Walt Disney used to say that "the park is the ride." China is much the same. However, the attractions themselves are also sublime.

In April, I was able to experience some of them.

Beijing, the busy capital and storied Peking of the Qing Dynasty Era, was an excellent starting point. Our tour group stayed at the Prime Hotel, centrally located near Tianamen Square and up to five-star Western standards.

Olympic sites

On 8/8/08 at 8 p.m. (eight is a lucky number for the Chinese), the Summer Olympics will begin in Beijing. More than 500,000 foreign visitors are expected.

If you won't be one of them, don't worry. The Olympic venues will remain, so catch them on a later visit. The new buildings will still be impressive.

Beijing is known for its modernistic architecture. The National Stadium, known as the "Bird's Nest," covers 64 acres and seats 100,000 people. Its curved gridlike outer structure of unwrapped steel looks like nothing so much as a bird's nest.

Designed by the Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron and the China Architecture Design Institute, the building will be the site of Olympic track and field and football events.

Inflatable cushions fill the spaces between the girders to regulate wind, water and sunlight. Cost: $450 million U.S. dollars. Impact: Priceless.

Just as amazing is the National Aquatic Center. The venue, known as the "Water Cube," looks like a pool of water turned into a building. It covers 16 acres and will be the site of Olympic competitions in swimming, diving, water polo and synchronized swimming.

The outer wall is a foam and plastic structure modeled after gigantic soap bubbles. Each bubble is incorporated in plastic film and continuously inflated. The wall is translucent and glows blue from the inside at night.

These buildings, along with the Olympic Village, are at Olympic Forest Park, a 1,900-acre urban green zone in the center of Beijing. How did it get there?

Large areas of the old city, the Hutang, were demolished to make room. When we visited, trees and bushes were still being planted, and the 18-hole golf course was not yet completed.

But the Chinese government hopes that a 24-hour work schedule will have everything finished by August. It is also hoped that this large swath of greenery will help improve air quality, always a problem in Beijing.

While the Olympics are the current show, the older attractions easily hold their own.

Tianamen Square is huge. The largest square in the world, it can hold 1 million people. It is also, through the Gate of Heavenly Peace and under the portrait of Chairman Mao, the gateway to the Forbidden City.

Forbidden City

The Forbidden City was home to the emperors and their courts until the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1912. Covering more than 170 acres and consisting of 980 buildings and almost 9,000 rooms, it is staggering in concept and impact.

The best way to visit is to start at one end and walk through, but give yourself several hours.

Also noteworthy is the Temple of Heaven, a Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) pagoda in the center of the city. Perhaps even more intriguing is the approach to the temple.

You will see groups of Chinese engaging in activities ranging from ballroom dancing to tai chi to group singing, accompanied by traditional Chinese instruments. We found this again and again in China.

The Chinese people love their national treasures and flock to them in great numbers. The groups are friendly and energetic, and to walk by each one on your way to the temple is to see something uniquely Chinese.

I would also recommend a visit to the Hutang. Beijing is an international city of 17 million, with more skyscrapers than any city other than New York, but it still has a number of these old neighborhoods.

After a quick lunch at a restaurant just outside the Hutang walls, we were off by rickshaw to explore the mud brick buildings, courtyards and narrow alleys of old Peking.

Earlier we had made arrangements through our tour guide to visit a school and a private home. I would highly recommend both.

To have a group of 10-year-olds sing to you is touching, and the modest home of the artist we visited was fascinating. His work was for sale, and we purchased classically beautiful florals and landscapes for 300 to 600 yuan - approximately $43 to $86 - a fraction of what such work would cost in the States.

Great Wall

During the 1½-hour drive to the Great Wall, we stopped at the Ming Tombs and The Long Di Supe Kior Jade Gallery. Here, a caveat:

In China, there is jade, and there is jade. Sometimes what is presented as jade is inferior quality or even glass or plastic. You will want genuine jadite, known for its exceptional color, hardness and translucency.

The Long Di Supe Kior is entirely reputable, and although the genuine article is not cheap, it is much less expensive than you would pay in the States.

If the Forbidden City is, well, forbidding, then the Wall is just plain fun. We arrived the day after a 6-inch snowfall, unusual for April, and found ourselves slipping and sliding our way up and along this noble edifice.

The Wall is not straight. It goes up. It goes down. It makes turns and is interrupted by towers and turrets. Sometimes it is quite steep. But it is quite simply a blast.

As mentioned earlier, the Chinese love their monuments, and thousands were with us on the Wall. (Don't worry - it's a big wall.)

They will help you and you will help them as you join this large army navigating by steps and handrails the intricacies and vagaries of this most amazing of human endeavors.

The Chinese have a good sense of humor and a great capacity to enjoy, and both were in evidence during our time on the Wall. It was fun to drop all sense of inhibition and foreignness and join in the flow.

Many of the Chinese were from the rural provinces where Westerners are still a novelty. It is not unusual for a rural mother to nudge you toward her child while the father takes your picture.

A word about the vendors: They do exist on the Wall and will try to sell you everything from Louis Vuitton knockoffs to postcards to refrigerator magnets.

My advice: Drop any uptightness about the matter. No one means to be rude; this is simply the vendors' livelihood. If you are not interested, a simple "Wo bu yao" ("I don't want it") will suffice. Most vendors are young and enjoying the excitement and energy on the Wall as much as you are.

Better yet, join in the fun, pick something Aunt Edna back in Topeka would give her eyeteeth to have and bargain.

The Chinese love to bargain, and if you enter into it with spirit, it can be incredible fun. Start low and, with an occasional "Tai gui le" ("Too much"), inch your way up. You should be able to get what you want for one-fourth or less of the opening price.

Our final stop in Beijing was the Summer Palace. At 776 acres, it is the largest garden complex in China and contains a number of exquisite Qing Dynasty residences and temples.

Dr. Mark F. Davy has been a family physician in the Richmond area for 25 years. His hobbies include travel, amateur photography and freelance writing.