Beijing Hotels

Xiao Wang's Home Restaurant
Xiao Wang serves up some of the city's best comfort food including deep-fried spareribs and hot and spicy Xinjiang chicken wings. A long-time favourite with both locals and travellers. English menu available.

Tiananmen Square
The world's largest public square, Tiananmen Sq is a vast desert of paving stones at the heart of Běijīng. It may be a grandiose, Maoist tourist trap, but the view is breathtaking on a clear day and at nightfall. Kites flit through the sky, children stamp around and Chinese out-of-towners huddle together for the obligatory photo opportunity.

Drum & Bell
In the alley between the Drum and Bell Towers, this bar's staff is among the friendliest in town. The comfy rooftop terrace is loaded with couches and armchairs and in summer, regulars camp out here 'til closing.

Drum Tower
The Drum Tower was first built in 1272 and marked the centre of the old Mongol capital Dàdū. Originally constructed of wood, the structure went up in flames and was rebuilt in 1420, since then it has been repeatedly destroyed and restored. Stagger up the incredibly steep steps for wide-ranging views over Běijīng's rooftops. The drums of this later Ming dynasty version were beaten to mark the hours of the day - in effect the Big Ben of Běijīng.

Forbidden City
The Forbidden City, so-called because it was off-limits to most of the world for 500 years, is the best preserved cluster of ancient buildings in China. The old world of beautiful concubines and priapic emperors, ball-breaking (and broken) eunuchs and conspicuous wealth still hovers over the lush gardens, courtyards, pavilions and great halls of the palace.

Beijing Underground City
By 1969, as the USA landed men on the moon, Mao had decided the future for Beijing's people lay underground. Alarmist predictions of nuclear war with Russia dispatched an army of Chinese beneath the streets to burrow a huge warren of bombproof tunnels which has now been put to use as warehouses, hotels and restaurants.

Qianmen Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant
As essential to a Beijing trip as a visit to the Great Wall, the sampling of Peking duck is an absolute must - to miss out you'd have to be completely quackers. Despite the marketing devices and duck props, this place, dating back to 1864, remains one of the city's best for succulent roast duck.

Guangfuguan Greenhouse
This laid-back place on the bar-cluttered Yandai Xijie gets top marks for novelty. Formerly the Guangfuguan Taoist Temple (according to the characters carved on the lintel above the arched doorway), the shrine has been requisitioned for the city's exploding bar scene and simply decked out with art posters. The temple's roof guardians are still intact and the presence of religious statues reminds visitors that they drink on sacred turf.

World of Suzie Wong
Recently reopened after renovations, Suzie Wong's décor still screams Shanghai opium-den and attracts Beijing's most beautiful people with house, techno, pop and rock. Get here early if you want one of the kang-style, low-level beds stacked with pillows. The club entrance is south of Chaoyang Park. Suzie is on the second floor.

Summer Palace
The huge regal encampment of the Summer Palace is one of the city's principle attractions. Once a playground for the imperial court eluding the insufferable summer swelter of the Forbidden City, today the palace grounds, its temples, gardens, pavilions, lakes and corridors teem with marauding tour groups.