The Great Bell Temple

The Dazhong Si (Great Bell Temple;Tues-Sun 8am-4.30pm), is actually one of Beijing’s most interesting little museums, though it’s stuck out onBeisanhuan Lu, the north section of the third ring road, a long way fromanywhere; you could visit on the way to or from the Summer Palace ifyou’re travelling by taxi. Displayed to good effect in a converted temple, theexhibits, several hundred bronze bells from temples all over the country,are considerable works of art, their surfaces enlivened with relief texts in Chinese and Tibetan, abstract patterns and images of storks and dragons.

The odd creature perching on their tops is called a pulao, a legendary creatm which shrieks when attacked by a whale (the wooden poles with which the bel]s were struck arc carved to look like whales).The smallest bell is the size 0f a wine cup, the largest, hanging in thc back hall, is the size of a house.

A Ming creation, called the King of Bells, at fifty tonucs it’s the biggest and oldest bell in the world and reputedly can be heard up to 40kin away. You can climb up to a platform above it to get a closer look at some of the 250,000 characters on its surface, and join Chinese visitors in trying to throw a coin into the small hole in the top. Its method of construction, and the history of Chinese bell making, are explained in side halls. Tapes on sale 0fthe bells in action are more interesting than they n’fight appear; the shape of Chinese bells dampens vibrations, so they can be effectively used as instruments.

It’s not an obvious tourist attraction, but the whole of Haidian district,north of the zoo, bears mentioning - here you’ll find the more underground bars and clubs, plenty of Internet cafes, and on Zhongguangcun Lu, nick-named Electronics Street, a hi-tech zone of computer shops. In the north of the area, on the way to the Summer Palace, you’ll pass Beijing Daxue (Beida), the capital university. Originally established and administered by the Americans at the beginning of this century, it stood on Coal Hill in Jingshan Park and was moved to its present site in 1953.

Now busy with new contin gents of foreign students from the West, two decades ago it was half-deserted when the Cultural Revolution saw students and teachers alike dispersed for open schooling or re-education. Today, Chinese applicants are still required to spend a year in the army first. It’s the most prestigious university in China,with a pleasant campus - old buildings and quiet, well-maintained grounds make it nicer than most of the city’s parks. The technical college, Qinghua, is not far from here, to the east. Around the gates of both universities you’ll find small, inexpensive restaurants, bars and Internet cafes catering for the students.

Too see more Tourist Attractions in Beijing, Please click here.

Too see more information about China, Please click here.