Beijing: big, boisterous, beautiful…

This posting is being brought to you by the Dragon Lady and the Bunny. More on that later.

We have just completed a whirlwind tour of Beijing that has left us slightly breathless and wanting more. We managed to check off several “bucket list” items, but two days in Beijing is nowhere near enough time. It could take two days just to appreciate the magnitude of the city and to make a list of all the thing one wanted to do while there.

Before we begin, here is a reminder of just how large China is. It took us almost four hours to fly from Hong Kong to Beijing.

We pulled into Hong Kong (HK) mid-day Sunday and were immediately whisked away to the new HK International Airport. After a three and a half hour flight to Beijing we went straight to our hotel, the Four Seasons Beijing. Between the time it took to get to the airport, the waiting time to board, the time it took to get everyone’s luggage, and the time to drive from the Beijing Airport to the hotel, it was almost 10:00 at night by the time we were in our rooms.

Our first glimpse of Beijing from our hotel window the next morning.

The map indicates the location of the hotel with respect to many of the sites we visited. This is key to understanding why it took an hour to go only several miles at times.

The next morning our guide, Martin, laid out the schedule: drive to Great Wall; cable car up to Great Wall; explore Great Wall; drive back to city center the Temple of Heaven; drive to Tiananmen Square; drive to hotel; dinner in hotel; crash into bed; up early next morning and check out; drive to Forbidden City; explore Forbidden City; drive to airport; plane back to Hong Kong and sail for Vietnam. Whew!

I put the items about driving in the above schedule because when Martin was asked by one of our group how long it would take to get to, say, the Great Wall, he responded by saying about 45 minutes to an hour – or depending on traffic an hour to two hours… So you can see that traffic is one of the “big” issues in Beijing. There are over five million cars in Beijing and it seems that they are all on the roads at all times. The city officials have a clever way of trying to control traffic: they bam vehicles with certain digits as the last number of the license plate on specific days of the week. To me, that is akin to the Dutch boy trying to hold back the water story…

The map indicates the approximate location of the section of wall we visited. It took us over an hour to get there on a day with relatively light traffic - we were told...

The Great Wall as seen from the approach road. We were about 10 kilometers away (6 miles, more or less) and I managed to get this through the bus window with a 30X zoom.

Well, anyway, we made it to the Great Wall. We went to the Badaling Section…that’s Badaling, not Bod-a-Bing… There is a cable car that goes to the top of the wall and you can either walk down or ride back. We got off the car and felt, for the first time, the cold and the wind. It was FREEZING! Although the air temperature was about 25-30 degrees, the wind chill made it feel a lot colder. They announced that the cable car would soon be stopped due to the wind so we took one final look and several last pictures and took the cable car back down.

Another bucket list item gets a check mark!

 Crowded, windy, cold, steep - we loved it! Next time in the Spring or Fall...

 Our view from the top of the Great Wall.

We managed to get the cable car back down before they stopped it due to high winds - what fun riding a swinging cable car hundreds of feet in the air over inaccessible rocks...

The most surprising thing about the Wall was the steepness of the stairs and ramps. We had been told that walking and  climbing would be difficult, but were really put to the test. We want to return and spend some time really exploring – but we will probably do it at another time of year.

It is fascinating to realize that this structure was begun several thousand years ago with no machinery or tools except for hand labor and hand tools. The original wall was over 13,000 miles long and is over 2300 years old.

The Badaling section was restored beginning in 1957 and has over 60,000,000 visitors a year (most of them on the day we visited…). There are many steps, not stairs but individual steps, and steep ramps that make walking difficult. In addition to the geometric constraints of the walkways, the hordes of people taking selfies and the Oriental concept of personal space (or lack thereof) makes it quite difficult to just mosey along or linger in any one spot.

After leaving the Great Wall we proceeded to our lunch spot. The “restaurant” was on the second floor of one of the largest shops I have ever seen. We were driven to the Runze Jade Garden. We were guided through a demonstration workshop showing how jade is carved, polished, and otherwise decorated. As we left the workshop we were taken through the main shop area and led upstairs to the restaurant. We decided that this was outstanding marketing genius: they  give you lunch and then let you digest in the showroom… We found a few trinkets that we couldn’t live without and then back to the bus and our next stop.

The Temple of Heaven is located just to the south of Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.

The Temple of Heaven is the symbol of Beijing. The stair step pagoda appears everywhere as a sign of good luck. The Temple was the exclusive place of worship and animal sacrifice of the emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It is now a public park and filled with people enjoying the atmosphere, playing games, exercising, and visiting the revered sites. We saw many older people playing an incomprehensible card game that involves a lot of slapping of the cards on the table, shouted remarks of the kibitzers, and scowls of those whose cards were bested by others. Fun! There were also fierce, fast games of hacky-sack played by people who looked to be in their sixties and seventies! Amazing how these spry oldsters made the game look easy.

 This is the hacky-sack game. The man on the left jumping up to make a pass with his feet may look young from this angle, but when I passed him and looked back, it was apparent that he was well into his older years - I hesitate to guess, but at least in his sixties, I'd say. The man in the white cap is even older, and the lady is as well.

The high energy card games are the main attraction. Gambling is not allowed, but all scores are kept in memory and no one ever forgets...

we were so taken with the children we saw. We were also keenly aware of the family interactivity. Children are doted upon in China and most of the Far East. This little girl was just having fun with her Mother and I believe the Mother was having as much fun as she. Mom was very proud that I wanted to capture her and her daughter in a picture. As she tried to get the little girl to pose, I snapped several candid shots and this one just got my heart.

Our original schedule called for us to visit Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City the next morning; however, early March is the annual meeting time of the government representatives from the provinces and the Great Hall of the People is the spot. That spot is in Tiananmen Square, so the square was closed to ordinary people – including tourists.

Tiananmen Square serves as a "gateway" to the Forbidden City, but because of the constraints on access the day we visited, we could not do both at that time.

 The north gate and reviewing stands.

The Great Hall of the People. Unfortunately, we were on the east side of the square and it was late afternoon, so the sun was setting.

The good news is that we could still walk along one side of the square and get our views of the Great Hall and the infamous location of the student-tank confrontation (that is not mentioned, but is known to all…). In addition, we were able to get to the Tiananmen Square north gate that is the site of the military reviewing stands and is the location used for most news broadcasts from China. Remember that is was VERY cold and windy. We had to walk for about a half-hour to get from where the bus dropped us to the square and another twenty minutes or so to the north gate.

Back to the hotel and a hot shower. Our dinner was a choice of set menus in one of three restaurants in the Four seasons: a “typical” American; an Italian; and a traditional Chinese. Seventeen of the nineteen of us opted for the Chinese. The meal consisted of six courses (from suckling pig to shrimp and scallop fried rice in lotus leaf wrapper) with wine, beer, soda, or tea. Excellent!

Early the next morning we checked out of the hotel and made our way to the Forbidden City.

The Forbidden /city was the home of a series of 24 emperors dating back to 1368. It consists of a series of palaces totaling 9999 rooms and many ceremonial buildings that were forbidden to any but the emperors family, immediate circle of advisors and friends, and invitees. It is no longer forbidden and is one of the top tourist attractions in Beijing. It is so popular that they have to limit the number of tickets sold in a day – to 80,000. That is not a typo: 80,000! It took us a little over two hours to walk through from the south gate to the north gate. Martin had given us little “voice boxes” with earpieces so that he could provide a running narration and we could hear him over the noise of the crowds. Keep in mid that it was in the 20s with a steady strong wind – COLD!

Looking across the main inner courtyard of Forbidden City. This will give you some idea of just how large it is.

This is the moat surrounding Forbidden City.

The Forbidden City is as popular with Chinese tourists as it is with foreigners. In fact, we discovered that many of the Chinese we saw were from far away in the provinces and many of them had little, if any, interactions with westerners. It was an interesting cultural experience to be on the receiving end of so many inquisitive stares and furtive glances at our faces.

After we left Forbidden City we had a lunch stop on our way to the airport. This time we stopped at a hotel know for its lunch buffet. What a buffet! If I had known what we were going to see, I would have taken more pictures, but we were hungry and I only managed to get one shot of our chef making noodles for noodle soup...mmmmmmm, good!

The master noodle chef. He starts with a ball of dough and uses his fingers to manipulate it into smaller and smaller threads - no machines here.

During our many bus rides, Martin kept us entertained and educated with history, cultural mores, language, and fun facts. For instance, did you know – or realize- that the city limits of Beijing are about the same in area as the country of Belgium? Did you know that the “official” census of Beijing accounts for about 24 million people, but the unofficial numbers are in the range of 30-35 million? Many people disregard the government edict to report their new address when they move from one place to another, so it is difficult, if not impossible, to accurately determine the population of any place at any specific time. This is complicated by the need for workers to move frequently to follow the work.

Among the topics Martin discussed with us is the Chinese lunar cycle and the generally recognized belief in fung shui as a guiding force in much of daily living. Among these concepts is the assignment of animal symbols to each year in a 12-year cycle. For example, my birth year is assigned to the rabbit and Bonnie’s is assigned to the dragon. Thus, we have my introductory comment regarding the Dragon Lady and the Bunny!

We left Beijing with mixed feelings. We were so very pleased to have been there and to have seen and done the things we saw and did; however, we want to return and take more time – in warmer weather – and we want to learn more about this absolutely fascinating and fabulous place. The one excellent thing about the weather was that even though the wind was clod and biting, it was so strong that it swept much of the pollution that hangs over the city away for the two days we were there. The skies were clear and the air was not visible. Beijing measures the daily air pollution on a scale from 0 to 500. Anything under 100 is considered quite good. For the two days we were there it measured 87! Martin told us that the average measurement is around 200-300. Good, cold weather indeed!

We now have a sea day and then on to beautiful Ha Long Bay and Hanoi in Vietnam. Stay tuned…