Off the Beaten Path: Beijing

[You'll forgive me that this is the same message, slightly altered, that I've posted in the Russian and Mongolian sections!]

This is one that I'm sure is asked frequently -- if you could link me to some previously answered questions, that would be just as good...

...but I am planning to film a short documentary of my trip from London to Beijing via train and would like to include a few places that are relatively little-known and perhaps very strange in Beijing. I have already seen the Great Wall and the Forbidden Palace, etc...It would be really wonderful if I could poke into some less-trodden places -- museums devoted to little-known communist leaders, medical museums, etc. Whatever the Chinese equivalents of what you'd find on "Roadside America" (www.roadsideamerica.com) might be.

Thanks very much for your help!

There is the natural history museum in West Beijing, which has a display room full of cadavers. That is quite odd. However, photography is prohibited in that room.

There are plenty of places for people watching, especially in the early morning on the weekends. Check out my blog at Living Working and Travel in China

There is a Bell Museum in Beijing. Lots and lots of bells including some VERY large ones.

Ruth