A boy helps row a boat through a lotus garden in Beihai Park in downtown Beijing
To be honest, when we began planning our visit to China, I told Jen that I didn't want to spend any time in Beijing. I just wanted to fly in, see the Great Wall, then get the hell out of there. But Jen pointed out that there are several UNESCO sites in Beijing, and that we should take some time to explore them. As usual, she was right, and we had a lovely time in big, busy, beautiful, ancient Beijing.
Be honest, what is the first word that comes to mind when they hear the word Beijing? Dirty? Crowded? Polluted? Yes, Beijing is all those things, but if you look past these unfortunate aspects, you will find that it is a city full of ancient monuments (or "cultural relics" as they are known in China) of grand proportion, lovely parks and water gardens, fascinating hutongs (maze-like neighborhoods made up of narrow, interconnected alleys), and a friendly population that is clearly proud of their city. Beijing is a city full of contrasts: throngs of poor people pedal down the street on rusty bikes, while the upwardly mobile middle-class drivers pass by in their Mercedes-Benz, ancient palaces are interspersed with fanciful glass skyscrapers, and remnants of Mao's Cultural Revolution share the same street as McDonalds.
So let's just get the whole smog thing out of the way. Yes, the air is really, really disgusting. As our plane descended, we went from crystal clear blue sky, into a grey-brown haze that was so thick you couldn't see your shadow. Although I was sad for the people who had to breath the stuff everyday, to be honest, it didn't really have any noticeable effect on me. Here's a couple pictures to let you know how bad the air is.
Sunset at Tienamen Square (note the giant picture of Chairman Mao). The sun was so obscured by the smog that we were temped to look directly at it.
The sink water after Jen washed her skirt after the first day in Beijing.
Okay, so if the air is so bad, why do I like this city so much? Let's start with the people. I was expecting the people to be the furtive despondent products of a militarized communist police state, , but instead we found them to be perfectly normal, happy people, who enjoy their city and are proud of their country. We were surprised at how open they were about expressing their frustrations with their government. The main things that they were concerned with might sound a little familiar to you: the high cost of medical treatment, the cost of education, the cost of housing, and the fact that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. Yet despite their frustrations, most people seemed quite happy. The parks were filled with people doing traditional Chinese dances, singing karaoke, and playing a variety of card games. We were particularly surprised by the numerous groups of people playing the accordion - yep, you read that right, accordions are very popular in Beijing.
There were groups like this all over the place.
This was about the only thing we saw in China that suggested its communist past. We took this picture at the nightly flag lowering ceremony in Tiananmen Square. A huge crowd was there, and you could tell that there was a great sense of national pride among the people in attendance.
As much as I enjoyed the people of Beijing, I enjoyed their food even more! Every meal we ate was full of tasty surprises. I'm not one for posting food pictures, but there is a place called Wangfujing Snack Street that is like nothing I've ever seen. They sell snakes-on-a-stick, live scorpions, seahorses, and tons of other stuff you'd never dream of eating.
It's dinner time!
Who's hungry? Little birds for sale on Wangfujing Snack Street.
So now that I've shared some of my thoughts on this grand old city, let me try to sell you on it with some pretty pictures, and hopefully convince you that this is place you should visit.
Nine Dragon wall. This is one of four remaining dragon walls from imperial China. This one is in Beihai Park.
Close up of one of the dragons on the wall.
A woman hangs a red Buddhist prayer tassel at a temple in Jingshan park.
Detail of the roof of a temple. Notice the metal lightning deflectors that are placed over the figures.
We were fortunate enough to see the lotus gardens in full bloom.
A doorway into a courtyard in a hutong neighborhood.
A footbridge at the Summer Palace.
Canal at the Summer Palace.
The Temple of Heaven in the rain.
They really like their dragons in China. Here's a fun dragon boat on Kunming Lake at the Summer Palace.
The Long Corridor at the Summer Palace. Constructed in 1750, it is 700 meters long and contains 14,000 individual paintings depicting scenes of Chinese landscapes, village life, and courtesans.
Just imagine, 14,000 of these, and every one is different.
Well, that is about all for this post. The bottom line: don't let the air pollution in Beijing keep you from going. It is a spectacular city, the people are lovely, and China is a fairly easy place to travel. You can go where you want, and do what you want.
Did you notice something missing from this post? Of course we went to the Great Wall, but that deserves a post all its own, so zaijian for now.
