Study Chinese in Beijing

If one has enough time, Beijing offers enough attractions to keep the traveller busy for at least ten days. The capital of the People’s Republic of China is a gigantic city of 17 million people who reflects what the country is and would like to be. Beyond its facade of sky scratchers and shopping malls one may find the city with most tourist spots of the country.

The Beijingers are proud to belong not only to the political capital of the country, but also to its cultural capital.

Beijing Opera is one of the highest expressions of the Chinese Culture. Plays are composed by a combination of singing, dialogue, action scenes coded by gestures, fights and acrobatics. Most operas are written in archaic dialect, very different from modern Chinese, so the dialogue is difficult to understand, for this reason modern theatres have panels showing subtitles both in Chinese and English.

An architecture element that is linked to the traditional face of the city is the hútòng, narrow intertwining streets that compose an amazing labyrinth of ramshackle one storey houses. The ancient sìhéyuán are the construction basic element of this charming world. Activity never stops inside them; at any corner one may find men gathering together to play Mah-Jong, drink beer or chitchat. This kind of housing is representative of Beijing’s traditional building style. It consists of square houses with a corridor around a central courtyard, which usually contains trees, flowers and ponds with fishes.

Beijing’s traditional cuisine is Mandarin Style one. Beijing Duck. might be its internationally most well known dish. It is based on a XIII Century recipe for which especially fed-up ducks are used. Its meat is goes through a complex cooking process. This braised duck is normally served with cereal sauce, leek slices and special tortillas.

Tea houses are very popular in Beijing. Chinese tea includes a wide range of varieties, some of them really expensive. Traditional Chinese Medicine believes tea has healing powers.