With over 22 million people, Beijing is one of the most populous centres in the world. Millenias of history and its unprecedented economic growth makes this an intriguing place to visit.
Beijing is home to my late aunt’s family. I didn’t know her well at all. She visited us once in Canada. With the seas of Chinese tourists today, it’s hard to imagine that overseas travel for the ordinary citizen was not allowed before the mid-1990s. That’s not very long ago; it’s hardly surprising they are still catching up on travel etiquette.
The opening of countries previously closed off is rather fascinating. Don’t you think?
I remember my aunt giving us lessons in Russian and making dumplings. One of the siblings who didn’t flee for Hong Kong, she remained to eventually become a teacher in communist China. She had three daughters, who each had a daughter of their own. Despite the language barrier, my Beijing cousin was a gracious host. Interestingly, my aunt in Beijing had girls and my uncle in Shanghai had boys. My family – many tales to tell.
The first stop of my first trip to China started in this historic city. All I knew was the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, and the air pollution, like most people. I didn’t do much research, knowing my family would likely form a big part of the itinerary. This city is where my brother stayed for a year to learn Chinese.
In this article :: Forbidden City | Hutong | Great Wall | The Temple of Heaven
The Forbidden City
Perhaps the most famous tourist attraction in Beijing is the Forbidden City. Located at the heart of the city, it was home to 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368 – 1911). It is China’s largest heritage site, the world’s biggest palace complex, and a UNESCO Heritage site since 1987 as the world’s largest collection of ancient wooden structures.
Built between 1406 and 1420, its construction was accomplished with 1 million workers. That’s an impressively quick build, which includes a moat that’s more than 150 feet wide and moving stones weighing more than 300 tonnes over 70 km. Since the wheel had been used long before the Forbidden Palace’s construction, the assumption that mode of transportation was used is understandable. According to this Ancient Origins article, a 500-year document was unearthed and its translations yielded an interesting finding. Apparently, the gigantic stones were moved on sledges over ice in the winter of 1557. A team of workers managed this in just 28 days. Sure they had the manpower; this was definitely smarter.
The Forbidden City was the seat of power in China until the last emperor’s abdication and except for a brief absence due to Manchurian occupation. It was also occupied by Anglo-French forces during the Second Opium War, sparked by the Western powers’ dissatisfaction of how the treaty terms of the Opium War were not being fulfilled. The first Opium war, which resulted in the handover of Hong Kong and Macau, was used to gain access to China as a market, opening ports, granting travel to the interior, lowering tariffs on imported goods, and allowing residence in Beijing by foreign ambassadors.
Visiting the Forbidden City
Like emperors of past, enter the Forbidden City through the Meridian Gate at the south end of the complex into the outer court. This faces the famous Tian’anmen Square, where you buy entrance tickets. One of the tallest towers, the Meridian Gate stands some 125 feet. It’s the largest gate, with five passages and five pavilions.
No gongs or bells will ring for you, as they once did. In imperial eras, as a civilian you would have entered through the east opening, if you ever were allowed. The military used the west passage while servants, the south.
A lot has changed since I visited the Forbidden City in 2007. Certainly, smartphone camera technology has made incredible leaps. The photos you now see from the scores of visitors are simply stunning.
I recently mined these photos from an old laptop, hence the timing of this article. These photos were taken by a crop-sensor Canon, which I am seeing with fresh eyes. I had forgotten about that trip.
Plus with the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction December 2020, I’m wrapping up this 20-year period by finishing open projects.
Also now, aside from more areas of the Forbidden City being open to the public, it’s possible to climb the 3.4 km wall eastward towards the Corner Tower and East Prosperity Gate. If you haven’t been, take this route for photographic vistas. Perhaps for its 600th anniversary in 2020?
980 buildings, 70+ compounds, and over 8700 rooms. 180 acres. For comparison it’s bigger than the Louvre by 3 times and the Vatican by 1.5 times.
The sheer scale and cultural significance of the Forbidden City cannot be overstated.
It will take the day to wonder around the grounds, even with some areas closed off due to repairs. For some people, just a few hours may be the limit. The crowds can make long lineups, and the noise level even in the open courtyard can become too much. I myself have a low tolerance for crowds and my attention span drops off quickly at a certain point. If you are like me, aim for several visits to explore the courtyards and gardens off the main attractions of the ceremonial halls.
The roof of Chinese architecture offers a study in design and cultural beliefs. According to Wonders of the World website, the Forbidden City has 10 kinds of roofs. Mythical creatures sit on different levels, with different purposes. The Phoenix for happiness and luck. The lion, reflecting the owner’s power. Celestial and sea horses, reaching to the skies and oceans. The number of these creatures reflected the power of who resided within. You will also see lots of yellow – the imperial colour. Yellow glazed tiled line the pavilion roofs, contrasting vibrantly with the vermillion walls.
To appreciate its size, head out the palace’s north gate to Jingshan Park for a hilltop view of the entire complex. Now a public park, it was once an imperial garden, a summer retreat for the royal family in the Ming Dynasty. Use the underpass on your left after exiting the palace north gate to cross the street which is blocked for access. Take the winding path and in about 10 minutes, you will be at the park’s summit.
The Hutong
For a glimpse of old Beijing, I headed to the famous hutong. First built in the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368), the hutong was built running east-west so the residents could enjoy more sunlight from the south and protection from the northerly winds. A hutong is actually the laneways formed by the walls of the residential compounds common in the past.
By the Qing Dynasty, thousands of hutong gridded Beijing, from narrow laneways to broad boulevards. Some full of turns; others straighter. The alleyways were named after families, historical people, their shape, or services on offer. Dry Flour Alley. Wet Nurse Lane. Young Girl Lane, home of future concubines. The hutong surrounding the Forbidden City also supplied the needs of the court – clothing, woven goods, foodstuffs, candles, and silk. When I visited, what remained was scattered.
The hutong is famous for the quadrangle mansions called Siheyuan (四合院), the traditional homes in northern China. The central courtyard was enclosed by four buildings. The centre of the north building was usually the main bedrooms for the elder/senior family members. Think the beautifully filmed Raise the Red Lantern.
These houses were once grand dames where families of wealth lived. In the 1960s, they were divided to accommodate more people, with multiple families occupying them and sharing communal facilities including toilets, conditions becoming squalid.
At the time of my visit, many were being bought and restored by foreigners and businesses as modern renditions or remodeled as cool-vibe restaurants, boutique hotels, and bars. When I went in 2007, many interesting small businesses, including cafés, were still to be found. By 2017, there were perhaps just 300.
As you wandered down these grey-bricked alleyways you could easily look beyond the doorways. A bike, a cat, stacks of old newspapers…Where I was, with the many turns, the emptiness of the lanes strongly contrasted with the lives and stories beyond the walls. All the laughter, drama, the deaths and births that breathed into these bricks all those years before.
I was lucky to visit one, the home of my cousin’s mother-in-law. What an interesting woman, what a story. Like others, she too has since been relocated. For her hutong home, she received several apartments. This is a normal process in China as the government moves people out of high-value real estate.
The Great Wall
At over 21,000 km, the Great Wall is the longest man-made structure and the most famous military project. Just 30 feet wide on average, the Great Wall, contrary to popular belief, cannot be seen from space. The Great Wall was also not a unified concept. Different sections were built at different times, the state of Chu being the first, sometime in the 7th century BC. Since the sections were joined in the Qin dynasty, the Great Wall has been rebuilt for thousands of years, to defend against Mongol invaders and other northern tribes. That, incidentally, didn’t work.
While not contiguous, the Great Wall can be walked. The 21,196.18 km is found over 15 provinces and 404 counties. It includes the best-preserved Ming Great Wall (over 8,800 km), remnants, and over 43,000 relics of towers and such.
In 2007, a British couple from north Devon walked 4,800 km in 167 days, the first foreigners to do so. They even raised £5,000 for Make A Wish Foundation. It was in the spring of 1984 that three friends – Dong Yao-hui, Wu De-yu, and Zhang Yuan-hua began their 17-month and 8,850 km walk. From the Old Dragon’s Head in Shanhai Pass, west to Jiayu Pass. Seeing the damage ignited Dong Yao-hui’s passion for restoration and conservation. He was the designated expert guide for Presidents George W Bush and Bill Clinton’s visits.
In contrast, I spent only a few morning hours on the Great Wall, in a section close to Beijing. Cloaked in white, the snaking wall hid herself from view. I climbed up and down several steep inclines, walked through old fortresses, met a bored vendor at one of them and a donkey resting from transporting her wares. Being there hours before the tour groups meant quiet, and space to explore.
The Temple of Heaven
The original Altar of Heaven and Earth and the Forbidden City were completed together in 1420. Over 100 years later, the Circular Mound Altar was built for separate offerings to Heaven, renaming the Altar Temple of Heaven. Reconstruction in the Qing Dynasty gives us the current arrangement of the complex which covers over 600 acres. In 1961, the Temple of Heaven became one of China’s protected sites.
Tranquil oasis of peace and methodical Confucian design in one of China’s busiest urban landscapes
Lonely Planet
The Temple of Heaven is ritual architecture built for sacred use by the emperors, including animal sacrificial offerings. It was designed to represent the universe and reflects Chinese cosmology. The earth, a square and heaven, a circle.
The most photographed and the main part of the Temple of Heaven park is the three-tiered circular Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. This is a wooden hall built without nails and supported by 28 pillars, the largest central ones representing the seasons, the next circle of pillars, the months, and the outermost circle, the days, each a watch for two hours.
The Circular Mound Altar is a three-layered marble open-to-the-sky structure with its slabs laid in multiples of nines, a number representing eternity and longevity. This is where 27 emperors prayed and where elaborate winter solstice ceremonies were performed. From the Forbidden City, the emperor was transported in a sedan chair manned by ten. The royal procession, which included the elephant and horse chariots, moved through the city, shuttered to keep the royal from view of ordinary people.
Once part of the imperial grounds, the Temple of Heaven Park has been opened to the public since 1918. Today, if you go early enough, you’ll see people exercising, doing Tai Chi or practicing martial arts among the knotted cypress. Casually walking the city streets or going to the park is an easy way to get a glimpse of local culture.
I visited Beijing in 2007, the year before the Summer Olympics. Efforts were being made to clean up the air quality and to prepare this historic city for global visitors. The skies were a blanket of white on our trip, bright and humid. The visit also included Shanghai, which we reached by overnight train, and a day trip to Suzhou and a visit to the Sheshan Catholic Church and Observatory.
