We just came back from a short holiday in Beijing, and since I did not find any write up in our travel forum, I thought of posting one here. Beijing is a six-hour flight from KL, and being on the same time zone, there was no difference in time. We had to get the visa formalities done prior to our trip since there is no visa on arrival for Indians. The currency used is Yuan or RMB. Since it was our second visit to China we knew that people there rarely spoke English, and so we had pre-arranged a chauffeur-driven car and an English speaking guide, right from picking us up at the airport to dropping us back. We had however fixed up the itinerary ourselves based on reviews from TripAdvisor. The attractions we went to are listed out in my order of preference: The Great Wall of China…but of course. We chose to climb the Mutianyu part of the great wall because it had a cable car which took us to the lowest point of the wall, from where we could climb up and down. Since it is far from the city, it is not crowded, and the country life and the views are stunning. We enjoyed it the most despite the bad weather. That was also the place I did most of my shopping (no wonder we did not visit any other place that day); I bought a table cover and a table runner in typical Chinese print, a lovely embroidered patch work umbrella, fridge magnets, and something that I have wanted for a long time …a porcelain tea set with Chinese painting. Of course, one had to bargain a lot. The new Summer Palace...It is huge and absolutely beautiful with its gardens and the enchanting lake with dragon headed boats. We enjoyed a nice boat ride here with the most picturesque views. The Forbidden City constructed from 1406 to 1420 now houses the Palace museum and not to be missed attractions here include the hall of supreme harmony, the antiquarian, museum, meridian gate, the imperial garden, the turret of the palace museum and the nine dragon scene in the palace museum. The Chaoyang Acrobatic Show was just out of the world. My hubby and I had seen a similar show in Shanghai, so we went to this one mainly for my daughter. I was so glad to see that some of their acts have received international accolades. The finale of six motor cyclists racing away to glory inside a sphere had me praying for their lives. I really felt for those people who play with their lives for a living. The FRIENDS café. This is a replica of Central Perk from the sitcom F.R.I.E.N.D.S and therefore an attraction unique to our family. Only If you are a fan of this comedy show will you enjoy this place. The back lakes of Xihai,houhai and Oianhai.. It is a very picturesque lake with boating and lots of restaurants and bars, and a good place to spend an evening.
Temple of Heaven (Tiantan park) is a complex of religious buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing; an area that was visited by the Ming and Quing dynasty’s emperors who offered annual prayers for a good harvest. The Lama temple is a Buddhist Tibetan temple and the main attractions here are the three bronze statues of the Buddhas of the three Ages… past, present and future. Jingshan Park is the perfect place to appreciate a full view of the city. The view of the Forbidden City from the highest point in this park is amazing. Lovely landscaping too; it houses the biggest peony rose garden in Beijing and during May each year the park displays a wonderful and colorful scene with more than 200 varieties in full bloom. Olympic village… with its Bird’s Nest stadium and Water Cube, the Olympic Village was extremely popular. The design is indeed unique and the place a tourist magnet. Tianenmen square is the third largest square in the world; it is a city square in the centre of Beijing named after the Tiananmen gate (gate of heavenly peace) and has great cultural significance in Chinese history. It is the focal point of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, a pro-democracy movement which ended on 4th June 1989 with the declaration of martial law in Beijing by the Government and the death of thousands of civilians. It also has the Mao’s Mausoleum nearby and The great hall of people. The drum tower originally built for musical reasons, it was later used to announce the time, and now a tourist spot. The Bell tower stands closely behind the drum tower and together with it they provide an overview of central Beijing, and before the modern era they are said to have dominated Beijing’s ancient skyline. The largest LED screen at ‘The Place’... Again I remember seeing the same in Shanghai and really can’t remember which one is bigger. But it seemed a good place to hang around in the evenings. What we gave a miss were The Beihai Park, The Beijing Zoo with panda house and the old summer palace.
Thoughts…Impressions…Experiences My first thought on our first place of attraction, was ‘Omg what a crowd’. The Forbidden City looked like nobody had taken its name seriously and decided to make it a must-see. We actually stood stunned for the first ten minutes. Then we realized that most of them were Chinese. I mean I would have thought most of them would have seen these places by now, but apparently not and on holidays, tourist spots are very crowded. It amused us that many of them wanted to have their picture taken with us. Made me feel like a celebrity actually LOL. I noticed that unlike most other countries we have visited; here there were not many Indian tourists. Maybe that had something to do with the language and the food. Oh yes it is very difficult to find people who speak English. Even the remote control in our air con in the hotel room had Chinese characters describing its functions. So do the roads and shops/malls. We couldn’t even order food in McDonalds without our guide. We just pointed out at the drinks/fruits/shopping we wanted and they showed us the amount in their calculators. Food can be a big problem for pure vegetarians. We had a lovely Indian dinner at the Taj Pavilion on evening, just one, as distances are wide with traffic jams. I had to ask my hotel receptionist to write in Chinese on a slip of paper that I do not eat meat and hence only vegetables. But after the first day at Subway I became more adventurous and did try their vegetarian dishes like eggplant and zucchini, Tofu in hot and sour sauce, cold potato salad, veg friend rice in different forms. Oh, how tempting those steaming hot dumplings looked but knowing the fact that they were stuffed with pork left me with no alternative but to make a mental note to try them with veggies once back home. The weather was different on each of the four days that we stayed. The first day was foggy. Not very hot but so hazy that we had to actually go very near the spots to get average visibility pictures. The second day dished out European weather, cold and drizzling that had us grabbing two umbrellas, buying a poncho and a “I have climbed the Great wall” sweatshirt before actually setting out to climb the Great Wall that day. The third day was the best with the sun shining but not hot at all and a lovely breeze throughout the day. The last day started off on the same note but towards the latter half of the day became cloudy, rainy (though we never got caught in the rain) and we saw a hail storm for the first time from the sheltered comfort of our car. We attended an elaborate Tea ceremony one afternoon. Though we had seen the same in Shanghai it was a first time for my daughter. We also enjoyed a traditional foot massage and that felt really good after one hectic day. We saw some intricate silk embroidery work in frames that I thought of buying later but then never saw it afterwards. Though I said I was not interested we were cajoled into visiting their jade and pearl factories but I did not buy anything there either. We were also surprised to see many senior citizens in the gardens playing cards, mahjong, and chess. I felt there were too many smokers and that except for tourists from other parts of China, the locals at the airport and shops did not seem very friendly at all. And the people in general sounded really loud, at least to me. I was also amused at all the explanation about yin and yang and every architectural piece striving to achieve the ‘perfect’ balance. Did you know that they regard the number 4 as bad luck and completely ignore it? No building will have the fourth floor or any floor ending with the digit four. And for such a modern and vastly progressing city, it seemed quite ridiculous that Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were banned in Mainland China. I could only agree with my daughter when she exclaimed “then how do they live here?”:cheers
Mindian, Thank you so much for the detailed description with the pictures. I too love to visit there some day. After reading this, I want to do this as soon as possible. Lovely pictures. Thanks for sharing here.
Mindi.. what you are turning into a travelogue expert..your accounts and narratives and descriptions are so very vivid that I could travel through Beijing with you.. lovely.. thanks for sharing Kerman
thank you, Manjubhashini..Beijing is surely worth a visit. It is heavily populated but I liked the fact that they have maintained a lot of greenery
Hi kelly, good to see you here the travelogue is as much for me as the others here. a sort of diary, you know .that is why a detailed one.hahaha
Really enjoyed your write up,always wondered how people lived in such a closed economy,it was lovely to read ,felt as if I traveled with you,............
