At Quanjude, a Beijing-based food corporation famous for its roast duck, one of the restaurant staff dressed as a character from the Beijing Opera Yang Yuhuan, the beloved consort of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and one of the four beauties in ancient China, gives away sugarcoated haws on a stick, a Beijing delicacy, to foreign tourists on March 18th, 2009.

Modern and traditional. A cosmopolitan metropolis and ancient capital. This is Beijing, capital of the People’s Republic of China, an oriental metropolis tinged with occidental flavor.

Every early morning, elderly folk in Beijing can be frequently seen walking along local streets and parks leisurely holding birdcages, for both physical exercise and personal enjoyment. On the streets, there is no lack of people in dignified suits or elegant cheongsams. Many locals can also be seen sporting the latest fashionable international brands.

Not far from the ancient Yin Ding Bridge, a well-known scenic spot built in the Ming period in Houhai, is the Xicheng District where there are several"imported cultural products"—bars. High-rises are everywhere you look, while narrow and long hutongs (alleys) can be found around the next corner.

In big hotels full of western flavors, servers decked out in Chinese-featured clothing welcome customers warmly, delivering food or pouring tea dexterously from long-mouthed copper teapots with Chinese characteristics.

Classical Peking Operas can be watched at the Chang’an Grand Theater, one of the well-known Peking Opera theaters built in 1937. And music lovers from foreign countries can be heard at times singing outside the Meridian Gate of the Palace Museum.

Yes, this is Beijing—an eastern metropolis with essences from the west.