Dr. Mark Nan Tu

This weekend, most of the visitors are American Tourists who paid 3200USD for a 10day trip to China

Located in Huairou County about 45 miles from Beijing, Mutianyu Great Wall was first built in Northern Qi Dynasty (550 – 557)?and rebuild in Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644). It is one of the easiest accessible sections of the Great Wall around Beijing. This section of the wall was renovated during the recent years. There are two chair lefts which take the tourists up to the wall. The former US president Bill Clinton visited this section of the wall when he visited Beijing in the late 1990s.

For a full set of pictures, please visit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/drnantu/sets/72157594269953972/

China, Beijing,
Atlantic City Apartment, at the heart of the WangJing District
Property Type: Apartment
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 2
Living room: 1
Dinning room: 1
Laundry room: 1
Date Available: 2008-08-01 to 2008-08-31

2008 Beijing Olympic is almost here. With the exciting events, comes millions of visitors. Can not book a room to enjoy the Olympic? Or just tired of staying in the small and overpriced room? Would you like to rent a comfortable apartment during Beijing Olympic Games 2008?

Owned by an American Chinese, a spacious 3 bedroom , 2 bath, 1 living room, 1 dinning room and 1 washing room apartment available for rent during July to September of 2008.
Atlantic City Apartment, at the heart of the WangJing District, walking distance to numerous restaurants and shopping centers. 10 minutes to Lido Hotel and 15 minutes to

Looking good does not have to be expensive

Most of the people will laugh at me when I tell them that a BMW can be cheaper than a QQ. A BMW 320 made by Huachen BMW in China is sold at around 300,000 RMB. A QQ made in China is sold at 50,000 RMB. So how is a BMW cheaper than a QQ?

Well, if you pay in full price and brought all of them new, BMW is definitely more expensive than a QQ. However, if you get a near used (but near new BMW), it can be cheaper than a new QQ. In Chinese used car market, a 2 year old used BMW320 is around 200,000RMB.

Let us assume that today, you buy a BMW320 at primer condition (as good as new) at the market price of 200,000RMB. A new QQ is sold at 50,000RMB, with all the sales taxes, etc, the new QQ will set you back for 60,000RMB.

One year from today, the BMW is worth around 195,000RMB. The QQ is worth 40,000RMB. Let us do the math here.
Assume 6% interest rate and 0.5% per month.

798 is known to many as the art district. The area was once military factories but now turned into fashionable art district. The space is rather busy during the day time with loads of visitors checking out various art exhibitions and show. At night, the space is rather quite. There were parties, gatherings and new product announcements? mostly to an invited groups. Therefore, there were not many activities to the general public at night.

The situation is changing however. There are some new bars coming up. With the increasing popularity of the art district and the influence of the upcoming Olympics, I can see that the 798 art district becoming bar district at night in the not too far future.

I have been to the bars in 798 district a few times. The bars here are less noisy than the bars in Houhai and Sanlitun. Most of the bars were restaurants in the day time and serves western style snacks but turn into bars at night serving mixed cocktails and liquor. I once visited a bar where I was the only customer at 11pm at night, a time where all the other bars in town are getting the most customers.

I recommend 798 bars to those who prefer quite settings and far away from the cities noise. An easy afternoon stroll to the many art showrooms and a light dinner in many restaurants in the district followed by a very romantic walk in the alleys and then end the night with relaxation in one of the many bars nearby. What a day!

I went to see the DunHuang exhibition in the Chinese Art Institute this afternoon. It is a rather small exhibition. I finished it in less than couple of hours and before 2 pm. I decided to drive east to the SongZhuang artist village.

I have heard a lot about this artist village and have never been there once. I have visited the 798 art district many times and was told that the art work in exhibition in 798 was mostly produced in SongZhuang.

Taking the Jingtong and Jingha express way, I arrived in SongZhuang in less than 30 minutes and got a look at this famous but yet quite village. SongZhuang?lies in the east suburb of Beijing. There are about 500 artists lived in several villages around SongZhuang, forming the largest art community in the world, which is known as Artist Village. Since 1994, Artist Village has built its international fame for China contemporary art, and many works here are sold directly to the international art market and favored by museums and collectors.

I first visited the visitor center in the heart of the village. I was greeted by a very friendly Chinese lady who showed me a map. I was introduced to a few exhibition halls down in the street. I then visited two of the most prominent exhibition halls. They are actually giant factory type of buildings show off the art works. The construction quality of the building is rather poor. But the art work is intriguing. After the exhibition hall, I walked around the village tried to have a glance of the artists

Our hiking group went hiking on the XiangShuiHu greatwall today. This part of the Greatwall is in HuaiRou and it connected with the MuTianYu and JianKou Greatwall. The section was originally build in Ming Dynasty and was repaired during the past few years. The slope is very steep at some 60-70 degree. There is no lift.

The vertical elevation is about 200 meters from the bottom to the top of the wall. We went to both the North and South section of the Wall at a total 400 meters elevation, still shorter than the Fragrance Hill which is over 500 meters elevation.

The vegetation is sparse during the winter session. But the weather is getting warmer every day after the Chinese New Year. The flowers in the spring and the green trees in the summer will surely add nice touches to the hikers. I will return here in the summer or the fall.

Back in 1993, more than 14 years from today, I visited the Sichuan YaoDianZi Restaurant opposite of the Holiday Inn Lido. I remember that at the time, the customers were the foreign expatriates living in the Lido Hotel or the local white collar workers who work in the foreign invested enterprises around Lido area. It was quite expensive at the 50RMB/person when the average monthly income for an office worker is about 800RMB/month.

I left for the US in 1994 and did not come back until 2004. I rediscovered this restaurant in 2004 when I moved to an apartment building close by. I have been dining here many times ever since. The dishes are Sichuan but most are mild rather than extreme hot which is the signature of Sichuan dishes. I guess this strange twist was mainly to suit the majority of the foreign customers. The interior is very down to earth but clean. The wooden floor and the table cloth absorb the noise so the environment is rather quite. The service is very friendly and the waitresses are good looking and always serve with a cute smile.

14 years ago, my friend was living at the Holiday Inn Lido but now she was long gone. The Holiday Inn Lido building and the Sichuan YaoDianZi Restaurant are all here. I bet they will stay here for a very long time.

Sichuan Yaodianzi Restaurant
Opposite Holiday Inn Lido
Time: 11:00-14:00 17:00-22:00
010-64341534
010-62186060

Dishes?Sichuan
Best For?Business Dinner with colleagues or casual eating with friends
Average Cost?40-50 RMB/person

BaDaChu Park entrance

Praying

The name Badachu means Eight Great Sites, and refers to the eight Buddhist temples at the foot of Beijing’s Western Hills Scenic Area. Located along the outskirts of Beijing, it was restored during the 1980’s and has since become a famous tourist destination.

There are a total of eight former Buddhist temples and monasteries in Badachu Park. These are the Temple of Eternal Peace, the Temple of Divine Light, Three-hill Nunnery, the Temple of Great Mercy, Dragon Spring Nunnery, the Temple of Fragrant World, The Cave of Precious Pearl, and Zhengguo Temple.

Badachu Park is an attractive place to visit all year round. Visitors can stroll from one temple to another, enjoying the beautiful scenery and admiring the arbor and rare ancient trees. In September and October, when the leaves are turning red, crowds of tourists come to climb the mountains.

Badachu is also an excellent place for hiking. The hike is moderate and the steps are well maintained. It takes about 1.5 hour to walk from the foot of the mountain to the top including the time visiting the temples.

Badachu is also connected to the Fragrance Hill through a fire road at the middle of the mountain. A hike can start from the entrance to the BadaChu and follow the fire road all the way to Fragrance Hill and down to the foot. This hike is about 15km and goes through some of the best red leaves viewing area in Beijing. A good 3 hour walk is required to complete this journey. One can take a connecting bus from the Fragrance Hill to the BadaChu parking lot.

Entrance Fee: