and new, is built in the national style of grey brick and tiles which
creates a very communist drab landscape (even against of backdrop of
beautiful clear blue skies). It is also a city in transition as the
old (communist) ways struggle against the ultra modern
(capitalist) ways which are taking over the city. It is an enormous
place though so I think it will take a while before Beijing is the new
Tokyo. (Annoyingly for the tourist the ferocious pace of construction
often means what you are looking for may have been knocked down - get
a current guide book!)
Having said all of that I don't mean to do Beijing down. After 4 days
here there is plenty of competition for a place in my Top 5 (and the
first three on the list are truly world class). As a result there will
be a few added extras at the bottom as usual.
1. Great Wall - despite the below freezing temperatures and the winds
which threatened to blow us off the wall, this is a truly incredible
site. We went to the Badaling section (about 1hr from Beijing), which
has been heavily restored to make it tourist friendly. But as is often
the case the popular tourist areas are popular for a reason and the
scenery here is awesome. It is not really about being on the wall but
what you can see from it - the way it snakes through the moutains
seemingly without end and the way it undulates with every mountain
contour are breathtaking (so is the walk - bits of it are very steep!)
Tip: don't buy anything here though - a coke costs RMB20 instead of
the usual 5!)
2. Forbidden City - the most surprising thing about this complex is
the scale. 1million square meters of walled off city some of which is
700 years old right in the centre of Beijing! Once you are inside the
unpreposessing fortress walls, it is an amazing collection of very
colourful (made a nice change!) temples, ritual buildings, residential
and leisure buildings. I am aware that this sounds very similar to my
description of the Imperial City at Hue but it really is in a
different league, both in terms of the quantity of buildings still
standing and their quality. A lot of the buildings are also being
used as museums, the best example of which is the Hall of Clocks which
contained some very exotic creations. The biggest difficulty in the
City is making sure you don't miss anything as some of the most
beautiful things are hidden down little side alleys - it really is
like a city in that way.
3. Summer Palace - in a similar vein to the Forbidden City. This is
the summer residence of the imperial family and therefore as you would
expect is slightly more fun and elegant, so rather than being the same
as the City it is able to surprise again and again with some stunning
buildings. My favourite thing about it though was the setting. It is
all set around a lake which was completely frozen to the point at
which you could (and we did) walk on it. It really was so beautiful to
see a large mass of water frozen like that and made coming to Beijing
in the cold weather completely worthwhile. Frozen water is rather a
feature of Beijng at this time of year. The moat outside the Forbidden
City was frozen and there is a lake you can skate on surrounded by
cafes. Beautiful!
A word of warning - you need two days to do the Forbidden City and
Summer Palace properly. Time flies by!
A souvenir tip - contrary to what I would usually expect the souvenir
shops within the City and Palace grounds are actually good value.
Better prices than I saw elsewhere in Beijing (which is a cheap city
incidentally. Not quite Vietnam levels, but a massive improvement on
Japan!)
4. Olympic Village - both the 'Bird's Nest' and the Water Cube are
really great examples of modern architecture. The landscaping around
them feels a little empty (as it would I guess - it needs 100,000+
people to be full) and they are the best buildings in the village
complex by far but the Bird's Nest has made superstructure sexy and
the water cube is a great watery concept elegantly executed.
5. Lama temple - the temple buildings here are a bit same same once
you have seen the Forbidden City but the selling point of this temple
is that it is one of the largest Tibetan Buddhism monuments outside
Tibet and therefore has a very different collection of deity statues
to worship/visit the best of which is an 18m high Buddha in the
rearmost temple.
It is also worth mentioning the two hotels we stayed in, both of which
I would recommend. The Jade Garden is a 4-star hotel near the
Forbidden City and is everything you would expect from a 4-star for
about £50 a night (slack season prices). Clean, modern, warm, bathroom
with bath, free internet through TV and a great location.
The second hotel (Spring Garden) was quite different and very special.
It is what is known as a courtyard hotel and is located in one of
Beijing's historic hutongs. Hutongs are the old winding streets with
one level buildings, which form mini villages between the main roads.
The residential parts were traditionally formed of 4 houses around a
courtyard. The Spring Garden is a converted set of residential
buildings. This is unusual in itself but the decoration of the rooms
(in the Imperial style - very colourful) was really beautiful and it
was a pleasure to be in the room.
Paul has already mentioned our visit to see Mao, who doesn't deserve a
place in the Top 5 not only because of some shoddy embalming (rigor
mortis visible in the jaw?), bad views (he's miles away) and not least
the fact that history will remember him as a psychotic tyrant. Not
that the Chinese seem to have worked this out - there is still a
strong market for Mao tat.
Something that Paul didn't mention was the flag lowering ceremony we
watched on the first evening in Tiannamen Sq (absolutely vast - a
perfect example of architecture/landscaping as power). Come rain or
shine the army raise and lower the Chinese flag in the square at
sunrise and sunset in front of the gathered crowds and an enormous
picture of Mao. The gathered crowd was pretty small when we were there
(it was below freezing - again!) and seemed mostly to be tourists and
Chinese 'students' looking to scam Westerners. Not much evidence of
comradely solidarity here, but interesting as a tourist.
Am in agreement with Paul on the Ming Tombs and Dongyue temple.
Missable and same same.
Nothing great to report on the food front either. Generally fatty and
greasy. Like your local takeaway but worse! Best meal was in Bookworm
but this was because of the venue which was a bookshop/library/bar/
restuarant!
On a flight to Hong Kong now (Dragonair - no 'on demand' TV. Gasp!)
Hopefully will be able to post this in HK - no Facebook or blogger
allowed in China!
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