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Published: February 10th 2011
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My most recent trip took me to Beijing. Despite many of my colleagues warning me of the extremely cold weather I still went, prepared by putting on two pairs of pants, and all my other winter gear. And even though this was proven to be smart, at some point I was happy to return to Shenzhen for only one reason: warmer temperatures!
Nevertheless, I knew how little time 4 days are to see everything in and around Bejing. I had to cross some things off my list of places to visit, but the most important ones made my trip worth while:
Since most sights in Beijing look quite small on a map but are very big in reality I was (correctly) advised not to plan too many thing per day.
So on my first day, I went to the Forbidden City. Fortunately, they had audio guides even in German for everyone, like me, who was too lazy to do their proper research of the City beforehand. I probably have not got any wiser or more informed about the historical key aspects but I took some great pictures.
And for anyone who did not know. The direct surroundings of the Forbidden
City are still built smaller than the Palace. And the two main colors used on the Palaces etc., red and gold, stand for the Emporer's power and wealth. Ha!
In the afternoon I was too cold to still walk around the Forbidden City so I took the opportunity to look at the Drum and Bell Towers relatively close by. They were closed but I can at least say I tried, haha. I took this opportunity to warm up at a cafe with a hot chocolate and some well-deserved internet surfing.
In the evening, I followed some more advise and had the famous Peking duck at a famous restaurant in Bejing called "Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant". Although more expensive than expected I ordered half a duck which was still a little much for me, yet happily noticed that they were going to cut the meat in front of me so I would not have to bone-pick it. All in all, a nice experience. But I recommend trying the duck, or food in general, with others together. Not only because of the portions.
The next day, I took a guided tour to the Great Wall, the Ming Tombs, and as we
learned on the bus to a Jade- and later a Silk factory. None of the participants was thrilled about the destinations not mentioned on the agenda, but thankfully we did not spend too much time at the factories yet were able to warm up there.
The Great Wall was my favorite out of all because again we were blessed with great weather and it was nice to be outside the city. Also, this is where I learned how to use my panorama-function of my camera (Thank you to Alice and Christian!!).
The Ming Tombs were a bit disappointing to all of us since we expected them to be more spectacular. We thought you were able to go inside somewhere to look at something but it was more of an area with some very tiny temples or buildings and a mountain or hill that the emporer, the emporess and some concubines were buried under. Sorry to anyone who things differently. I might not have read enough about this place beforehand.
I recommend going there if you plan on taking a tour to the Great Wall, too. Again, now I can say that I have been there. 😉
The end of
our tour was a tea tasting and tea ceremony. Even though it seemed a little bit rushed and touristy, it was interesting to watch and we got some information about which tea was good for what.
The third day, I spent at the Summer Palace. This was a beautiful property, again with audio guides, and a big park right by a lake. Instead of one big palace, there were many smaller buildings and towers, all with their own purpose. The outlook from one of the temples onto the lake was breathtaking.
This is definitely a great destination during summer since you are able to wander the properties for hours. Even though I enjoyed walking around with very few tourists, it got very cold, so in the afternoon I returned to the city. There, I thought it might be enough time to visit the Confucius and Lama Temples. I made it to the front of each one, only to learn that opening hours were already over. If you have time and are interested in the different temples (Beijing have lots of them!) you should definitely put them on your itinerary!
My last half-day I spent at the Temple of
Heaven and the surrounding park before I took the train back to the airport. Again, a huge park where you can enjoy walking around or doing aerobics like many of the locals and visit the Temple. It was fun to watch people work out to music, play Maijang or shuttle cock (similar to hacky-sack). But since this was an entire outdoors-experience I felt the need to warm up after some time.
On this trip, I was really lucky with the weather in terms of constant sunshine despite the low temperatures. But if you can pick a season for your trip to Beijing, I suggest it to be NOT winter.
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