I'm resolved to see more during Year of the Rabbit

Since moving to Beijing in August 2006, I've tried hard to take in its myriad of cultural riches. But despite spending most weekends (and many evenings) over the past four years doing that, I'm surprised by all that remains to be seen and experienced.

During the Chinese new year, I resolved to spend the Year of Rabbit reducing this deficit. Although I've visited more than a dozen central Beijing parks, a few remain terra incognita.

Fortunately, two of them, Taoranting Park and Purple Bamboo Park, are on the No 4 subway line, making them much easier to get to.

I look forward to enjoying Taoranting's lake, Cibei Temple and Yaotai, while the ancient temple and miniature botanical gardens at Purple Bamboo Park beckon.

The No 4 line also makes the sprawling Haidian Park, one of Beijing's nicest and newest parks, more accessible. I anticipate spending a day strolling and snapping photos.

Location was never an excuse for not visiting the International Sculpture Park, close to No 1 subway line's Yuquanli station.

During the Year of Rabbit, I will finally get to gaze at its interesting collection of modern sculptures from around the world.

Yuetan Park is also just a short walk from Fuchengmen subway station. Granted, it's small and there's not much to see, but I've visited the other four parks - Zhongshan, Ritan, Tiantan and Ditan - on Beijing's five cardinal points, so a trip to Yuetan would complete this bit of sightseeing.

Afterwards, I'll pop over to the nearby Sculpting Image Caf, the only branch of this local chain that's never crowded at the weekend.

And last but certainly not least, the Botanical Gardens. Since its spring blooms are reputedly the best in Beijing,

I'll be penciling in a whole day there come April, even though the park, to borrow my favorite Chinese idiom, will surely be a "people mountain, people sea".

This spring will also mark the long-awaited reopening of the China National Museum at Tian'anman Square. I visited just before it closed for remodeling in 2007 and anticipate a return now the 2.5-billion-yuan makeover is complete.

The renovated museum has the largest floor space of any in the world.

It boasts a large hall devoted to Italian art, while the grand reopening will feature a special exhibit, The Art of the Enlightenment, showcasing 500 paintings, sculptures and furniture pieces from Germany's Berlin National Museum and Dresden National Art Collection. I can hardly wait.

I've never visited Beijing Railroad Museum, but it's said to house an interesting collection of old steam locomotives and requires just a few hours to tour. The same can be said for one of the two older historical landmarks on my list, the Ancient Observatory.

I am yet to visit there or Beijing Planetarium, although that's going to change in 2011. Now a new subway line has opened at Changping, I also have no excuse for not seeing one of the capital's UNESCO world heritage sites, the Ming Tombs.

Finally, the Year of the Rabbit will find me partaking in some yet to be enjoyed Beijing cultural delights.

Even though I love watching movies and frequently go to theaters - our company

gives us more than a dozen free passes each year - I have yet to see anything at Beijing's two most interesting film venues, the arthouse Broadway Theater and Electric Shadows.

And unlike last year, I'll be making it to at least one performance of the 2011 Beijing Fringe Festival.

The beauty of living in Beijing is that it's easy to get out of a rut. With so much to do, one has no problem seeing new things.

Yes, the Year of the Rabbit is shaping up to be a busy time.

(China Daily 02/21/2011)