the church along
Shan (also known as Sun Yat Sen Deng Shi Kou Jie looking for
Park) offers respite from the crowds signs for Fengfu Hutong on
thronging the nearby sights. The your right. Here is the Former
park was once part of the grounds Residence of Writer Lao She (see
p62), offering a glimpse into a way
of a temple, and the square Altar of of life fast disappearing in Beijing.
Earth and Harvests remains. In the Keep heading north to Susu
eastern section is the Forbidden (see p73), for a Vietnamese
City Concert Hall, Beijing’s premier dinner in a converted courtyard.
venue for classical music.
See map on pp68–9
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