Day 1
12.00 – Right after the breakfast we took to the streets. Our first stop, Tienanmen Square, was very close to the hotel, so it was a piece of cake to find. We started walking enticed by the high buildings, signs in Kanji, and the pull of the neon-lit streets.
13.00 – At last we were at Tienanmen Square! A huge portrait of Mao Zedong, who is one of the founders of China, along with Yat-Sen, greeted us at Tienanmen, which translates as “heavenly peace.
Though it is one of the biggest squares in the world and very close to the gate of the famous Forbidden City, the square, dressed in red, keeps alive the memory of the events that took place there in 1989. Most of us remember, or have since come across, the images of the unknown worker who stood up against 18 tanks and won, stopping them in their tracks. The man was later given a place in Time Magazine’s “100 Leaders and Revolutionaries” The Tienanmen Square protests are one of the key points in China’s modern history, and the unknown man’s actions are among the most memorable moments of the protests.
Despite not being able to enter the square without passing through a security check, we found it interesting that within reach of the perfectly still soldiers were fire extinguishers. Presumably, they are there as a backup so that, despite all precautions, should trouble erupt, the incident can be dissolved without serious damage to the square. Huge flags were flying on the gigantic square as soldiers stood to attention, and visitors, waving their own flags and taking photos, awaited the start of the flag ceremony. Unlike most cities, where big screens show advertisements for world brands, the screens in Tienanmen Square air images from the People’s Republic of China. We spent some time watching the images on the big screens, chatting to people, and taking photos before deciding to head to our next stop, the Forbidden City. For some reason we couldn’t the System of a Down song ‘Hypnotize’ out of our heads. Not surprising I suppose with its lyric, “Why don’t you ask the kids on Tienanmen Square?”
14.00 – We entered the Forbidden City, once the home of dozens of Chinese emperors, through its huge gates, to fşnd it absolutely heaving with people. What astonished us was how the Chinese caressed and kissed the gates of the Forbidden City out of respect. The city was constructed between 1406 and 1420, and is full of statues, especially lion statues, there were even small statues on the roof. We learned that during the rule of the empire, the city had thousands of rooms housing thousands of courtesans, and 10 thousand servants. Though it was freezing, the beauty of the Golden Water river remained the same and our admiration grew bigger and bigger.
15.00 – We decided to take a walk around the Forbidden City Walls to get more of a feel for the city, and to see what Tienanmen Square looked like from a distance. Around the city there are many places worth visiting if you have the time. The Great Hall of the People, the National Museum, the Nation Art Museum of China and Beihai Park are all palaces you should consider adding to your sightseeing list. Strolling around we tried to chat with the seniors sitting on the benches but none of them spoke any language other than Chinese. After perceiving trying to find a local to chat with we accepted that our luck was out, and decided to take the Beijing subway and go shopping.
16.30 – We were able to get on to Beijing subway, whose fame travels faster than it does. I said “able to” because it was really packed. If it was rush hour and if you had shopping bags, it became almost impossible to get on. The mall we planned to go to wasn’t that far, but the only problem was working out how we could get off!
17.15 – As soon as we got off the subway, we started shopping. Beijing is a good choice for certain products, but you should haggle as they often ask for an amount much higher than the real value. We decided to have dinner at one of the restaurants across the street after checking out bags, shoes and souvenirs (it’s possible to find anything from porcelain tea ware to intaglio sculptures, fans and lamb ornaments) and buying some of those marvelous herbal teas.
19.30 – At the restaurant it was very hard to choose what to order so we took our time. Since all the food that we ordered (ramen, Kung Pao chicken, and beef in soy sauce) was very delicious, we were happy that we had made the right choices. After dinner we went to the hotel because for our next stop, the Great Wall of China, we would need to leave right after breakfast, so we needed a good night sleep.
Day 2
11.00 – Right after breakfast we hit the road. The Great Wall of China was a little far but it wasn’t a problem because there was no traffic; it took around two hours to get there. Leaving the city, we found ourselves among huge trees and fields as far as eye could see. As we got closer to our destination, we became more and more excited. Well it was a big deal, we would visit the most important and valuable structure of the city and we were hoping that it would be as magnificent as we imagined.
13.15 – At last, we were in front of the Great Wall of China. We took a cable car up to the perfectly structured wall. Though in English we call it a “wall,” in Turkish and Farsi it’s referred to as a “barrier.” It was built by the emperor Qin Shi Huang. Before heading towards the cable car, we toyed with the idea of taking a look at the stands with straw hats and wall decorations, but the idea of seeing the wall took precedence, so didn’t bother.
13.45 – After travelling above green fields and trees which stretch as far as eye can see, we finally reached the marvelous wall. Among the green trees the wall seemed like a huge railroad made of concrete reaching to the top of the hill. The view is fairly spectacular and rendered us temporarily speechless. As we proceeded it became clearer why the wall was chosen as one of the New Seven Wonders of The World in 2007. We didn’t have time to walk the full nine kilometers, but we made sure to buy a sign saying, “I Walked the Great Wall of China.” There is no doubt that it was a nice souvenir from a nice trip.
16.15 – Since we had seen the magnificent Great Wall of China, it was a lot easier to take a look at the stands. After taking the cable car down (there is also the option of tobogganing down, luckily for us it was raining so the officers didn’t let us use them) we went to take a look at the straw hats, wall decorations, refrigerator magnets, and t-shirts on the stands, and enjoyed chatting with the sellers at the stands. Then we decided to head back; as you know we had a long way to go.
19.00 – For our second dinner in Beijing we enjoyed delicacies like shrimp with hot pepper, noodles with beef, and mushroom salad. Chinese cuisine deserves all the credit it is given. What is left after our Beijing trip are the souvenirs that we bought, the memories that will stay with us for a long time, and the images engraved in our minds of the beautiful places we saw. What more can we ask for?
Before you visit Beijing:
Watch
You don’t want to watch Jackie Chan movies? Then let us suggest a few movies from Ang Lee: Last year’s academy award winning director with “The Life of Pi”, has no bad movies in his filmography. (Yep, including Hulk) You can watch either the blockbuster “Wo Hu Cang Long (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon)” released in 2001 or “Se, Jie (Lust, Caution)” from 2007.
Read
You can find lots of books about Beijing, history, China and the Great Wall of China. You should read the ones which appeal most to you, but let us recommend a couple: “The Great Wall” by John Man and “Midnight in Peking” by Paul French
Listen
You might enjoy one of A-Lin’s ballads either in English or in Chinese, she is very popular in China, and has a beautiful voice and very powerful sense of musical interpretation.
