Visa:  You will need a visa to enter China.  Contact the embassy or consulate near you and get one at the minimum cost.  It is fine if you just get a tourist visa.

Contact Information: School of Math. Sciences, Peking University, 5 Yiheyuan Road, Beijing 100871 China. Telephone numbers are 86-10-62755964 (O) and 86-13611175793（Mobile)

 

Local Money is RMB(=Ren Min Bi = People’s money). The basic unit is Yuan (meaning disk). One US dollar is approximately 6.8 yuans. You will certainly need a small amount of local money, and can exchange US dollar or Euros at the airport. The rate and surcharge (if any) are the same at every exchange site. Please check the rate at http://www.boc.cn/sourcedb/whpj/enindex.html. For other currencies you may have to go to a large branch of the bank of China. You may also get local money from ATM by inserting your credit card.  A Citibank office is not too far from the campus.

 

From the airport to the campus of Peking University, the most convenient way is to take a taxi. It costs about 100 or 110 yuans including 10-yuan highway toll. Alternatively, if you come alone and arrive before 22:00 pm, you may take the airport shuttle bus No. 5 with the final stop in Zhong-guan-cun. Then take a taxi to the campus. It costs 16 + 10 = 26 yuans. If you have trouble to communicate with the driver, print this slip and show it to the driver. Be aware there are three terminals in the Beijing Capital Airport (PEK). This is particularly important on your way back.

 

What to see in Beijing. 

Heritages: the Summer Palace, Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, The Ming Tombs, the Great Wall

Peking Man  Site Zhoukoudian (discovered by a professor of Peking Univ.)

Modern Architectures: The National Stadium (Bird’s Nest) and the Olympic Park, The National Theater

Other attractions: 798 Art Zone, The Capital Museum, Tian-an-men Square and Qianmen Street （Here is a video）

Specially for Foreigner: Hou-hai (bar), Xiu-shui-jie (shopping).

The Tour of the Great Wall on June 17.  The most popular and convenient choice is Badaling. There are two advantages: (i) A highway connects the campus and Badaling, (ii) on the way one can visit the Ming Tombs.  My plan is to walk from Jinshanling to Simatai. It takes about four hours, walking on the old wall built 600 years ago. A large part of Jinshanling is the original wall. Quite often one would use hands to support oneself. There is no way out until you get Simatai. There are other options of hiking. (1) climbing up Simatai as much as you can (less demanding physically).  Simatai has been rebuilt and is well maintained.  There is no danger at all;  (2) taking a cable car to Simatai;(3) start walking from Jinshanling and climb up Simatai  (physically demanding).

 

Transportation within the city. The most convenient way is to take a taxi. It is cheap (in the Western standard, 2 yuans per kilometer) and safe. You pay exactly the amount shown in the meter. Do not pay tips. Tips and tax are included in the price. The night rate (between 23:00pm-6:00 am) is 120% of the regular price. Be aware that an unlicensed taxi may overcharge you. The plate number of a licensed taxi begins with B. Alternatively you may take the metro for a long-haul trip (e.g. to the downtown). However the metro station in the east gate of the campus will not be operative until October. Although the bus services can get you to any point and the cost is low (1 yuan per ride), I do not recommend it because it is slow and very crowded.

 

Tour in China. You are encouraged to have a pre- or post-workshop tour by yourself.  You may check http://english.ctrip.com/ to arrange your trip.

 

The Hotel.  I have reserved a block of rooms in Shao-Yuan, the guest house of Peking University. It is just conveniently located on campus, and is in short supply during the summer. If you have not been offered a room, you have to find a place by yourself. Here are some hotels around the campus.

Xi Hua Hotel (next to the campus)        Tel: 86-10-62646688, Fax: 86-10-62640522,

Resource Hotel (on the boundary of the campus)     Tel: 86-10-62757199, Fax: 86-10-62750102, E-mail zyhotel@pku.edu.cn

FuramaXpress ZhongGuanCun (4 stars) Tel: 8610-58986688

The Lake View Hotel (5 stars) Tel:82689999 Fax:82689998

Wenjin Hotel (5 stars) Tel: +8610 62525566 Fax: +8610 82621556

Beijing Post&Telecom Conference Center  Tel: 86-010-62547799 ext 3623; Fax: 86-010-62642402.  Accessible by Bus No. 375，320，716，801

Xi-Jiao Hotel (3 stars)          Tel: 86-10-62322288 ext 5608, Fax: 86-10-62311142, E-mail public@xijiao-hotel.com.cn

 

Restaurants around the campus. Welcome to the Kingdom of Gourmand.  Please enjoy the authentic Chinese food which can be further classified as Sichuan, Cantonese, Shandong, etc. The well-known Peking duck is a Shandong cuisine. A typical dinner costs 100 yuans and a meal at MacDonald is about 25 yuans. Some restaurants around the campus.

1.The restaurant in Building 7 of Shao Yuan (conveniently located and clean)

2. QuanJuDe (Peking Duck) strongly recommended, Phone: 82150018  82151015  Tsinghua Science Park

3. New Kaiyuan (Zhejian cuisine) Phone  82886001 82886002, West of the campus

4. Kang Long Prince (Hubei cuisine) Phone 62695777 62695888  South of the campus crossing the 4th Ring Road

5. Sky Kitchen (vegetarian)  Phone:010-62797078，62780859，89833390

 

If you need food badly but have a trouble with the Chinese menu, there are fast food restaurant also available.

6. KFC  exit the south-west gate and cross the street

7. MacDonald, exit the south-west gate and go south all the way down, near the church.

 

If you can afford time and money, here are some expensive restaurants.

8. Ting Li Guan  (Hall of listening to orioles) in the Summer Palace

9. Fang Shan (Royal style) in Beihai

10. QuanJuDe in Qianmen (the original one)

 

A Church is located in the south of campus, within walking distance. Hillary Clinton, on her first trip to China as the Secretary of State, spent the Sunday morning in that church.

 

Mobile phone is very popular in China. If you wish, you may bring your own mobile phone and buy a local chip at a cost of 30 yuans.

 

The Campus was designed by Henry Killam Murphy, a graduate of Yale. He was also responsible for the campus of Tsinghua University. The pagoda on the campus was originally built as a water tower in 1920's, funded by an American donor. This was originally the campus of Yenching University. The university was merged with Peking University in 1952, and is survived by her cousin, the Yenching Institute. For quite long time (1919-1949) the President of Yenching University was John Leighton Stuart, born in Hangzhou in 1876 and buried in Hangzhou in 2008. He was the American ambassador to China 1946－1949 and was well-known in China because an article entitled "Goodbye Stuart" by Chairman Mao. Edgar Snow, born in Missouri on July 19, 1905, came to China in 1928, and was a lecturer of Yenching University. He visited the territory occupied by the Communist Party in June 1936, and wrote a book "Red Star over China".  This was the very first report of the Chinese Communist Party by a foreign observer. When the Communist Party took the power, Snow became an old friend of Chinese and was also well-known in China. Upon his death, a tomb was built on the campus, next to the lake. Another connection is by Kai Lai Chung who first studied with Pao-Lu Hsu of Peking University (although Chung was a student of Tsinghua), and was a lecturer of Peking University before he went to the USA in 1940’s.The American connection was renewed in recent years. Arthur M. Sackler Museum of Art and Archeology at Peking University was built in 1990's, with a counterpart at Harvard.  The Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics at Peking University was a recent addition from the USA (2008).

 

Warning

     Watch out for cars!  Do not expect cars will stop for pedestrians even in a Zebra crossing!

　     Tap water is not supposed to be drinkable!

　     Toilet paper is usually not provided in a public toilet.