Beijing

 West to East......


As I ended up with a huge amount of writing, and was afraid of overloading everyones' emails, so I'm trying out using a blog for the first time. I have no idea what I'm doing, but here goes.....

  BEIJING

 

Summer Palace of Dowager Empress

Sat., Aug. 31:

Here we go again. As you know I do enjoy writing, so you, as a friend or family member are being subjected to more of my ramblings - should you choose to read them.

Plugged in on the Plane:
A rather long, (somewhat high tech if you chose to view the many movies, TV programs, HBO, music, games and other offerings via the monitor at the seat) plane ride - 13 hours. Interesting route though. Although I read a book instead of watching any shows, I did watch our route which took us straight north of Detroit over the western edge of Hudson Bay, along the Arctic Circle north of Canada, over the very northeastern corner of Russia, and straight down to Beijing. So, the world isn't flat after all!  They fed us lots of food - typical plane food, at least. Another interesting thing was that we left Detroit at 1pm and arrived in Beijing at 2:40 pm the next day because we crossed the Intnl. Date Line. ( It was 2:40 AM NY time, though) AND throughout the whole trip we were in daylight! My brain has to really work at comprehending this stuff.

Cars Everywhere:
Upon arriving in Beijing we took the 6 lane highway into the inner city - lots of Hyundai's, Toyotas, and a good smattering of American cars, as well as Beamers, Audis, Mercedes and other European cars all jammed up in the heavy traffic. Except for the road signs we could have been in any large city anywhere in the world!


Hutongs, the Old Sections of Town:
We chose a traditional, but modern, hotel in an old section of the city in a hutong. The word hutong means well, which would have been a central point in a small village for everyone to get water. Presumably, homes would have been surrounding that spot. Now these are small neighborhoods, in cities, often only a street that is very narrow surrounded by traditional homes and tiny shops and restaurants. Many have been knocked down and replaced by high rise apartments and such. But China seems to be realizing the importance of its roots and now some of these little neighborhoods are being preserved. In fact, some are becoming a little chic chic. 

Typical hutong scene

Another hutong scene

Exploring “The Hood:”
After unpacking, we began exploring the neighborhood a little. Lots of big wide streets with lots of traffic, both cars and bikes. A small park we stumbled on had a group of about 20 mainly women "dancercizing" to a boom box. A couple of tiny street corner "parks" had exercise machines. And so far no fat Chinese people. We had a wonderful 15 course meal last night at a beautiful old style (somewhat trendy) restaurant. Then collapsed into bed. 

bikes everywhere...

Huge Buddha in the Lama Temple

Early morning dance in the park

Dragon boat on the lake below the Summer Palace

Dragon building near Olympic Stadium

Drum Tower: Youngsters drumming to tell time

Roof detail of a palace

We declined this delicious meal....

Tianaman Square and the Forbidden City:
Our first day out began early visiting Tianaman Square, which is akin to the Mall in Washington - a huge, wide street  lined with large government buildings and museums, a large area for gathering crowds, tons of tourists and lots of flags in this case, Chinese, of course.  Across the street from the Square is the Forbidden City, a huge complex of palatial buildings 400 years old. The several gates you pass through are parts of ancient walls dating back 400 plus years about 30 feet thick. Giant, very ornate, graceful buildings for past government officials, emperors, their concubines, servants etc.  It took us several hours to take it all in. Lots of history and symbolism, such as the number nine is considered very important and reserved for the emperor in many cases. Dragon statues are everywhere symbolizing power (read that as emperor stuff, again). The edges and undersides of the roofs are covered with carvings, ornate paintings and eaves. Afterwards, we climbed up the hill to the palace gardens where you can overlook not only the Forbidden City, but the whole city of Beijing. Luckily, the weather is cool and clear so the smog was not bad and the visibility was good. 

A rickshaw ride through an old section of the City

Incense burning as an offering at the Lama Temple

A tranquil scene along the lake shore

Mythical beings symbolizing the Emperors' powers

The view from the hill behind the Forbidden City

A visit to the Pearl Market

Rickshaws waiting for passengers

Telling Time:
After a great Chinese food lunch we took a rickshaw ride around one of the old neighborhoods, then watched a demonstration of drumming in the ancient city drum tower. Five children probably aged  about 7 - 12 paraded out in traditional garb and spent a good 10 minutes whacking these huge barrel-like drums. Similar to the church bells and clock towers centrally located in American and European communities to tell people when to get up, go to work, etc., the drums were used before clocks as we know them had been invented. They also showed how else they kept time by burning large rings of incense (a lot like giant mosquito coils), and a very elaborate water dripping between large stone containers through narrow passages similar to our more familiar hourglasses. Very interesting!

Another view of the city from the hill

The more "creatures," the more important the inhabitants of the palace

The smiling, three legged car

The temple of Heaven

Umbrellas for decoration and shade

An enormous incense urn

Ooohhhmmm!
Later we visited the Lama Temple, more palatial building which began life as a home for the emperors, but converted to a series of temples containing enormous statues of Buddhas several hundred years ago. These temples are richly decorated with silks and elaborate paintings and carvings, as well as thousands of smaller Buddhas presided over by golden Buddhas 30 feet tall sitting in the familiar cross legged positions. One, truly giant Buddha stands almost 200 feet tall made from one sandalwood tree. Outside the temples were many large incense burners, where people came to burn long incense sticks and pray.

Acrobats!
After a brief rest back at the hotel we went to the National Theater to see a performance by the Chinese Acrobat Troupe. They wowed the crowd by piling lots of beautifully clad ladies onto the shoulders and bike of one poor girl riding a bicycle. Lots of very strong flexible people doing outrageous stuff. They finished up with 7(?) motorcyclists doing flips and racing around the inside of a relatively small metal dome. Pretty neat stuff. 



Lovely Night Life:
Following another great dinner in a nearby restaurant we strolled further afield in our little neighborhood and found a lively alleyway filled with street vendors selling all kinds of clothing, toys, crafts, etc. and tons of different foods. A Saturday night, it was jammed with young Chinese people looking very Western. There was even a smattering of Europeans wandering around. The hutongs, we found out are somewhat endangered. These narrow ancient streets are often over 700 years old, with many small homes crammed next to each other often accessible only by even narrower walkways. Being so old, many of them have no toilet facilities, so every couple of blocks are fairly modern toilets built by the government but maintained ( usually very well) by the immediate neighborhood. 

Tour boats on the Lake

 Changing the Inner City:
Apparently, many of these areas have been demolished in the name of modernization, and people relocated to homes with more amenities. However, being located in the inner city, they possess valuable real estate. If the government buys them out they receive little compensation compared to when real estate corporations come in with more attractive offers. Luckily, the government is helping to preserve more of them as they realize the historical and cultural value of these fascinating streets.  They remind me somewhat of the little neighborhood we stay in Golfitio, CR, where you walk down a narrow street (in that case, dirt road) looking practically into everyone's living room.

As you can imagine we again, fell into bed and immediately zonked out.


Sun., Sept. 1
 
The Great Wall:
Up at sunrise to get to the Great Wall before the crowds and the heat. A little groggy, but excited, we drove about an hour northeast of the city to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. The ride was pleasant, no traffic through the city and into the countryside around Beijing, where the land is flat, with a fair bit of farming interspersed with a few factories and small towns.

Hello from the Wall

Taxi Drivers Worldwide:
Our tour guide also came with a driver, a very good natured (also quite good looking) young man, who would have been right at home driving in Boston, Washington, DC, or NYC. He kept up with the rest of the motorists who regularly passed on solid white lines, often with oncoming traffic, and regularly used the inside shoulder to get ahead on one lane roads. However, we ARE still here to talk about it, thankfully!

Courtyard Privacy:
It was difficult to gauge what the towns were like because, like Central America, it is difficult to see what people's homes look like because all you see are their outside walls. Either the entire house surrounds a courtyard, or there is a central courtyard fringed by several homes. Either way you have no way of knowing whether the homes are large or small, affluent or poor. We did find out from our guide that in the past when a home's entranceway has two roof support posts visible the inhabitants are relatively well off, possibly civil servants and the like. If there are four posts the homeowners would have been military officers, high government officials, etc. I always find it interesting when the outside wall looks somewhat shabby, yet the inside is beautiful inside.

KOA Chinese Style:
Along one section of the road were several campgrounds (not quite KOA, but with pretty fancy playgrounds) along a river and a fishing camp. (alas, no Airstreams!) There were also several very elaborate gates, with huge faux Grecian style columns, which housed golf courses for the elite, and a number of gated communities, probably condos. 


The Countryside:
A few miles from the Wall we began a pretty steep climb up into the mountains. Apparently we passed, but didn't stop and visit some very quaint little farm villages. When we asked our guide why we didn't stop she was aghast. She couldn't figure out why we would bother. We tried to explain that we wanted to experience the land and culture. It was hard for her to get away from all the razzmatazz of the Ming Dynasty palaces and the city scenes. Our guide, Helen (her English name) was a very sweet enthusiastic girl of 28, who, did a great job and was very knowledgeable about the city, but about the countryside, birds, wildlife...... 

The way up - the chairlift

The way down.....

Amazing views!

Soldiers barracks along the wall

The Wall:
About halfway up the mountain top we pulled into one of a number of parking lots, walked past lots of vendors selling souvenirs and food and climbed aboard the chairlift that took us to the Wall at the mountaintop. All those scenic photos you see of the Wall in posters, ads and films do not do it justice. The views are stunning. And even more awesome when you think that many sections were built over two thousand years ago! The mountains, while not the Alps or Himalayas, are still very rugged and numerous. To think of the manpower, and stone and materials needed to build the Wall (or more accurately, Walls), is mind boggling. Helen told us that almost all the men in the country were involved (mostly forced or enslaved) during periods that parts of the Wall were being constructed. Fortunately, we had great visibility so you could see the Wall snaking along the mountain tops for miles in either direction. Obviously, walking along the wall was quite strenuous as well.  The steps were very uneven, some being quite shallow, where some were almost two feet high for each step.

Spectacular!
About every three hundred meters was either a watchtower or guard house where the soldiers would live. Huge, dank buildings which felt deliciously cool in the summer heat, but must have been dismal and frigid in the winter. Great views, though.  Between us we took about a thousand photos. Also, a very good cardio workout! We both vowed that if we returned to China a prolonged hiking trip along the Wall would be high on the list. Coming down we literally slid down on a toboggan which was a lot of fun except we had a little girl who was very timid (read that as sloooooooow) in front of us. With rubber knees we were happy to get back in the car for the ride back.

Soho, Chinese-Style:
After lunch back in the city we visited the Arts District, which is housed in a series of old factory buildings, which used to make military equipment (not nuclear, we were assured). A bit like Soho, in NY, there were many galleries, artsy, crafty shops, Beamers and Mercedes parked along the roadsides, and lots of mainly young, chic folks mixed among the rest of us. I was quite pleased to see how Asian brush painting has evolved, while Kathy found some great jewelry. By 3:30, exhausted, we were so happy to return to the hotel room for a well deserved nap.

Chinese graffiti in the Arts District

More Exploring:
It took quite a bit of self discipline to rouse ourselves a couple of hours later and get it together to go out for some dinner. Still suffering from a bit of jet lag, we figured if we began sleeping for good in the late afternoon, we'd resort back to NY time and be up all night. We returned to the busy little alley nearby and did a little window shopping before a thunderstorm forced us to seek refuge in a trendy little restaurant, where we were probably at least twice as old, maybe three times? as the rest of the patrons and staff. Another well deserved good night's rest.


 Mon., Sept. 2

The Temple of Heaven:
A sleep-in morning, sort of..... We didn't meet Helen until nine o'clock, when we headed for the Temple of Heaven. More opulent palatial buildings, this time with more of a religious bent. Set in a large park, the series of temple buildings were built for the Emperor of the moment and his entourage, to basically encourage the heavenly folk to give everyone a good growing season, then to thank them for it at the end.

Exercising in the park

The Park:
Before reaching the actual buildings we walked through the surrounding park which contained numerous pathways and small open areas filled with groups of people doing their morning workout routines. Boom boxes were blasting European classical, traditional Chinese music, Hip Hop and other genres provided the stage for dancing of all styles: line dancing, waltzing, even tai chi (sp.). Lots of older folks, because, being a workday, most young people were at work. (Again, no fat people!)

Baby Buns:
A very interesting little tidbit is how toddlers are dressed, especially boys. I'm not sure if this is to save on diapers or it's maybe to help with toilet training, but many children wear open crotched pants. When they need to go to the bathroom the attending adult holds them with their legs wide open so they can pee or poop. So, it's not unusual to see these cute little buns sticking out of the pants of these little kids.

Back to the Subject at Hand....
This huge complex included buildings (really mansions) to house the wife (empress) and separately, the girlfriends (concubines) as well as a house to get dressed in, and other miscellaneous buildings for staff, warehouses, etc.

There is a lot of symbolism woven into supporting pillars corresponding to the number of seasons and days in a lunar month, the number nine and its multiples in the decorations on the gates, carved dragons representing royalty and power all over the place..... Every  structure is thoughtfully constructed lined up north/south, east/west, a round walled area where you stand in the center and your voice echoes loudly, another area where your voice is magnified.... amazing. The actual temple was built in the 1700's, made totally of wood. not a nail or piece of metal to hold it together or to support it. Not bad for no power tools or modern construction equipment, eh? All these structures have been restored several times, and were recently repainted for the recent Olympic Games. 

Beyond Ornate:
A word about the paintings  - every possible surface of every beam, column, wall, ceiling, etc. is painted with elaborate, colorful designs. Edges of roofs, crown moldings along ceilings, doorways and  furniture are elaborately carved wood. It' s almost overwhelming to look at after a while. Even the tiled roofs painted bright blue, in this case, and edged with carvings of animals and mythical beasts got to be a bit much after a while.

A Little PR Issue:
Another delicious lunch, the best yet, at a well known, very popular with the locals, restaurant. While lunching we briefly became a part of an emotional discussion between Helen and her boss/also close friend whose company received a poor rating on the Internet travel resource, Trip Advisor. Both women were very upset because Helen had worked very hard to please the people who had written the review, and the visitors had proved to be fairly difficult. We first discussed our point of view as both clients of their company, users of Trip Advisor, and, in Kathy's case, having been in  the business world for many years. We both pointed out that basically, "You can't please all the people all the time," and that one unfavorable review among many good ones is not going to sway most potential customers, anyway.  I hope we were able to give these hardworking women some sanguine advice. After three intensive days with Helen we actually became very fond of her and felt quite "sisterly/motherly" toward her.



The Summer Palace:
Our last adventure in Beijing was to visit the Summer Palace of the infamous Empress Dowager, or "Dragon Lady." Living in the late 1800's to early 1900's she began her career as the emperor's main concubine. She succeeded her emperor husband, and managed to knock off a couple of  future heirs to the empire and run the show ruthlessly, herself. Apparently, she was quite selfish and power hungry, along with having extravagant taste in housing, among other things. She built an amazingly beautiful palace on the site of a former royal palace from a former dynasty.

A Traditional Chinese Scene:
On a hill overlooking a man made lake the whole scene is one of serenity and beauty. We walked through the many outer buildings, along the shore, where tour boats and small rental paddle boats glide across the lake. The actual palace dominates the hillside overlooking the water. An island with a connecting bridge with 17 arches meets the mainland. In the distance you can see ridges of mountains fading into the haze. Willow trees ringing the lake form the quintessential Chinese picture. We took a small ferry to the island, where a small museum building shows photos and information about the Empress, and some historical photos of Chairman Mao. A very relaxing end to our three days in Beijing.

A youngster in a traditional pram

The inside dome of the Heavenly Temple

Gateway to the Heavenly Temple

We regretfully said goodbye to Helen and our driver and headed to the rather sterile airport hotel where we later met up with our group for the next part of our trip.

(Can you tell I'm having one of my insomniac nights? I've written most of this and yesterday's ramblings this evening and tonight. It's almost 4 am, and sleep is still eluding me so I'll sleep on the four hour plane ride later this morning. Meanwhile, I'll try my deep yoga breathing and some meditation, yet again. Lucky I can sleep anywhere!) (Except WHEN I want!)