3 Best Sights in Beijing, China

The fast-rising CBD encompasses the China World Trade Center (the third tower, completed in 2010, is the tallest building in Beijing) and a slew of new and impressive skyscrapers, some designed by internationally known architects. One example is the CCTV Tower, by Rem Koolhaas and Ole Scheeren. The multimillion-dollar complex employs a continuous loop of horizontal and vertical sections, and its distinctive shape has earned it the moniker "big pants." Nearby is The Place, a shopping mall best known for its massive canopy-style LED screen.

This quaint old street is best known for its antiques, books, and paintings. The street has been completely restored and a multitude of small shops, many privately owned, make it a fun place to explore, even if you're just window-shopping. Liulichang, often referred to as "Antiques Street," was built more than 500 years ago during the Ming Dynasty. It was the site of a large factory that made glazed tiles for the Imperial Palace. Gradually other smaller tradesmen began to cluster around, and at the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, booksellers began to move in. The area became a meeting place for intellectuals and a prime shopping district for art objects, books, handicrafts, and antiques. In 1949, Liulichang still had over 170 shops, but many were taken over by the state; the street was badly ransacked during the Cultural Revolution. Following large-scale renovation of the traditional architecture, the street reopened in 1984 under the policy that shops could only sell arts, crafts, and cultural objects. Today the street is a mixture of state-run and privately owned stores.

Established in 1893, this shop has thick bolts of silk, cotton, cashmere, and wool piled high, in more colors than you'll find in a box of crayons: chartreuse, candy-pink, chocolate-brown, fresh-cut-grass-green—you name it. Clerks deftly cut yards of cloth while tailors take measurements for colorful qipaos (traditional gowns). Even though you might not be shopping for fabric, in this corner of Beijing, life seems to continue much as it did a century ago.