History and Background from A Better Guide to Běijīng
Introduction to BěijīngA Brief History of BěijīngEmperors Ruling from Yuán Dàdū or Míng and Qīng BěijīngHútòng WalkingWhere’s the Loot?Ancient PastimesWorld Heritage in China
Part of A Better Guide to Běijīng
Polo’s description of the bridge is typical of most of his descriptions of China — as much wrong as right. He gives the number of arches as 24, not 11, and makes other mistakes in describing a bridge generally agreed to have survived largely…
大山子张万坟金南路18号Top quality private Chinese art museum in rural settingPart of A Better Guide to Běijīng’s coverage of Běijīng Suburbs and Beyond
The Nestorian Christians were the first to reach China, and the most ancient Christian artefact yet found in the country is the Nestorian Tablet in Xī’ān’s Forest of Stelae, rediscovered by the Jesuits in 1623, and thought (perhaps hoped) to be a fake, until Nestorian documents were found…
阜成们内宫门口二条19号Part of A Better Guide to Běijīng’s coverage of West of the Imperial City
Lǔ Xùn (the pen name of Zhōu Shùrén, 周树人, 1881–1936) is a contender for the title of China’s greatest modern writer and has the extremely rare distinction…
后圆恩寺胡同13号Part of A Better Guide to Běijīng’s coverage of North and East of the Imperial City
Another small but homely museum for collectors of courtyard houses (sìhéyuàn), this one is less luxurious than that of Méi…
日坛北路16号Part of A Better Guide to Běijīng’s coverage of North and East of the Imperial City
This is another of the Míng Jiājìng emperor’s altars, this time to the Sun, and far smaller in scale than that at either the Temple of Heaven or even Dì…
和平里西街Part of A Better Guide to Běijīng’s coverage of North and East of the Imperial City
The main altar to see is that at Temple of Heaven (also see Altars for All Seasons), none of the others being as large or spectacular and none having as many…
国子监街3号Part of A Better Guide to Běijīng’s coverage of North and East of the Imperial City
Access to the tiny courtyard of what the owners claim to be ‘Běijīng’s most distinctive quadrangle’ is free. The space is occupied by a variety of…
