Dear Clio,
This is just a mail to say thank you for your help. We were very pleased with your service as well as our fantastic guide, Grace, in Xian.
We had a great time, saw a lot of things and enjoyed the friendliness of all people we met.
We will certainly recommend other friends to contact you for assistance.
Thanks again!
Louise
Creative Industries often referred in Beijing as Cultural & Creative Industries (CCI) have became a "buzz" word for both policy makers and creative business in Beijing in a matter of just a few years. Eight sub-sectors were selected to be the key components of Beijing's cultural and creative industry. They are: performing arts, publishing and trading of intellectual property, movie and TV production, animation and interactive games, advertising and conference organization, antique and arts trading, creative design ,cultural tourism. The creative industries in Beijing have been booming since 1978. After decades of strict control by the state, the cultural life of ordinary people was greatly enhanced when market mechanisms were introduced. Beijing has a number of unrivalled advantages in its bid to become the creative capital of China.
For your glimpse of Beijing's creativity industry, we have designed a one day private tour to cover some of the 10 creativity industry zones in Beijing. Let's go!
Duration: 1 day Pick-up point and time: Your Hotel in Beijing around 8:00am Finishing point and time: Your Hotel in Beijing around 6:00pm Payment Types: Cash, Credit Cards, Wire We speak: English
Itinerary: Pick up from your hotel around 8:30am and first drive to Beijing "Silicon Valley" for a short visit. The Zhongguancun district in the northwest corner of Beijing not far from the Summer Palace is often dubbed "Silicon Valley". It is already inhabited by thousands of high-tech companies, ranging from local firms large and small to international companies like Microsoft, Sun, Siemens, Nokia, NEC. Z-Park (The Zhongguancun district) is composed of seven parks, covering an area of about 100 square kilometers close to the city's internationally esteemed educational institutions such as Tsinghua University, the University of Beijing, and the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS).
Now Zhongguancun is the center for electronic products trading and base for the creative industry at national-level. Chinese President Hu Jintao announced the plan in 2006 to turn China into an "innovation-oriented" country by 2021. The Z-Park (Zhongguancun district), China's homegrown Silicon Valley, is the pioneer in the innovation and creativity industry in China. As the largest and oldest of the over 50 national high-tech zones in China, Z-Park has become an important hub for the world corporations seeking both to develop R&D for all sectors and to have a foothold in the market in China.
Then go to visit 798 Art Zone, or Dashanzi Art District. It is a part of Dashanzi in the Chaoyang District of Beijing. It accommodates a thriving artist community, nestled in the over 50-year abandoned military factory buildings of featuring architectural style - typical Bauhaus style with perfect combination of practicality and concision. Because of the typical modernism Bauhaus style of some factory buildings, the orderly-planned courtyard and the distinctive architectural style, more and more artists are attracted to settle here and have formed the present 798 Art Zone gradually. Now It is often likened to New York's Greenwich Village or SOHO. It is often called the 798 Art District or Factory 798. The buildings are located inside alleys number 2 and 4 on Jiuxianqiao Lu, south of the Dashanziqiao flyover. It has become China's premier center of contemporary art and is now one of the must see attraction in Beijing after the Great Wall and Forbidden City. The SOHO complex showcases the contemporary art covering over 50 galleries and art centers of various sizes and includes a blend of bookshops, cafes, and restaurants.
After lunch, drive to Songzhuang Artist Village. It is actually composed of several villages around Songzhuang town in the east suburb of Beijing. There are over 1000 artists lived in these villages within Songzhuang town, forming the largest art community in the world. It is mainly scattered in eight villages as Tongli, Liuhe, Daxing, Xindian, Lama, Ren village, with Xiaopu Village as its center. Since 1994, Artist Village has become internationally famous for China contemporary art. Many works here are sold directly to the international art market and loved by many museums and collectors. By the year of 2010, it will be turned into a famous artist town of China and primarily build several creativity industrial bases. By the yare of 2020, it will be developed into the international culture creativity industrial park and creation culture and tourism district with its own unique feature.
On the way back to the downtown Beijing, you will be arranged to visit the famous Gaobeidian Classical Furniture Street in the Gaobeidian village. The furniture street is 1,500 meters long, with 300 workshops and shops, making and selling Ming and Qing dynasty-style furniture. Most of the furniture made here are sold to the international market. It has become a hub for Ming and Qing Dynasty- style all over China. Gaobeidian is a one-thousand-year-old village, the nearest village outside the downtown Beijing. There you can see people how to make the furniture. Also you will have the chance to enjoy a huge selection of furniture on show in some of the workshops. At the end of the tour, you will be transferred back to your hotel in Beijing.
Tour Quotations
Cost: in US$ per person
Travelling Party
Tour Cost Per Person
1 person
$100
2-5 persons
$60
6-9 persons
$40
inclusion:
1. Entrance tickets
2. Pick-up service from hotel
3. Private air-conditioned car or van
4. Private English speaking tour guide
5. Chinese lunch
exclusion:
1. Personal Insurance coverage of personal loss, illness or damages incurred during your trip
2. Tips to the tour guide and driver
To learn more about our terms and conditions for quotation, reservation, payment and cancellation, please click here. Remark: The tour above is exclusively made for you, with your family or friends ands without any other travellers taking part in the tour. If you have any special request, please contact us. You are also welcome to send us your tailor-made tour plan by filling the online travel form.
There are other more important cultural and creativity areas or zones, if time permitted, you can explore theses creativity zones further. Liulichang Cultural Industry Zone: Located southwest of Qianmen , the street which is only 750 meters long, is located south of Hepingmen (Peace) Gate within walking distance of the Hepingmen Quanjude Peking Duck Restaurant.This market specializes in Chinese paintings, calligraphy, rare books, and arts and crafts. At this market the shops all have the look of a traditional Qing Dynasty market area having been rebuilt in the 1980"s. A fun place to stroll through and shop.
Chaoyang Park: As the largest planed City Park in Beijing, its lake area reaches up to 67 hectares, and the green land occupies 75 percent. It is the largest one than any other built parks in Beijing, started to build in 1984.
Happy Valley: Happy Valley is now the biggest amusement park in Beijing.Like Disney World,Happy Valley is divided into some parts.Each part has its theme and feature.In each part,there are many shops combining its theme and selling its own products.
Shichahai Cultural Creativity Zone: Do you want to experience a man-driving Pedicab? In today's well preserved old Beijing hutong areas, you can still find this kind of old transportation tool now still kept for tourists as the typical traffic tool of travelling the hutong - Beijing featuring old city alleys. There are many small restaurants, bars and inns. Ascending the top of the Bell Tower you can have a bird's eye view of the surrounding hutongs. The most intriguing part of the hutong travel is wandering through "Pipe Tobacco Alley" close to the Bell Tower. In the "Pipe Tobacco Alley", you will feel you are back to the years of old Beijing.
Beijing Curio City: This is said that Beijing Curio City is the biggest indoor antique market in Asia. These dealers from all over China offer antique ceramics, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese and Western paintings, jades ,antique furniture ,antique carpets ,antique timepiece and jewelry.
Beijing Panjiayuan Antique Art Market Zone: Panjiayuan Market is a huge flea market. It is made up of over three thousand individual stalls covering 48,500 square metres. There really is something for everyone here. Even Hilary Clinton has shopped at Panjiayuan. Antique lovers who know their stuff will be very happy shopping here. Most of the real antiques vendors are in the rear area of the market and are usually peasants from the countryside who sell items collected in their villages. Come very early on weekends, Sunday is the best day for the antiques.
Beijing Grand View Garden: The present Grand View Garden is a replica of Daguanyuan the magnificent garden of an imperial family described in the well-known Chinese novel "A Dream of Red Mansions (Hongloumeng)" by a Qing Dynasty writer Cao Xueqin. The site used to be a park dotted with willows and pines. In l984, the China Television Film Production Centre decided to use it as the setting to shoot garden scenes for the TV series "A Dream of Red Mansions".
