The 2nd Annual Beijing Chaoyang International Spring Carnival will take place at Beijing Chaoyang Park (The Sun Park) from February 1 to 7.

The carnival aims to attract artists and performers from across the world to celebrate the Chinese traditional Spring Festival and to offer a special festival atmosphere to visitors.

Various shaped windmills will be a highlight of the park. Performers from Canada, Germany and America will attend.

By holding such an international carnival, Chaoyang Park, the largest recreational park at the east end of downtown, will offer the opportunity to experience a western carnival atmosphere at a Chinese traditional festival. Visitors can dance and sing with performers. Foreign singers, dancers, musicians and street performers will join jugglers and magicians to show off their skills.

A food street will offer delicacies to visitors. Some star hotels like the Hilton, Guomao and restaurants like Chain Cool will display their wares.

Lots of entertainment facilities are laid on daily for visitors.

For more information, call 6506-1600.

Entrance ticket: 10 yuan (US$1.2)

Tel for ticket: 6506-1800. Tickets are available at the South Gate of the park.

Laoshe Teahouse Show

Laoshe Teahouse recreates the charm of old Beijing. It has become a favoured place for foreigners to know something about China. It's also where Beijing locals often meet during the Spring Festival.

Daily, people from around the world come to appreciate Beijing Opera, drama, acrobatics and some other Beijing folk arts.

Guests can taste real local Beijing snacks here.

Named after the famous Chinese author, Lao She, and one of his better-known works, Teahouse, the place offers the grandeur of old Beijing.

The Qing Dynasty-style snacks at Lao She Teahouse are all made from the finest ingredients.

Da Wan Cha is an new drinking item there. By paying 2 fen, you can drink a big bowl of tea before the desk at the entrance of the teahouse.

The parking lot below can accommodate over 100 cars.

Cost: Around 100 yuan (US$12) to drink tea and watch a performance.

Location: 3 Qianmen Xidajie, about 300 metres southwest of Tian'anmen Square.

How to get there: by subway to Qianmen.

Tel: 6303-6830, 6304-6334

Chinese Traditional Carnival: Temple Fairs

More than a dozen places around Beijing will hold traditional temple fairs during the upcoming Spring Festival from January 31 to February 8.

Among these sites, the best is Ditan (the Temple of Earth) Park.

It was here that emperors would make sacrifices to please the earth gods. The park comes alive once a year during the Chinese Spring Festival) when extravagant Miaohui festivals are held to welcome the spring planting season and to appease the earth gods.

This year's fair will open with a performance imitating the Qing Dynasty sacrificial ceremony. Activities and events during the fair will include folk performances, fashion shows and a food street.

Other main attractions in the temple fairs will include streets with snack food stores, Chinese folk goods, art works, pottery displays, pot flowers and plants.

If you're looking, you can also pick up cheap books,, DVDs and try various sports.

To get there, Yonghegong subway; bus 13, 16, 62 for the south gate; trolley bus 104, 108, or bus 27, 358, 119, 407, 328, 803 or 912 for west gate. Also Andingmen subway.

Ticket price: 6 yuan (72 US cents) for individuals.

For more information: 6421-4657

Zigong Lantern Display

The Working People's Culture Palace and Longfeng Mountain Villa are the two places in Beijing for the display of Zigong lanterns during the Spring Festival.

Hundreds of lanterns made of silk, porcelain, cloth, paper and bamboo will be on display from January 31 to February 14.

The Zigong Lantern Festival is renowned for its cultural attainment with numerous masterpieces and no shortage of pomp and pageantry.

It the first time that Zigong lanterns have come to the Working People's Culture Palace.

The lanterns, which as a rule are marked by superb craftsmanship, are woven of thin bamboo strips and covered with colourful silk fabrics or paper.They are grouped into clusters of several hundred to form a spectacular show of form, colour and movements.

The best time to see the lanterns is at night.

Opening time of the Beijing Working People's Culture Palace: 8:30 am to 9:30 pm. Entrance ticket: 8 yuan (96 cents) by day and 15 yuan (US$2) at night.

Tel: 6512-2103

Location: North side of Tian'anmen Square.

Opening time at Longfeng Mountain Villa: 8:00 am to 9:30 pm, daily from January 30 to February 15. Ticket: 10 yuan (US$1.2).

Tel: 6980-1740

Location: Fengcun Village, Mentougou District

Ice and Snow Lantern Show

A grand ice and snow sculpture show is underway in Ditan Park (The Earth Park). It is expected to last until the end of February.

This is the second year that Harbin's ice sculptures have come to Beijing.

These sculptures vary in shape. Some resemble Olympic logos, courtyards, lanterns and famous Chinese ancient buildings like the Temple of Heaven and the Forbidden City.

All these sculptures have been produced by artists from Harbin in Heilongjiang Province, the home of ice and snow sculpture.

The ice show is just one part of the Ditan Temple Fair. It is the grandest in Beijing, thanks to its various recreational items, huge area of fair sites and combination of modern culture and traditional styles.

How to get there: Bus routes 18, 104, 108, 358, 27, 113 arrive at the West gate of Ditan Park, and you can also get there by subway to the Yonghegong Station.

Location: Ditan Park, Dongcheng District.

Tel for ice and snow show: 6427-3127

Shehuo: Perfect Parades

Shehuo, a unique, centuries-old local variety show performed in Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces, still holds its charm for locals during the Chinese Spring Festival.

If you are planing a short trip outside of Beijing, Pingyao Ancient City in Shanxi Province is a top choice.

The strong local flavor of the {shehuo} parade is very much like Beijing's annual temple fair in Ditan Park.

But that culture is, to some extent, different from Beijing's temple fair in its performances and celebration.

Shehuo is a kind of folk art acted outdoors by local farmers during Spring Festival and the traditional Lantern Festival, which both come in February.

Usually, the shehuo show includes stilt-walking, horse-riding, lion dances, dragon dances and the land-boat yangko (the land-boat is a model boat used as a stage prop.)

Shehuo has become a folk recreational activity showing people's happiness and expressing their good wishes. The main activities include enjoying the lantern display in the ancient city of Pingyao, hanging lucky bells in Mianshan, watching performances in the Wang family compound and sitting on sedan chairs in the Qiao family compound in Qixian County.

How to get there:

By train: Take train routes K701 at Beijing Railway Station (180 yuan/US$22 for a sleeping berth). It takes 10 hours to Taiyuan, the capital city of Shanxi Province.

By air: Flights are available daily between Beijing and Taiyuan (400 yuan/48 one way).

By bus: There are many tour buses running between Taiyuan and Pingyao. It takes one hour and costs about 10 yuan (US$1.2).

Nanshan Ski Resort

The resort was completed at the end of last winter. As one of the newly developed ones, Nanshan Ski Slopes is considered better than most. It is place for those who usually complain Beijing's ski slopes are so short that they cannot fully exploit their skill.

Covering a area of 133 hectares, Nanshan offers a wide range of activities including snow skiing, water skiing sledging and gliding.

Snow slopes for veteran skiers and novices are available.

Here you can find a U-shape slope for snowboarders. Snow motorcycles, snow frisbee and snow sledges are offered here for children. Though the ski slopes and all the skiing facilities are more advanced and well-equipped than many others around Beijing, Nanshan Ski Resort remains competitively priced.

The cost for skiing here is 140 yuan (US$16.8) for two hours, 160 yuan (US$19) three hours and 180 yuan (US$22) for four hours.

It will take you 90 minutes from downtown Beijing to the ski slopes. It is three kilometres from the town of Miyun, a suburban city 75 kilometres northeast of Beijing.

How to get there: Take Dong-Mi (Dongzhimen to Miyun) Bus Route at Dongzhimen to Xidaqiao Station (10 yuan/US$1.2) and then find a taxi (10 yuan/US$1.2) to Nanshan Huaxuechang.

(Beijing Weekend January 31, 2003)