Day 17 to 21 Beijing

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We left Ulaan Bataar, which had a population of 1.5 million people (out of total Mongolian population of 3 million) straight into Beijing with a population of 23 million, so many people and cars, many high rise flats, but people seem content.



On our first day we set out to orientate our way around the city, and once we got used to crossing the roads, we set off to Tiananmen Square. (Don’t take any notice about the green man lit up when you cross the zebra crossing. Particularly the cycles and the 3 wheeled motorcycle’s they use for passengers or goods, that come from every direction). The security is quite tight here, bag scans and many police/soldiers. One area we had to check in my hand bag for a small fee.



The Chinese are very friendly and are keen to use their English if possible, only downside is that some - including ladies spit. Preceded by the loud clearing of the throat, not nice. A habit we decided not to take up!



We are nearing the Chinese New Year when almost half of Beijing’s population will leave the capital to go back to their families. Even in the cold this February, many Chinese will visit Beijing’s important sights, many carrying little Chinese flags, kids dressing up in traditional outfits. Many of Beijing sights, because of fengshui, are in a straight line so easy for navigating your way between them. Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Jingshan Park, Drum and Bell Tower, even the further away, Temple of Heaven and Sacred Way are in a line.



We decided to leave the Forbidden City (Palace Museum) till the following day, so we entered Jingshan Park, (every park seems to have a small entrance fee) and quickly climbed the man-made hill for a terrific views of the Forbidden city and surrounding views of Beijing. In our travelling we rely a lot on the Lonely Planet guide for places of interest, navigation and eating. We decided to follow a walking tour as described in their Beijing section of the Hutong area. This area is single storey, full of narrow roads and alleys. Although some prominent people had lived here including the wife of the Last Emperor Puyi, it wasn’t very impressive, very grey brick covered in dust from the city’s pollution! And alleyways were full of stuff, rubbish bags, bikes, washing etc. The saving grace, was that there was a lively street running through it where many young wandered through, exploring the small shops and street food. One delicacy that fascinated us was a breadcrumbed squid on a stick. We much preferred the toffee coated Strawberries on a stick, lovely. We then climbed the steep stairs of the Bell tower, this together with the drum tower, served Beijing for timekeeping.



The following day, we entered the Forbidden City along with many Chinese, school parties, and tours. The Forbidden City is vast with many halls, Hall of Supreme Harmony, Hall of preserving harmony, Hall of literary glory, Hall of Mental cultivation, etc, etc, etc……. Although the Temples and palaces were splendid, The displays of jewellery and personal effects were not presented well, it didn’t tell us much about the history of the palaces or the emperors. We did like the last two exhibition displays of clocks (many elaborate clocks from England) and the Porcelain of the centuries.



From here we headed south of the city using the subway. Very friendly station staff, easy to use and cheap (3 yuan, 30p each). Our destination was the Temple of Heaven Park. It was early evening, and quite cool (0 degrees C), but the park was buzzing with locals, playing instruments a large choir singing ?folk songs, and many groups of people playing cards or the board game Marjong. A fun game also being played by all ages was ‘keepie uppie’ with a large badminton shuttlecock!



That evening we decided to eat out. There are many places to eat out here, but many didn’t seem appealing and are aimed at Chinese, (why wouldn’t they be?) I consulted the Lonely Planet and fancied the Dadong roast duck restaurant, it was well recommended by not only LP, but also Trip Advisor. It was one of the few recommended restaurants near our hotel. Our hotel is near a business district, and as we got nearer the restaurant, we passed the Aston Martin Showroom, then the Lamborghini one. Where we were expecting a small restaurant was shopping mall with equally expensive shops. We were having second thoughts, were we in the right cloths? If it’s just us in there would we look out of place? We took the lift to the 5 floor which brought us right in the middle of the restaurant. No turning back now-we were shown to our seats, passing the ponds full of Koi. We thumbed the thick papyrus menu, passing the pictures of the fried seacumber, squid, occasionally glancing at the price in the right hand column, doing a quick calculation from yuan to pounds on the way. In the end we settled for Duck, it was known for its duck, so after having advice from the waiter, the chef came out in front of us elegantly carved the meat and displaying it on a platter in front of us, together with plum sauce, radish, cucumber, garlic, and sugar so you could dip the crispy bits in.



The waiter then demonstrated, how to mix the ingredient in the pancake. It was gorgeous, Alison said it was orgasmic - whatever that means? Anyway, together with a beautiful bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, we ate like Emperors, a wonderful eating experience!. Unfortunately I have blown the budget, so we will eat like paupers the next 4 days!



One of the must see places in China is the Great Wall, although there are other places to visit the wall, we chose the out of town location of Mutianyu, our tour bus arrived at the wall very early, we don’t mind that - we miss the crowds. We took a cable car up and spent about 2 hours walking the wall occasionally negotiating the very steep steps to the towers. There was no smog, and very bright sunshine, so photo opportunities of the wall and surrounding areas were terrific. A definite highlight of our stay in Beijing. After the obligatory stop at the Jade factory and shop where they tried to flog us some carved Jade and jewellery, (although we had a nice lunch there) we set off for the ‘Sacred Way’ the main way leading to the Ming burial tombs. This way is lined by carvings of animals, and stone Generals that are protecting the Emperor in the afterlife.

On our final day we just revisited, one of the liveliest places Beijing, the Hutong area. Nearby we seeked out a restaurant used very much by the locals, which was by a frozen lake. There was a great atmosphere with many ice skating using all manner of contraptions to get about on the ice. Then a last drink in Beijing in one of the many music bars.

From here we travel to Xian a two hour flight away to see the Terracotta Army, and staying in our first hostel of the trip!

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