Tour Description
Tour Description
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Visiting Panjiayuan and 798 is a lot of fun and the quickest way to help you better understand two aspects of Beijing: the traditional and modern Beijing; Beijing of yesterday and that of today with equal vigor and vitality.You can get up early in the morning and set off at about 4:00 or 5:00 a.m. to the Panjiayuan Antique Market in the southern part of Beijing, where you may find the visit particularly rewarding.
"Ghost Market" Panjiayuan
Panjiayuan Antique Market is one of the most popular in Beijing. Now, "Great Wall, Duck, Forbidden City and Panjiayuan" are the musts for foreign tourists to Beijing. Panjiayuan is also called the "Ghost Market", with its origin dating back to the dusk of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Back then China, a weak nation, suffered from wars and internal turbulence. Many government officials and celebrities were forced to sell their antiques on the market owing to deteriorating financial conditions. They felt so embarrassed being reduced to such an awkward situation that they would only sell off their antiques by lantern light at three or four a.m. (Ghosts are also called phantoms, the souls of dead people. In Chinese legends, ghosts are usually active between midnight and the dawn. Therefore, "ghost market" is used to refer to the market that opens before dawn.
Nowadays the items in Panjiayuan no longer come from the aforesaid sources; however, the traditional 4 am opening time is preserved.
Attractions Visited in This Tour
