Local area

The National Stadium, as the main track and field stadium for the 2008 Summer Olympics, is dubbed the "bird's nest" because of its innovative grid formation. The twig-like structural elements and the bowl-shaped roof are the masterpiece of the project, yet they pose great challenges for technicians and workers to make the building stand on its own feet. The stadium can seat as many as 91,000 spectators during the Olympics. It is located right next to the Beijing National Aquatics Center.

The spectacular Lama Temple was originally the home of Qing dynasty Prince Yong before he became the Emperor Yongzheng, which is why you'll see the golden roof tiles of an imperial residence. After his elevation in 1723 he kept with tradition by making a portion of the grounds into a lamasery for Tibetan monks, and another part became the headquarters for his terror posse and secret intelligence agency. The temple is invariably filled with equal parts monks, worshippers and tourists.

A converted electronics factory built by the East Germans, 798 Art District is Beijing’s leading concentration of contemporary art galleries. The voluminous factory workshops are ideally suited to art galleries that require space for multimedia installations and other ambitious projects. You could easily spend a day visiting the complex and its cafes and restaurants, making 798’s noncentral inaccessibility less of an inconvenience and more of an opportunity for an outing.

The Forbidden City, the center of imperial governance and family life, consists of various structures that were designed for specific functions.Each structure was built in accordance with the traditional Chinese architectural hierarchy and designed to reflect imperial power and authority.

Located in the center of Beijing, Beihai Park covers an area of 690,000 square meters, including 390,000 square meters for water. It was called Yaoyu (literally the Isle of Precious Jade) in the Liao Dynasty and was established in 1166AD (the 6th year of Dading period of the Jin Dynasty). It used to be a royal place for sightseeing, government affairs handling and sacrifice by emperors and the imperial families of the Liao, Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties.