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Beijing is commonly considered the center of Chinese culture. It is home to many museums, theaters, architectural monuments, and universities. Beijing has its own linguistic dialect, characterized by the addition of a harsh "r" sound to the end of many words. This dialect has been adopted as the standard form of Mandarin in China.
Beijing is known for its Siheyuan architectural style which predominates the city's Hutong, or alleyway, neighborhoods. These typically single-story homes are built around courtyards and often communal hallways and bathrooms. This style of housing produces a vibrant street life in the neighborhoods and is characteristic of Beijing's old city.
Beijing Opera is considered by many to be the highest achievement of Chinese cultural development. Beijing opera combines song and dialog with stylized and symbolic gestures and movements. The operas use a special dialect that can be very difficult to understand. Fortunatly, most popular theaters in Beijing display subtitles in both English and standard Mandarin.
The cuisine in Beijing has been influenced by cooking techniques from all over China. However, Beijing restaurants do feature some dishes that are unique or characteristic of the city. The most famous is the Beijing roast duck, more commonly known as Peking Duck. Imperial cuisine, the food specially developed for China's emperors, is also unique to Beijing and can be found at many specialized Beijing restaurants.
Beijing is also the center of the Chinese art scene. There are dozens of galleries exhibiting the work of modern and contemporary Chinese artists. There are also many museums dedicated to various forms of traditional art including painting, sculpture, ceramics, and crafts. The national art museum is located on the east side of Tienanmen Square.
Famous traditional crafts of Beijing include cloisonné metalworking, Beijing laquerware, combs hand carved from bone, and carvings of traditional scenes on a rice grain sized piece of ivory. Beijing is also known for its "silk flowers" which appear on hair broaches as well as in wreaths and bouquets.
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