If Tiananmen and the Forbidden City form the very center of Beijing, the Central Business District (CBD for short) is the capital¡¯s business downtown. Unlike the tourist spots, which give you a glimpse of Beijing¡¯s past, the CBD reflects Beijing¡¯s present.
Avic Hotel
Avic Hotel is located in the middle of the CBD, on the east side of Dongsanhuan Zhonglu (the East 3rd Ring Road). A short walk around the Avic Hotel, and you will see how Beijing looks today.
This article will take you to Silk Street, where you will experience the Chinese way of shopping, i.e. haggling with vendors in front of their small booths! The walking distance from the Avic Hotel to Silk Street is only 10-15 minutes. However, you will likely want to spend an hour inside to buy various gifts, souvenirs, and other products.
The immediate neighborhood
Stepping out of the west entrance of the Avic Hotel, you will face the East 3rd Ring Road. Right in front of you, the huge Guomao Bridge stretches across the intersection. Heavy traffic flows incessantly across the bridge. The sidewalk is crowded at all times. Patches of greenery are covered with lawns and shrubs, and dotted with maidenhair trees. On the other side of the avenue, numerous white-colored office buildings form a business area named ¡®Soho¡¯.
Turn right and head northward along the 3rd ring road. The next building on your right is the Raise Plaza. This is a non-descript office building, one of the many lining the streets of modern Beijing. On the first floor, a coffee shop owned by a Canadian group and named Nebur-king Coffee offers various refreshments and Western-style meals. Cigarettes, Liquors & Teas Shop
For those of you smokers and social drinkers looking for outlets where to indulge in your favorite vice, there is a shop (Yan Jiu Cha Chao Shi) specializing in famous Chinese cigarettes (Yan), liquors (Jiu) and teas (Cha) near the Raise Plaza building. Prices there are relatively cheap. Be aware that most Chinese hard liquors are very strong, with a usual 53% alcohol content. This shop also carries various Chinese teas, such as Longjing, Tie Guanyin, and Pu¡¯er. These make good presents.
BaGuoBuYi Cuisine Restaurant
Adjacent to the Raise Plaza lie Yingjia Center (another office building) and Beijing CSN Hotel, which shelters China Southern Airlines. Look up and you will see a big signboard adorning the facade of the Beijing CSN Hotel building. It reads BaGuoBuYi Cuisine Restaurant. Located on the second floor of the building, this place specializes in Sichuan cuisine.
7-Eleven
If you turn right at the corner of the Beijing CSN Hotel, you will see a number of restaurants serving hot pot (a traditional Chinese dish), Japanese noodles, and curries. On your right side, a 7-Eleven opened 24/7 offers fresh Chinese fast food at lunch and dinner times. Unfortunately for you drivers, there are no gas pumps to go along with this convenience store: in China the distribution of oil is the monopoly of China Oil.
The Exchange Beijing
Pushing northward along the 3rd ring road brings you to an office building named The Exchange Beijing. On its second floor there is a famous Chinese noodle restaurant called Master Kong Chef¡¯s Table. They serve 10 kinds of tasty noodles, and their prices range from RMB 18 to RMB 108. Only 10 bowls of the highest priced noodle dish are served each day: it features very tender beef meat.
Guomao Bridge
Past The Exchange Beijing, you will arrive at the southeast corner of the Guomao Bridge. The huge modern building on the corner is the China Merchants Tower. Looking northward, you can see the cylindrical China Garments Mansion, an office building occupied by China Garments Group. Its blue glass curtain wall and its cone-shaped dome lend this building a unique look.
The Capital Tower
Turn left, step westward, and cross the street. You will arrive at the southwest corner of the Guomao Bridge, on Jianguomenwai Avenue. The Soho business area stands on your left side. Continue walking and you will soon see the 40-story high Capital Tower with its blue glass windows. At the foot of this jumbo tower, rockeries, lawns, trees, and a shallow pond make a nice urban scenery.
The Twin Towers
The Twin Towers Further away stand the Twin Towers. These elegant 30-story office buildings dwarf the 5-story Twins Mall which is sandwiched in between. The Twins Mall is a high-end shopping venue.
The Silk Street
The Silk Street Cross to the other side of the avenue through underpass to visit the famous Silk Street market (Xiu Shui). A popular saying among foreign travelers states: ¡®Enjoy the Great Wall, enjoy Peking Duck, and enjoy Silk Street.¡¯ This international market was developed over 20 years ago. With over 1,500 booths, it is a magnet for a huge crowd of shoppers looking for shoes, bags, leather, clothing, silk, handicrafts, or jewelry. Most of the sales personnel has received some English training, so foreigners can try their bargaining skills. Bargaining is in fact one of the major features of the Silk Street market.
The Guiyou Store
Time to return to the Avic Hotel. Head out of the Silk Street Market, turn left and cross the street: the first building on your left is the Guiyou Store. The goods sold there are middle to high-end.
A bit further, a Starbucks coffee shop offers a welcome halt, and a good spot to enjoy the street scene. While the menus of the Chinese McDonald¡¯s and KFC may contain some surprisingly different items, the Starbucks coffee shops have retained their original Starbucks menu to the exception perhaps of the green-tea frappacino, a must-try for green tea-lovers.
Dinner anyone?
If you are hungry, the Justine¡¯s French restaurant on the first floor of the Jianguo Hotel is the oldest and most popular French restaurant in Beijing. Its hardwood floor, dark furniture, mosaic glass decor, chandeliers, and murals are reminders of the classic style of French brasseries.
If you¡¯d rather have Chinese food, go a little further to the Shang Court Restaurant, which specializes in the imperial court cuisine of the Qing Dynasty. The imperial-style cuisine is characterized by choice ingredients, fancy decoration, and special tableware.
If you want to conclude your dinner with a good cigar, walk to the Beijing Jinglun Hotel. On the first floor the Casa Habana Cigar Club offers a full selection of authentic Cuban cigars.
The China World Trade Center
You are now close to the northwest corner of the Guomao Bridge. To your left, the brown glass buildings make up the China World Trade Center, with the China World Hotel in the center.
Cross the street using the zebra, and walk to the southeast corner of the Guomao Bridge. A short walk southward along the 3rd ring road will get you back at the Avic Hotel.
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