Travelling again together and this time it led us to the capital of the North! BEI (North) JING (Capital)! 2 hours away from Jinan by train, from Putian 3 hours by plane!We thought of staying two days as we find very difficult to travel around in China. Önder did not even want to come! Well I planned the visits: Tiananem where the forbidden city and the national museum are and the hutongs (Alleyways -small streets). When I studied Chinese at the beginning of the year, it was mentioned in my Chinese coursebook. So I thought we should visited them! Of course we checked for a free walking tour! There was one on the day of arrival from 5 to 8pm! Perfect it could not have been better timing! No too hot and too cold neither! What we did not want to do: Summer palace (too crowdy) and the great wall (the top of the tourist area)! We booked one night in a very charming hostel in the oldest part of Beijing (Xicheng district). Travelling againg together ! HUTONGSOnce in Beijing, we decided to go to Tiananem, walking. (Tianan: name of the square) and Nem (square). It was a 3,5 km walk in the Hutongs and alongside the forbidden city. It was a very pleasant walk and we enjoyed observing, locals, the beauty of the buildings and the quietness of the places! Amazing we are in Beijing and could listen to the wind blowing. No honking, no loud noises and intrusive looks! We arrived with prejudices and it seemed that we started liking the capital! BEIHAI PARK THE PORTRAIT - TIANANMEN TOWER Less than 2 hours later and passing the security check we finally arrived there. This is what I wanted to see. I had this picture in my mind and here we are just in front of his portrait. No foreigners there on the late Friday afternoon, but Chinese family posing for the eternity: a 3 generations family being proud of being there, in front of who is considered to be the "Greatest leader": Mao. The square, the massive gate/tower and the portrart are highly secured and protected. Initially built in 1417 during the Ming Dynasty (1368 A.D.- 1644 A.D.), the Square was the front door of the Forbidden City. The most important use of it in the past was to declare in a big ceremony to the common people who became the emperor and who became the empress. Until 1911 when the last feudal kingdom was over, no one could enter the Tower except for the royal family and aristocrats. Now it is called the Tiananmen Tower and Mao´s portrait hang there. Let ´s put it this way: the forbidden city was the symbol of the monarchy- the city has never been destroyed even since communism rules over China. Only a portrait of Mao and the communism symbol hang there. So the forbidden city is not associated with monarchy but communism?! What a twist in the Chinese history! TIANANMEN The square has been very popular for the students demonstration and its repression in 1989. Less than 30 years after, no signs of the protests remained except maybe the security checks. Back to the late 50´s, Mao decided to widen the square so that 1 million people could gather there. The square is impressive for its large monutments:
We thought of visiting the Museum but we had so little time left, instead we went to the underground city but it was shut down and we opted for the temple of heaven instead. Mao´s mausoleum was also closed, under renovation between 1st March and 31st August, this year. THE FORBIDDEN CITY A bit of history The Forbidden City lies at the city center of Beijing, and once served as the imperial palace for 24 emperors during the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368 - 1911). It was first built throughout 14 years during the reign of Emperor Chengzu in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Ancient Chinese Astronomers believed that the Purple Star (Polaris) was in the center of heaven and the Heavenly Emperor lived in the Purple Palace. The Palace for the emperor on earth was so called the Purple City. It was forbidden to enter without special permission of the emperor. Hence its name 'The Purple Forbidden City', usually 'The Forbidden City". It is divided into two parts. The southern section, or the Outer Court was where the emperor exercised his supreme power over the nation. The northern section, or the Inner Court was where he lived with his royal family. Surrounded by a 52-meter-wide moat and a 10-meter-high wall are more than 8,700 rooms. source: https://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/beijing/forbidden.htm Ingrid´s impressions Amazed, spacious palace where betrayals, plots, murdered but also births, triumphes and celebrations took place. We almost walked 4 hours with an audioguide around the palace. The amount ofinformation was enough to understand a part of the Chinese history. 3000 people could lived in the palace and the parallel streets was the army, eunuches. The buildings constructions reminded us the one we saw in South Korea. Önder´s impressions TEMPLE OF HEAVEN Originally, this was the place where emperors of the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644) and Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911) held the Heaven Worship Ceremony. It is the largest and most representative existing masterpiece among China's ancient sacrificial buildings. There are over 60,000 varieties of tree. The most famous tree is the grandfather tree - a 500-year-old Nine-Dragon Cypress. The area is larger than the Forbidden City. at the ticket office... We bought a ticket for 10Yuan and we thought it would be for the parc and the attractions. At the entry it was only mentioned 10Yuan and a go through ticket 30Yuan. We did not understand this Chinese thinking! We could not ask for any information. After we got it, only when we arrived to visit the temples, we should buy an extra ticket. We did not have time, so we walked through the parc and enjoyed the cypresses! INSIDERS... Mentioned above we took part in a 3 hours walking tour which was great! It led us to the back of the alleys. We visited a 79 years old guy who became famous for his cricket fighting. International journalists went to interview him and he also established cricket rules. A scam, no?! He had photo memories and articles in international magazines (national geographic for instance) He told us everything about crickets, the tools he needs to look after them (spoon to feed them etc) and introduced us to his favourite ones and the babies. A cricket lives max 100 days! His tiny house was not only full with stuffs but animals too from birds to rabbits and cameleon and without forgetting a ceramic Mao´s bust with a red scarf. A very funny guy and full of energy! A real Beijiner! BIKES ... Beijing in its bikes... old bikes are still around and even driven. The youger generation will use the system put in place, what we know in Europe. Using an app to locate the nearest bikes: take it and leave it whereever. We thought of doing it but it is more fun to walk around and observe the city. If not, we will only be concentrated on the traffic!!!! After 3 days in Beijing... 2 days turned into 3 days.
We were there as tourists and visited the famous sightseeings. Sure we felt safe and secure, it goes beyond that as citizens were polite, did not look at us like weirdos, it was quiet and green. We had the chance to have clear blue sky! The day before it was sandstorm and we would not have been able to see one meter ahead! Transportation (metro) was easy to use and we had great food everywhere we went! What stroke us most: - policemen everywhere (in blue, green or black uniforms) always patrolling with 3 partners! - Internet: so many websites I can have access in the South (with or without a VPN), in Beijing censured! What is still to do:
We loved it!
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