Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Of all the districts in Beijing, Chaoyang is the one that expats are most likely to live in or at
least spend a good portion of their time working or socializing in. It is the most international
and most cosmopolitan of all the districts. Not only is it home to all three embassy areas, but
it is also the district in which you'll find the CBD, nightspot Sanlitun, the 798 Art District,
the Beijing Capital International Airport, the phenomenal CCTV Headquarters, and many
other key places of business, leisure, and retail. There is nowhere else in the city that you
will find such a ready supply of Western conveniences, including international supermar-
kets, international hospitals, and quality Western restaurants and bars. The area has been all
but stripped of traditional China and replaced unapologetically with 21st century China.
The misleading thing about Chaoyang is that it's so vast that both living and working in
Chaoyang isn't a guarantee that your life is going to be convenient. The district stretches
for roughly 30 kilometers (19 miles) from north to south. That can easily convert into an
hour's drive in Beijing traffic. For this reason, when deciding where to live here, it's better
to think about the individual areas than the district as a whole.
