We arrived on a Saturday morning to dismal weather. It's much colder in Beijing than Shanghai and we overestimated our level of comfort "nah, we don't need the heavy winter jacket, let's just go out with a light jacket!" Well, with the rain and the poor quality of our shoes, our feet were soaked through in a matter of minutes. But hey, that's okay, that's what added to the ambiance...especially since we went to see Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Since there was the 18th National People's Congress being held on the following Monday, security all over Beijing had been increased so that we actually had to get checked before entering the square. Strangely enough, they basically waved Anne and I through while keeping a strong eye on all Chinese. The square itself is rather big and plain. For me, the coolest part was at the north side: the entrance to the Forbidden City where the famous Mao pictures hangs. The Forbidden City was different that what I was expecting. Basically you enter, walk through a square, up stairs to where there is some sort of "harmony room" then you go down the stairs, walk through a square, go up stairs, where there is a "harmony and peace" room and then you repeat this process about 5x. Then at the end there is a rock garden and some statues and more "harmony" rooms and that's about! I bet back in the days, the emperor got pretty bored. Hence the number of concubines and special ceremonies to keep him entertained!
After all of the walking and rain, we were exhausted and had to take cover in Hagen Dasz in order to rejuvenate ourselves with some hot chocolate. This became a recurring theme during our Beijing trip. Last year I battled the cold with Glühwein, but hot chocolate has become an adequate substitute. In the evening we decided to treat ourselves to some famous Peking Duck and it.was.so.good! We went to a popular restaurant where the Chef himself comes out to cut your duck. Anne and I thought half a duck would suffice, but to be honest, it was so good I could have ate half a duck myself! It's served with a thin pancake in which you add sweet sauce and green shallots. You roll it up like a burrito and eat it with chopsticks...a somewhat difficult task!
On Sunday we took a trip to the Summer Palace....and now that is what I call a Palace! We got the recommendation to not miss the summer palace and I would pass along that advice as well. When we first entered there was a colorful village along water. Before us was a temple upon a hill. Up there gave you a sense of being away from the city, it was really peaceful with only the sounds of dangling bells from the temple roof. Once you got to the other side of the temple, you saw the view of the lake. We made our way down and took a stroll around the lake to the island in the middle. It was a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Afterwards we took a cab to get a look of the Bird's Nest Stadium. By then it had got pretty windy and the cold was getting to be pretty rough, so we only snapped a few touristy pictures and then headed back to the hostel to get some rest before heading to the Great Wall the next day.
On Monday, we woke early and made our way to the Great Wall. We booked a trip through our hostel and it was money well paid. We were given a hearty American breakfast, provided transportation via bus, and even had a funny tour guide. When we got the wall; however, we decided to break off from the group. We spent 3.5 hours walking along the wall and the whole time I just had to think to myself "I'm walking on the GREAT WALL!" We were lucky to have a sunny day with a bright blue sky. November is considered off-season so there weren't so many tourists. Everywhere you looked, you could see the Wall winding up the mountain. What really impressed me about the Wall was not the Wall necessarily in itself, but the fact that these ancient Chinese built the Wall on a mountain! Sometimes when I see such extraordinary achievement, I really start to think the existence of aliens could be possible. Anyways, on our way down we actually took a toboggan slide. Whosoever idea it was to build a slide for tourists to come back down should receive a medal because that slide is much fun! You just have a simple lever to either push forward (to go) or to pull back (to stop). Admittedly, I wasn't too great with the whole break function and the lady in front of me received a shoe print on her backpack as a result...whoops! When we got back down, we were treated to a typical Chinese lunch as part of our package. After 3.5 hours of walking up and down, Anne and I wolfed down the delicious meal.
In the evening, we visit "Ghost Street" for dinner. Actually know as Gui Jie , its simply a road full of restaurants. But the neat thing is there are lanterns everywhere.
On Tuesday, we checked off the last place of our sight-seeing list with a visit the Temple of Heaven. It actually covers an area larger than the Forbidden City. Like most Chinese architecture, a lot of thought went into the design. For example, the "Heaven" part is circular and raised above the square "Earth" part to show that Heaven lies above Earth. The Temple of Heaven has also witness many historical events from communists processions with Mao as well as the Olympics.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed our Beijing trip. I think four days is enough to see all the main sights, but of course, I'm sure there's tons more to Beijing that we missed. Foreigners have commented that people in Beijing can be rude, but I'd like to point out that we had good experience with the locals. One taxi driver even sang along with me during my ritual of "practice all the Chinese words you know without annoying the taxi driver.". The best part of the trip was being on the Great Wall. It's something I'll never forget and would recommend as one of those "must-sees" before you die.
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