Final Stop, Beijing
Beijing
Here is was, the culmination of my trip of north, and the second main draw, after Shaolin (sorry Luoyang). The city did not disappoint. The first thing you need to know about Beijing is that it is enormous. Even after living in Shenzhen I found Beijing to be huge and a little overwhelming. And the people. Maybe it should have gone without saying, but there are a ton of people there and I was unprepared.
Although my photos fail to show just how many people there were at many areas, I promise it was often difficult to walk around. Admittedly it's the tourist areas with the most people, and if you poke around back streets you'll encounter fewer people, but I found it surprising that there were so many people visiting Beijing's sights during an off peak season. I can only imagine the madhouse the area must be during China's big holidays. I think part of the reason that areas of Beijing seemed small has to do with the city's age. I'm used to Shenzhen, which is much newer, and, I think because of that, bigger. It was built in an era when cars and subways and lots of people were more common. Beijing was built hundreds of years ago and has been evolving and expanding ever since. It was never meant to house so many people, while Shenzhen, I imagine, was. As such Shenzhen seems to have bigger streets, wider sidewalks, and larger open areas to accommodate lots of people. Because of this Beijing seemed incredible dense, even if there may have actually been fewer people in a given area compared to Shenzhen.
History
Here is where I noticed the biggest different with my adopted city and the part that enchanted me the most about Beijing. China's capital is absolutely oozing with history. Old buildings, palaces, and traditional architecture can be seen all over the place. In Shenzhen these things almost look out of place if you stumble upon them. On my first first day I went to a mansion complex that officials and princes once called home, after stumbling upon it while walking around
The mansion had two parts. The first was full of building and was probably once living quarters and buildings for meetings and such. A lot of the signs were in Chinese and I didn't check every building for English but that seems like a safe guess. Behind that though was a huge park area. There was a pond, trees, bamboo, some small buildings, and rock formations. Pretty much everything you could want in an enormous backyard garden, assuming you're lucky enough to...you know...have an enormous walled garden behind your house.
Beijing's main tourist draws are also full of culture and often beautiful views, justifying the huge crowds that gather there. If you plan to go to the Palace Museum make sure to get your tickets ahead of time. After struggling through the crowds in front of the entrance (see the picture near the beginning) I was unable to buy tickets both times I went. There's a limit to how many people can get in a day, and if you don't get your ticket in time, you're out of luck. Zhongshan Park, near the Forbidden City, is large and full of greenery and a nice escape if you're looking to get away from the city for a bit. The Temple of Heaven lets you walk the same paths as old Chinese Emperors and is scattered with some old ceremonial buildings. If you go make sure you go early, since many of the attractions inside require a separate ticket, and they can't be bought if you arrive too late. Even if you opt not to purchase the tickets to enter all the buildings, you can still get a good look at most of them from outside (as long as you buy the ticket to get into the park of course). The (New) Summer Palace was my favorite stop, and also the most crowded. Surrounding a huge lake, it was a getaway for Chinese royalty and now a large public garden. There's an small island in the middle of the lake, a big, opulent looking building overlooking the lake, trees as far as the eye can see, and things to see around every corner.
I spent almost all my time in Beijing exploring Hutongs, eating delicious food, and checking out famous spots, but I still barely managed to scratch the surface of what Beijing has to offer. And does it have things to offer, from old palaces, to museums, to classical architecture, to side streets full of delicious food, Beijing is practically teeming with things to do. It's almost overwhelming.
Tips
- Look into buying tickets early, since some places require you to get there on time or have limits on how many people can enter.
- Make a rough plan of the order you want to see things. Beijing is pretty big and it can take some time to get around so try to maximize your time by hitting things more or less in a line, or as close as possible.
- Do NOT go during Chinese New Year. The big things will probably be absolutely swarmed and smaller things might be closed.
No trip to Beijing would be complete without a visit to the Great Wall. Join me next time to see what I thought.
Thanks for reading and I'll see you on my next trip. Don't forget to click the links below and follow to stay up to date on what I'm doing and where I am and to see all the pictures and videos from the trips.