Olympics '08: What to See in Beijing

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What to See in Beijing

The Associated PressChina has a proud and rich history and Beijing is home to many unique historic sights.

Associated Press reporter Jason Bronis takes a tour of the Chinese capital. (Aug. 1)TRACK))((SUPER: Beijing))((VO of Mao, palace wall, square, palace, tourists - SOME APTN shots))

AT THE HEART OF THE CHINESE CAPITAL LIES ITS BIGGEST TOURIST ATTRACTIONS.THE FORBIDDEN CITY AND TIAN'ANMEN SQUARE ARE SIDE-BY-SIDE LANDMARKS.TIAN'ANMEN IS EQUIVALENT IN SIZE TO 90 AMERICAN FOOTBALL FIELDS.THE FORBIDDEN CITY IS FAR LARGER, AND IS THE WORLD'S LARGEST SURVIVING PALACE COMPLEX.TOGETHER, THE PAIR DRAW SOME SEVEN MILLION TOURISTS EACH YEAR.((SOT))((SUPER: Peter Kent/American Tourist))

Everything's on such a grand scale over here. The people are extremely friendly and it seems like everyone's excited for the Olympics to start.

'((TRACK))((VO of tourists, shops, restaurants, man singing - SOME APTN shots))

THE SUMMER GAMES WILL OFFER AN
OPPORTUNITY FOR MANY NEWCOMERS TO
EXPERIENCE BEIJING.THEY WILL FIND A CITY FAR MORE WELCOMING TO TOURISM THAN EVER BEFORE.MANY SHOPS, RESTAURANTS AND
ATTRACTIONS ...((NATS))Man singing.
((TRACK))((VO of attractions, streetscape, tourists, female tourist.))...

HAVE EXPERIENCED MAKEOVERS IN ADVANCE OF THESE GAMES.BUT SOME TOURISTS MAY FIND BEIJING DIFFICULT TO NAVIGATE.MANY OF THE SIGHTS ARE BEST EXPERIENCED ON FOOT.THE WEATHER IS HOT AND HUMID.AND LANGUAGE CAN BE A MAJOR BARRIER, AS KIRSTEN MADSEN DISCOVERED WHEN SHE TRAVELED HERE FROM DENMARK.((SOT))((SUPER: Kirsten Madsen/Danish Tourist))'Just finding our hotel was difficult because we didn't have our street name or the hotel name in Chinese. So, it took about 30 minutes and four people helping finding the place where we needed to stay.'((TRACK))((VO of tourists, attractions, souvenir stand.))SEASONED TRAVELERS RECOMMEND PICKING UP A GOOD GUIDE BOOK BEFORE ARRIVING.BEIJINGERS WHO SPEAK SOME ENGLISH WILL OFTEN APPROACH TO GIVE DIRECTIONS.AND DESPITE THE LANGUAGE BARRIER, MADSEN FOUND A LOCAL WHO WAS QUICK TO HELP.((SOT))((Madsen))'He didn't speak English. We just gave him our hotel card and he followed us all the way home. So, they're very friendly as well.'((STANDUP))((SUPER: Jason Bronis/Beijing))'You've seen just a small slice of what tourists can see when they come here to Beijing. The Chinese are very excited about showing off their capital to the world during
these Summer Games. JB, the AP,
Beijing.'

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• oly
• china-sights
• olympics
• '08:
• beijing

[BartoszKonj]

tourist should speak the language of country they visit and do not expect that all people have speak English, because is this is not Europe or United States... this is China

[OoBlessedSouloO]

Aha! Finally I caught one foreign media's video so far...showing Beijing's non-heavy pollution

The sky of the city maybe is still cloudy, but the buildings at far distances are clearly to be seen!

Most videos about Beijing's pollution are made for the first few days of the olympics, can't anyone see that the sky is blue for the last few days?

[ervin920]

@Ayntak fuck tibet.

[Ayntak]

what the fuck is wrong with china? they never deserve such a great event like the olympic games, they are just a horrible and communism country, please leave the world alone in peace

free tibet

[iphoneuser100]

wrong

[Globalvisual]

Peace, Love, Unity, Respect, Happiness, Humanity, Forgiveness and Understanding to all beings in this world.

[dragonforcerockhard]

I'm Australian but I have a friend from the Philippines. Get fucked you cunt

[PewpewFighter]

Some people need to get a fucking grip in life. Everyone is a person. There are different cultures that are in the world. If you're not open to fucking learn about another person, then no one should fucking need to listen to what the fuck you're saying.

World peace.