Tourist Information

About China

The People's Republic of China is one of the biggest countries in the world. It has an area of about 9.6 million square kilometers which comprises about 6.5 per cent of the world total land area, and its population of 1.24 billion accounts for more than twenty per cent of the world's population.

Beijing is the capital of the People's Republic of China and its political, cultural, domestic and international exchange center. It covers 17,000 square kilometers, and has a population of over 17 million.

• Currency: Ren Min Bi (RMB), also called Chinese Yuan (CNY)
• Exchange rate: 1 USD ~ 7.14 CNY; 1 EUR ~ 10.5 CNY
• Cash is most commonly used. Credit cards are accepted by major hotels, restaurants, and stores.
• Weights and measures: metric system
• Time zone: +0800 (Beijing Time)
• Climate: end of June in Beijing is mostly sunny and warm, with high temperature around 86°F (30°C) and low temperature around 64°F (18°C).
• Tipping: no tipping is needed
• Bargain: prices in many stores can be negotiated. Depending on what you are buying and where you are buying, you may be able to cut the price by as much as 30%, 50%, or evan 80%. The China Guide has an article on bargain tactics.

Events Organized by Conference

• Banquet: Tuesday evening, June 24, 2008. Great Hall of The People.


• Excursion: Wednesday afternoon, June 25, 2008. The Great Wall.

Travel Agencies

• Destination Travel International
  • They have a travel desk at Crowne Plaza Hotel Beijing Wuzhu (the conference venue), located at 1F hotel lobby. Tel: 86-10 8498 2288 ext. 7125
  • Sample tour 1: Great Wall, Ming Tombs. Cost is 410 CNY per person.
  • Sample tour 2: Forbidden City, Tian An Men Square, Temple of Heaven, and Summer Palace. Cost is 460 CNY per person.
  • Service include transportation, main admission tickets, English-speaking tour guide, and lunch.
  • Other SIC (Seat-In-Couch) tours are also available. You may pick three places in Beijing to visit in one day, and the price is 880 CNY per person.
  • Contact person: Ms. Florence Chen (Supervisor)
  • Email: florence@destinationscn.com Fax: +86 10 65283288
  • Hotline: +86 10 65288863 (Florence) +86 10 65280599 (Rachel)


• Continental Grant Hotel Travel Desk
  • Located at 1F hotel lobby. Tel: 86-10 8498 5588 ext. 72253
  • The hotel's business center (Tel: 86-10-8498 5588 ext. 72022) also provides services for booking and issuing air tickets and train tickets. There is a 30-50 CNY surcharge for each train ticket.


• Ctrip


• eLong
  • Train Schedule

Related Links

• Beijing Tourism Administration


• The China Guide

Recommended Sights

• The Palace Museum (The Forbidden City)


• The Great Wall (Chang Cheng)

  The Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in China, built, rebuilt, and maintained between the 5th century BC and the 16th century to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire during the rule of successive dynasties. Several walls, referred to as the Great Wall of China, were built since the 5th century BC. The most famous is the wall built between 220 BC and 200 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang; little of it remains; it was much farther north than the current wall, which was built during the Ming Dynasty.    --- Wikipedia.org



• The Temple of Heaven (Tian Tan)

  The Temple of Heaven was the place where the Emperor of the Ming and Qing dynasties would worship heaven and pray for good harvests. Built first in 1420, and then expanded and reconstructed, the Temple of Heaven is a precious example of China's ancient architectural art and the largest architectural group for worshipping heaven in the world. The most prominent building in the temple's complex is the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. 38.2 metres in height and 24.2 metres in diameter, it is supported by immense pillars. The painted roof has 50.000 blue glazed tiles and a golden point.    --- WorldHeritageSite.org



• TianAnMen Square


• Summer Palace (Yi He Yuan)

  The Summer Palace is mainly dominated by Longevity Hill (60 meters high) and the Kunming Lake. It covers an expanse of 2.9 square kilometers, three quarters of which is water. The central Kunming Lake covering 2.2 square kilometers was entirely man made and the excavated soil was used to build Longevity Hill. In its compact 70,000 square metres of building space, one finds a variety of palaces, gardens, and other classical-style architectural structures. --- Wikipedia.org



• Old Summer Palace (Yuan Ming Yuan)

  The Old Summer Palace, originally called the Imperial Gardens, was a complex of palaces and gardens 8 km (5 miles) northwest of the walls of Beijing, built in the 18th and early 19th century, where the emperors of the Qing Dynasty resided and handled government affairs (the Forbidden City inside Beijing was used only for formal ceremonies). Known for its extensive collection of garden and building architectures and other works of art (a popular name in China was the "Garden of Gardens"), the Imperial Gardens were entirely destroyed by troops from Britain and France in 1860. --- Wikipedia.org