Beijing - the "northern capital"

Last week I headed to Beijing for some meetings, and tacked on a weekend beforehand to see some of the sights. I hired a private tour guide and driver for the weekend (which is actually affordable in China), and on the first day I was joined by my friend Jeremy, who I’ve known since living in San Diego five years ago. Here he is with the guide, Susan.

Not only was it shockingly cold in Beijing (after two months in warm and humid Hong Kong), but Saturday was also foggy. Tian'anmen Square was huge – supposedly you can fit a million people in it – but with the dense fog, we could barely see across it.

Across the street, we headed into the massive Forbidden City, where emperors lived during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) Dynasties. It’s a huge complex with 70 buildings and more than 9,000 rooms. Most of it looked alike to me – one massive square and gated building after the next – but there were some small courtyards where there were no crowds, and you could stop and enjoy the beauty and peace of this ancient place.

Next we moved on to the Lama Temple, which is an active lamasery where Buddhist monks worship and study. We saw all kinds of beautiful Buddha statues and art, but unfortunately most of it was inside temples that don’t allow photography.

We finished up the day with dinner at a Tibetan restaurant, where I was pleasantly surprised not only by the great food, but also by the both traditional and non-traditional song and dance performances. Especially impressive was a performance by a young woman who sang in Tibetan style with a rap song in the background (hard to describe, but thankfully I was able to record a short video on my camera).

Sunday, Susan and I continued on to see the Great Wall and the Summer Palace. The site of the Great Wall winds itself through beautiful mountains about an hour outside of Beijing, and the sunny weather and stunning views more than made up for the cold and wind.

Last but not least, we visited the grounds of the Summer Palace, where emperors would escape to in the summers to avoid the heat of the Forbidden City. The original place was destroyed in a three-day fire set by Anglo-French troops after the Taiping Rebellion in 1860. The setting is beautiful though, with pathways along a vast lake, and lots of beautiful architecture still to be seen.

Monday and Tuesday were largely consumed by work, but I did manage to fit in some evening recreation. Monday night I made my way to Silk Alley, an infamous market that attracts hordes of foreign tourists with five massive floors of clothing, silk, housewares, handicrafts, shoes, purses and jewelry. I fought the crowds to pick up some gifts, then made my way outside to get a taxi back to the hotel. Unfortunately, after 45 minutes the taxi gods still weren’t cooperating, so I settled for a slightly lower-tech form of transport.

Tuesday I met up again with Jeremy and his girlfriend, Xiao Yi, for dinner at the Dazhaimen Restaurant, which was once the residence of Prince Li of the Qing Dynasty. The restaurant is made up of several small buildings (some so small they only hold one table, such as where we ate), sprinkled throughout a beautiful Qing-style garden. The employees wear traditional dress, all the way down to the awkward platform shoes the waitresses shuffle along in.

We ended the night at Hou Hai, an old imperial lake that has become one of Beijing’s hottest nightspots, with trendy restaurants, bars and boutiques hugging the shore. Too bad I hadn’t refreshed my memory on the details of my flight the following morning; after getting back after midnight, I had to drag myself out of bed at 5am to head to the airport. The only up side was watching the sun rise from the taxi - which with Beijing’s smog, was quite beautiful.

Many more photos at: http://babas.typepad.com/photos/beijing/.

Comments

[Jan]

Those photos are phenomenal, Barb. I esp. enjoyed the shots of the Great Wall - I honestly have never seen any better. Also got a kick out of the video clip. Strong work.

[Aprilla Chinchilla]

Wait, you are working while you're there, right? Wherever do you find the time to miss me and send me garden gnome birdfeeders? Thank you!!

This blog is the best ever!

[Karen]

She must be working now since she hasn't posted in a few days. C'mon, Barbara...we need more drunken debauchery!