Day 157: Beijing – Day 3
Today is our real sight-seeing day in Beijing – we knew we had some must-sees that we couldn’t miss while in Beijing, so we took a cab to the Temple of Heaven Park and planned to walk back to our hotel, hitting Tian’anmen Square and the Forbidden City on the way.
As much as we loved Beijing the day before, and found constant similarities to New York, we were disappointed to find out that all the parks in Beijing require admission. (Well, Lindsay was disappointed – Igor thought it was a great idea and argued that Central park should do the same) However, even with and admission fee, the Temple of Heaven Park still had a fair share of tourists, especially around all the historical buildings. We tried to roll with it, taking advantage of the sea of people to play “Where’s Waldo?” with our pictures! Once we wandered into the trees-lines walkways and flower gardens, however, we found a little peace and quiet.
A morning walk through the Temple of Heaven Park, where Beijingers can be seen practicing tai-chi, ribbon dancing, and singing patriotic songs. Westerners were not a common sight in the park, which may be why a group of photographers went nuts snapping Lindsay’s photo as she walked by.
WHERE’S WALDO? Weaving inbetween the crowds to try and admire the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, and working up an appetite for breakfast. Slim pickings in the park leave us with a packet of Oreos and a bottle of Coke as a great way to start the day!
So much crowd.
There’s a trick to photographing historical buildings in China without tourists: point your camera behind the builds, or at the roof!
Checking out the Echo Wall inside the Temple of Heaven Park – either it’s busted or there are just too many loud tourists for it to work
Honestly, I can no longer remember why Igor is hugging that big pot.
We finally got away from the majority of the crowds by backtracking through the cypress groves and throught the Rose Garden, where only a handful of flowers were still in bloom
After leaving the park, we headed north towards Tian’anmen Square, where the landscape switched from whimsical Confucian gardens to practical, stoic Soviet-style blocks. Igor looked around fondly and said it reminded him of his childhood in Russia. Lindsay had to admit, Qianmen Street, just south of the square, was pretty cool to walk around, especially since one hutong over from the hard gray buildings were lively and colorful alleys full of roast duck restaurants and overflowing souvenir stands.
Tian’anmen Square is carefully monitored, due to its political history, and entrance to the square is tightly controlled. We had to walk around several barricades and got turned around by at least one police officer trying to find the entrance. It was free of change to enter the square, but you had to present your passport or ID card. We expected to have a hard time, holding American passports, but it seemed the officers didn’t seem to care about foriegners, just Chinese nationals.
Since there is no where to sit within Tian’anmen Square, we didn’t linger long. We joined the hundreds of fellow tourists taking picure of the uber-patriotic statues, Communist stars and the huge portrait of Chairman Mao – no doubt, we are in the Capital of Communist China!
Strolling through the super Soviet Qianmen Pedestrian Mall, just south of Tian’anmen Square
Inside a small shop, Igor finds a little museum with figures celebrating China’s workers
Several hutongs run parallel to the Qianmen Street, with many roast duck restaurants and delicious-looking food stalls
Igor heads down an alley full of souvenir stalls, searching for a selfie-stick for the GoPro. While we find hundreds of self-sticks for mobile phones (plus some really pretty lanterns and dozens of pet crickets), nothing with the correct attachment for the GoPro.
Tian’anmen Square is super secure, with only a few, security guarded entrances, so it took us a good 15min to find our way in. Once inside the “largest pedestrian square in the world,” we could admire the Soviet-style statues that surround the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall. Igor felt like he was back in Mother Russia.
A bright red communist star adorns the National Museum of China
At the northern exit of the square, Mao’s visage gazes on the crowd from the Gate of Heavenly Peace. We pass under his omniprescent stare as we enter the Forbidden City
Our final obstacle – I mean attraction! – between us and a much needed rest in our hotel was the Forbidden City. Now known to the Chinese as the Palace Museum, the Forbidden City is another UNESCO World Heritage Site. Built during the 1400s during the Ming Dynasty, it is the oldest collection of wooden buildings in the world. Luckily, it survived the Cultural Revolution intact, although the spirits of the dozens of emperors who once ruled there must be turning over in their graves seeing it open to the public! Long ago, the punishment for entering the Forbidden City without the permission of the emperor was DEATH – now, around 60K “commoners” swarm the palace each day! We arrived at the Forbidden City at 3PM, an hour before it closed. We hoped that by coming near closing time we would avoid some of the crowds…no such luck.
We forbid you to go to the Forbidden City. Unless you go first thing in the morning, in the off-season, on a weekday. An hour on a Sunday afternoon in September was just too crowded
Crossing the moat that surrounds the Forbidden City
Lindsay pushing and shoving fellow tourists in order to get a view inside one of the many “Halls of Harmony” – even when she gets to the front, it’s hard to get a clear photo without someone’s cell phone or selfie stick in the way!
The only way to get pictures of the Forbidden City without tourists in it, is to point the camera at the sky or at the wall!
The glizt and glamor within the halls of the Forbidden City
WHERE’S WALDO? We finally enter the last section of the Forbidden City – the Garden of Tranquility, which is anything but!
Poor Igor is so done with the Beijing crowds – he is overjoyed when Lindsay finally lets him head back to the hotel
We have been on our feet for a good 8 hours (without a lunchbreak!) by the time we hobble back to the Jianshan Garden Hotel. We barely have enough energy to stop at the mini-mart for more ramen for dinner before crashing on the bed. We kick up our feet and make sure to call it an early night, as we will need all our strength for our adventure tomorrow…The Great Wall!