South of Tian'anmen
The Qianmen area, to the south of Tian'anmen, offers a
tempting antidote to the prodigious grandeurs of the Forbidden City
- and a quick shift of scale. The lanes and hutongs here
comprise a traditional shopping quarter , full of small,
specialist stores which to a large extent remain grouped according
to their particular trades. It's a part of the city to browse in,
and a good place to eat, with one of the best selections of snacks
available in the capital. Down Qianmen Dajie, once the Imperial
Way, now a clogged road clustered with small shops, the Museum
of Natural History contains a gruesome surprise and
Tiantan , the ravishing Temple of Heaven, perfectly set in
one of Beijing's best parks, is an example of imperial architecture
at its best.
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