Text and photographs by Mary L. Peachin
November, 2013, Vol. 18, No. 2
Perplexed, I pondered as I straddled the sloped ceramic tile, which direction should I face my feet? Unlike previous experiences, this “hole in the ground” toilet actually flushed. This eliminated most of the odoriferous aspect to the experience.
It’s a crowded weekend morning at Beijing’s Panjiayuan outdoor market. Aisles are crammed with shoppers busily bargaining for jade bracelets, silk material, artwork, cloisonné, and a myriad of other goods. Any query is responded by a simple means of communication, the thrust of a calculator showing an “asking price.” Handed the device, it is appropriate to haggle or counter, and then walk away. Typically, the vendor will follow you to make a sale. Beyond the confines of our St. Regis hotel, little English is spoken in Beijing.
Thousands of shoppers crowd the aisles of approximately 3,000 vendors selling everything from calligraphy, antique mirrors, displays from the Mao era, and more. There are highly inflated prices for the “waiguoren“ or tourists like us.
At Yaxiu Market, a five floor shopping mall filled to the ceilings with every type of “knock off” merchandise, Nina, a petite young merchant, has stacks of clothing in her small stall. Holding a curtain to improvise a dressing room, I buy several pairs of pants. No worries about the one that require hemming. A helper takes the pants to a seamstress and returns in five minutes. Price and service here also come with the customary and requisite haggling.
Beijing is noted for its Peking duck. Da Dong chefs, wearing masks and gloves, carve ducks table side. Crispy golden skin and juicy meat are served with thin pancakes, plum sauce and a plate of condiments. Tapioca pudding and fresh strawberries beautifully arranged atop dry ice are served as a complimentary dessert.
During the 18th century, in 1750 Emperor Qianglong, established a royal garden which became known as the SummerPalace or “Emperor’s jail.” The Empress Dowager Cixi, formerly a concubine, created KunmingLake with money designated for the creation of a Navy. The approximately half mile boat ride across the lake follows a walk that is designed with 8,000 painted landscapes.
Beijing’s Dong Wu Silk Museum traces silk weaving from the beginning, the initial stage when silkworms become cocoons. The worms are eaten, the cocoons are woven into fine silk.
Travel around Beijing is navigated between a series of six rings of highways. The center or Number One circles Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Formerly known as Peking, Beijing, with a population of thirty million inhabitants, is China’s northern kingdom. The entire city is man made including its rivers.
Tiananmen Square is noted as the largest public square (109 acres) in the world. In 1949, Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong, proclaimed the founding of the People’s Republic of China. The square was named the north side Tiananmen Gate or Gate of Heavenly Peace which is the entrance to the Forbidden City. Tiananmen Square is the third largest city square in the world While it has had great cultural and historical significance, the square is remembered for its 1989 protests when the government of Beijing declared martial law. This action resulted in the death of several hundred civilians.
In 1420, Ming Dynasty Emperor Yongle built the ImperialPalace, now known as the Forbidden City. He ordered 200,000 laborers to construct more than 8,000 rooms in eight hundred buildings. The project took fourteen years. As many as 10,000 maids and concubines, including 3,000 eunuchs lived inside the Palace’s 170 acres.
Along narrow, thirty feet wide lanes, homes and courtyards date back to the Yuan Dynasty(1271-1368). Tucked behind wooden gates, the dwellings feature carved characters whose purpose is to bring good fortune.
Traveling by trishaw for twenty minutes, we stopped to visit a local home. Our hutong host, with his family of seven, lived in 400 square feet century old home.
At the nearby Drum and Bell towers, we experienced a tea ceremony. Sampling teas, we began with oolong or black, a tea good for digestion. Three sips will bring good health, fortune, and a long life. The second tea, Jasmine, is good for the liver. In China, tea is aged to offer different health and fortune benefits. Our final tastings were lychee and black rose.
Built to defend China, the Great Wall starts in the eastern part of the Hushan mountains near Luobupo and extends almost 4,500 miles to Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the west. In 1978, it was designated a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site.
The 2,600 year old Wall, thirty feet high and eighteen feet wide, is considered one of the World’s Seven Wonders of the World. Badaling is located thirty miles northwest of Beijing. Closest to the city of Beijing, while outstanding, it is also a very crowded section of the Great Wall. Along the wall fortresses and beacon towers are scattered. More than five million tourists visit the Great Wall each year.
Beijing is a fascinating destination offering some great sight seeing. Yes, it has some challenging traffic, unpleasant smog, but its wonders will make you happy that you made the visit.