Cafe Zarah is the king of all Gulou cafes -- no small feat considering that it's a neighborhood full of them. Basically, when you move into Gulou, they just give you a cafe right off the bat as like a signer's incentive. They just give you one for free. That and a free Bob Dylan poster to hang on the wall. And a curated Velvet Underground playlist. 

But Cafe Zarah yeah... let's see... Cafe Zarah combines a hip minimalist concrete industrial space with carefully home-spun Euro cafe fare. A few months back, they shuttered the venue up and underwent some pretty expansive renovations, thereby launching this massive diaspora of Macbook owners who wandered off vaguely in the direction of Alba and Amilal. They opened back up just a few weeks ago, and the diaspora's been wandering back since. 

For renovations, they opened up the courtyard in the back and redid the surrounding rooftop space overlooking said courtyard. It's still a skeleton of what it purportedly will become, but, goddamn, it's looking pretty beautiful. It manages to be coolly modern-ish and minimal, while at the same time offering a peaceful and airy natural environment. Fresh coat of paint on all that Gulou history. It's 2014, let's do this. 

Currently, they're hosting a soft launch menu, which is a very paired down selection of European cafe standards: a few snacks, sandwiches, salads, pastas, deserts, variations on continental breakfast, juice, coffee, wine, and cocktails. There's definitely room to expand on that though if they can get the service and kitchen in gear. It's this beautiful and large outdoor space now, just crying out for someone to create some sort of classy, classy, classy pan-Euro-Mediterranean-Asian high-end restaurant & cocktail bar out of it's hitherto humble cafe focus. 

Atmosphere: Cool and sunny concrete cafe by day, intimate, flickering candles and shadows at night. As I say, the renovations are still an ongoing thing -- looks like they're planning a 20-year slow burn on that front -- but despite how bare it all is, it's a pretty big range in terms of atmosphere. It's a decent enough snacks, wifi, and coffee space in the daytime, and it's still chic, chic, chic enough to make you feel like your out doing wonderful things if you're drinking alcohol there at night. 

But, yeah, the courtyard and roof are pretty bitchin' as far as those go...

Damage: Sort of cheap but sort of not really. The menu relies heavily on imports across the board and it's reflected in prices at the higher end. Coffee 25rmb to 45rmb. Iced coffee 38rmb. Salad, 35rmb to 50rmb. Pasta, 45rmb. Sandwiches, 50rmb. Breakfast, 45 to 95rmb. Wine at 35 or 50rmb a glass. 

“Indian Cuisine In Beijing”

We were staying in the Russian district of Beijing and the variety of food in the area was amazing. Our dinner at Mo Di Taj Mahal Indian Restaurant was exceptional, with personalised service from the owner. Suggestions were made abut the different items on the menu and it was perfect service and food service. Recommended.

"Tasty food, good service”

I was introduced to this restaurant by my cousin who is very regular at this place and I think it's a good place to have decent Indian food in China. This restaurant is among a bunch of other restaurants so could be difficult to locate. We ordered a lot of food like Lamb, Butter chicken, Dal tadka, Tandoori chicken, varieties of naan and what not. All the dishes were done right especially Dal tadka was super delicious. Although Butter chicken was good but there is a room for them to improve it. You can find Kingfisher beer and authentic real Indian Chai (Offered to us twice by the owner (Jay) since it was raining). I gave excellent rating to this restaurant because it serves the purpose of your visit,food is tasty and priced reasonable. I saw many Chinese and expats visiting the place to eat plus management seems to be friendly.

“Had a great time at Moti Mahal !”

Recommended by a friend went to Motion Mahal. After long time had a delicious Indian food. dal tarka and butter chicken with garlic naan was yummy ..... Had a great time.

The mid-day crowds in the dining rooms of the different branches (Sanlitun, Haidian, Lido and The Place) attest to the popularity of this popular chain's lunchtime buffet. Choose from a selection of North and South Indian classics (tandoori meats, shahi korma, curries, lamb saagwala, aloo mutter, chana masala etc.) and enjoy fresh naan bread and imported Kingfisher beer. Winner of "Best India/Pakistani" in the Beijinger's 2011 Reader Restaurant Awards.

Ganges Indian Cuisine brings you a variety of dishes from different regions of India. You can enjoy the warmth of Indian hospitality through its cuisine and a variety of beverages. It is not just a place to eat and drink, but to have fun and relax. It is our commitment to use fresh ingredients. We do not use any preservatives or food color.

Our Services

We’re one of the longest established family run Indian Restaurants in the area. Our success has stemmed from our values of offering deliciously authentic Indian cuisine, genuine value for money with a unrivalled personal service. Our menu is designed using century-old recipes by our family of chefs. We make almost everything ourselves using fresh, seasonal and sustainable produce that, wherever possible, is bought from local suppliers. Our takeaway and delivery service means you can enjoy all our fantastic Indian dishes from the comfort of your own home. We also offer private functions and outside catering for weddings and parties, simply drop us an email or call to find out more.

Catering

We cater for parties, office functions and special occasions; you can also use our 70 seating restaurant to host a party.

Lingshan Mountain Scenic Area is located about 120 kilometers (75 miles) away from Beijing downtown. The main peak of it has an altitude of 2303 meters, being the highest peak around Beijing and renowned as “Beijing's Mount Everest”. Lingshan Mountain is adjacent to Longmen Forest Park in the west, connecting Longmen Ravine in the east. Therefore, the natural view of it is quite beautiful, featuring with magnificent mountain peaks, a large area of alpine meadow and a rich resource of animals and plants. 

With fantastic scenery of plateau and grassland, Lingshan Mountain is quite attractive. The vast alpine meadows covering the mountain peak looks like a green carpet. There are more than 800 varieties of plants and 825 acres of woods. With the increasing of the altitude of the mountain, the vegetations change from Siberian cold area plants to warm temperature zone vegetations. Wild rose, clove, azalea, birch and hazel can be seen here. Tourists can see all kinds of flowers in full bloom in May and June. Wreath goldenrods grow luxuriantly. And wild poppy, bright tropaeolum and lovely bristle grass cover the mountain slope. Here can also find various animals cohabiting harmoniously in the natural environment, such as foxes, flocks of berghaan, active squirrels, stirring hares, wild goats, etc..

The picturesque mountain offers heaven in sweltering summer, as well as an ideal ski resort in cold winter. In July and August, a special Tibetan folklore festival would be held to fully display Tibetan life. During the festival, visitors could enjoy the Tibetan-style dances and songs, campfires with Tibetan Bonfire Dance, and you can watch or take part in shooting races, wrestling, yak races and other sports. Tasting Tibetan food would be another enjoyable thing of the trip, including original sasanqua, milk tea, tsamba, barbecue and other Tibetan foods. You can shop Tibetan traditional craftworks as gifts for your friends and families, and precious medicine materials like aweto. Skiing would be a great experience for Lingshan mountain trip, but remember to keep warm. 

There is cableway available in the scenic area, which is 1548 meters long in total. It starts from the tourist center and takes about 25 minutes from the lower station to the upper station. The cable car offer convenience for those elder visitors or kids. 

There are three tourist hotels inside Lingshan Mountain Scenic Area, which can accommodate 1200 people for meal and 500 people for over night stay. Also, there are quite a few home inns around the mountain area. If you want to stay overnight to escape the bustling city life and have a breath of fresh air, you may stay one night here. 

Some historical gems are so well-hidden that you may have to sweet-talk your way into them. The Qianding liquor museum is one such treasure. The two-story tribute to 5,000 years of Chinese brewing and distilling is well worth a visit if you’re willing to hike around Guowang Hutong behind the Bell Tower looking lost enough for a local delivery guy to take pity on you and lead the way.

You’ll know you’ve arrived when you come across a building with massive brown distilling jars embedded in its walls, though you may have to barge your way into the neighboring house to find someone who’ll let you in. A warmer welcome awaits inside, however, where you’ll be treated to a complimentary shot of a fiery spirit as portraits of various ancient boozers stare blearily down at you.

With over 1,069 types of wine, Qianding Old Liquor Museum displays an impressive array of vintage wines; the oldest dates from the reign of the Qing emperor Kangxi, and 200 of them are impossible to find elsewhere. Musty glass bottles and porcelain pots are arranged by provenance among other curios, such as ornate jade figurines, 50-year-old cigarette packets and antique paintings of Chairman Mao.

Owned by Party official and wine collector Luo Qiang, the museum describes itself as “a collection of relics, great exhibition and increasing propaganda work” and indeed, there’s a lot more than wine on display. Antique furniture, calligraphy sets, screens and bicycles are strewn across the space in a charmingly chaotic fashion. There are other liquor museums in Beijing, but they tend to be pristine shrines to specific brands – you’ll find none as charmingly eccentric as this one.

 Bus no. 60, 82, 90, 107, and 635 stops at Gulou station.

Gubei Water Town is located in the Miyun County in Beijing, China. It is backed by one of the most beautiful and the most dangerous Great Wall section - Simatai, and is near to Yuanyang Lake reservoir. It is a rare ancient village with a combination of natural landscape of water, mountain in the suburb of Beijing. This village also boards Hebei Province. It enjoys convenient transportation. It takes about one and a half hour from Beijing Capital International Airport, about 45 minutes from the Miyun County or Chengde City by car. Gubei Water Town now is a popular resort near to Beijing. Attracted by its green waters and antique Northern China village architectures, many local people come and enjoy their weekends here, to enjoy the beautiful landscape and peaceful life around. 

The water town contains rrunning waters across the town and rows of old residential houses during the Republic of China. You may take a boat there and appreciate stories of the old town. The old town exerts a history of over a thousand years and everything looks impressive. It will show visitors another kind of beauty in extremely cold winter, when it snows. Most tourists who went to Wuzhen Water Town before would feel like that this village has a similar look with Wuzhen. 

This resort is rebuilt on the basis of three natural villages, well preserving the original mountain courtyard buildings in during Republic of China’s style. It covers a total area of 430,000 square meters, containing two five-star hotels, six small boutique hotel, more than 400 guest houses, restaurants and shops, more than 10 cultural experience areas, as well as many other improved supporting facilities.

There are many interesting things to do in and around the town. You may tour to the nearby Simatai Great Wall, which is one of most beautiful and popular Great Wall sections in China. Many beautiful views are awaiting your discovery while climbing the wall. The steps of the wall are dense and your legs might get sore from climbing, but when you get to see the wonderful scenery, you will feel that the trek is well worth it. If you are energetic, you may get up early to see the sunrise on the wall, to capture the first sunlight. The view of sunrise on the wall is quite attractive. 

Eight Great Temples, also known as Ba Da Chu Park or Badachu Park, is a complex of monasteries located on the outskirts of urban Beijing, at the foot of Beijing's Western Hills. It refers to the eight Buddhist temples and nunneries scattered across the Cuiwei, Pingpo, and Lushi hills in Shijingshan District, and so it got its names. The eight temples includes Changan Temple (means the temple of Eternal Peace), Lingguang Temple (means the temple of Divine Light), Sanshan Nunnery (means the nunnery of Three-hills), Dabei Temple (means the temple of Great Mercy), Longquan Nunnery (means the nunnery of Dragon Spring), Xiangjie Temple (means the temple of the Fragrant World), Baozhu Cave (means the cave of Precious Pearl) and Zhengguo Temple (means the temple of Thoroughly Transform). Among them, Changan Temple, Lingguang Temple, Dabei Temple, Xiangjie Temple and Zhengguo Temple were built under the order of emperors. The earliest temple was built in the late Sui Dynasty and has a history of hundreds of years. 

Visitors can stroll from one temple to another, enjoying the beautiful scenery and admiring the arbor and rare ancient trees. Some of these trees have been standing in this place for over six centuries, but their roots and branches are still strong and in good shape. When the autumn comes, the leaves turn red, which attracts crowds of visitors coming to climb the mountains. If you think climbing mountain is in manual labor, there is a cable car leading to the top of the hill. 

Bus no. 389, 958, 709, 972, 622, 347 stops at Badachu station.

White Cloud Temple is located in southwest of Beijing and directly behind the Broadcasting Building. It is one of "The Three Great Ancestral Courts" of the Complete Perfection School of Taoism, and its title is "The First Temple under Heaven". Also it is the largest Daoist architectural complex in Beijing and was the headquarters for the Dragon Gate sect.

Although historical records show that there were Daoist temples in Beijing during the Tang Dynasty, it was not until the early Yuan Dynasty that they came to be built on a large scale. The Yuan Emperor Shizu (Kublai Khan), whose reign lasted from 1260 to 1293, appointed a Daoist priest from Shandong province to the position of "National Teacher," which nominally put him in charge of all Chinese Daoist affairs. This priest's name was Qiu Chuji, who was commonly known as the Sage of Eternal Spring. While Qiu Chuji was in Beijing, he resided in the Temple of the Great Ultimate, which he expanded and renamed the Temple of Eternal Spring. From then on, it became the center of Daoism in northern China. It was not until the Zhengtong era of the Ming Dynasty that its current name was adopted.

Every year on the 19th day of the first lunar month a festival is held at the abbey in celebration of Qiu Chuji’s birthday. It was thought that Qiu would return to earth as an immortal on this day. The festival was first held during the Yuan Dynasty, but was suspended after the People's Republic was established in 1949. The temple was revived in the 1990s, and continues to be held to this day.

The extant temple was rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty and exemplifies the Daoist architecture of the period. The complex is composed of multiple yards set out on a central axis. From front to back the structures are as follows: a memorial archway, the main gate, a pool, a bridge, the Hall of Officials of the Heavenly Censor and so forth.

In the center of the rear courtyard is the Hall of the Patriarch Qiu, devoted to the worship of Qiu Chuji, and behind this, the Hall of the Four Heavenly Emperors, the second story of which is the Hall of Three Purities. Here one can see the similarity between Daoist and Buddhist temple architectures, though the decorative details and paintings make use of specifically Daoist motifs such as “lingzhi” fungus, specifically Daoist immortals and cranes, and the Eight Diagrams.

The temple contains a stele with calligraphy by Emperor Qianlong recording in detail the history the history of the temple and the life of Qiu Chuji. And the arches at the front have detailed traditional images including two hidden monkeys. Visitors believe it is lucky to find and touch them.  At busy times, there is actually a line of people waiting to touch them, which takes the fun out of finding them too.

Bus 45, 80, 717, 319, 26 stops at Baiyunguan Station.

Bus no. 661, 623, 42, 691, 662, 46, 19, 390, 49 stops at Tianningsi Qiaobei Station, turn left to Baiyunguan Jie till you see it on the right side.

Located on Inner Fuchengmen Street, in the Xicheng District, it is one of the most famous Buddhist temples in China. It is now the headquarters of the Chinese Buddhism Association, and the center to conduct national Buddhist activities.

Originally built in the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234), additions were made to it by successive dynasties. The present was completed during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the original structure having undergone three expansions, three fires, and three reconstructions. It now covers an area of 5.766 acres. The major structures are the main gate, the Heavenly King Hall, Mahavira Hall, Yuantong Hall (or Buddhisattva Hall) and Sutra Hall.

The Main Gate includes three arched doors, joined to each other by connecting walls. Each door is adorned with colored glazed eaves and accompanied by a stele. Passing through the gate, visitors will see the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower, and will find themselves facing the middle Heavenly King Hall. Inside the Hall, the bronze statue of the Maitreya Buddha is sitting in the dominant place, guarded by the four Heavenly Kings. On the roof of the hall is a Wheel of Dharma, designed to suggest the infinite power of Buddha.

In the second courtyard is the Mahavira Hall. In front of the hall is a bronze vessel that was made in 1793, during the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). This fine vessel is 2 meters (6.56 feet) high, cast with the eight treasures of Buddhism -"the wheel, spiral shell, umbrella, canopy, flower, vase, fish, and knot". Inside the hall are statues of Buddha and 18 arhats (Buddhist practitioners said to have special powers). Across their backs is a painting by an artist of the Qing Dynasty. The painting, 5 meters (16.4 feet) high and 10 meters (32.8 feet) wide, is a great artwork, as the artist has painted it with his fingers rather than a brush pen.

The Yuantong Hall in the third courtyard is the residence of Buddhisattva.

The two-storied Sutra Hall of the fourth yard houses the collection of sutras and treasures. It is filled with curiosities that have been given as gifts by friendly Buddhists of other states, and over 100,000 volumes of sutras. Amongst these, the sutras written in blood from the Song (960-1279) and Ming Dynasties are especially precious.

Take Subway  Line 4 to Xisi (西四) Station, Exit A (northwest exit), walk northwest

Bus no. 623, 685, 42, 102, 13, 604 or 603 stops at Xisi Lukou Xi.

Located at No. 6, West Gongyuan Street inside Jianguomen Gate, China National Post and Postage Stamp Museum displays the origins of the country's postal service, development, and over 300,000 stamps from all over the world. The exhibition area is about 6,578 square yards (5,500 square meters) with a total of over 100,000,000 items on exhibit. The collection includes some really rare items, such as Penny Black and Large Dragon - the first stamp of the world and China respectively.

Stamp Hall

This hall contains three galleries: The Main Gallery has 104 frames, displaying stamps in five groups - collections from four historical periods in China, and representatives from foreign countries. Special Gallery exhibits original paintings for the stamps since 1949. There are 34 paintings made by nine famous painters on display in this gallery. On the fourth floor, the Treasure Gallery exhibits rare items issued beginning with the Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1911). Many of them are well known to the world, but rarely seen.

Postal Service Hall

The Postal Service Hall covers the third floor and part of the fourth floor of the museum. It depicts the development of the ancient postal service through characters, pictures, charts and models. The hall exhibits items related to the following themes: primitive communication; ancient postal service; establishment, development and decline of the national postal service in the Qing Dynasty; contributions of postal service during war times; establishment of the General Post Office; and the contemporary postal service.

Take bus 1, Te 2, 52, 99, 120, 126, 140, 637, or 666, and get off at Beijing Zhankou East Station.