BEIJING, CHINA ROGER ALLNUTT

14 September, 2010 in B. WRITER'S DIARY by Roger Allnutt by Roger | 542 comments

It is a bit off-putting when a family of Chinese ranging from a small child to granny skip effortlessly past you as you climb the steep steps of the Great Wall of China to the north of Beijing.

Climbing the Great Wall is a challenge at any time but with the temperature hovering around 37 degrees in mid-summer it can be very enervating. Fortunately there are a series of towers on the Juyong Pass section at Badaling that offer shade and respite before tackling the next section of steps and the view from the ‘top’ is spectacular and well worth the effort. If you suffer from vertigo it can be a problem. Take plenty of water.

My humble efforts pale into insignificance when one considers the incredible engineering feat, not to mention the labour, involved in building the wall that stretches for more than 6000 km from one side of China to the other.

Visiting the Great Wall is an undoubted highlight of any visit to China and the day tour from Beijing also includes one of the Ming Tombs and the lovely Sacred Way situated only a few kilometres away. Altogether in the vicinity of the Tianshou Mountains that rise from the flat plain there are thirteen tombs but only one (the Yong Le tomb) is open to the public although many of the treasures now located there come from other tombs. The display of jade, and clothing worn by emperors, empresses and warriors is most impressive.

The Sacred Way is a long avenue lined with trees with large stone statues of animals (elephants, camels, horses) and figures of officials and warriors lining both sides. Outside both the tombs and the Sacred Way vendors sell clothes, souvenirs, drinks (plenty of water is required for all the exertions) and, when I visited in summer the largest and juiciest of fresh peaches.

Around Tiananmen Square

The central part of Beijing is set out in grid fashion with wide roads many lined with trees and other greenery. Fortunately the key attractions like Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City are right in the centre and close to the major hotels where most Westerners stay. I can recommend the Beijing International Hotel where I stayed and there are other well-known ‘names’ such as Hilton, Shangri-la, Kempinski and Holiday Inn..

At one end of Tiananmen Square the crowds queue up to shuffle past the body of Chairman Mao lying in state in his mausoleum. Thirty years after his death I am surprised by the length of the queue. Note that the mausoleum is only open for short periods on weekdays and not at weekends and it takes about an hour to complete the ‘pilgrimage’.

The crowds inside the adjacent Imperial Palace (or Forbidden City as it is commonly known) are just as large. The southern entrance is through an ornate gate from the balcony of which dignitaries of the Party view parades and other ceremonial occasions in Tiananmen Square. The Forbidden City consists of a succession of courtyards surrounded by colourful buildings (mainly reds and yellows), many in similar style, with little greenery to break the uniform greyness of the paving stones. Most of the buildings are virtually empty as the treasures they used to hold are now located in other places including a large quantity in the National Palace Museum in Taipei.

Forbidden City, Beijing

A popular diversion on many tours is a ride in a rickshaw through the alleys or hutongs of Beijing (the one close to the Forbidden City is among the best preserved) where the buildings and way of life of the inhabitants are relatively unchanged.

There are many other landmarks in Beijing but some are away from the city centre and take time to reach through the traffic. However if you have time visits to the Beijing Zoo with its giant pandas, the Summer Palace with its superb gardens, the Temple of Heaven the largest in China, and the Yonghe Lamasery are all worth including in your itinerary.

A visit to the Peking Opera is another popular tour inclusion and this is great fun. Chinese opera singing is not everyone’s cup of tea but the English translations of the action on the stage were hilarious. The acrobatic and juggling skills displayed by the ensemble choreographing a fight between good and evil was a masterpiece of skill and endurance.

Mecca for shoppers

To me Beijing seemed a very safe city for the tourist (although I had been warned about pickpockets operating at the markets) and felt quite comfortable strolling around the city area in the balmy summer evenings. In this way I obtained a glimpse of local life – the packed restaurants, tiny shops, men playing mah-jong and card games, family groups sitting out on the pavement in deckchairs, people reading newspapers, children playing traditional games and flying kites, young people buying the latest clothes and records like teenagers anywhere.

For many visitors the opportunity to shop is a major reason to visit China and Beijing is the place to really splurge. Modern department stores and a myriad of smaller shops sell everything imaginable but it is in the markets, such as the famous Silk Market, that the real bargains are found. The designer labels may be fake but the quality is excellent and after the obligatory bargaining everyone is happy. Clothes, handbags, leather goods, watches, silk – the range is endless.

local produce market, Beijing

Most tours include a number of lunches and dinners and these are usually rather standard, bland fare – if you have the chance seek advice from locals and venture out where they eat.

A Peking duck dinner is a specialty of Beijing and should be tried once. The local beer is the perfect accompaniment for Chinese food. It was interesting to note the degree to which Western ‘favourites’ such as McDonald’s, KFC and Pizza Hut have taken hold in China.

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