I’m happy to introduce our new personal tour “To Be a Beijinger for a Day”. This 1 day tour focuses on the axis of Beijing. The tour will guide you through the various periods of Beijing’s history, from the 1400’s to present day.

The itinerary includes:

1. Temple of Heaven
2. Tian’anmen Square
3. Forbidden City
4. Olympic Park

Transportation: Taxi

Price: USD $60 per person, including transportation by taxi. I can pick you up from your hotel or meet at another rendezvous point. The price doesn’t include lunch and entrance fees to the attractions on the tour.

The price is on sale now, takes at 20% off, the promotion price is USD $48 per person, group price is also avaible, contact with me for further information.

Entrance Ticket :

Temple of Heaven: RMB 35 Yuan per Person;
Forbidden City: RMB 60 Yuan per Person.

Notes: There is about 3.3 miles of walking distance in the tour. You can have lunch around Di’anmen Street (Marked on the Map), as there are restaurants big or small, or if you like, KFC and McDonald’s are near by as well.

For more details of the tour, please check the Map and download the Brochure in PDF.

Preview of the PDF Brochure:

For booking please contact with me at: waddebye at gmail.com, or feedback me here:

Related Posts

• Tian An Men Square (0)
• Forbidden City (5)
• Temple of Heaven (1)
• New Qianmen Street (0)
• Oct.23, a visit to National Library and Qianmen Street (0)
• 2nd snow of 2009 (0)
• Temple of Earth (0)
• Beijing Courtyard house (B) (0)
• A Beijing Courtyard House (A) (0)
• Temple of Confucius (孔庙,Kongmiao)and the Imperial College (国子监,Guozijian) (1)

First some photos in the hutongs around Shishahai area.

A photo of the Lotus Market Bar Street.

The Corner Tower of the Forbidden City.

The moat of the Forbidden City

The Beihai Park in the night.

Related Posts

• Axis Tour of Beijing (0)
• 8th of April, 2009 (0)
• Feb. 12 of 2010 (0)
• Jan. 30th of 2010, snapshot in the Hutongs (0)
• 2nd snow of 2009 (0)
• Beijing Courtyard house (B) (0)
• A Beijing Courtyard House (A) (0)
• Panaroma Pictures 03 (0)
• West Chang’an Avenue Expansion (0)
• 6th of March, Hutong around Caishikou Area (0)

It was from the late 1990s, that the mainland China got to know a special type of movie, it is called “New Year’s Celebration Film 贺岁片”, the idea was inspired from Hongkong film market, that is new movies come out into the public during the new year’s time, and obviously it is both good to the audience as well as the pocket of the actors.

Feng Xiaogang is famous for make this type of comedy, as he was born and grown up in Beijing, his works are strongly with “Beijing Style Dialogs”, and this type of special effect mostly highlighted by “GE You 葛优” .

This year’s movie from Feng is about a little romance, a little sad a lots humerous. A man over 40s just return from the U.S., is looking for his “Mrs. Right” though Marriage Personal Ad on newspaper:

“If you are looking for a handsome guy or a wallet,don’t reply;If you hold a Master’s degree or higher, not possible; girls born in Shanghai, not possible; female entrepreneurs(except small business hawker), not possible, so that we don’t waste each other’s hope. …I don’t expect that you looks like that girl on the magazine cover, just one look crushing people’s souls. An averge person, with outside stylishness and inside conservativeness, with fit body and mind, will just do, even better if you’re beautifully shy. You need not to play too many tricks or be too young, from time to time, you’re allowed to have unrealistic dreams, but a few words is enough to get you back into reality without getting you angry … a little embarassed grin at most,and then do what you ought to do. I like a lady who knows how to fold clothes in a way that whenever you finish washing, ironing and folding them, they will look just like when you bought them from stores. It cannot be more specific than this, can it?
…
有意者电联，非诚勿扰 Contact me by phone, if you are the one”

So the movie’s name is “If You Are the One”. Good wish does means good result, the first one was a old friend, but a gay…then, the man encountered various kinds of “Mrs. Wrong”, or as he himself refered as “too much far away from what is proper”, from graveyard sales woman (he bought two pieces of graveyards though her), to an amnesia woman (every morning need to check her notebook as to remember herself who is the man sleeping next to her), or pretty but strange widow (who can barely tolerate no more than one time of sex a year), even grace but pregnant lady (looking for a father for her baby), all the hunting seems to be fruitless till he met his “Miss Right” on a bliand date, young and pretty, a stewardess (acted by Shu Qi), but she was in desperate love with an already married man, she was honest enough to confess as it is hard for her to forget her past, but she was still willing to make a trip with him to the resort in Hokkaido Japan, as she said to make a conclusion with her past, but she was actually planning a suicide.

The movie was in a happy ending as always, he finally got her heart, and they come together in the end.

The movie was shoot in various sites, Beijing, Hangzhou, Haikou, Hokkaido of Japanese, to search these locations is like a hide-and-seek game, let me have a try…

Beijing

Here was the man’s first date, eh…to date with a man… The restaurant name is Jasmine. Here is the location.

View Larger Map

Second date with the graveyard sales lady, it is in the sacred way in Ming Tombs area.

View Larger Map

Shishahai Lake is a very popular place for movies, many different parts in this movie were shoot around the lake.

View Larger Map

Hangzhou

The restaurant is called “Yu Ling Long 玉玲珑”, said to be a very fancy place, click the tag to get more about this restaurant.

View Larger Map

This is Xixi 西溪 (West Brook) National Wetland Park, people get to know this beatiful park from this movie, it is a hot tourist place not.

View Larger Map

This Teahouse was where he dated with the pregnant girl.

View Larger Map

This is a private Club, close to the Xihu 西湖 （West Lake), not opened to public.

View Larger Map

Hokkaido, Japan

I have no idea where they shoot the movie in the north Japan, a beautiful place definitely, and news says lots of Chinese tourists going to rush there during the Chinese New Year holiday, just know the Akan Lake, where was the hotel.

View Larger Map

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx55XEWX0Bg

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47Q2QyymMD8

Related Posts

• Axis Tour of Beijing (0)
• Wanping Fortress and Lugou Bridge (Marco Polo Bridge) (0)
• Night photos around Shishahai Lake (0)
• 2008 Happy City of China (0)
• Bell and Drum Towers (0)
• Midnight of June 9th, World Cup (0)

Drum Tower was initially built in 1272 during the Yuan Dynasty, was rebuilt in 1297 during the Yuan Dynasty and in 1420 and 1539, during the Ming Dynasty. The two-story structure was made of wood with a height of 47 meters. On its second floor there originally were 25 drums. Among them, there were one big drum and 24 smaller drums. Now, only the big drum is left. The drum is beaten four times a day, for 15 minutes at a time. There are many shops on the first floor where you can buy what you need.

Bell Tower made of bricks and stone, is 48 meters high and also is two stories. On all four sides of the tower there is an arched door on the first floor. A stairway leads to the second floor. On the second floor there is also an arched door with a stone window framing each side. Right in the middle of the second floor is the big copper bell that tells the time. It is hung on a wooden framework. It is the heaviest bell in China. There is a round wooden peg that knocks the bell.

Bells and drums were musical instruments in ancient China. Later they were used to tell time and became watches for the officials and common people as well.

At the very beginning in the Ming Dynasty, the bell and drum were beaten together both during the day and nighttime. When Qian Long was emperor in the Qing Dynasty, the bell and drum were beaten together only two times at night by two workers who were assigned to beat the bell and drum respectively. First the drum and then the bell was beaten.

At seven o’clock in the evening, the drum was beaten followed by the bell to inform people it was time to go to sleep. At nine o’clock, eleven o’clock, as well as one and three o’clock in the morning, only the bell was beaten to avoid awakening the sleeping people. At five o’clock in the morning, again the drum was beaten followed by the bell to inform people to rise. Each time this ritual of the drum being beaten occurred 108 times, 18 times very rapidly and 18 times very slowly. The bell was beaten following the same method.

Although the Bell and Drum Towers have lost their function of telling time (The function was completely lost in 1924 when the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty was forced to leave the Forbidden City), you can still hear the rings of these ancient timepieces even now.

View Larger Map

A bird view to the south of Drum Tower

To the west of the Drum Tower, you can see the old houses in the narrow alleys.

To the east, from the Drum Tower.

Related Posts

• Axis Tour of Beijing (0)
• Night photos around Shishahai Lake (0)
• When Mr.Right meets Mrs. Right (0)
• Ling Long Tower (0)
• China World Trade Center Phase III (0)
• Yin Tai Centre (0)
• Jan 14, 2008, Huaren Tower (0)
• Midnight of June 9th, World Cup (0)
• May 31th, Corner Tower of Old Peking (0)

A little hutong in the Shishahai area

Bars were full of guests watching the Opening Ceremony

A very beautiful night

Driving to the bar would not be a good idea

Fobidden City in the midnight

Related Posts

• Nov. 13th, Olympic Park (0)
• Shi Sha Hai Area (1)
• Beihai Park (0)
• Summer Palace (0)
• Old Summer Palace (Ruins of Yuanmingyuan) (0)
• July 19th, Great Wall and Summer Palace (0)
• June 16th, Huairou trout fish (0)
• Axis Tour of Beijing (0)
• Panaroma Pictures 03 (0)
• Night photos around Shishahai Lake (0)