If you are craving some authentic Beijing cuisine, look no further than the Haiwanju Restaurant with its Black Bean Sauce Noodles of old Beijing, a daily necessity for Beijingers. This restaurant, of typical Chinese style, serves traditional food in a lively Old Beijing atmosphere.

The restaurant's decor is that of a simple eatery in Beijing with wooden tables and pews. The menu is not offered in English which necessitates that some customers may need to point to pictures on the menu or to what other diners are eating. The servers, dressed in either red or blue, are efficient and considerate. They shout across the room to announce customers arriving and leaving. Staple dishes like traditional Beijing-style "za jiang mian" (noodles with black bean sauce) and boiled dumplings are not to be missed.  The handmade noodles are topped with vegetables and salty bean and pork sauce. This is hearty, traditional food and can really fill you up and ward off the sharp northern wind during the winter.

Recommended noodle: noodles with black bean sauce
Other recommendations: Beijing style sausage; boiled hawthorn with syrup and honey

Opening hours: 10:00--22:00

1. Capital Museum
At a cost of 1.23 billion yuan (US$147 million), the new Capital Museum can accommodate 2,000 visitors daily. With a floor area of more than 60,000 square meters, Capital Museum is second only to the National Museum of China in terms of size. To see all the exhibitions in the new museum, it would take at least four or five hours. There are 5,622 items on display, almost 10 times the number of exhibits displayed at the old venue. With its magnificent architecture, abundant exhibitions, advanced technology and complete functions, the Capital Museum, large and modern, makes its contribution to the titles such as "famous historical and cultural city", "cultural center" and "international metropolis" of Beijing and ranks among the first class museums both at home and abroad.

To make visits more convenient for foreign visitors, English and Japanese services are available. Other languages will be added in the future.

2. Lama Temple
Lama Temple is one of the key historic sites under national protection. It lies in the southeast corner of north 2nd Ring Road. It is one of the largest lamaseries of Tibetan Buddhism that remain in Beijing. At first it was the residence of Emperor Yongzheng before he was crowned. In the years of Qianlong it was changed into a lamasery, and began to serve as the headquarters of the Qing government's administration of Tibetan Buddhism affairs.

Address: Westwards 200m, Zengguang Road, Haidian District
Telephone: 8610-88374993
Bus: 102, 103, 320 and get off at Ganjiakou Shopping Centers
Opening hours: 10:00--22:00

Recommended noodle: noodles with black bean sauce
Other recommendations: Beijing style sausage; boiled hawthorn with syrup and honey