An eyewitness to the embryonic stage of the tourism industry in China is the Beijing Hotel (known as Grand Hotel de Pekin in the old days), which has been reputed as a 'living fossil' in the history of Chinese hotels. Sitting at the southern end of the Wangfujing Street, one of the busiest downtown areas in Beijing, and to the east of the Tiananmen Square in the heart of the city, the hotel consists of four structures of contrasting styles linked into a harmonious ensemble. It is a graphic illustration of the various stages of development of the hotel business in China.
