If you can read Chinese, please click here.    Here is a campus map

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 to the final stop (Zhong-guan-cun). Then take a taxi to the campus. It costs 16 + 10 = 26 yuans. The shuttle bus runs every 15 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 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.

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.

Hotel rooms are in short supply during the summer season.   Here is a list of Hotels around Peking University

Shao Yuan (The Guest House of Peking Univ., with in the campus)        Tel: 86-10-62757361, 62752200, Fax: 86-10-62791966,

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

Ziyuan Hotel   (on the boundary of the campus) 330 yuan/day   a 3-star hotel on the boundary of the campus.     Tel: 86-10-62757199           Fax: 86-10-62750102   E-mail zyhotel@pku.edu.cn

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

The Lakeview Hotel  (5 star) Tel:82689999 Fax:82689998  Add:No.127, Zhongguancun North Road,Haidian District,Beijing

FX Hotel ZhongGuanCun Beijing  (4 star)              Tel: 86-10-58986688  FAX: 86-10-58986689

Beijing Friendship Hotel  68498888

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

Tsinghua Unisplendour International Center (4 stars)       Tel: 86-10-62791888, Fax: 86-10-62791966, E-mail international@thunis.com

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

Other attractions:      798 Art Zone    Capital Museum      Tian-an-men Square     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!)

Tours in China:  You are encouraged to arrange a  tour by yourself. Check the website http://english.ctrip.com/. 

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.  When I first stood between the Royce Hall and Powell Library I still wondered where UCLAwas because he had 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 12 million residents and 8 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.

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).

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)

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.

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 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.

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!