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Explore the hutongs – Hutongs are traditional
Chinese neighborhoods, houses built around courtyards, like a village in
the city. Kids will enjoy a fascinating glimpse into Chinese family life,
and the best way to explore the hutongs is with a tour. |
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Research online or at your hotel, arrange for a bicycle rickshaw
(pedicab) tour. Riding through the narrow alleys in a bicycle rickshaw
is part of the fun. On the tour, you'll typically stop at a market, visit an elementary
school, have tea and snacks in a Chinese home. The tour is two hours long, has excellent English speaking guides,
highly recommended by one family on their visit to Beijing. |
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Tip: Taking taxis is a convenient way to get from here
to there in Beijing. At your hotel, have them write down your destination(s)
in Chinese, so you can hand this to the taxi driver. (And be sure to get
your hotel address with directions in Chinese for the return trip.) Or,
if your Beijing map has destinations in English and Chinese, point on the
map where you want the taxi to go. Use taxis with meters, so there's no
problem about the fare. |
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Fun food – Beijing is chock a block with fun snacks or small
meals. In the morning, try baozi (steamed filled buns) with doujiang (soy milk). Huntun (wonton soup), xianbing (flat pancake with
vegetable and eggs), miantiao (noodles fried or boiled with meat
and vegetables) are great for quick bites. Kids will have fun at a hotpot
restaurant – thin sliced beef or lamb is dipped into a simmering soup
to cook, along with noodles, tofu, vegetables etc. For a treats, try youtiao (sweet deep fried dough twists). |
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Shopping – There's no shortage of places to shop in Beijing,
from individual shopping streets to mega shopping centers. Look for silk
purses and silk quilts, small carved swords, calligraphy brush
sets, jade jewelry, wooden combs with figures of Chinese gods, pearl hair
pins, beaded bags and shoes. |
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Take a bike trip around Beijing to Beihi Park (people play music, vendors sells candied haw fruits), enormous kites fly in Tiananmen Square for the Dragon Boat Festival, climb up Jingsan to look down at the Forbidden City, stand in the Temple of Heaven. Where has kitty gone? Charming illustrations! (Picture book)
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Ella and Ethan are having fun eating bao and exploring the Forbidden City, but they have a mystery to solve - find the Imperial Garden and three stone dragons. (Easy reader)
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Little Ming takes a tour of the Forbidden City, but after he finds a mysterious gate, he steps back in time, to the time of the Emperor. A good introduction to this famous cultural site, full two page illustrations. (Picture book)
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Illustrated history of the Great Wall, the largest man-made structure in the world. How the First Emperor built the first wall with towers, packed earth and towers, and a thousand years later, an improved wall was constructed with brick and stone, which has lasted to this day. (Chapter book)
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Unfold the Great Wall, and follow the longest man-made structure in the world, from the Turpan Basin in the east, passing by snowy mountains, sand dunes, ancient and modern cities, Ming tombs, ending up in Beijing and the Yellow Sea, plus more about Chinese monuments, legends, culture and history. (Picture book, fold-out pages)
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