One of Beijing's finest hotels, China World Hotel anchors the prestigious China World Trade Center in the Central Business District and is attached to the China World Shopping Mall. Just minutes away from the Forbidden City, the hotel sits on one of Beijing's most prestigious avenues, and is frequented by diplomats, businessmen and leisure travelers who wish to experience Beijing from an optimal vantage point.

Located near many foreign embassies and only 45 minutes from Beijing Capital International Airport, this 716-room award-winning hotel offers the purest embodyment of China's modern luxury and classic style, featuring some of the city's finest restaurants and the most advanced meeting and conference facilities.

The hotel is part of Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, the world's leading Asia-based luxury hotel group, known for its award-winning Asian hospitality. The group comprises 65 deluxe hotels and resorts in key cities in Asia and the Middle East, with new properties under development in Europe and North America.

Aria: The award-winning Aria delivers stylish, modern European cuisine in a smart casual dining environment. With an extensive wine selection built to complement the menu, every meal is certain to be unique, and delightfully memorable. Arrive early and enjoy the wine bar where a pre-dinner drink goes perfectly with the live jazz music.

Gourmet Corner: This is an excellent gourmet takeaway outlet in the West Wing of the hotel. With sandwiches, salads, and an array of confectionery and chocolates, it's a great spot to pick up a bite to eat before a day on the go.

Nadaman: The highly regarded master chefs at Nadaman serve fresh and innovative Japanese dishes in an elegant setting. Sit in the main dining room or get close to the chef at the Teppanyaki kitchen and Sushi Bar. For discrete business meals or family gatherings, the restaurant features comfortable Tatami rooms.

Scene a Café: A diverse buffet with an array of salads, pastas, desserts and fruit is served at Scene a Café. The dynamic open kitchen incorporates eight stations, each showcasing the quality of ingredients that go into every dish. An a la carte menu is also available.

Summer Palace: Combining a classic Cantonese menu with light, creative Huaiyang cuisine, Summer Palace places a strong emphasis on Chinese tea culture as well as fine wine, with its exclusive sommelier's selection of French Bordeaux vintages. Summer Palace also serves a popular dim sum lunch daily. Six elegant private dining rooms are available for a higher level of personalized service. A private label signature selection of Chinese premium teas and culinary condiments make ideal gift purchases for loved ones back home.

Lobby Lounge: With live classical music nightly, the Lobby Lounge is an ideal venue for business meetings, a cup of tea or an elegant evening cocktail. The Sunday afternoon High Tea features a sublime buffet accompanied in splendor by a magnificent 40-piece orchestra.

Shangri-La's China World Hotel has 716 beautifully appointed guestrooms and suites, decorated with contemporary Asian art, marble bathrooms, soothing earthtone fabrics and sleek furnishings. For comfort, large feather duvets and a menu offering various pillows ensure a quality night's sleep.

Suites feature exceptionally expansive acommodations, 24-hour butler service for Beijing Suite and China Suite and panoramic city views. Suites come equipped with DVD players, fax machines and computer data ports, while the marble bathrooms feature exclusive L'Occitane designer bath amenities.

HORIZON CLUB: Horizon Club rooms offer an enhanced level of service, comfort, and convenience for busy travellers, including late check-out and a personal concierge.

Club Floor Check-in and Check-out
On arrival, a Guest Relations Officer will personally escort you to the Club Lounge where your check-in will be handled smoothly and quickly.

Deluxe Guest Room
Horizon Club floor rooms offer the ultimate in comfort and convenience. Thoughtful little extras include personal voice mail and an executive size desk.

Lounge Facilities
In addition to business services, complimentary broadband Internet access and private meeting rooms, the exclusive Club Lounge provides a wide selection of newspapers, magazines, books and board games.

Complimentary Buffet Breakfast
A sumptuous buffet breakfast is served every morning in the Club Lounge.

Newspaper and Fresh Fruits
Every day, a selection of fresh tropical fruits is replenished and delivered to your room together with an international newspaper.

Free Suit Pressing and Shoeshine Service
Once you've settled in, the Club's friendly, attentive staff will arrange for your suit to be pressed and your shoes to be shined.

Purser Service
During your stay, the Club Purser is on hand to respond to your needs, from onward travel and hotel reservations to shopping and entertainment arrangements.

Complimentary Beverages
Throughout the day, you can help yourself to free fruit juices, soft drinks, tea and coffee. In the early evening, enjoy refreshing cocktails on the house.

FITNESS CENTER: The magnificent Fitness Center at China World Hotel features a heated indoor swimming pool and a state-of-the-art gym equipped with spacious exercise studios and the latest cardio-fitness machines. The squash and indoor tennis courts are some of the finest in Beijing, as are the steam rooms and jacuzzis. Guests may indulge in traditional Chinese massage or try out the city's only Oxygen Room.

Few cities in the world besides Beijing have served as the political and cultural center of an area as immense as China for so long. Considered as one of the world's great cities, since Beijing has been an integral part of China's history for centuries, there is scarcely a major building in the city that doesn't have at least some national historical significance. Beijing is renowned for its opulent palaces, temples, and huge stone walls and gates. Its art treasures and universities have long made the city an Asian center of art and culture.

Beijing is China's second largest city after Shanghai, with more than 17 million people. Beijing is one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China, and is recognized as the political, educational, and cultural center of the People's Republic of China, while Shanghai and Hong Kong predominate in economic fields.

Weather: The city's climate is a monsoon-influenced humid continental climate, characterized by hot, humid summers due to the East Asian monsoon, and generally cold, windy, dry winters that reflect the influence of the vast Siberian anticyclone. Average daytime high temperatures in January are at around 33°F, while average temperatures in July are around 87°F.

LOCAL ATTRACTIONS AND ACTIVITIES

Forbidden City
The work of a million workers, 100,000 of them artisans, toiling for 14 long years (1407 – 1420), The Forbidden City is the biggest palace complex in the world. Spanning a total of 74 hectares in Central Beijing, North of the Tiananmen Square, The Palace Museum as it is known today was declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO. Forbidden to the populace in the past, it is now a magnetic attraction for local and foreign visitors. Over 100 000 artifacts are displayed in several halls showcasing the wealth and splendour of the nation's heritage.

This monument of Ancient Chinese architectural grandeur served as a royal domain for 24 Emperors throughout the course of 5 centuries, until the expulsion of the last Chinese emperor in 1924. The rectangular construction is characterized by perfect symmetry and unassailability. The Protective red coloured walls around the complex reaching a height of 10 m. are further secured by the 6 m. deep moat that runs in front. Each wall has a gate while four gracefully constructed watch towers mark the corners of the fortification, providing an excellent view of the city.

The palace was divided into two sections. The outer court which is the southern part was used as the seat of government while the northern part, called the inner court was used as the abode of the Royal family. The royal colour, yellow is the predominant hue of the complex. Yellow, glazed roof tiles, decorations and bricks give it an air of luxurious grandeur. The Forbidden City contains a total of 9 999 rooms. Although it is impossible to peruse the entire building within a day, a visit to this ancient stronghold is imperative in experiencing China's vibrant past.

Surrounding the Forbidden City are several former imperial gardens, parks and scenic areas, notably the Beihai, Houhai, Shichahai, Zhongnanhai, Jingshan and Zhongshan. These parks are described as masterpieces of Chinese gardening art, and are popular tourist destinations with tremendous historical importance. During the modern era, Zhongnanhai has also been the political heart of various Chinese governments and regimes and is now the headquarters of the Communist Party of China.

Beihai Park
One of Beijing's many beautiful parks Beihai Park is a peaceful place to stroll, grab a snack, rent a boat, and watch calligraphers practicing characters on the paving slabs with brushes and water. The park was built by the Great Khan centuries before the Forbidden City.

Tiananmen Square
The world's largest public square, Tiananmen Square is an immerse courtyard with breathtaking views. The square is surrounded by a variety of historical edifices: the Chinese Revolution History Museum, Chairman Mao's Mausoleum, the Great Hall of the People, and the Monument of the People's Heroes. Tiananmen Square is the symbolic center of the Chinese universe. The rectangular arrangement, flanked by halls to the east and west, echoes the layout of the Forbidden City. Watch the impressive flag-raising ceremony performed at sunrise and sunset each day by a specially trained battalion of PLA troops.

Temple of Heaven
The most perfect example of Ming architecture, the Temple of Heaven was built specifically for worship of heaven and prayers for good harvests. The temple complex is a treasure trove of ancient Chinese architectural design and art. The temple halls, seen from above, are round and the bases are square, deriving from the ancient Chinese belief that heaven is round and the earth is square. Thus the northern end of the surrounding Temple of Heaven Park is semicircular and the southern end is square.

Other Temples and Pagodas
Located in the opposite direction of the Temple of Heaven at the northern part of the city are the Temple of Earth (Ditan), and the Temple of the Sun (Ritan) and Temple of the Moon (Yuetan), both respectively located in the eastern and western parts of the urban area. Other well-known temple sites located in Beijing include the Dongyue Temple, Tanzhe Temple, Miaoying Temple, White Cloud Temple, Yonghe Temple, Fayuan Temple, Wanshou Temple and the Big Bell Temple. The city also has its own Confucius Temple, and a Guozijian. The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception was built in 1605, and is the oldest Catholic church in Beijing. The Niujie Mosque is also the oldest mosque in Beijing, with a history over a thousand years old.

Beijing contains several well-preserved pagodas and stone pagodas, such as the towering Pagoda of Tianning Temple, which was built during the Liao Dynasty from 1100–1120, and the Pagoda of Cishou Temple, which was built in 1576 during the Ming Dynasty.

Ancient Bridges, Parks and Gardens
Several historically important stone bridges are also located in Beijing, including the 12th century Lugou Bridge, the 17th century Baliqiao bridge and the 18th century Jade Belt Bridge. The Beijing Ancient Observatory displays pretelescopic spheres dating back to the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Fragrant Hills (Xiangshan) is a popular scenic public park that consists of natural landscape areas as well as traditional and cultural relics. The Beijing Botanical Garden exhibits over 6,000 species of plants, including a variety of trees, bushes and flowers, and an extensive peony garden. The Taoranting Park, Chaoyang Park, Haidian Park and Zizhu Yuan are all popular recreational parks that consist of a variety of natural landscapes. The Beijing Zoo is a center of zoological research that also contains rare animals from various continents, including the giant panda of China.

Museums and Courtyard Houses
Beijing is also known for its siheyuan (courtyard houses) and hutong (alleys), although they are increasingly disappearing due to the growth of city constructions and are giving way to high-rises. The city has several well-preserved neighborhoods of shiheyuan, including some of the more grand courtyard houses, such as the Prince Gong Mansion. There are over hundreds of museums in Beijing, and aside from the Palace Museum in the Forbidden City and the National Museum of China, other major museums include the National Art Museum of China, the Capital Museum, the Beijing Art Museum, the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution, the Geological Museum of China, the Beijing Museum of Natural History and the Paleozoological Museum of China.

The Great Wall
Spanning over 8,850 km, the Great Wall of China is one of the greatest human architectural achievements ever. It wind its way over a range of geographical conditions from the East to the West of China, through nine provinces including Beijing. The construction of the gigantic project commenced over 2000 years ago. Certain parts of the wall are believed to approximately date back to the 5th century B.C while the final renovations and additions were completed in the 17th Century. At its inception the wall was not a continuous construction but separate fortifications of several states. The extant structure was mainly accomplished by Emperor Qin Shihuang of the Ming dynasty, who succeeded in uniting the nation under him in 214 B.C.

Originally assembled with earth, wood, stone and even grass, the use of bricks was adopted in the Ming dynasty. A multitude of Soldiers, convicts and locals laboured at the vast task of collecting and transporting material and building the fortification under the orders of contractors. The height of the wall generally reaches 9 m while the towers attain 12 m.

The Great Wall was intended to ward off the marauding Northern tribes, especially the Hsiung-nu. The interconnected watch towers served both as guarding and communicating posts. Messages were conveyed to the capital by smoke signals during day and fire at night. The wall also played a considerable role in the culture, history, foreign policy and economy of the nation. The source of many legends and folk lore, the gargantuan construction is a symbol of the indomitable perseverance and skill of the Chinese people.

Ming Tombs
Located at the outskirts of urban Beijing but within its municipality are the Thirteen Tombs of the Ming Dynasty, the lavish and elaborate burial sites of thirteen Ming emperors, which have been designated as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties".

The archaeological Peking Man site at Zhoukoudian is another World Heritage Site within the Beijing municipality, and it contains a wealth of discoveries, including one of the first specimens of Homo erectus, and an assemblage of bones of the gigantic hyena Pachycrocuta brevirostris. There are several sections of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Great Wall of China located in the municipality, most notably Badaling, Jinshanling, Simatai and Mutianyu.

Olympic Green
The primary venue for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Beijing Olympic Green is located in the northern end of the city's central axis. Occupying a total land area of 1,135 hectares, the Olympic Green includes eye-catching monuments and popular sightseeing attractions such as the National Stadium (popularly referred to as the “Bird's Nest”) and the National Aquatics Centre (known as the “Watercube”). Other sites in the Olympic Green include a forest park and lakes, the Olympic Village, the Olympics Tennis Courts, the National Indoor Stadium and the soon-to-be-completed China National Convention Centre (CNCC).

Shopping
Beijing has become one of the world's great international cities, with nearly every type of goods or service available. China World Hotel is attached to the China World Trade Center, which offers some of the city's finest shopping. Shopping at the local markets is an experience not to be missed. Beijing's most popular markets are the Xiushui (Silk Market), Panjiayuan and Pearl Market where you can find antiques, porcelain, lacquer ware, jade, carpets, silk, painting, calligraphy scrolls, handicraft, and embroidery. Flea markets operate on weekends throughout Beijing. Night markets usually conduct business at twilight, and bargaining is only possible with private vendors in street stalls.