Spring in Beijing!
I’ve just returned from my 3 day trip to Beijing! When I told
some of my work colleagues that I was going they all pretty much said the same
thing – ‘stay clear of Beijing’. Every native I have met in China seem to have
a negative opinion about the city, which is somewhat understandable as pollution
is such a major issue there. I’ve also heard claims that many consider Beijing not
to be the ‘true’ capital of Beijing, but that Xi’an is the rightful capital. Either
way, Beijing is the capital of China and has been for a good 600 years or so; therefore
to avoid visiting would be a great shame – even if the pollution killed me.
To my surprise, my impression of Beijing is the exact
opposite to what was expected. The weather was beautiful, the people were
friendly (apart from on the metro), the old and narrow streets were bursting
with traditional character and were lined with a stunning display of bright
pink cherry blossom. Maybe I just visited at just the right time, a time where
the pollution didn’t seem to pose much of a problem to the visual experience
and my health – but all parts that I witnessed in the city (apart from the metro, by far the
worst I have seen) were wonderful.
However I couldn’t
see too much in Beijing and the city is humongous - 3 days isn’t nearly enough
to see everything, but it was just enough to see the essentials:
Day 1 – The Forbidden
City and Wangfujing Street
Day 2 – The Great Wall of China at Mutianyu
Day 3 – The Temple of Heaven
We did plan on seeing the Olympic site and some of the
more modern areas of the city, but unless we severely cut down our sleeping
hours (something I was for but yinzi was strongly against) it would be too difficult
and rushed.
Nonetheless what I did see was truly amazing, especially the
Great Wall (I’ll get to that piece of awesomeness in my next post). Combined
with a fantastic hotel stay in a traditional Beijing Hutong we didn’t want to
leave.
These 3 blog posts are more than likely going to consist of
1% words and 99% photos.
Day 1 – Arrival and
visit to the Forbidden City
We flew to
Beijing early in the morning and arrived around 11am and our first stop was the
Forbidden City - Well, our first stop was actually a 1 hour line for a security
check to enter Tiananmen Square to get to the Forbidden City.
The famous image of Mao Zedong a.k.a. The only Chinese hero in history to kill 70 million people!
For those who may not know, the Forbidden City is the imperial palace which housed the Chinese emperors from the Ming dynasty to the end of the Qing dynasty – built in 1406. It is a World Heritage Site and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world.
The reason that it’s named ‘forbidden’ city is because no one could enter or leave the palace without the emperor's permission.
The place itself is vast and truly like an ancient city with narrow streets, gardens and large city squares all contained behind a surrounding square fortress and moat. What I find especially cool is that it still acts as the centre of Beijing to this day – look how cool the map is!
So it was great to walk around the place and imagine being back in those times when the city was enclosed from the outside world. I wish you could purchase special tickets which allowed you to stay the night by yourself, so that I could walk the streets in classic dress and all…
I never leave a place without a souvenir, and so we found a store which sold Chinese paintings. There I bought this magnificent scroll painting of Spring blossom, which I felt most relevant to the sites I would see in the city. It was only 200 Kuai (£20), reduced from £80!
Evening - Wangfujing Street
That evening we visited a famous shopping street in the city, which boasted a modern façade but with a small turn from the main path would take you down some charming narrow paths selling traditional cuisine.
Some foods were a bit bizarre…
I didn’t fancy eating a starfish or a live scorpion, but I did try some
squid balls….some meatballs made of squid, which tasted like Yorkshire pudding!
We returned
to the hotel early enough to ensure we were well-rested for visiting the Great
Wall the next morning. I have always been fascinated with the
Great Wall, being at the top of my MUST visit list before coming to China.
Unfortunately
not everything went exactly as we planned…public transport can be a *insert insulting
swear of your choice here*
However we made
it, and I had the most memorable experience - which I’ll explain in my next post!
Zai’jian!
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