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It’s a long 45-minute taxi ride from central Beijing to the Summer Palace, but it is a sight that should not be missed. The grounds are arranged as a microcosm of nature, with hills and water complemented by bridges, temples and walkways. It manages to be both fanciful and harmonious at the same time (see Bei Hai Park).

Long Corridor ceiling, Summer Palace

Marble Boat, Summer Palace

The name Yuanming Yuan derives from a Buddhist term and can be translated as “Garden of Perfect Brightness”. This was the largest and most elaborate of all the summer palaces of the Qing era. It once contained private imperial residences, pleasure pavilions, Buddhist temples, a vast imperial ancestral shrine, pools for goldfish, and canals and lakes for pleasure boating. The Qianlong emperor even added a group of European-style palaces designed by Jesuit missionary-artists serving in the Qing court. Today, all that’s left are graceful, fragmentary ruins after the complex was razed to the ground during the Second Opium War (1856–1860). A small museum displays images and models of the place as it was.

The wooded parkland area, also known as Fragrant Hills Park, is 2 miles (3 km) west of the Summer Palace. It boasts fine views from Incense Burner Peak, which is accessible by a chair lift (¥30). Close to the park’s main gate is the Azure Clouds Temple (Biyun Si), guarded by the menacing deities Heng and Ha in the Mountain Gate Hall. A series of farther halls leads to the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall, where the revolutionary leader’s coffin was stored in 1925, before being taken to his final resting place in Nanjing.

The 18th-century Da Zhong Si follows a typical Buddhist plan, with a Heavenly Kings Hall, Main Hall, and a Guanyin Bodhisattva Hall. What distinguishes it, though, is the 46.5 ton (47, 250 kg) bell – one of the world’s largest – that is housed in the rear tower. The bell was cast between 1403 and 1424 and Buddhist sutras in Chinese and Sanskrit cover its surface. Hundreds more bells can be seen in another hall on the west side of the complex.

About a mile (2 km) northeast of Xiang Shan Park lie these pretty gardens, containing some 3,000 plant species and some pleasant walks. The garden’s Sleeping Buddha Temple (Wofo Si) is renowned for its magnificent 15-ft (5-m) bronze statue of a reclining Buddha. China’s last emperor, Pu Yi (see The Last Emperor), ended his days here as a gardener.

A theme park devoted to all 55 of China’s ethnic minorities, the complex is crammed with a weird and wonderful array of buildings such as the distinctive circular dwellings of the southern Hakka people, some of which are full-size replicas, while others are scale models. There is also a Chinese Song and Dance Theatre featuring daily performances by ethnic representatives in full costume. If you aren’t going to be traveling around the country, this is a fine way to get an idea of the diversity of China.

Exhibits begin with ancient science, highlighting China’s “technological pre-eminence in history.” The technology comes up to date with Chinese space capsules, robots, and an Astro-vision Theater incorporating state-of-the-art cinematography. Although this museum opened only in 1988, a new science museum is already under construction and is due to open in time for the 2008 Olympics.

“Women’s Street” is a relatively undeveloped area just north of the Lufthansa Center and Kempinski Hotel, between the Third and Fourth Ring Roads. It’s where to shop for flowers and tropical fish at the Lai Tai Market and for cheap mobiles at the Grand World Electrical Market. There’s also a lively nightlife street here, home to the New Get Lucky music bar among others.

Although it’s called the 798 Art District, Factory number 798 is only one of a number of former industrial units that have been taken over by artists and galleries to form what is often referred to as Beijing’s answer to New York’s Meatpacking District (see 798 Art District).

The last passenger steam services in China came to an end in 2006, but a short taxi ride northeast of the 798 Art District is this new museum with a sizeable collection of old locomotives. Some of the cabs can be boarded. An exhibition on the history of China’s railways is promised and some of the machines will occasionally be in steam. In the meantime, the engines are a must for small boys of all ages.