4ever Discovering
The ‘Must-Dos and Sees’ in Beijing
Who Knew a City Could Have So Many Different Landmarks??
After we made our trek to the Great Wall of China, Emily, Rachel, Sarah and I still had a few days left to explore Beijing. We wanted to make sure we were able to see everything we wanted to, but get some much needed rest at the same time. Unlike the other cities we visited, our stay in Beijing was much more relaxed. We didn’t have to worry about getting up early to catch a tour or squeeze everything we possibly could into one day. We actually had time to get lost and explore one of the most historical sites in China! Imagine our luck! We took a few hours each day to sleep in a little, and start our day with actual food. Sometimes when we’re travelling, we don’t always make time to grab breakfast. Now that we actually had spare time, we made sure to take advantage of all of the delicacies we had to try (even Chinese McDonald's). The only con about starting our day a little later was the limited amount of daylight we had. With Beijing located in the north, the sunset was pretty early (usually around 5pm). Sometimes we didn’t get underway until around noon, so we had to make good use of our time. Because it was so cold when the sun went down, we usually spent our nights eating way too much food, and playing an immense amount of euchre. Emily and I finally had two more people we could play cards with! We definitely took advantage of that (and the cheap beers at the hostel).
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Because we were able to see so many important landmarks in Beijing, I will give you the lowdown on what we did at each place (restaurants included). Now, I will warn you, most places took a lot of time to explore! Again, due to the lack of daylight, we took a day to walk around each place. We would be in the middle of exploring a site, then realize the sun was setting and needed to get back before we froze to death. Some days, it was so smoggy, the sun just looked like it was always setting. I remember looking up to the sky around 2pm one day and thinking how early it was to be getting so dark. Then, I clued in that it was just the smog making the sun look barely visible. That was definitely something you had to get used to, but we were prepared and brought our face masks (they also helped us keep warm!). Alright, getting down to business, here is what we were able to see in Beijing:
1. The Forbidden City: This is the largest ancient palace in the world; it is double the size of the Vatican! It served 24 different emperors from the Ming and Qing Dynasties from 1421-1912. Being so large, you can imagine how long it took us to walk around here. We actually had to wait in line for over an hour just to get through a security check to get in. At first, we didn’t really know what we were in line for because we were so far away from the palace, then realized it must be for the Forbidden City. What else would attract so many people? Once we made it through, we had to show our passports and pay for a ticket inside the palace. It was free to walk around the grounds outside, but we figured we might as well see it all. As soon as we walked in, I recognized the scene from Mulan. I am pretty confident that is where the emperor stood at the end of the movie (but google didn’t reassure any of my theories). It was an amazing sight to see; the grounds are so big, it has over 980 buildings, and almost 10,000 rooms filled with ancient artifacts. Now that it is a major tourist spot, it also serves as the national palace museum. I guess they needed somewhere to keep everything! The best thing about our visit here was how spacious it was. When we were walking around, we found ourselves in little gardens, getting lost between the buildings. Although it seemed like a lot of people were going through the security check with us, once you got inside, the place was so big, it seemed empty. There are so many ways to walk, you can definitely get lost finding your way back.
2. Temple of Heaven: We came here hoping for some sort of Chinese New Year celebration. We definitely thought there would be some festivities happening to celebrate the Year of the Rooster; however, we did not have any such luck. Once again, you had to pay to go inside. You could either buy a ticket to go inside the grounds, or inside all of the buildings as well. We opted for just walking around; we figured we would be able to see enough from the outside. Wrong. It was designed so that you couldn’t even get up close with the additional ticket. We were only able to see the temples from afar, which we were still content with. The Temple of Heaven was built in 1420, and was the place where emperors would come to worship the God of Heaven and pray for good harvest. The grounds are actually bigger than the Forbidden City; however, it felt more like walking around a park. There were different gardens you could see surrounding the many temples and buildings. The main attractions were the Circular Mound Altar, and the Hall of Prayer. Although we didn’t see inside anything, I still felt like we got a good feel of the Temple by walking around.
3. Summer Palace: Being the largest imperial garden in the world, we took the entire day walking around the beautiful grounds, enjoying the scenery. Even though it’s located in Beijing, it feels like a completely different universe, away from the hustle and bustle in the city. It reminded me of Central Park; it had a massive lake to walk around, with enchanting bridges that reminded you of being in a fairy tale. The best part about coming here in the winter was seeing everyone skating on the lake. It was a long line to rent skates, otherwise I’m sure we would have done it. It was a peaceful moment walking around the water, watching families enjoying their holiday with each other. If we came in the summer, we could have taken a boat ride across the water (which would have been pretty awesome as well). Pretty obvious from the name, the Summer Palace is where the emperor and his family would come in the hot months of the summer. They would leave the Forbidden City, and spend their days in the fresh air, surrounded by natural beauty. It probably took us over 3 hours to walk around the entirety of the area. It was just so beautiful, no one was really opposed to leaving. By the time we walked all the way around, it was just in time to see the palace before closing.
4. Peking Duck: If you travel to Beijing, you need to try peking duck. This traditional dish has been around since the imperial era (1412), and is still eaten by everyone today. Luckily for us, there was a restaurant serving peking duck right beside our hostel. After touring around the Summer Palace, we decided to splurge and try the duck. It is a little on the pricey side; however, split by 3 people wasn’t so bad. Traditionally, peking duck is served as mostly the skin of the bird, sliced thinly in front of the customers. As soon as you walked inside this restaurant, you could see the cook slicing all of the duck at his stand. You didn’t even have to order any, you could still stay and watch the duck being prepared. When our peking duck was served to us, we were given wraps, cucumber, and soy sauce to go with it. Of course, after a long day of exploring, we were starving at dinner time. Once again, we ordered way too much food, and had a whole order of fried chicken to take home with us. The duck was definitely the highlight of my ‘fine dining’ experience in China. I was so stuffed, all I wanted to do was curl up in a ball and fall into a food coma.
5. Olympic Stadium: I remember when Beijing held the 2008 Summer Olympics and invested their money into building ‘The Bird’s Nest’. I don’t know why, but that is always something that stuck with me. When we had the chance to see the stadium up close, we made sure to squeeze some time to see the Olympic park. When we arrived, it was starting to get dark. We didn’t really want to go inside anything (although that would have been cool); we just wanted to make sure we saw it so we can tell people we did. We got our pictures in front of the stadium, and called it a day. The Olympic park is pretty big; it makes you wonder what was there before they built it. I’m sure they had to tear down some buildings to make room for all of the Olympic-sized stadiums and pools.
Overall, our time spent in Beijing was nothing short of amazing. We were able to see all of the historical landmarks, and ate some delicious food. Because we were here during Chinese New Year, there were not as many people as I was anticipating. I was hoping to see more celebrations and learn more about their traditions over the holiday, but everyone went back home to see their families. The biggest bummer was when the Pearl Market was closed. This is supposedly the best place to buy knock-off designer things for the cheapest prices. I didn’t have much room left in my backpack for souvenirs, but I could have done with a new satchel! We definitely made the most out of our time in Beijing, and conquered everything your every-day tourist would check off their list. It was 4 days well-spent with smoggy air, imperial palaces, and delicious duck.