Topic 85 A one-day-visit to your country

If you attend a conference in China, and would like to take a one-day-visit on site seeing and shopping, there are three factors you might consider: this place must have special tourist features which can represent China, and this place must be close to the place where the meeting is held, therefore you do not have to spend too much time on traveling.

If you are in northern part of China, the best place that you should visit is the city of Beijing, although spending one day in Beijing is too short of a period to fully explore the splendors of the city (великолепие города). Nevertheless, for those of you without the luxury of time, make sure you don't miss a few key points of interest—the Summer Palace, the Forbidden Palace, the Forbidden City, and the Great Wall of China.

The Summer Palace is a royal retreat (уединённое место, убежище, пристанище, приют) located on the bank of (на берегу) a large lake. Visitors can walk along a waterfront promenade (прогуляться по набережной) that leads to a concrete (реальный, конкретный) ship docked at the far end of the walk. At the concrete ship, you can take a ferry back to the entrance of the palace. Something you may want to do while at the Summer Palace is going into the gift shop, get dressed in traditional Chinese clothing, and pose for a souvenir photograph.

The Forbidden Palace is absolutely breathtaking (абсолютно потрясающий). There are a series of gates that lead to the main palace grounds. Pay particular attention to the stairwells (лестничная клетка) in the palace courtyards (внутренний двор). There are slabs carved with intricate dragon designs (плиты с высеченными замысловатые рисунки драконов), which the emperor was suspended (висящий, подвешенный) over in a caravan (путешествовать в трейлере, в фургоне) whenever he left the palace grounds. It would be a good idea to get a local guide to lead you around the palace and explain the significance of various buildings.

Finally, don't miss the Great Wall. It's located outside of the city and it takes up (занимает) most of the day, but it's well worth it. When you ascend (подниметесь) the Great Wall, there are two paths—one veering (поворачивающий) to the left and the one veering to the right. The path on the right is less steep (менее крут) and an easier climb. However, if you take the path to the left, you can see the remains of the original wall, and there is a cable car (канатная дорога) you can take down to the parking area.

Shopping in Beijing is becoming more convenient by the day (с каждым днем). The Silk Market at Xiushui Street is favorites among tourists, experts and locals alike. There you can bargain (торговаться) with the shop owners and buy good quality clothes with a very low price, you can even see plenty of pirated software - ironically, within sight of the US Embassy (Посольство США).

So, there you have it. I encourage anyone to spend at least a few days in Beijing, because there is so much to see.