How many bicycles in Beijing?
Ever since I was in school in 1974 and I saw the press coverage that a massive Terracotta Army had been found by accident by a guy digging a well. I knew I wanted to see them one day. Beijing was just the start of this adventure.
Flying with Scandinavian airways to Beijing from Heathrow doesn’t sound like an obvious choice. However, it is what we booked and I can’t complain. Unlike flying to Guatemala City via Houston, Texas last year we didn’t have to stand in line before numerous humourless security personnel (all wearing Top Gun style reflective sunglasses) to get through security checks (taking almost 3 hours) …… no, in Copenhagen we walked off the plane, followed the arrows and in 5 mins were at our departure gate. Simple and no fuss.
We were flying Business Class, cool!! Loved the Premium Lounge at Heathrow, will definitely visit there again. It was difficult to decide what to nibble on from the buffet counter first. I say nibble, there was everything there from cheese, biscuits and fruit to curry and rice, with other choices of both hot and cold meals and snacks, meanwhile Jim and I took it in turns to sample the wine menu.
Didn’t get on-board champagne as we took our seats like 1st class but did get comfy, roomy seats, proper glasses, metal cutlery and most importantly unlimited alcohol, served by friendly blondes.
Unfortunately, the plane was late into Copenhagen so we were delayed but only by an hour. That meant when we landed in Beijing our guide (and driver) wanted to get us straight on track with our itinerary, so hot off the plane we were whisked (well as fast as the traffic would allow us) to Tienanmen Square. Once through the security checks (have had more thorough security going into Lords Cricket ground) we were crossing the triple carriageway and on to the square. It is huge. They say that you can get 1 million people in the square and I can easily believe that. My only comparisons are Red Sqaure in Moscow and Plaza de la Revolucion in Havana, Cuba, both of which are much, much smaller.
How many times in my life have I seen that huge picture of Chairman Mao displayed on the walls of the Forbidden City? It’s one of those scenes that you never think you’re actually going to witness and there we were, surrounded by hundreds of pushy, noisy, short (yes, even shorter than me) Asians. Within minutes I realised that they didn’t give a fig whether you were trying to frame the perfect picture, they’d barge in front or behind and push you out of the way. Having been heavily nudged by a sharp elbow or two being a typical Brit I apologised for inadvertently being in their way and moved, as you would, but after a while I gave up and went native (ie I used my elbows to good effect) and got some cracking photos. When my new found barging skills let me down I simply gave the camera to Jim and he took the photos over the tops of their heads. Perfik.
Once past the larger than life Mao we were into The Forbidden City. It’s basically the same style of buildings all the way through but it’s set in a series of courtyards, back in the day the riffraff would be sorted from the military / affluent / titled people at each stage so only the most important would get through to see the Emperor.
So you walk through the Outer Court,
over the bridges past the Chinese Lions, one male with his paw on an orb (to symbolise strength and power) and a female with her paw on a lion cub (to symbolise nurturing and caring).
Then into the courtyard with the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The wood is exquisitely painted and needs constant updating, the guide said that the whole place takes 14 years to paint, and then they start again.
Next was the Hall of Middle Harmony, followed by the Hall of Preserving Harmony, to be honest by the time we got to the Gate of Heavenly Purity they were all starting to look much the same. Very pretty though.
The tour ended in the Imperial Gardens, where the trees have different coloured labels on them; white if they were over 100 years old, green if they were over 200 years old and blue if they were over 300 years old. If only they could talk, what stories could they share?
Our boutique hotel the Shichahai Shadow Art Hotel was situated in the Hutong area of Beijing and was a converted courtyard house called a ‘siheyuan’ which were built and owned by high up officials who worked for the Emperor but were taken into state ownership under the Communists. Most of Beijing’s old houses have been bulldozed and replaced with enormous high rise blocks. It’s such a shame as I got the feeling that Beijing didn’t really have any character. Massive 10 lane highways have been built by knocking down the city walls, there are a couple a watch towers left but not enough has been preserved.
And soooo much smog.
This photo was taken early in the morning in the Hutong area just outside our hotel, before the traffic became manic.
On our first evening we ventured out around to the lake and found ourselves some street food. We sat outside next to the side of the lake on tiny chairs and table, a very friendly chap offered us a beer and a picture menu which also had English translation (thank goodness). We ordered the chicken stir fry. It was getting quite dark and we really couldn’t see what we were eating but it was very tasty. We were virtually finished when I pick up the little lamp and held it over the dish to see what was left. Only the chicken’s foot!!!
The following day we went to the Temple of Heaven, completed during the Ming dynasty. It was here that the Emperor would make sacrifices and pray to heaven and his ancestors during the winter solstice.
We passed some mature people dancing in the shade of the trees,
we almost joined in but our guide was surging forward. Can’t get left behind!!
Look at the detail in the painting. Amazing.
Next on the agenda was the Summer Palace. If you’ve seen the movie The Last Emperor you’ve see the Summer Palace as it was filmed here.
Beautifully decorated ‘Long Corridor’
Bridge from the island to the main land
We thought it would be interesting to go to see a Chinese Opera, we’d been warned that it goes on for hours and there isn’t much tune. They were right. However, the costumes and make-up were amazing.
But it was dire. See this short youtube clip
Dinner was included in the over priced tickets. A veritable feast shared between 6!!
Note the individually wrapped polo mints on the right, enough for at least 2 each and the 3 eclairs were cut in half so plenty to go round. They were spoiling us!
As to the question, how many bicycles in Beijing? Katie Melua said there were 9 million (but that was in 2008). Not any more, most people ride electric bikes and they love to silently ride up behind you and when they are about 6 inches away from you, toot noisily. Maybe they are just getting their own back on the tourists 🙂
What a great adventure!