Beijing

Royal canal boat tour

See Beijing in its spring glory, the way the Dowager Empress Cixi may have done. Stops along the way to the Summer Palace include the Beijing Zoo, Beijing Aquarium and Purple Bamboo Park. Registration required. The cost is 490 yuan ($78) for adults, 390 for kids 5-11 and free for kids 4 and younger.

China Culture Center. 010-6432-9341. Info@chinaculturecenter.org.

Visit with blind children

Bethel China, the foster home founded by a French couple for visually impaired kids with cerebral palsy and other conditions, has a springtime open house on the second and fourth Sunday of each month. Play with kids, tour their school, learn about Bethel's projects and find out how you can help. The tour is free, but 50 yuan is required to cover round-trip bus transportation from Wudaokou.

www.bethelchina.org.

Run to the Great Wall

Forget the treadmill at the gym - get some eye candy to go with that exercise. And what eyeful can compete with the Great Wall of China, the object of two marathons coming up soon? The Great Wall of China Marathon on May 1 is at Jinshanling and requires sign-up by April 15 (www.greatwallchinamarathon.com). Entry costs 1,528 yuan and includes refreshments, and a shirt, medal and swag bag. There are 10-km and 5-km options. The Great Wall Marathon on May 17 is a more serious commitment - a six- or seven-day run that starts in Tianjin at the Huangyaguan section of the wall in Ji county. (There's an 8.5-km fun run, too, if you can't spare the time for the long haul.)

Information and registration at great-wall-marathon.com.

- Mike Peters