DIALOGO+_GRUPO+2+BEIJING

Marga Mangas. **
 * Ahí envio el dialogo sobre visita de Beijing

**__ A guided visit to Beijing __**

**__ Thelma Turner __** : Good morning ladies and gentlemen; welcome to the National Hotel. My name is Thelma Turner and I am your travel courier here in Beijing, the capital of the People’s Republic of China. “Worldwide Tours” and I hope you will enjoy your stay at the hotel as well as the activities we have got ready for all of you during this weekend. Firstly, I’m going to tell you the places we are going to visit and what things can be done there. **__ Mr González __** : Thelma, nice to meet you. My name is Roberto González and this is my wife, Esther, we are from Mexico. I’m sorry to interrupt you, but could you tell us something about this city before telling us the places we are going to visit? **__ Thelma: __** Of course, Mr González. I can tell you that Beijing is China’s second largest city after Shangai and it has got a population of about 13 million people in its urban area. It’s the political, educational and cultural centre of the People’s Republic of China. Beijing has been an important place of China’s history for centuries and it is famous for its huge palaces, temples and stone walls and gates. It is full of art treasures and its universities have made Beijing one of the centres of China’s culture and art. **__ Mrs Rossi __** : Hi Thelma! Nice to meet you. My name is Maria Rossi and this is my husband Pietro Rossi. We are from Italy. **__ Mr Rossi __** : How do you do? **__ Thelma __** : How do you do? **__ Mrs Rossi __** : Everything you have said is very interesting so this city must have a lot of interesting places. **__ Thelma __** : Yes, that’s true. Beijing has got more than 200 places of tourist interest so it is always difficult to make a selection for a tour. Anyway, we have decided to start our tour spending this Saturday morning in the historical centre of Beijing, visiting “The forbidden city”, the world’s biggest group of imperial palaces that was the home of the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties. It is surrounded by several gardens and parks which have been described as masterpieces of Chinese gardening. Then, after lunch, we are going to “The Temple of Heaven”, one of the best known religious sites in Beijing and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties prayed to Heaven for good harvest. On Sunday morning we are visiting “Tiananmen Square”, the world’s largest square as it covers four hundred thousand square metres. It is the place where Mao Zedong proclaimed the People’s Republic of China on 1st October, 1949. Finally, in the afternoon, we will be in “Beijing Zoo” which exhibits wild and rare animals of China. We can see giant pandas and rare animals of China as well as more than five thousand animals and over 490 species from all over the world. This zoo is also a centre of zoological research that studies and breeds rare animals from various continents. **__ Mr Lewis __** : Hello Thelma. My name is Adam Lewis and I am British. How are we going to these places? **__ Thelma __** : Nice to meet you, Mr Lewis. Well, we are going by bus because in Beijing the traffic is very heavy and there are often traffic-jams. However, there are special bus lanes. **__ Mrs Sevard __** : I am Helena Sevard and this is my husband Boris Sevard. We are from Poland. Nice to meet you Thelma. Thelma: Nice to meet you. **__ Mrs Sevard __** : Won’t we have time for shopping? **__ Thelma __** : Sure. In your free time in the evenings, you can do a lot of activities. In Beijing there are excellent opera theatres, the traditional tea houses, cinemas and ballrooms. And when you go shopping, you must know that shops here are open from 8:30 to 21:00 every day. There are big shopping areas. Remember, that prices at large department stores are fixed but when you are in street markets all prices are negotiable so bargaining is essential. Well, that’s all for now. So let’s start our visit to Beijing.