You are welcome to participate in

From Markov Processes to Brownian Motion and Beyond:

An International Conference in Memory of Kai Lai Chung

Hotel rooms are in short supply during the summer season. You are expected to find your own accommodation.

If you do need assistance of local organizers, please send an email to yxren at math dot pku dot edu DOT cn

The local organizers have negotiated with the following hotels.

Wenjin Hotel  600 yuan/day   a 5-star hotel within a walking distance from the campus    Tel: 86-10-62525566     Fax: 86-10-82621556

Ziyuan Hotel  330 yuan/day   a 3-star hotel on the boundary of the campus.     Tel: 86-10-62757199           Fax: 86-10-62750102

Zhongguanyuan Global Village  380 yuan/day for a standard room with two beds and 320 yuan/day for a single-bed room  Tel: 86-10-62752288       Fax: 86-10-62752289

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)

Transportation: Now the Metro Line 4 is available, with a stop at the east gate of Peking University. You are encouraged to take the metro for a long-haul trip (e.g. to the downtown).  The most convenient way is however 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.

From the airport to Hotels and/or 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. The shuttle bus runs every 30 minutes. At the airport, look for the indicator leading to bus and taxi. On the street, just wave a hand and very soon you will be able to catch a vacant taxi. 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.

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.

Church

A Church is located to the south of campus  within walking distance. Hillary Clinton spent a Sunday

morning in that church on her first trip to China as the Secretary of State.

Mobile communication

Mobile phones are very popular in China. If you wish, you may bring your own mobile

phone and buy a local SIM card at the cost of 30 yuans or less.

Sightseeing

Heritage sites:

Summer Palace
Forbidden City
Temple of Heaven
The Ming Tombs
The Great Wall
Peking Man Excavation Site at Zhoukoudian (discovered by a professor of Peking University).


Modern Architectures:

National Stadium (including Bird's Nest and the Olympic Park)
National Theater


Other attractions:

798 Art Zone

Capital Museum

Tian-an-men Square

Wangfujing Shopping District

Qianmen Street  (Here is a video)


Specially for Foreigner:

Hou-hai (bars and restaurants)

Xiu-shui-jie Bazaar (shopping)

Pan Jia Yuan Market (Most of the antiques sold there are fakes!)


The Tour of the Great Wall on June 16:

We will organize a tour of the Great Wall of China (Badaling) for the registered

participants of the conference immediately after the conference. Free transportation

to and from the Wall will be provided, but you are responsible for other expenses of

the tour.




Tours in China:

You are encouraged to arrange a pre- or post-conference tour by yourself. Check the website

http://english.ctrip.com/.  In particular you may consider the World Expo in Shanghai

The Great Wall was first constructed by several kingdoms to protect their own territories. When the Qin

emperor eliminated all other kingdoms in 221 BC, the walls of the former kingdoms were reused and

connected to form the northern boundary of the Qin Empire. Since invasions from the north were the major

threat to China, the maintenance and rebuilding of the wall never stopped until the end of the Ming Dynasty.

A major reconstruction occurred in the Ming dynasty in early 15^th century. What we can see today is the

wall built 600 years ago. It was recently declared that the length of Ming Great Wall is 8851.8 km.

Early locations of the Great Wall are very hard to trace now. Chinese, ancient and modern, believes in

walls. Every city was surrounded by a wall. Quite often double walls were constructed, and at the extreme,

four walls were built in Beijing (two for the city and two for the royal district). Most walls were torn

down in modern times. Likewise, every college, every company, every community builds a wall (a Jordan curve)

to define its boundary. One can enter or exit only thorough the gates. A first time visitor from China

standing between the Royce Hall and Powell Library may still wonder where UCLA is because he has not

passed through a gate.

The City of Beijing was the capital of  the State of Yan, one of the seven Warring States from 5th century BC

to 3rd century BC, and has been the capital of China since 1285 (except for the two brief periods:

1368--1407, 1927��1949). Beijing enjoys a centralized system. It is a mix of Washington (politics), New

York (finance), Boston (culture & education), Los Angeles (entertainment), Denver or St.Louis

(transportation). Beijing is also a city of manufacture. Only very recently steel and chemical productions

are reduced. What you see in Beijing is not typical Chinese. This is the best part of a huge country at

expense of other areas. Because of many opportunities, talented people are sucked from all parts of

the country into the city.  There are roughly 11 million residents and 5 million migrant workers in

Beijing.

Haidian is one of 17 districts of the city of Beijing, packed with many colleges and institutes, like

the Latin district in Paris.

Restaurants

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 belongs
to Shandong cuisine. A typical dinner costs 100 yuans and a meal at MacDonald is about 25 yuans. 
Here are some restaurants around the campus.

Authentic Chinese cuisine:

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

2. QuanJuDe (Peking Duck) strongly recommended, Phone: 82150018 or 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 across from the 4^th Ring Road.

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

If you have a trouble with the Chinese menu, there are fast food restaurants nearby:

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 Park)

10. QuanJuDe in Qianmen (the original restaurant)

Warning

    Watch out for cars!  Do not expect cars to stop for you even if  you are on a zebra crossing!
    Tap water can be used to brush teeth, but it is not supposed to be potable!
    Public toilets usually do not provide free toilet paper! Carry your own!