Beijing's CBD & Guomao
Below China Zun, the CCTV "big pants" tower and the world's top-grossing store

The difference between the CBD and old Beijing is one of scale and pace. Where the hutongs slow you down and reward attention to small details, this district makes you look up and move at the speed of the people heading to work. The roads are wide, the towers are tall, and the whole place is designed to say that Beijing has become an international financial city. Here is who tends to like it.

• 1
  For lovers of contemporary architecture

  China Zun · the CCTV tower · two landmark designs in one district

  This district is an open-air museum of architecture. China Zun (CITIC Tower) was designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox in the shape of a "zun" — an ancient Chinese bronze wine vessel, wide at the top and base and narrow in the middle, which gives the tower its giant-vase silhouette. The CCTV Headquarters, designed by Rem Koolhaas and OMA, is a continuous loop on two leaning legs that meet overhead, seeming to defy gravity. Both stand in the same district and can be photographed from many angles.

• 2
  For luxury shoppers and lifestyle travellers

  SKP · SKP-S · China World Mall · every luxury brand covered

  If "shopping" to you means luxury brands, this is the destination. SKP (新光天地) is the highest-grossing department store in the world and carries every top-tier name; across the road, SKP-S is an art-retail concept space. The China World Mall, inside the Guomao complex, mixes luxury brands with a wide range of restaurants and connects directly to the metro station, so you never have to step outside.

• 3
  For skyline views and dinner up high

  Floor-80 bar · view restaurants · the night lights

  The CBD does not run ticketed observation decks the way Shanghai does, but it has bars and restaurants on high hotel floors with views over the whole district — for example Atmosphere on floor 80 of the China World Summit Wing, where the price of a single drink buys a panorama of Beijing at night. This is something the lower-rise old city simply cannot offer.

• 4
  For business travellers

  Chaoyang CBD · embassies · a major metro interchange

  This is the main reason the district exists. Multinational offices, banks and many embassies sit in Chaoyang. If you have CBD meetings, staying here means a short walk or a few minutes by car. The hotels are built for working travellers — meeting rooms, fast internet and a location that links Line 1 and Line 10 at Guomao.

The case for basing yourself in the CBD / Guomao is straightforward: step out of the door and you are in the skyscraper district, next to SKP and the China World Mall, with a major metro interchange (Lines 1 and 10) at Guomao that gets you into the old city fast. Most hotels here are international five-stars and serviced apartments, with some of the best skyline rooms in Beijing.

The honest limitations: this is a business district — it is east of the imperial sights such as the Forbidden City and the hutongs, so you take the metro in, and it is quieter at the weekend when office workers head home. If your itinerary is mainly old palaces and lane-house neighbourhoods, staying near Wangfujing may be more convenient. But if your goals are business, luxury shopping and city views, this area is hard to beat.