BEIJING — In Chinese, the number 8 sounds like the word for wealth, and when the Summer Olympics kick off at 8:08 on the evening of Aug. 8, Beijing will showcase its newfound prosperity.

About 1.5 million foreigners are expected to attend the Olympics, which will be followed by the Paralympic Games in September.

Craig Simons / AJC (ENLARGE)

Tourists can walk on sections of the Great Wall that aren't overrun by crowds if they're willing to venture to more remote sites.

Craig Simons / AJC (ENLARGE)

A man sells handmade candies on Beijing's Nanluogu Lane, an alley popular with locals and tourists.

Craig Simons / AJC (ENLARGE)

Be ready to bargain over purchases and if the price isn't to your liking, walk away. You'll find more souvenirs in other markets.

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They will see grand new architecture befitting the world's fourth-largest economy — a $417 million National Stadium covered in interlocking steel girders, a titanium-coated theater in a reflecting pool by Tiananmen Square and a soaring new China Central Television headquarters that some people have likened to the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell's novel "1984" (Orwell described that building as "startlingly different from any other object in sight").

Yet Beijing is also the center of China's imperial past and a trip to the city offers the country's unique traditions — arts, architecture and culinary delicacies that Americans are just learning to appreciate.

Forbidden City

No trip to Beijing would be complete without a visit to the Forbidden City, the exclusive home to Chinese emperors for some 500 years and the country's most impressive structure (even after the CCTV headquarters is finished).

Start your tour in Tiananmen Square, the vast paved space at Beijing's heart, where demonstrators called for political freedoms in 1989. Today, the square is tightly controlled by police, many of them unsuccessfully trying to blend into the crowds (their dark sunglasses are a dead giveaway).

But the square is also an extremely social place for foreign tour groups, families visiting from across China and retirees looking for a patch of sky to fly kites. The space provides impressive views of the Great Hall of the People, the chief legislative building of the Chinese government, and a mausoleum preserving the remains of late Chinese Communist Party leader Mao Zedong.

Plan to take at least four hours to tour the Forbidden City, and rent an audio-recorded guide at the front gate for a historical overview. The chief temples and halls fall along a central north-south axis, but save half your time to explore quieter halls and museums on the east and west. A museum displaying ornate clocks given to emperors by foreign suitors is especially interesting and is just east of the only coffee shop in the palace.

After exiting the Divine Military Genius Gate at the Forbidden City's northern end, cross the street and climb the hill in Jingshan Park. It was built with earth excavated from the palace moat and provides excellent views of Beijing and an introduction to China's slower passions — bird rearing, tai chi and long, leisurely strolls.

Explore the hutongs

The hutongs — narrow alleyways lined with antique, squat buildings used as shops and residences — are to the Forbidden City as the stately homes of Washington's Georgetown district are to the White House. China's emperors housed their underlings in the winding streets around the palace, and the lanes preserve much of Beijing's culture.

A tour of the hutong neighborhoods is best done on foot or bicycle (rentals are available for $9 per day from Cycle China, next to Jingshan Park at 12 Jingshan Dong Road; 011-86-10-6402-5653). Get a city map and ask your concierge to chart a route beginning at the southern end of Nanluogu Lane, a street popular with locals and tourists for its eclectic mix of bars, restaurants and shops.

For a sense of older Beijing, turn down any of the side streets or go a few blocks north to Guozijian Street, where you can visit the Confucius Temple and Imperial College (8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.; 13 Guozijian St.) to see where top imperial-era students studied about China's most important philosopher.

A half-block west, stop in Bannerman's Toy Shop (38 Guozijian St.) to see handcrafted toys, including kites and beautifully painted figurines. Then head several blocks west to Houhai, a man-made lake popular with anglers, swimmers, strollers and lovers.

Real Chinese food

For the best Chinese food, forget lemon chicken and head to Xiao Wang Fu (inside the north gate of Ritan Park; 011-86-10-8561-5985), a perennial favorite. The menu is in English and the Peking Duck — wood-oven-roasted ducks carved at your table and served with thin flour pancakes and sweet plum sauce — is among the best in Beijing.

Connoisseurs looking for upscale Chinese food should visit the Whampoa Club (23A Financial St., 011-86-10-8808-8828), a restaurant opened last year by Jereme Leung, China's celebrity chef. Leung's tasting menus include delicacies such as pan-fried foie gras with dates and glutinous rice, a favorite. Meals for two run between $50 and $200.

Or visit Dali Courtyard (67 Xiaojingchang Hutong; 011-86-10-8404-1430; ask your concierge to locate it on a map, as it is hard to find), a beautiful traditional Chinese home serving excellent set meals from China's southwest for $15 per person. If the evening is warm, reserve an outdoor table.

Shops and markets

If you like bargains, you can happily while away a day browsing shops at the Ritan Shangwu Building (15A Guanghua Road, just east of the south gate of Ritan Park). A few dozen small stores sell high-quality women's clothing and accessories, some of it bearing unauthorized designer names (clerks often claim the goods are factory seconds, but it's best to assume that all name-brand goods are fake). One favorite store for dresses and outerwear is shop number 1008.

For a nearly endless selection of Chinese curios, paintings, calligraphy, jewelry, ceramics and furniture, visit the Panjiayuan Market (on the south side of Panjiayuan Road; concierges can instruct taxi drivers). Bargaining is essential: If you look like a tourist, start by cutting the offered price by 75 percent; if they balk, you'll find a similar item in another part of the market.

Walk the Great Wall

A Chinese saying states that a boy becomes a man when he visits the Great Wall, the series of towers and parapets that meander most of the way across northern China.

The best way to get a sense of the wall's grandeur is in small groups, an impossibility at popular sections of the wall. Instead, book a night at the Commune by the Great Wall (011-86-10-8118-1888; search for Beijing on www.kempinski.com; doubles start at $300), a comfortable hotel that includes 12 buildings designed by top Asian architects. Guests can tour unoccupied villas and hike 15 minutes to an unrestored section of the Great Wall that offers several miles of hiking.

Visit the museums

Get an overview of Beijing's traditions and future at its best museums. The Capital Museum (9 a.m.-5 p.m.; $3 entrance; 16 Fuxingmenwai St.; 011-86-10-6337-0491; www.capitalmuseum.org.cn) has well-designed English-language displays about Chinese architecture, folk culture and history.

The National Art Museum of China (9 a.m.-5 p.m.; 1 Wusi St.; 011-86-10-6400-1476) displays a wide selection of Chinese art. Most interesting is a collection of 20th-century works divided by decade — calligraphy and landscapes in the 1920s give way to social realism in the 1940s and recent abstract art.

The Beijing Municipal Planning Exhibition Hall (9 a.m.-5 p.m.; 20 Qianmen Dong Road; 011-86-10-6702-4559) displays old and new Beijing. Most impressive is a giant scale model of how the city of 17 million will look at the end of the year.

Like most Chinese museums and galleries, all three museums are closed Mondays.

View modern art

As Chinese artists grapple with the country's rapid cultural shifts, they have created the world's up-and-coming avant-garde art epicenter. Top works have recently sold at Western auction houses for millions of dollars.

China's creative center is the 798 Dashanzi Art District, a former industrial complex at 4 Jiuxianqiao Road, where visitors should spend a day wandering through dozens of galleries, bookstores and studios.

Two of the best galleries are the 798 Photo Gallery and the 798 Space near the complex's center (buy a map at a cafe on your way in the gate). At Cafe, next to 798 Space, serves good lunches and coffee.

IF YOU GO

Getting there

China requires Americans to have visas before arrival. Information is available at www.china-embassy.org/eng and www.nyconsulate.prchina.org/eng. Many travel agents can arrange for visas via express mail.

Several U.S. carriers fly to Beijing. United offers nonstop flights from Chicago, Washington and San Francisco, while Continental flies from Newark, N.J. Delta flies nonstop to Shanghai from Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Tourists can connect from Shanghai to Beijing. Expect to pay $1,600 or more round trip from Atlanta to Beijing.

Beijing can be expensive or cheap. Thirty-minute taxi rides cost roughly $8 while dinners range from $2 to $200 per person.

Where to stay

Many hotels are booked for the Olympics. To save money, consider renting a private apartment by searching on www.beijingolympicapartment.com.

Three recommended hotels: Guxiang 20 (doubles from $146 a night; 20 Nanluogu Lane; 011-86-10-6400-5566, www.guxiang20.com), a clean and comfortable boutique hotel in the center of a traditional Chinese neighborhood; the Emperor Hotel (doubles from $200; 33 Qihelou St.; 011-86-10-6526-5566), a modern hotel with a good rooftop bar across from the Forbidden City; and the Peninsula Beijing (doubles from $343; 8 Jinyu Alley; 011-86-10-8516-2888, www.beijing.peninsula.com), one of the city's top hotels, with excellent service, spacious rooms and a good location near the Forbidden City and shopping areas.