It's Mikala!

BEIJING, April 27, 2013 (City Weekend) —

Museums and Attractions

Pandas, lions, tigers and bears—oh my!—the Beijing Zoo is home to them all. Animal lovers and seasoned zoo-goers may feel frustrated by patrons throwing sausages into the llama pens or reaching in to touch the unbearably adorable otters, but instead of getting sad, simply walk to the next delightful exhibit, like the ones with the fattest raccoon we’ve ever seen or rascally lemurs bouncing hither and thither. Or skip the sad zoo entirely and visit the aquarium instead—it’s the largest inland aquarium in the world, and home to beluga whales, as well as an impressive jellyfish collection.

For those who prefer their animals extinct and in fossil or bone form, the Paleozoological Museum is just across the street from the Beijing Zoo. The museum’s three floors are home to the fossils and bones of fish and amphibians, reptiles and birds, and mammals, and the vast majority of what’s on display are extinct animals unearthed in China, like the Confuciusornis.

But if the aquarium at the Beijing Zoo lit a spark, head over to the CCTV Tower. The Pacific Underwater World, located below the massive radio/TV tower, is home to penguins, electric eels and an arapalma, the world’s largest freshwater fish with scales. The designers were obviously channeling Pirates of the Caribbean when sorting out the décor, and somebody had Jack Sparrow on the brain when they decided to have pirates pop out at patrons from time to time, as well.

Feeling sea sick? Take a quick elevator ride up the cement tower of Beijing’s second-tallest building to an open-air observation platform located 238 meters above ground in the bulbous, brightly shining lantern part of the tower. Looking out across Beijing on a clear day is a great reminder of how huge this city really is, and at dusk, watching Beijing twinkle as it goes from day to night is mesmerizing.

There’s also a giant bronze megaphone visitors are encouraged to yell into. As it amplifies hoots and hollers through the Beijing air, the contraption measures the decibels at which someone yells, creating a really fun and loud sense of competition among visitors. In the Cultural Gallery, located 6m above ground, guests can sit in giant tin cups and a steam-spewing “hot pot,” or use mallets to bust open gold-painted ceramic eggs like participants would do on 6+1, a popular show produced by CCTV.

If the CCTV Tower feels a bit too down to earth, there’s always the Beijing Planetarium, which boasts 3-D and 4-D theaters, some seriously cool laser projectors and a public observatory. Most exhibits and films are geared toward a young audience, but it’s still an out-of-this-world place to while away an afternoon, pondering the cosmos and whatever else lurks above Beijing’s pollution.

The Military Museum is an easy one to get to, if you don’t mind braving Line 1. Passports are usually required for entry, which makes some sense considering the amount of de-commissioned tanks, fighter jets and military machinery visitors can pay a few kuai extra to putz around in. There’s also a hall of weapons fit for James Bond, like guns and swords disguised as canes, lethal pens and a pair of gardening gloves with a firearm conspicuously attached to the palms, and a hall of busts of military all-stars including, somehow, Zhang Binggui, who is identified as an “outstanding salesman.”

The Beijing Capital Museum helps visitors get acquainted not just with the west side, but all of Beijing. Inside this exquisite building that wouldn’t look out of place in any major world city, there are five floors of exhibition space. The permanent exhibition on the fifth floor is “Stories of the Capital City: Old Beijing’s Folk Customs.” Organized like a hutong neighborhood of siheyuan, visitors learn about traditional customs for every part of life, including birth, marriage and death, with things like clothing, furniture and trinkets adding local color along the way.

The second floor, meanwhile, offers a chance to learn about Beijing’s evolution from Peking Man times up through the mid-20th century. One side of the corridor has what’s happening in Beijing at any given moment, and the opposing side is a timeline of world events through history, making it easy to put everything into chronological context. Through June 16, the museum is also hosting an impressive exhibition of Empress Dowager Ci Xi’s treasures. For her birthdays and other major events, the imperial concubine-turned unofficial ruler of the Qing dynasty from 1861-1908 would have the imperial kilns fired up to produce boatloads of porcelain items delicately decorated with peonies, bats, butterflies and other dainty adornments.

For a dose of religious culture, head down to Niu Jie for a gander inside the Niu Jie Mosque. It was first built in 996, but underwent a massive, and probably much-needed, renovation in 1979. A placard greeting guests nails the description of the place as having the features of an “Arabic mosque and Chinese royal palace flavor.” When visiting, remember to dress appropriately and keep in mind the times of salah, the five daily times for prayer. Though it’s architecturally unlike any mosque we’d ever encountered, it remains a peaceful place for both the devout and those eager to check out a less well-known part of the city.

 

Dining

With summer just around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about suiting up for the weekly pool party/barbecues at the Doubletree by Hilton. The pool is an obvious upgrade from the fake beach at Tuanjiehu Park, and like at a proper barbecue, drinks are a-plenty, with red and white wines, beer and soft drinks a quick walk through the hotel’s well-manicured courtyard. Food and drink service ends an hour or two before swimmers and revelers are asked to leave, so there’s plenty of time to practice cannonballs or work off the ribs, burgers and snacks you just stuffed down your gullet all afternoon.

However, if Yunnan cheese is the craving, Hudie Quan Binguan Canteen is the answer. The restaurant located at the Dali municipal government hub serves up the absolute best Yunnan goat cheese in town, perfectly fried to create a slightly crunchy exterior that gives way to a somewhat waxy, but soft and mild goat cheese. Dali beer is, of course, available, as well as other Yunnan favorites like beef and mint, and chili mashed potatoes, sweetly served in a heart shape.

A short walk south of Hudie Quan Binguan Canteen is Xidan, a shopping mecca that is also home to Tianjin Bai Jiao Yuan. This Tianjin-based chain holds a few Guinness World Records for the range and number of dumplings it makes. The majority of the menu’s giant pages are full of dumplings, both fried and boiled, making the selection at Baoyuan Dumplings on Maizidian seem farm league in comparison. Also, this spot is not sacrificing quality for quantity—all the dumplings are made by hand, to order, and this comes through in both flavor and texture.

For even more delicious dumpling-like foods, there’s the Muslim Food Palace on Niu Jie. After putting money onto a tap card, hungry bellies can fill up on a range of Hui Muslim foods from northwest China. Though some dishes contain pork and Yanjing is available on draft, most dishes are halal, and the variety is commendable, with noodles, buns, dumplings and sweets. We recommend grabbing some steamers of lamb and lemongrass shaomai and soup dumplings before heading to the supermarket downstairs for Hui cookies and other sweet snacks.

Novelty is enough of a reason to fork out cash for a lunch or dinner buffet (RMB198 and RMB298, respectively, including ticket fees for the observation deck and aquarium) in the revolving restaurant in the CCTV Tower. Though it’s a mediocre Chinese buffet, it’s a rare treat to load up a plate in a revolving restaurant located 221m above ground.

However, those looking for ambiance and grand surroundings that would justify such a hefty bill would be well-advised to head to Villa Castanea for some Bavarian libations. In addition to being one of Beijing’s most gorgeous wedding locations, this swanky resort near the Fragrant Hills serves up legit German sausages and three kinds of beer brewed on-site, including a lager and wheat and dark beers. So go ahead and work up an appetite while flitting an afternoon away in the lush landscaped grounds of this brauhaus.

 

Shopping

Xidan is, inarguably, Beijing’s shopping mecca. Whether on a budget or not, shoppers are spoiled for choice in the markets and malls here. In the Joy City Mall, shop Western favorites like the Gap, Zara and H&M, or Japanese retailers MUJI and Uniqlo. There’s also a huge Apple store and proper shops for Kiehl’s, L’Occitane and Origins.

Across the street, though, is where the bargains happen. The 77th Street Plaza boasts three floors of underground shopping, with backpacks and his and hers matching T-shirts a-plenty, as well as the Xiyue Skating Rink and a tattoo parlor. We’re not sure that there are enough feet in Beijing to wear all the socks on sale at the Xidan Mingzhu Mall, or if there’s a big enough market for all the costume jewelry, bedazzled iPhone cases and T-shirts emblazoned with questionable English, but that’s not stopping it all from being sold at unbelievably low prices here. In the basement, there’s also a “South Korean Clothing City” with frocks supposedly imported from the land of morning quiet, as well as a McDonald’s, Yoshinoya and Dairy Queen for peckish shoppers.

Reminiscent of the love child of 3.3 Mall and Yashow, the Huawei Mall is a step up from Mingzhu Mall. If there’s something you want, but can’t find here, it probably doesn’t exist. Quality and atmosphere get better the further up, with the fifth floor boasting chic and trendy styles and a small shop called Kodo, which sells Anthropologie-like homewares. The fourth floor is a dizzying array of hair doo-dads, glasses without lenses and, of course, more costume jewelry and sparkly iPhone cases.

Meanwhile, there’s also the Beijing Books Building, a Xinhua Bookstore. English and other foreign language books are in the dimly lit basement. It’s best to budget some time to browse, as there is no discernible system for how the books are organized and arranged. It’s not the world’s best bookstore, but the selection of classics and super popular titles is solid, and it’s definitely cheaper than Page One and the Bookworm.

While the Wukesong Camera and Wedding Market purports to be a one-stop-shop for any and all sartorial wedding needs, as well as reasonably priced photography equipment, it’s also an often overlooked and forgotten place to fill various costuming needs. The three floors of wedding clothes include enough flouncy dresses to sink a ship and more fake eyelashes and hair extensions attached to ponytail holders than should probably even exist. Dresses can be altered within an hour or so in a few small sewing shops just around the corner, which is great because most things come in two sizes: tiny and big.

The Zoo Market is no secret to east siders, but the trick is knowing where to go among the seven markets there. The market below the grassy expanse east of the main cluster of buildings is well stocked with cheap products of reasonable quality, like wool tights, sequined sweatshirts and accessories like headbands and belts. Get above ground, look up and head into the tallest building, then start up around the 17th floor and work down. While many of the shops up here are showrooms and don’t actually sell anything, most have stalls downstairs and they’re happy to work out great prices with customers before sending them down into the dizzying crowds on the lower floors.

We’re not sure if we’re more dazzled by the outdoor decorations of Tianyi Market or what lies within. Outside, it’s a tripped out Christmas that never ends, with rainbow-striped zebras, jolly Santas and polar bears wearing Santa hats crowding around the entire building. Inside, shoppers will find everything ever known to, or needed by, man or beast—but mostly man. Underwear, small cabinets, an insane variety of clocks and all manner of trinkets, baubles and things to stick in a junk drawer are sold here. It’s especially great for picking up decorations for Western holidays like Christmas and Halloween.

If you’re looking for things for your pet, or even looking for a pet, the Lao Guan Yuan Pet Market is a must. While we can’t speak to the health of the animals for sale or their breeding conditions, shoppers won’t hurt for selection. They’ve got cats, dogs, chinchillas, snakes, turtles, fish, polka-dotted rays and crickets, among other animals, as well as everything an owner would need to care for any given pet.

The west side is even home to the city’s most legit maple syrup. The Canbest hut outside of the Capital Gymnasium, home to the “ping pong diplomacy” games in the ’70s, sells Canadian maple syrup, ice wine and other items associated with the “Canadian lifestyle.” Sadly, they don’t sell curling equipment or Molson’s beer.

 

Parks

Whether cruising the big lake in the shadow of the CCTV Tower or skipping along winding paths, Yu Yuan Tan, the Jade Lake Park, is a perennial favorite for springtime cherry blossom peeping.

Just down the road from the Beijing Zoo and Paleozoological Museum is the Purple Bamboo Garden (Zizhuyuan). The boats here are military themed, with GI Joe faces on the front alongside water guns that look like Kalashnikovs. There’s also a small amusement park with carnival games and rides, like a small train guarded by an elephant holding a glock and a bear brandishing nunchucks.

Both fans and the uninitiated will love Grand View Garden, a giant garden park originally built as the set for the TV show adapted from the Chinese classic Dream of Red Mansions. In the book, the character Grandma Liu becomes dizzy and faints upon seeing the garden, and this recreation is sure to inspire similar reactions among visitors.

 

West-cetera

Much further west in the Fragrant Hills rests Mountain Yoga, a bare-bones but professional yoga retreat. Guests are invited to come for the day or to stay overnight to refresh and recharge. At just RMB200 for a one-day session that includes two yoga classes, two meals and other activities, it’s a steal compared to the yoga places on this side of town.

For a cooler time, there’s also the Century Star Club, or Capital Indoor Stadium Ice Rink, in Zhongguancun, where ice princes and princesses skate their hearts out, dreaming of the Olympics and other professional skate competitions one double-axel at a time.