Chinese Class - Where Can I Find Siheyuan-style Hotel to Stay in Beijing

| 繁体 | 简体 | English |

|Home|News Center|Cultural Olympics|City of Beijing|Sports Tradition|China Impression|

Where Can I Find Siheyuan-style Hotel to Stay in Beijing

( 2008-06-27 )

Q: Where can I find Siheyuan-style hotel to stay in Beijing

A: Touring around Beijing, you'll see lots of modern hotels. Have you thought of staying in Siheyuans Hiding in hutongs, the Siheyuan hotels have red walls, old chairs and embroidered pillows, all those reminding you that here is Beijing, a modern city with long history as well.

It is normal for a Siheyuan (courtyard) has four rooms positioned along the north-south, east-west axes. The room positioned to the north and facing the south is considered the main house and would traditionally have accommodated the head of the family. The rooms adjoining the main house are
called "side houses" and were the quarters of the younger generations or less important members of the family.

Those Siheyuan hotels listing below make experience old Beijing life style.

Haoyuan Hotel

Having a big front yard and quiet back yard, Haoyuan is a typical Siheyuan. In the front yard there is stone chair under a giant tree. Sitting there in the sun, you'll feel warm though it's still winter.

There are single rooms, double rooms and suits in Haoyuan. Every room has wooden chairs and the wooden windows are decorated with paper-cut. In the afternoon, sunshine will penetrate into the room through the window.

Haoyuan has started receiving foreign guests ever since the early 1990s and part of the hotel's annual turnover has been contributed to charity organizations.

The dining department at Haoyuan serves both Chinese and Western breakfasts and also provides courtyard barbeque.

Location: No.53, Shijia hutong, Dongcheng District

Tel: 010-65125557

Price: Chinese luxury suite (RMB1,960 per night)

Chinese feature room (RMB680 per night)

Standard room (RMB550 per night)

Lusongyuan Hotel

As the mansion of a prestigious general in Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the yard is rather complicated. Thanks to the guidance of an old man dressed in ancient Chinese suit, you won't get lost.

The room is usually dimly lit, with dark colored desks and chairs, white china cups, red embroidery silk blanket, red lanterns and red curtains, which deliver a vivid representation of old Beijing atmosphere.

The hotel's restaurant offers Beijing homemade dishes, which makes you feel at home.

After meal, have a cup of tea in a teahouse next to the restaurant. Take off your shoes, crouch on the couches and enjoy a sunny afternoon. Don't think of too much about the properties, you will find many others do the same. Sometimes, the hostess will sit over there, doing some embroidery. How
relaxed!

This is the place you may stay for long time, and indeed you'll find there are some people do live there for weeks. Lusongyuan is also a member of the Youth Hotel Association China.

Location: No.22, Banchang hutong, Kuanjie, Dongcheng District

Tel: 010-64040436

The Bamboo Garden Hotel

Compared with other houses in the same Hutong, the bright red door of the Bamboo Garden Hotel is very noticeable.

Like its name, Bamboo Garden, there are lots of bamboos inside the Siheyuan. Especially when you go to the back yard, you'll be astonished by the green world.

Location: No.24, Xiaoshiqiao hutong, Jiugulou Dajie (old Drum and Tower Avenue), Xicheng District

Tel: 010-64032229

　 Emblems More

* Dancing Beijing -- Beijing 2008 Olympic Emblem

============================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================

* Beijing Paralympics Emblem ( 07-10 )
* Environmental Emblem of Beijing 2008 ( 07-10 )
* Emblem of the Beijing Olympic Torch Relay ( 07-10 )
* Emblem of the Beijing 2008 OYC ( 07-10 )
* Emblem of the Beijing Olympic Cultural Festival ( 07-10 )

News More

* Museums to exhibit 1,000 national treasures
* Creating new rituals, Beijing style
* Marine mural unveiled in capital
* Illustrated Olympic giant panda story comes out
* Ten recommended Beijing shopping streets

Meet in Beijing More

* Dance Along the River during the Qingming Festival
* Concert by Macao Chinese Orchestra
* Kataklo Athletic Dance Theatre
* UK Contemporary Exhibition
* The Russia Star Ballet

Olympic on Beijing's Axis

　 Online Tour

============================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================

| About us | E-mail | Contact |

Constructed by .cn
Copyright 2003 Ministry of Culture, P.R.China. All rights reserved

Learn Chinese, Learning Mandarin, Learning Materials, Mandarin audio lessons, Chinese writing lessons, Chinese vocabulary lists, About chinese characters, News in Chinese, Go to China, Travel to China, Study in China, Teach in China, Dictionaries, Learn Chinese Painting, Your name in Chinese, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese songs, Chinese proverbs, Chinese poetry, Chinese tattoo, Beijing 2008 Olympics, Mandarin Phrasebook, Chinese editor, Pinyin editor, China Travel, Travel to Beijing, Travel to Tibet

Study Chinese - One With Everything

Subscribe to free Email Newsletter

Exchange>Exhibition

One With Everything

The title of the sculpture exhibition, Looking for Spiritual Space, suggests Taiwan artist Li Zhen's inner contemplation of Buddha and nature.

Now on at the National Art Museum of China, the exhibition displays some 30 pieces of Li's bronze sculptures. Polished in silver gloss, most of the works are based on such Buddhist images as Sakyamuni and the Goddess of Mercy.

Ranging from half-a-meter to three meters in height, the works look imposing and convey a feeling of auspiciousness. The sculptures are done in different poses - some standing, some sitting and yet others lying down.

Li has done a lot of research on Buddhist and Taoist classics. Combining his comprehension of tradition and modern techniques, he comes up with his own personal sculptural language. Simple compositions and a streamlined design make for an integral whole.

The works are imbued with a philosophical spirit and a sense of meditation.

For his representative work Avalokitesvara Rides on a Dragon, which was created in 2001, Li employed round-modeling and symmetrical composition. The surface of the sculpture is glazed black, transmitting both heavy and light effects. Avalokitesvara, Goddess of Mercy, opens up his arms to embrace
the sky, the earth and all human beings. His gesture is full of momentum while his facial expression is calm and warm. Under his feet, the strength of dragon is vividly executed. Stepping on pearls, lotuses and auspicious clouds, the dragon and its master transcends through space and time.

Born in 1963, Li made traditional Buddhist sculptures in his early years. Many of his works have been selected for international art shows around the world.

9 am-5 pm, until May 11

National Art Museum of China, 1 Wusi Dajie, Dongcheng District

6401-7076

Editor:Wang Nan

Email to Friends
Print
Save

Learn Chinese, Learn mandarin, Learning Materials, Mandarin audio lessons, Chinese writing lessons, Chinese vocabulary lists, About chinese characters, News in Chinese, Go to China, Travel to China, Study in China, Teach in China, Dictionaries, Learn Chinese Painting, Your name in Chinese, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese songs, Chinese proverbs, Chinese poetry, Chinese tattoo, Beijing 2008 Olympics, Mandarin Phrasebook, Chinese editor, Pinyin editor, China Travel, Travel to Beijing,

HSK - Dan (female)

Subscribe to free Email Newsletter

Exchange>Exhibition

Dan (female)

Yang Yuhuan

Yang Yuhuan was a concubine of Tang Minghuang, Emperor of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Emperor Tang Minghuang and Yang Yuhuan, his concubine, made an appointment to drink at the Hundred Flower Pavilion. After waiting for a long time in vain for the arrival of the Emperor Minghuang, Yang was so
angry that she drank a lot till she got drunk. She returned to her residence with great disappointment.

Repertoire:The Drunken Beauty

Wang Zhaojun

Wang Zhaojun was the former concubine of Emperor Han Yuandi. She was later married afar to the Chieftain of the Huns. The Han regime was not strong enough to resist the invasion of the Huns due to weakness of the Emperor and incompetence of the court ministers and officials. Wang Zhaojun, filled
with grief and indignation, was forced to assume her mission of marrying afar to the Chieftain of the Huns in order to defend the Han from foreign invasion and seek a cease-fire between the two belligerent parties.

Repertoire: Zhaojun Married Abroad

Yu Ji

Yu Ji was the beloved concubine of Xiang Yu, overlord of the State of Chu, in the period when the states of Chu and Han were engaged in war. In the late period when the states of Chu and Han were in war against each other, Yu Ji performed the sword dance in profound agony, to comfort the then
defeated Xiang Yu, before she ended her life with the sword, encouraging Xiang Yu to break out of the siege.

Repertoire: Farewell, My Concubine

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Email to Friends
Print
Save

Learn Chinese, Learning Mandarin, Learning Materials, Mandarin audio lessons, Chinese writing lessons, Chinese vocabulary lists, About chinese characters, News in Chinese, Go to China, Travel to China, Study in China, Teach in China, Dictionaries, Learn Chinese Painting, Your name in Chinese, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese songs, Chinese proverbs, Chinese poetry, Chinese tattoo, Beijing 2008 Olympics, Mandarin Phrasebook, Chinese editor, Pinyin editor, China Travel, Travel to Beijing, Travel to Tibet

Learning Chinese - A Time for Space

Subscribe to free Email Newsletter

Exchange>Exhibition

A Time for Space

Public Space No. 26 by Wu Yang.

Today's red-hot Chinese art market is always looking for something new and it appears abstract painting has become one of the coolest new discoveries. Renowned curator Fang Zhenning says the Chinese community has long understood the fine art of creating and appreciating abstract essentials in
visual imagery thanks to Chinese characters, calligraphy and painting.

"But we never relate calligraphic artto a painting, because its function as a language was established," he says.

"However, there have always been abstract elements in Chinese painting from the very beginning. The most outstanding example is Master Badashanren from the Qing Dynasty."

Fang now has a new favorite abstract artist Wu Yang, who has blown away critics, curators and foreign artists with a breakthrough new exhibition.

Wu Yang

Flying White is the fourth solo exhibition for Wu Yang, who comments on China's fast developing urban landscapes by painting striking black-and-white abstract acrylic images on photographic paper.

The artist's combination of photographic paper and Chinese ink images of the urban landscapes has interested foreign art critics who have praised her traditional-modern fusion technique.

Indian artist Sarbajit Sen has said he was very inspired after seeing Wu's paintings because it gave him special insight into the Chinese psyche.

"I felt a strong energy and discovered very familiar poetry of an urban mindscape where things are fragmented and are in a constant state of flux and uncertainty."

Sen said the discovery of new art ideas inspired him to be a better artist himself.

German art critic HD Schrader said he was very impressed by the subject of urban spaces presented on photographic paper.

He said Wu's language was very contemporary yet the painting naturally creates feels of Chinese ink painting.

1 2

1 2

Email to Friends
Print
Save

Learn Chinese, Learn Mandarin online, Learning Materials, Mandarin audio lessons, Chinese writing lessons, Chinese vocabulary lists, About chinese characters, News in Chinese, Go to China, Travel to China, Study in China, Teach in China, Dictionaries, Learn Chinese Painting, Your name in Chinese, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese songs, Chinese proverbs, Chinese poetry, Chinese tattoo, Beijing 2008 Olympics, Mandarin Phrasebook, Chinese editor, Pinyin editor, China Travel, Travel to Beijing,

Chinese language - Items on Display (III)

Subscribe to free Email Newsletter

Exchange>Exhibition

Items on Display (III)

1 2 3

1 2 3

Email to Friends
Print
Save

Learn Chinese, Learn mandarin, Learning Materials, Mandarin audio lessons, Chinese writing lessons, Chinese vocabulary lists, About chinese characters, News in Chinese, Go to China, Travel to China, Study in China, Teach in China, Dictionaries, Learn Chinese Painting, Your name in Chinese, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese songs, Chinese proverbs, Chinese poetry, Chinese tattoo, Beijing 2008 Olympics, Mandarin Phrasebook, Chinese editor, Pinyin editor, China Travel, Travel to Beijing,

Free Chinese Lesson - A Princess Re-born

Subscribe to free Email Newsletter

Exchange>Stage

A Princess Re-born

The Chinese version of Turandot features a splendid "Forbidden City".

Giacomo Puccini was suffering from throat cancer as he tried to complete his last masterpiece, Turandot, in 1924. The composition of a final duet between Calaf and Turandot remained pending when he died after surgery in Brussels. Puccini's colleague, Franco Alfano, completed the duet as well as a
finale, using Puccini's notes and sketches. This full-length version is the one that has been performed worldwide ever since the opera premiered in 1926, two years after Puccini's death.

In 2000, Italian composer Luciano Berio was commissioned by Casa Ricordi, the company owning the rights to Puccini's score, to elaborate a new composition and orchestration for Turandot's finale as an alternative to that of Alfano. Now, Chinese musician Hao Weiya will compose yet another - the
third - version of the opera's ending.

To celebrate the 150th anniversary of Puccini's birth, the newly-open China's National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA, also known as National Grand Theater) and Ricordi have commissioned Hao to write the first "Chinese edition" of Turandot which will premiere at the NCPA on March 21 through
26.

"Opera is universally considered the most complete and varied form of theater as it involves music, singing, acting and often dancing set in a scenic context," says Chen Zuohuang, music director of NCPA.

"We want to produce one opera ourselves in the first season of the new theater. Puccini's Turandot tells the story of a Chinese princess and uses the tune of the Chinese folk song Jasmine. It is, naturally, a good choice for us. We would like to have a Chinese composer to create a real 'Chinese
ending'," says Chen.

"There have been hundreds of productions of Turandot since it premiered in 1926, but in most cases, Chinese history and culture have not been well represented. Our production will feature the Rome-based Chinese conductor Lu Jia, who is an expert both in Italian opera and Chinese culture. It will
also have a Chinese director and a cast of Chinese singers."

1 2 3

1 2 3

Email to Friends
Print
Save

Learn Chinese, Learning Mandarin, Learning Materials, Mandarin audio lessons, Chinese writing lessons, Chinese vocabulary lists, About chinese characters, News in Chinese, Go to China, Travel to China, Study in China, Teach in China, Dictionaries, Learn Chinese Painting, Your name in Chinese, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese songs, Chinese proverbs, Chinese poetry, Chinese tattoo, Beijing 2008 Olympics, Mandarin Phrasebook, Chinese editor, Pinyin editor, China Travel, Travel to Beijing, Travel to Tibet

Learn Chinese online - Terracotta Warriors Exhibited in Netherlands

Subscribe to free Email Newsletter

Exchange>Exhibition

Terracotta Warriors Exhibited in Netherlands

The exhibition, engaged to run through Aug. 31, is a joint effort of the Drents Museum, and the Shaanxi Cultural Heritage Promotion Center in Xi'an, China.

The objects, all discovered near Xi'an of the Shaanxi Province, provided a glance of the magnificent Qin and Han civilization, Wu Yongqi, director of the Qin Shi Huang Terracotta Warriors Museum said, adding that the exhibition would hopefully help Dutch people to get acquainted with traditional
Chinese culture and promote mutual understanding between the two peoples.

At the exhibition, many Dutch visitors were visibly struck by the images of the clay artifacts.

The exhibition gave visitors an insight into the extraordinary lengths craftsmen went to in order to delight the emperors, in both life and death.

"I'm surprised at the immense power of the ancient Chinese emperors and the way they try to maintain their kingdom in the afterworld," said M. Bakker, who had just watched a 3-D film about the genesis of the terracotta army at the museum.

He was also fascinated by the statues. "They are so beautiful, even more beautiful than I thought," Bakker said.

"Even nowadays, artists seldom make horses as beautiful as this," he said pointing to a life-sized horse from the Qin Dynasty.

Others were also impressed. "The height and the posture of the terracotta statues are very impressive," a 60-old Dutch woman said.

"Look at their faces, the expressions are so lifelike and each one is distinct from another," said the woman, who drove two hours from the southern part of the country to see the exhibition.

1 2 3

1 2 3

Email to Friends
Print
Save

Learn Chinese, Learn Mandarin online, Learning Materials, Mandarin audio lessons, Chinese writing lessons, Chinese vocabulary lists, About chinese characters, News in Chinese, Go to China, Travel to China, Study in China, Teach in China, Dictionaries, Learn Chinese Painting, Your name in Chinese, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese songs, Chinese proverbs, Chinese poetry, Chinese tattoo, Beijing 2008 Olympics, Mandarin Phrasebook, Chinese editor, Pinyin editor, China Travel, Travel to Beijing,