Destination: Beijing, China (Part 2)

It was a whirlwind of a time during our first full day in Beijing. We’d gone from zero to 60 on eating, walking, and sightseeing in the massive Chinese capital, especially after a 16-plus hour flight from the United States. The next one-and-a-half days in town would still be packed, but it wouldn’t be as difficult as long as we had a good night’s rest. We did just that at the end of the first day, and we were raring to go the next morning.

Wake-up call was at 6:30. It wasn’t too bad, as we’d been utterly exhausted and jet-lagged the day prior that we crashed right after dinner the night before. We’d gotten decent sleep, and after our abundant breakfast at the hotel (which consisted of both traditional and continental dishes), we were off to start our second full day in Beijing.

The Chinese capital is enormous, consisting of over 6400 squared miles and home to nearly 22 million people. The city itself is laid-out in a relatively grid-like pattern, consisting of several ring roads that extend out to a total of 16 districts, some as far as the Great Wall itself (yes, it’s considered part of Beijing despite being over 76 kilometres away). Street signs are bilingual in English and simplified Chinese (the latter which I struggle with, as I was taught traditional) and traffic is pretty horrendous as it is for any large, metropolitan city. Riding the streets of Beijing was already an adventure in itself, even before we reached any of the sights!

During our two-and-a-half day stay in Beijing-proper, we focused most of our sights in the very heart of the city. Many of the sights were concentrated in the Dongcheng district (東城區), with a couple in Chaoyang (朝陽區) and Haidian (海淀區). These three districts make up the core of Beijing and they pack the most history and sights to see. It’s also important to note that they aren’t very walk-able, despite being smaller than the other 13 districts, as places within, say, the Dongcheng district, are at least five to six kilometres apart. Driving is the best way to go, especially on a hot summer’s day.

First stop of our second day was at the Temple of Heaven (天壇), which isn’t just one, but a complex of various religious buildings built close to each other. Construction took place during the Ming dynasty in the early 15th century, and the buildings were used up until the end of the Qing dynasty in 1912. These different sites were used for prayer and ceremonies, often for annual good harvest.

Each building within the main grounds are colorfully-ornate, with patterns and pillars that carry significant symbolism to the religion at hand. For instance, the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests (the most-recognizable building) consists of four inner, twelve middle, and twelve outer pillars, which are to represent the four seasons, twelve months, and twelve hours, respectively. The attention to detail doesn’t stop there, as its interior is made up of embellished blue tiles, which are to represent Heaven itself. The combination of numbers and colors in its architecture is deep and profound, which is a testament to the culture’s passion for philosophy and spirituality.

The grounds itself are extensive, as it also contains a park of 660 acres. We went through several gates in the Temple of Heaven, from plaza to plaza where we saw plenty of locals engaging in outdoor activities, including dance, water calligraphy, even hacky sack! Culture was alive and well here, and the vibrant energy of it all was certainly a sight to experience.

We took the coach over to the Chaoyang district, where we spent some time at the Beijing Olympics site. Considering that we’d gone the year after the 2008 games were held, the buildings still looked new and fresh to us. I could almost imagine being a spectator watching Usain Bolt dash the 100 metres at the Bird’s Nest, or Michael Phelps swim the butterfly inside the Water Cube. The Beijing Olympics were truly epic in the sheer amount of world records broken, and for the Chinese capital to host them was an honor for the country.

After a brief and light lunch, we continued our packed day back in the Dongcheng district, where we visited the Forbidden City (故宫). It’s not literally a city, but rather a palace complex with so many rooms that it almost functions as a “mini-city” within Beijing. It was also constructed during the Ming dynasty, and it was used by emperors as both their government office and home for over 500 years. The reason why it’s called “forbidden” is because no one could enter or exit the gated community without the emperor’s permission back in the day, to which the name remains today.

The sheer number of rooms– big and small– within the Forbidden City is almost incomprehensible. There’s even a myth which states that there are 9,999 rooms inside, because 10,000 rooms were only reserved for the God of Heaven. However, there aren’t actually that many rooms (only 8,886), yet still a great amount that one could get lost in easily. We spent about two hours walking from south to north of this “city,” visiting a few major points before exiting as the afternoon crowds were getting overwhelming.

We had hotpot for dinner that night. The August summer heat didn’t make it the most-optimal to have such hot food, but having air-conditioning inside the restaurant room helped somewhat! It was a matter of returning to the hotel afterwards to rest before our final half-day of sightseeing the next morning.

The last place we visited in Beijing-proper was the Summer Palace (頤和園) in the Haidian district. Its location in the city’s northwest is distinctive from the other sites we’d visited, as the palace is perched on top of a lush, green hill overlooking a lake. The balance between nature and architecture makes for a calm and peaceful atmosphere outside of the bustling urban area, which was the exact purpose of its construction in the 12th century.

The Summer Palace had originally been built as a summer retreat for emperors, but it eventually became the palace of Empress Dowager Cixi, the last ruler and only empress in Chinese history. Her 47-year rule in the late Qing dynasty is comparable to Russia’s Catherine the Great in the late 18th century, as she ruled with a firm, almost ruthless hand in the face of threatening foreign invasions. As a result, much of the Summer Palace is synonymous with her name today.

We spent the morning inside the Summer Palace, touring a few of its buildings and gardens. We also got lovely views outside of it from the Kunming Lake, where green lotuses were in the full bloom. There were also a few pedal boats on the water, as locals were enjoying the idleness of the warm months. It was a refreshing break from the dense, urban noise, and it prepared us for the next adventure we would have in Beijing.

More to come on the Beijing/China series soon!

 

— Rebecca