Beijing and the end of the road

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Well what better place to finish my trip than Beijing. Its some five years since I last came here and I arrived eager at the prospect of visiting some of the places I missed out on last time around. Over the past few years Beijing has undergone a major facelift in preparation for this years Olympic Games. Although I haven’t spent a lot of time in Beijing it’s a city I love visiting and a complete contrast to that of Shanghai. In recent years Shanghai has become a little too Westernised for my taste. Speaking to other foreigners in Shanghai and, for that matter China, most of them seem to love Beijing for it’s abundance of historical sites and it’s more authentic Chinese feel.

I arrived, much to my surprise to glorious sunny weather and crystal clear blue skies. I managed to a locate a hostel just south of Tiananmen Square and right in the middle of one of the cities historical ‘Hutongs’ which quite literally means ‘narrow alley’ They are a trademark feature of the city and a home to many of Beijing’s fifteen million inhabitants. The Hutongs are the best place to witness Beijingers up close. The street I stayed on was awash with life, bustling restaurants, barbers, snack stands and souvenir shops all blended in with local housing. The houses are a fascinating sight, often just consisting of one storey and at times a ramshackle like appearance. However recent attempts to modernise Beijing in the run up to the Olympics have seen many of these historical neighbourhoods levelled and replaced by ultra modern skyscrapers perhaps in an attempt to make the city more pleasing on the eye.

Prior to arriving in Beijing I’d drawn up a tick list of things to do. Having already seen the Great Wall and the Forbidden City I decided to miss these out this time around. The list was as follows; Tiananmen, Hutongs, The Summer Palace and the Olympic Stadium. I headed out on the first day to see the largest square in the world, Tiananmen. It’s one of those places which is great just to wander around. Quite naturally it a real draw to not only for Chinese people but also Western tourists. I was a little disappointed that the Mausoleum which houses the body of China’s most famous leader was closed. To get an idea for anyone who hasn’t been to the square before just how big it is, after Mao’s death in 1976 one million mourners poured into the square to pay their respects.

The square is also a place where young Chinese people frequently go to practice their English language skills and it’s almost impossible not to walk through the square without being stopped and asked if it’s okay to practice ‘a little English’ and have a quick photo taken. I was more than happy to oblige on more than one occasion.

Having taken my fill of photos and having plenty taken of myself too I decided to head off to seek out some of the fantastic parks Beijing has on offer and at the same time escape the mass amounts of people heading for the inside of the Forbidden City. Jingshan Park is situated just north of the Forbidden City and the main reason for heading there are the great panoramic views you can get of the Forbidden City. Once again I couldn’t believe my luck with the weather and I did just begin to wonder whether the rumours I’d heard about the air being sprayed blue in preparation for the Olympics were actually true!

The park itself makes for a nice place to just simply meander around and, for anyone with a historical interest in all things Chinese you can actually find the tree where the last Ming emperor, Chongzhen hung himself from!

From Jingshan Park it’s possible to look across to another park, that of Beihai (Beihai Gongyuan) The park itself is more or less made up entirely of water and perhaps the most famous site in its grounds is that of the Jade Islet (Qiongdao) on which stands a 36m high White Dagoda (Baita)

Despite Beijing being the first city I visited in a while which has a fairly decent public transport system I was more than happy to spend my time seeing it all on foot and as the afternoon turned into the evening I weaved my way back to the hostel through the maze of Hutongs.

I was up bright and early on the second day for a trip to the Summer Palace (Yihe Yuan) On my last trip I’d missed visiting this vast park as I instead choose to go and watch David Beckham walk out of one of the city hotels! The place is so vast that in all honesty you could probably spend a couple of days there taking in all the things to see. Unfortunately my timetable didn’t spread to two days and instead I spent the best part of five hours walking around. The Palace was built primarily as a summer retreat for the royalty who wanted to escape from the stifling summer heat of the Forbidden City. In a similar fashion to that of Behai Park much of the park consists of water, around three thirds to be exact, is taken up by Kunming Lake

The ticket I purchased enabled you go into all the extra parts of the park such as museums and temples. It soon became apparent to me though that the Summer Palace was also on the tick list of others. I suppose it’s one of the three major things that most people do when visiting Beijing. The place was absolutely packed with people and this despite it being a weekday. Nevertheless the sheer size of the park meant that it was actually possible to get away from the crowds and this is what I did by walking around the perimeter of the lake. It’s an extraordinary place and one which has been preserved so beautifully over the years.

After five hours of being on my feet and some extensive sightseeing I was beginning to fade and even though there were more parts of it to see I didn’t think I would be doing them justice by just going inside and taking a few pictures so I made my way back to the hostel. That evening was rounded of by some delicious local cuisine but not as you might expect some of the legendary Beijing Duck of which I’m not a huge fan.

By the third day in Beijing my mind was beginning to roam to thoughts of returning to Shanghai that very evening but there was still one more thing I needed to see before leaving. I will be in China for the Olympic Games but doubt I will get the opportunity to go up to Beijing to see any of the events. So with this in mind I made my way to the newly built Olympic stadium. It was a bit of a nightmare to find and my map certainly wasn’t the most accurate but then again neither were the directions I was given by some of the locals. But find it I did and what a sight. I love stadiums whatever shape or size they might be but this most definitely has to be one of the most impressive I’ve ever seen. The “Birds nest” as it’s commonly known is a bizarre yet incredible creation which, as the name suggest looks rather like a bird’s nest, albeit a steel one. In fact the stadium is made up of 36km of unwrapped steel. Unfortunately it wasn’t possible to get right up close to it as construction work is still continuing on both the stadium and the surrounding area which includes the equally impressive National Aquatics Centre. Once completed the stadium will hold 91,000 people although the capacity will be reduced to 80,000 after the Games. Having seen it I only wish I was going to be one of those lucky people there to witness some of the events.

I was planning on going to visit the Temple of Heaven but to be quite frank there really is only so much sightseeing a person can do in one day and with that in mind I headed back to the hostel to pack up my backpack. It was a little strange as I left the hostel and made my way to Beijing train station that I had reached the end of my journey. It was very fitting that the only ticket I had been able to purchase was that of a ‘Soft sleeper’ or the elite class as I like to call it. I know I got lucky with the weather and didn’t get to see any of the infamous pollution that supposedly hangs over the city on a daily basis so in that respect I was very thankful.

So that’s it the trip has come to an end and more to the point the end of my writing for a while. If anything this trip has only served to wet my appetite to see more of this fascinating and unique country. I met so many people along the way who said they thought it was possible to simply past through China in a matter of two weeks seeing all the major sites. In some respects this is true but for every major sight in China there are plenty of other small places where it possible to immerse yourself in ‘real China’ and these are the places that I got more out of visiting.

Perhaps I will find the timeto sum up my trip in the coming weeks but that really is all there is for now. As for now, well it’s back to Shanghai and preparing for my move to Xiamen. Hope you've enjoyed reading about my trip.

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