Beijing Bike Tour

Beijing, with a long history of more than 3,000 years, is an ancient city adored by tourists. While among all kinds of splendid attractions, here we would like to recommend a Beijing bike tour which features the vision of the Ming and Qing dynasties. You may fully relax yourself and enjoy the Temple culture in Beijing.
 

For this bike tour, the first part is biking along the Chang River, from Gaoliang Bridge River in Xizhimen to Kunyu River in the Summer Palace, while now most of the river shores have become the roads. As the legend went, in order to frighten the Belial hidden in the River, people in the Ming and Qing dynasties built 108 temples along the river, which brought the prosperity along shore. But now, this splendid temple culture is wearing away as time elapses, you may bike along to find the ever existing trace and imagine the once prosperity of the temple culture.
 

Firstly, find the north gate of Beijing Zoo wherever you start, do remember it is the north gate but not the front gate of the zoo, for here is where this bike tour begins. Riding towards east along the road of the north gate of the zoo for about 1 kilometer, you will find the Five-Pagoda Temple whose entrance fee is CNY20.00 net per person at present. Built in the Ming dynasty, it has its original name as Zhenjue Temple, while since it has five pagodas in the temple, people also call it “Wuta Si” which means Five-Pagoda Temple. Here, you may enjoy the unique architectural style, showing both the characteristics of the Indian stupa and the traditional Chinese architectural characters.
 

Outing the Five-Pagoda Temple, riding along the Wuta Si Road till the South Street at Zhongguancun, the Purple Bamboo Park is aside the road. There are 12 parks in Beijing which are free of charge, among which the Purple Bamboo Park is well worth visiting. Built in 1953, the park covering an area of 47.35 hectares, has a landscape of more than thousands of bamboos, which is a good place for you to promenade, relax with friends, enjoy a cup of nice tea or coffee or just ponder. During the busy city life, this is where you may find your leisure pleasure.
 

At the south of the Purple Bamboo Park locates the Yan Qing Temple, which now becomes a part of the residential area, and you may not enter it without the permit of the residents there.
 

Next to the Yan Qing Temple, you will find the Wan Shou Temple, known as the “Ju Se Temple” when it was built in the Tang Dynasty, changing to its present name as “Wan Shou Temple” which means longevity in the Ming dynasty. Now, there are always many people visiting there and you may also have an experience about the lively scene.
 

Tuning north and riding for about half a kilometer, you will find the Fa Hua Temple. It is an important temple in the city and is the key protection project in Chong Wen district. Now, The Fa Hua Temple is the kindergarten of the Ethnic Minority University of China and is well preserved.
 

Riding from Fa Hua Temple to the back gate of the Summer Palace to reach the Black Dragon Bridge, you may see the Yu Quan Shan Pagoda at the south of the road, and at the north of the road, you could find the 316 Hospital. Entering the hospital, going east, passing through a small door and a small super market, continuing to go east for about 100 meters, lies the fourteenth Ming Tomb, which is know as the Jing Tai Tomb, which is among the cypress between the buildings. The Jing Tai Tomb is very small although it is a tomb for the emperor of the Ming dynasty.
 

Outing Jing Tai Tomb, riding for about 1 kilometer, in front of a cluster of the white poplars, there is a path and you will find a flock of the military watchtowers built in the Qing Dynasty across the path, which is surrounded by the cottages of the residents now. In the Qing Dynasty, the ethnic minorities in Yunnan area rebelled the Qing government, so the emperor built the military watchtowers for training soldiers to put down the rebellion.
 

Continue your bike tour to the west, passing the Si Wang Fu, riding for about 3 kilometers, you will get to Beijing Botanical Garden. Built in 1956, Beijing Botanical Gerden is a joint of the botanical science and literature. In the Garden, there are Wo Fo Temple, Greenhouse, Peony Garden and Rose Garden etc., hundreds of flowers and trees, picturing beautiful sceneries. You may totally relax yourself from the city life here, enjoying a cup of tea, taking a nap under a tree and spending the rest of day leisurely there.