This past Easter holiday, we visited the capital city of China, Beijing.
We left Friday morning and returned the following Monday night. As I prepared for the trip, I was excited to
finally visit one of China’s major cities. Other than hanging out at the Shanghai Airport, the largest cities I'd visited in China were Guangzhou and Shenzhen. So, I was eager to experience a major metropolitan city “China” style!
Day 1:
We landed at Beijing International Airport around 11:00am. The airport was huge, but empty. As we made our way through the wide open
corridors, claimed our luggage and proceeded toward the automatic doors to the
receiving corridor, we began to hear a rawr coming from the other side of the
doors. As we walked out the doors we
were confronted by a wall of happy wide-eyed young girl’s. As we continued to walk their faces dropped, eyes closed and they all started screaming (at a pitch not
normally made by humans!), as if they were being tortured from their backsides. I was very confused and on full alert (to say
the least). Turns out, even though some
of the young girls seemed happy to see us, they were actually waiting to see a Japanese boy band that had arrived on our flight.
Warm Welcome to Beijing… check!
We stayed at The Peninsula Hotel, and although it didn’t
live up to "Wow" factor of Hong Kong’s Peninsula, it was still a great place
to call home for the weekend. The staff were friendly, spoke very good English and the Concierge staff were all very helpful. After check-in, we
headed to The Big Smoke for lunch.
Simply…. AMAZING! We had
barbecue ribs, grilled prawns, roasted smoked chicken, French fries and mac
and cheese!
Great First Meal... check!
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| The Bar area at The Big Smoke |
After lunch we headed to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen
Square. As we walked from our hotel, we passed a little open market.
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| Fresh Cockroaches anyone? |
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| How about live Scorpions? Yes, I said live! |
As I walked around Tiananmen
Square I said a little prayer for the thousands of protestors that lost their
lives in 1989. As I watched the Chinese
tourist take in the square, I felt sad knowing the majority of them knew
nothing about what had happened on that very sight only 24 years prior.
Later that evening, we headed to Shichahai Lake for a low rent dinner. Shichahai Lake is a small lake surrounded by
bars, night clubs and restaurants. We enjoyed some live music and walked around the lake before calling it a day.
Day 2:
After our Starbucks, we headed back to The
Forbidden City to tour the Palace. However,
as soon as our taxi driver saw upcoming traffic, he made a sudden u-turn and
told us to get out. After walking around
the outside of the Forbidden City for almost an hour (don’t get me started), we
finally found an “entrance this way” sign that was actually an entrance (again… don't get me started). The Palace is inside the Forbidden City. What I found interesting is there really isn't a “palace” sized structure inside, but rather a series of small building
making up a very large compound, some of which were beautifully detailed. Most of the architectural details were
results of superstitious theories. For example, all invasions of China
had originated from the north, so the north represented evil spirits, therefore all buildings making up the palace face south, the direction of holiness. The number nine was considered an imperial
number, so many of the doors had 9 rows of 9 knobs, a total of 81. This also explains why there are 9,999 rooms
within The Palace.
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The Chinese tourist were a little impatient at times
(picture front row seats of a heavy metal concert)
I lived in Causeway Bay for a year... so, this was nothing! |
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| I wanted to take these doors home with me! |
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This is one of the hundreds of alleys that make their way
through the maze of buildings within the Palace. |
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| I love the symmetry and colors found throughout the property. |
After 4 hours of touring and only seeing .005% of the
total room count, we were exhausted! After
exiting the "city", we walked around a few Hutong neighborhoods. "Hutong" means narrow alley and Beijing is
filled with neighborhoods which are formed by hutongs. Second to black, my favorite color is gray and most of the buildings and walls throughout Beijing are a smokey gray color (either painted or stone) and the windows are typically trimmed in a dark red. I found the Hutongs unlike anything I have ever seen in China before. They were clean, well maintained, "planned", peaceful and had a touch of European flair, but still being quintessentially Chinese. I love classic Asian architecture and these were regal and simply divine. If I ever have to live in Beijing (and I won't!), this would be the my Hutong neighborhood.
Later that afternoon we headed out to the Olympic Park, home
of the 2008 Olympics. We not only got to
go inside the Water Cube (where Michael Phelps set an Olympic record by becoming
the most decorated Olympian of all times), but we could’ve suited up and taken
a dive! Pretty cool!
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| Old Glory! |
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| Bird Nest Stadium |
Day 3: Happy Easter!
After another lovely Starbucks morning, we headed back to our hotel to meet our
tour guide for the Great Wall of China!
After several bad experiences with Beijing's public transportation options, we decided to hire a private
driver and tour guide for the day. We decided to visit a section called Mutiamya. It’s the most intact and preserved area of
the wall. It’s also 2 hours outside of
Beijing, which made it less popular for tour groups… Yay! After our tour guide stopped trying to tell us about everything we never wanted to know, the drive to the wall was nice. We sat back and listened to Sandy Patty (it was Easter, after all) and had a great Sunday drive in the country. At one point our guide (which was apart of the package to get the driver for the day...) asked how much longer we wanted
to listen to music (I could tell she was dying to tell us "tour guide" stuff), when I said we wanted to sit back and listen to our music for about an hour, she quickly responded we would be
at the Wall within an hour. I said,
perfect! She hated me! She should’ve have loved me as all she had to
do was sit in the front seat and look forward!
Day of Pollution... check!
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This was the cable car that took us to The Great Wall.
It looks like fog, but our tour guide said it was a bad day for pollution. You think?? |
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I kept waiting to slam up against a cold stone wall, also known as
The Great Wall of China!
Seriously we couldn't see anything. Even when the air did clear up,
my eyes were still burning. |
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Despite not being able to see the Great Wall rolling over miles and miles of hills,
the Wall was breathtaking... no pun intended. |
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| Back down! |
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| Even though the pollution was awful, it made the Great Wall mystical. |
After a nap on the drive back to Beijing, we headed to a weekend market. The Panjianyuan Weekend Market (AKA Dirt Market), covers over 48,000 square meters, has 4,000 shops and over 20,000 vendors. Typically, as with any weekend market the earlier in the day the better, but we didn't arrive until close to 5pm. However, it did not disappoint! I didn't have the time the market deserved, but I managed to find an old blue and white porcelain urn. (picture a puppy in a room full of bacon... picture anyone in a room full of bacon- I was that excited!) Seriously, I don't think I was there more than 45 minutes, but what I saw had the makings of possibly being the best part of my trip. The market was very organized and each category had it's own section or building. I walked through the outdoor garden section before hitting the artifact section. While heading out I passed through the book and poster section, while seeing in the distance buildings full of Oriental rugs and Chinoiserie consoles! I had read before going they didn't offer on-site shipping, so I guess I was better off not looking. I guess....
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| This is the outdoor garden section |
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| See the little blue and white urn in the center? One just like it got to come home with me! (Started negotiation at US$140.00, but after three passes I got them down to US$32.00 and they even found a lid for me!) |
For our third dinner in Beijing, we had reservations at Dali Courtyard. I had made reservations for all our dinners and even a few lunches long before we ever left Hong Kong, but Dali Courtyard was on top of my list! As we left our hotel, our door man warned us that our driver would not be able to drive into the neighborhood that held the restaurant. I already knew what to to expect, and everything I had read was spot on.
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| This is what we saw as we got out of the Taxi |
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| I knew to look for "an old dusty red lantern" |
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| This was it! |
Once inside and going through another set of beat up doors, I was expecting to see something like this...
But because of winter temperatures we saw...
The restaurant didn't provide a menu for meal options, rather they brought out about 6-7 courses and you just hoped (I prayed) a few would be good. Turned out to be a fantastic evening!
Day 4:
After a big breakfast at our hotel, we headed back home.
I have to admit, I wasn't completely honest with you regarding some of our experiences. We had several intense moments where we feared our personal security and well being. Despite having to make more than one "run like you stole something!" escapes, one physical encounter that left a purple bruise on one of us, one police report and the need to find a secondary exit plan through a kitchen's back door, I would still like to return someday (warmer) to see the Great Wall on a clear day, have more time for the Panjianyuan Market, but I doubt if I will return to Beijing.
Am I glad I went? Yes! Did I enjoy Beijing? hmmm... it's safe to say I'm still waiting to see a major metropolitan China-style city.
Beijing... check!
