CHAOYANG DISTRICT. A popular family day out and pleasant place to escape the hustle of the city. Blue Zoo features an underwater aquarium with electric walkway. The 3.5 million litre (770,000-gallon) tank contains thousands of tropical fish, sharks, rays, eels, coral reef fish, lobsters, sea horses and starfish.

QIANMEN DISTRICT. An extraordinary series of underground bunkers and tunnels stretches beneath Beijing city center. Built between 1969 and 1979, originally under the guidance of Chairman Mao, the 30 km (19 miles) of tunnels were excavated (often by schoolchildren) as air-raid shelters during China's Cold War spats with the US and the Soviet Union. The Underground City was built to house up to 6 million evacuees and was equipped with restaurants, clinics, schools, theaters, factories, a roller skating rink, a grain and oil warehouse as well as barber shops and a mushroom cultivation farm, for growing foods that require little light. It is rather damp in the tunnels, but a fascinating insight into the paranoia of the times.

CHAOYANG SOUTH DISTRICT. This remarkable tower was built in 1437 to house the astronomical observatory. During the Qing Dynasty, the Jesuits taught modern astronomy to the Chinese who used it largely for astrological calculations. Now a museum displays an interesting collection of astronomical devices, some locally constructed, others gifts to the emperor such as an azimuth from Louis XIV of France.

FENGTAI DISTRICT. Named after the great Italian explorer to the East, this splendid bridge is Beijing's oldest and was built in 1189. The bridge supports 485 individually carved stone lions. It was also the scene of the outbreak of war between China and the Japanese invaders in 1937. There is a memorial hall to the war adjacent to the bridge, with macabre military scenes depicting China's battles for independence. There are also horses for rent.

ZHUSHIKOU DISTRICT. Founded in 1951, this museum, just on the west side of the Temple of Heaven, contains an impressive collection of flora and fauna, including a complete dinosaur skeleton and a section on humans. Interesting collections on the five pillars of natural history ­ evolution, paleontology, zoology, botany and anthropology.