Visa
You
will need a visa to enter
We suggest you to buy
insurance for your trip to
The Chinese currency is called RMB (=Ren Min Bi, meaning people's money). The basic
unit is Yuan (meaning
disk). One euro is worth approximately 9 yuans
(http://www.boc.cn/sourcedb/whpj/enindex.html).
You will certainly need a small
amount of local money, and can exchange US dollar or euros
at the airport (every bank
at the airport).
The rate and surcharge (if any) are the same at every currency exchange.
For other currencies you may have to go to a branch of Bank of China. You may also
get local money from ATMs with a major credit card. Using a debit card at an ATM
usually gives you good
exchange rate if the transaction amount is not too small.
There are two branches of Bank of China near AMSS.
Heritage sites:
Summer Palace
Forbidden
City
Temple of
Heaven
The
Ming Tombs
The Great Wall
Peking Man Excavation Site at
Zhoukoudian (discovered by a professor of Peking University).
Modern Architectures:
National Stadium (including Bird's Nest and
the
Olympic Park)
National Theater
Other attractions:
Wangfujing Shopping District
Qianmen Street (Here
is a video)
Specially for Foreigner:
Hou-hai (bars and restaurants)
Xiu-shui-jie Bazaar (shopping)
Pan
Jia Yuan Market (Most of the antiques sold there are fakes!)
We plan to organize two sightsee during the summer institute on June 26th
and July 1st for registered participants. One tour will be the Great
Wall. Free transportation and guide will be provided for lecturers and invited
speakers, but you are responsible for other expenses of the tour.
You are encouraged to arrange a pre- or post-conference tour by
yourself. Check the website
From the airport to AMSS:
The
most convenient way is to take a taxi. It costs about 90 or 100 yuans including
10-yuan highway toll. Alternatively, if you come alone and arrive before 22:00 pm,
you may take the
airport shuttle bus No. 5 with the final stop at Zhongguancun,
then AMSS (or Wu Ke Hotel)
is just for 7 minutes walking. For Tian Chuang
Hotel, it
will be about 12
minutes walking, or you may take a taxt, which cost
10 yuans. This
option costs 16 (+10)
yuans. If you have trouble communicating with the
driver,
print this slip (Wu Ke Hotel or Tian Chuang Hotel)
and show it to the driver. Be
aware there are three
terminals in the Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK).
This is particularly
important on your way back.
Local transportation:
The most convenient way is to take a taxi. It is inexpensive (10 yuans startup for three
kilometers and 2 yuans per kilometer afterwards, plus 1 yuan
for petrol tax) and safe. You
pay the amount shown
on the meter + 1 yuan. Do not pay tips. Tips and tax
are included in
the price. The night
rate (between 23:00pm-6:00am) is 120% of the regular price. Be aware
that an
unlicensed taxi may overcharge you. The
plate number of a licensed taxi begins
with B. Alternatively
you may take the metro for longer trips (e.g. to downtown). You can
buy tickets on the automachine at each station, (pay attention: the ticket
bought at one
station may not be used
at another station) or buy one pre-paid
electronic pass (which
works for all station
but costs 20 yuans). Both cost 2 yuans
for each ride (like metro in
slow and may be very crowded during rush hours.
A block of rooms have been
reserved at the Wu Ke Hotel for lecturers and invited
speakers, the 3-star guest houses near AMSS, conveniently located on the
campus. And we also reserved some room at Tian Chuang
hotel, also 3-star hotel, in the walking distance of AMSS for invited speakers.
If you have not been offered a room, you can find a place yourself. The rooms
are in short supply during the summer. Here are some hotels near the
campus:
Wu Ke
Hotel (北京物科宾馆), Tel:
010-82649482 or 010-82649140, Fax: 01082649491, Email:wuke@beijingwukehotel.com
Ke Yuan Hotel (科苑公寓) , Tel:
010-82628538 or 01082628078
Tian Chuang Hotel (天创宾馆) , Tel:
010-51192066 or 51192000, Fax: 010-51192077
Heng Xing Hotel (北京恒兴商务酒店) , Tel:
010-62629988, Fax: 010-62560102, Email:heydayhotel@126.com
Coffee
There are
several coffee near AMSS. Click for the map. And there is
a coffee machine in our laboratory (Room
Welcome to the
further classified as
to
Here are some restaurants around AMSS.
Authentic Chinese cuisine:
1.
The restaurant in 3rd floor of Wu Ke Hotel
(conveniently located and clean).
2. Ji Tian restaurant, next to Tian Chuang Hotel, Chinese fast food.
3.
QuanJuDe (Peking Duck)
strongly recommended, Phone: 82150018 or 82151015,
4.
Xiang Lin Tian Xia, Spicy
food, Tel: 010-82699999 or 82698888, Opposite the East Gate of campus of AMSS, crossing Zhongguancun
East Road. (expensive)
5.
JadeGarden (Su Zhe Hui),
6.
Jin Yang Restaurant,
If you have a trouble with
the Chinese menu, there are westen food
restaurants nearby:
6. Firstar restaurant, Tel:
010-62509665 or 62509669, 200 meters from west gate of campus of
AMSS. (expensive)
7. Coffee Time, East-North corner of Bao Fu Si Brige, inside Cai Zhi building.
If you would like go further
to Zhongguancun Square, there are many
restaurants on the walking street:
8. Charme (Gang Li restaurant), Cantonese
food, Tel: 51721270
9. Lu gang restaurant,
10. Zhong 8 Lou,
11. Uama Teppenyaki Show, Japanese
barbecue food, Tel: 010-59863691 59863695
12. Xia-pu xia-pu, Chinese hot pot, Tel : 010-82486010
Mobile
phones are very popular in
phone and buy a local SIM card at the cost of 50 yuans or less.
Watch
out for cars! Do not expect cars to stop for you even if you are on a zebra crossing!
Tap water can be used to brush teeth, but it is not supposed
to be potable!
Public toilets (outside AMSS) usually do not provide free
toilet paper! Carry your own!
The Great Wall was first constructed by several kingdoms to protect their own territories. When the Qin
emperor eliminated all other kingdoms in 221 BC, the walls of the former kingdoms were reused and
connected to form the northern boundary of the Qin Empire. Since invasions from the north were the major
threat to
A major reconstruction occurred in the Ming dynasty in early 15th century. What we can see today is the
wall built 600 years ago. It was recently
declared that the length of Ming Great Wall is
Early locations of the Great Wall are very hard to trace now. Chinese, ancient and modern, believes in
walls. Every city was surrounded by a wall. Quite often double walls were constructed, and at the extreme,
four walls were built in
down in modern times. Likewise, every college, every company, every community builds a wall (a Jordan curve)
to define its boundary. One can enter or exit only
thorough the gates. A first time visitor from
standing between the Royce Hall and Powell Library may still wonder where UCLA is because he has not
passed through a gate.
The City of
Beijing was the capital of the State of
to 3rd century BC, and has been the capital of
1368--1407, 1927??1949).
(transportation).
are reduced. What you see in
expense of other areas. Because of many opportunities, talented people are sucked from all parts of
the country into the city. There are
roughly 11 million residents and 5 million migrant workers in
Haidian is one of 17 districts of the city of
the Latin district in
