Social Activities

 During the conference, a tour to the Great Wall will be organized. For participants interested in other tourist sites, we provide the following brief info. More detailed information can be found at local travel agencies.

 China is a country full of fascinating tourist attractions. Below we name a few places that we think is worth visiting for visitors. Due to language problems, the most convenient way of visiting the places outside Beijing for foreigners would be to join a guided tour organized by the travel agencies.

 Beijing and around

 The Forbidden City is definitely at the highest priority to recommend. The Forbidden City used to be the Royal Palace in the Ming and Qing dynasty and now it is a meuseum open to the public. It is located at the center of the city of Beijing. One can take a taxi to the Museum and it costs about 30-40RMB, depending on the traffic. The ticket price of the museum is about 60RMB (might be even higher).

  Summer Palace is located just a few kilometers west of the campus of Peking University. It is a big royal garden built in the late Qing dynasty. Beautiful scenery combined with exquisite Chinese gardening has made it one the most popular touring site for visitors.

  Ming tombs are the tombs for the emporors of the Ming dynasty. There are 13 of them and only two of them now are open to the visitors. They are located 30km north of the city.

 Xi'An, Shan'xi province

If you are interested in the historical part of China, the city of Xi'An is definitely the first to choose. Xi'An served as the capital of ancient China for about 13 dynasties during more than 3000 years of history. To name some of the big dynasties: Western Zhou (13-8 century BC), Qin (3rd century BC), Han (3rd BC-3rd AD) and Tang (7-10 century AD).

The most famous attraction in Xi'An for visitors is the so-called Terra Cotta Warriors, discovered in 1972. These are live-sized clay figures (thousands of them!) made in the Qin Dynasty, 3rd century BC. There were used as accompanying figures for the great tomb of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor in Chinese history. In the suburb of Xi'An, you can also visit the tombs of the emporors of the Han and Tang dynasty.

 Shanghai and around

Shanghai is a big city even using Chinese standards with a population of about 15 million. It is commonly regarded as a window represending the modern China.

Close to the city of Shanghai are the cities of Suzhou and Wuxi. Both cities (especially Suzhou) is famous for its garderning and high quality silk products. These two cities are located some 100 kilometers west of Shanghai but can be reached conveniently from Shanghai within 1-2 hoursa via highway buses and train.

Southwest of Shanghaia (180km) is the city of Hangzhou.Hangzhou once was the capital of China (in South Song dynasty). It is famous for its beutiful scenery and Chinese gardening and good quality tea.