Beijing (Peking),
the capital city of China since the Yuan (Mongol) dynasty is always been said to have the
best Fengshui (Feng Shui) as a capital. The evidence is that each dynasty lasted about
three hundred years except the Yuan dynasty has shorter time in exchange for larger
territory. I will let you decided if it is true. On the other hand, it is true that
Beijing (Peking) is full of example of well designed Fengshui (Feng Shui) houses, gardens
and tombs.
The time to fly to Beijing (airport code PEK) from
the US is about 13 hours. If you fly from Canada, the trip will be slightly shorter
because the plane flies all the way up to the North pole and towards south to Beijing. If
you are willing to fly economy class, almost all major air line discount their
round trip tickets to
close or below $1000. If you are lucky, the plane can be quite empty and you can be
as comfortable as first class. The food is excellent as far as plane-food goes. There is
also nice drinks served. If you are a tea drinker, make sure you bring one or two tea bags
for your flight. The tea on the flight never taste quite right. One advantage of the long
flight is you will get enough (at least close to enough) frequent flier miles for a round
trip to Europe according to most of the frequent flier programs. Please be careful about
joining the frequent flier club BEFORE you take the trip. One of my friend did not get her
mileage with certain American airlines because they said she was not a member when she was
flying.
Beijing international airport has quite good service
and the custom is very fast if you have nothing to declare. No need to bring large amount
of cash with you. All Major stores and hotels takes Visa/master card/American express and
other major charge cards. If you need cash, there are ATMs at the airport and we find the
exchange rates are very good. There is no different lines for Chinese and foreigners at boarder
control. It is also faster than most major international airport I have been to in
Europe. There are hotel shuttle for major hotels and also plenty of taxi like all
airports.
Stay in Beijing (Peking) is relatively easy. You can
find almost all major hotels chain there. Most of the hotels can be reserved online or by phone
from the US and Canada. If you plan on stay in Beijing (Peking) for more than one day, you
should stay down town. The price is around $100/night for most major chains. On weekend,
even fancy hotels becomes quite affordable, around $130/night. If you do
your research before you get there, you should be able to find hotels at $80/night. Please be careful since some hotel has more than one
locations in Beijing. Make sure you tell them you want the one by the airport or the one
downtown. All the hotels we stayed are better than their American counterparts. When you
make your hotel reservation, ask them if they credit airline frequently flier programs and
if they have local tour guides. For our German readers, there are major Hotel has German
TV channel and German restaurant.
English is definitely enough for you to get around
in Beijing (Peking). Major department stores are within the walking distance from down
town Hotels and there is subway to major tourist traps. If you want to hire a taxi, the
price/km is on the window. It usually cost less than $15 to anywhere you want. No need to
tip taxi drivers unless you have very heavy luggage. Driving around by yourself is not
recommended. Beijing (Peking) has very strict traffic laws and some temporary one-way
street and detour whenever there is a big event. Worse yet, it seems there is always some
event in town! The constructions for the 2008 Olympic does not help the traffic
easier.
While you are in Beijing, do not forget to buy some Art or pearl. Remember
to buy pearl at the reliable "quality insured" department stores.
Some of them will refund or service your pearl for free even after one full
year. The department stores closes early at night. After that, it is the street
market. If you are adventurous and good at flea market shopping, you can run into some
really good bargains here. Some of the vendors speak a little English. They will try to
rip you off of course, but you can still get a lot better price than the department
stores. Besides, some souvenir from the flea market always smells better than a T-shirt
from some cafe. One of my Chinese friend told me the real good food are in the 'fly
restaurant'. What is a 'fly restaurant'? The place is so dirty that you can find flies! I
have never try one of those but I find street food are quite interesting. For less than 50
cents, you will really have a good experience of 'real' local food.
 If
you are seriously planning a trip to Beijing, do not forget to bring Lonely
planet: Beijing Paper back By
Robert Storey Published 1998, 3rd edition,
$11.96 |
Post your opinion or question in our forum
Or you may search this website to look for your answers.
Glossary:
A:
Antidote: or Fengshui cure, it is
generally used to bring back the balance when needed, such as mirrors, wind
chimes, crystals, fountains, candle etc.
Arrow: it is important to have a 'smooth' environment. The sharp pointing
objects are considered as pointing arrows. It can bring disharmony. To smooth corners in
the house is important for holidays.
Astrology: Fengshui is NOT Chinese astrology. However, these two subjects are
closely related and intertwined. A person's Chinese Zodiac animal can be calculated base on the year
of birth.
B:
Bagua:
Ba Gua is the principle on which FengShui practice is based. read more about it
in the theory section in our FAQ.
Balance: The most important principle of Feng Shui. Balance yin-yang and
five elements is the main task of FengShui practice.
Beam: It needs to be avoid. Fengshui consider overhead beams are inauspicious to
the residence. It is most inauspicious if it is above the office desk or
bed.
Bonsai: It is popular in Asia and getting more and more popular in the west.
However, many Bonsai are made with unnatural limitation of the tree. Those are
not good for the FengShui.
Book of Change: I-Ching, the great book of Change. Document the most ancient
idea on which Feng Shui is developed. See it in our FAQ and history sections.
C:
Cactus: It is not recommended to be
placed in the home, office or in front of the house. It can cause
disharmony.
Chi: it is often called the dragon's breath in many areas. It is the flow of
energy. Although we mostly talk about the flow of positive Chi, the negative Chi
do exits.
Chi Gong: A form of martial arts and meditation technique. It is generally recommended
for mature adults' exercise.
Compass school of FengShui: a practice of Feng Shui that base on the Bagua and
its interaction of individual's birth date and gender to determine the
directions. See basic theory in our FAQ for more details.
Corner: or sections. Divide the house or room into nine equal sections and
arrange them base on Bagua functions.
Crystals: Natural clear crystal is frequently used Fengshui technique to enhance
the earth element. However, artificially manufactured crystals are not
necessarily pure earth element.
D:
Double happiness: The traditional
symbol used to celebrate and bless marriage. It is popularly used in Feng Shui
to bring happiness into marriage. It can be used with all five elements.
Dragon: The most important symbol in Chinese culture. In most cases, it has
strong Yang character in Fengshui.
E:
Earth element: one of five elements.
See more in theory section of our FAQ.
East window: A window open to the east allows the sun light to come into the
house earliest in the morning. It is Great Fengshui practice.
Eight Gua: or Ba Gua. Ba is the pronunciation of eight in mandarin
Chinese. Ba Gua is the principle on which FengShui practice is based. read
more about it in the theory section in our FAQ.
F:
Feng Shui: wind and water. Read more
about it in the theory section of our FAQ.
Fire: One of five elements. See more in theory section of our FAQ.
Five elements: basic elements that used in FengShui to describe the characters
of objects under study. Any object, including time, usually contains more than
one elements.
Flying start Feng Shui; a method use to determine the character of a house
during its life time.
Form school of Feng Shui: a method uses the shape of the house and its environment
to determine its character and to optimize the house as a good living environment
for its residence. See more in Form school of Feng Shui in our FAQ.
Four Pillars: The theory of calculating a person's life's fortune base on Year,
month, date and time of individual's birth. Certain practitioners also use it to
direct people in Balancing the Chi.
FuXi: Pronounced as /ph-She/, According to Chinese ledged, FuXi is the first
person who documented Bagua. The gender of FuXi is still in debate. It was
traditionally believed that FuXi was a man. In recent years, some historians argue
that the time period FuXi lived was more likely to be a matriarchy society.
Therefore, the head of the tribe, FuXi, should be a woman. Some even believe
that FuXi actually was a goop of women that forms a counsel to the tribe or tribes.
FuXi Bagua: Also refers to as "natural" Bagua or the "Original
Bagua".
Five elements and Zodiac animals: strictly speaking, the Chinese Zodiac animals
are not part of FengShui. However, it is custom to refer to the 12 earthly
branches using Zodiac animals. Detail.
G:
H:
I:
I-Ching: the book of Change. It document
the most ancient idea on which Feng Shui is developed. See it in our FAQ and
history sections.
J:
K:
L:
Landscape FengShui: A practice of
landscaping base on the form school of FengShui.
Lotus: Lotus is one of the frequently used method to reduce the negative energy.
See use of lotus cup in our FAQ and tip of week archives.
Lo Pan. A Feng Shui practitioner's compass. It contains multiple rings on the
side of a regular compass that associates with short cut calculations of Bagua.
M:
Metal: One of five elements. See
more in theory section of our FAQ.
Mirror: A frequently used Feng Shui antidote to help balance the Chi and five
elements. It is also important to use it to visually correct the missing corners
of a room.
N:
O:
P:
Pillars: four pillars are base on an
individual's birth year, month, date and time to predicts the raise and fall of
luck in a person's life. In a period that five elements are not balanced,
significant misfortune could occur.
Q:
R:
Red: The most auspicious color in
Chinese tradition. The color itself has the character of fire element.
S:
T:
U:
V:
W:
Water: one of five elements. See
more in theory section of our FAQ.
Wood: One of five elements. See more in theory section of our FAQ.
Y:
Yang: Represented by a continuous hyphen
like line. It is one of the separated,
opposition and
co-existing characters. Such relationship is the basic ideal of Yin-Yang philosophy, upon
which FengShui is based.
Yin: Represented by two short
little hyphens with gap in between. It is one of the separated, opposition and co-existing characters.
Such relationship is the basic ideal of Yin-Yang philosophy, upon
which FengShui is based.
Z:
Zodiac animals: The twelve zodiac
animals used in Chinese astrology. It is based on the year of an individual's
birth. Read more in Chinese Zodiac animals section in our FAQ.
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