Peking University 北京大学西门内 ; admission Y5; 9am-4.30pm; Yuanmingyuan

Home to an important, well- presented collection of relics from primordial China, including the skeleton of the 280,000-year-old Jinniushan Man, this museum is tucked away on the leafy campus of Peking University. It’s a good spot to escape the hustle of Wudaokou. To get here, enter via the west gate of the university and follow the signs.

GREAT BELL TEMPLE 大钟寺

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A Beisanhuan Xilu 北三环西路甲 31 号; admission Y10; 9am-4.30pm; Dazhongsi

Ring the bell here and half of Beijing will hear it, because the centrepiece of this temple, which was once where emperors came to pray for rain, is a massive Ming-dynasty bell that weighs in at almost 50 tonnes. There’s a huge array of less imposing bells too, all inscribed with delicate characters. There’s an audio-guide available for Y10, although earplugs might be more suitable.

The decorative features of the Great Bell Temple are as glorious as the bells
RAY LASKOWITZ/LONELY PLANET IMAGES

OLD SUMMER PALACE 圆明园

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Www.yuanmingyuanpark.com.cn, in Chinese; 28 Qinghua Xilu 清华西路 28 号; ruins Y25, park Y10; 7am-7pm May-Aug, to 6.30pm Sep, Oct & Jan-Mar, to 5.30pm Nov & Dec; Yuanmingyuan

Not to be confused with the Summer Palace (see the boxed text), this once glorious complex was sacked by Anglo-French forces in 1860 during the Second Opium War, a humiliation the Chinese have still not forgotten. Although there was a palace here from the 12th century, the buildings destroyed were designed by Jesuit missionaries for Emperor Qianlong (1711–99) in an imitation of a European-style palace. Now, you can wander through the melancholy ruins and then stroll on through the massive park that surrounds them.

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