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For years, Shanghai with its Blade Runner-esque skyline and thrusting commercialism was the only destination if you wanted the rush of a modern metropolis on mainland China.
Not anymore. A decade of relentless and often destructive development, accelerated by Olympic preparations, has transformed Beijing into an international city.
Art galleries, bohemian bars, outlet stores and saunas line streets that in the 1990s were filled with factories. The pre-Olympic greening of Beijing has softened its concrete jungle tendency with trees and gardens, and you're never far from a city park.
The newly extended modern subway makes it easier and more pleasant to explore Beijing's six main districts, at the unbelievably cheap rate of RMB2 (about 40c) a trip, no matter how far you go.
Beijing's red-hot contemporary art scene, with its subversive chutzpah, exemplifies the capital's reinvention. The obvious starting point for visitors is 798 Art Zone, aka Dashanzi Art District. Housed in a 50-year-old gutted military factory complex, the zone contains 100-plus galleries and studios. Touchstone galleries include the White Space Gallery, Beijing Commune, 798 Photo Gallery and Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (check out Wang Qingsong's Follow Me, a photo of a teacher in front of a blackboard scrawled with playful digs at the politics around the Beijing Olympics, such as "marathon" spelt with a McDonald's golden arches 'M').
A looser, less commercialised artist community has sprung up around the edges.
Cultured out and want to burn some yuan? Join Beijing's middle classes at one of its malls. Oriental Plaza on main shopping strip Wangfujing Dajie has mid-range international and Chinese chains.
If Gucci or Chanel and imperious shop assistants are more your thing, try Shin Kong Plaza or the China World Shopping Mall, which also has an ice-skating rink. The Village at Sanlitun has mainland China's first Apple store, a sure sign of elite retailer confidence.
For something more distinctly Chinese, you'll have to brave a market. The Silk Market, which sells clothing, shoes, accessories and knick-knacks, is pitched at tourists but worth the (mostly) friendly haranguing by shop assistants.
The rule of thumb is to counter-offer 10 per cent of the opening price and work your way up to no higher than a third. Harder said than done given the amenable Kiwi nature and the assistants' impressively slick spiel; so best to figure out what the product is worth to you and go no higher. (And don't assume the assistants are rewarded for their persistence: I asked one if she was paid commission; she wasn't, and her annual salary was RMB18,000
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