Beijing China: Insider Information

Yonghegong Lama Temple and Ditan Park

As Beijing’s most accessible Buddhist temple (it sits right above the Yonghegong subway station), the Yonghegong Lama Temple (entrance fee is 25 RMB/$3.75) makes it onto a lot of tourist itineraries. It dates to 1723, and contains some cultural treasures of about the same age.

The temple grounds don’t take long to explore, so when you finish there head north, just across the Second Ring Road, to Ditan Park (entrance fee is 2 RMB/$0.30 USD). There, you can let the kids run off some steam and watch old Beijing folks enjoy the park in the Chinese fashion—doing tai chi, playing badminton, dancing together and putting on impromptu performances with traditional instruments. Enjoy the open space and tall trees before heading to the north end of the park, where you can drive go-karts, ride the merry-go-round or jump to your heart’s delight in a bouncy castle.

Dining Near Ditan Park

If all that running around has worked up your appetite, you’re in the right place. Between the park and the temple are two dining gems. Right outside of Ditan’s south entrance, at 77 Hepingling Xi Jie, is the Jin Heping Restaurant—easy to spot thanks to two giant lion statues outside. It has multiple floors, an extensive menu including a good dim sum selection and lots of renao, a Chinese word that loosely translates as “liveliness.”

• Ditan Park covers 40 acres in Beijing and is great place for families to visit.
• Snow Kisses Sky

If you need a break from the Chinese fare or have tired of tea and want a good cup of coffee, Rive Café, just three doors down from Jin Heping, serves a good cappuccino as well as a small but scrumptious selection of western staples like pizza. It has a few cozy semi-private rooms with couches to flop on, as well as free Wi-Fi, and a small fish and turtle pond in the courtyard.

Bunking in Beijing

Beijing is a city under construction, with cranes and hard hats a familiar sight all over town. Many of those projects are new hotels. If you have a favorite international brand—whether it’s Sofitel, Marriott, Sheraton or Peninsula—you can find it in Beijing. (Read our previous Beijing hotel article.) But entrepreneurs and smaller companies have built new hotels that are worth consideration, as well. Here are some family-friendly alternatives to chain hotels, for three different budgets:

• A chef in Beijing prepares one of the most popular dishes in Chinese cuisine, Peking Duck.
• Jade Law

Red Lantern Guesthouse

The Red Lantern is located in a hutong, inside two different traditional courtyard-style homes. Though many of the courtyard homes lack modern plumbing, the Red Lantern is fully equipped, including hot showers. Other amenities include free Internet access, air conditioning and heating in the rooms. Families can split up and stay in doubles, or take one of the six-bed or eight-bed hostel rooms at a rate of 50 RMB/$7.50 USD per bed. All room categories are clean and comfortable, but spare. The staff is friendly and experienced and speaks English well enough to make you feel comfortable.

Standard price: 300 RMB/$44 USD per night for a six-person room with a shared bath or 200 to 260 RMB/$29.25 to $38 USD for a double with a private bath. Tel. +86-10-66115771, www.redlanternhouse.com.

Cambridge Hotel

The Cambridge Hotel opened in April 2008 just off the Third Ring Road, about a 15-minute walk from the China World towers and a seven-minute walk from the Shuangjing stop on the new Line 10 subway. It offers a room category for four people that includes two bedrooms with a shared entryway and bathroom.

• A typical hutong street scene in Beijing.
• mckaysavage

Standard price: 668 RMB/$98 USD for a four-person, two-bedroom suite. Tel. +86-10-67713355.

Beijing Jinqiao Apartment Hotel

Jinqiao is an all-suite 290-room hotel in the central business district very near the China World towers. Rooms come equipped with a kitchen and a desktop computer with Internet access. Jinqiao gets a lot of long-term guests, but takes short-stay visitors as well. It has the same easy accessibility to things like a fitness center, restaurants and shopping that you would expect from a four-star hotel in an urban center.

Standard price: 1,880 RMB/$275 USD for a standard room; apartment-style room for a family of four, 2,500 RMB/$366 USD. Tel. +86-10-67137788.