I was looking forward to this trip over the Himalayas, K2 and other peaks. I was also prepared. I just bought a new camera especially for it. A few pictures at ZINC on my days off and I was fully qualified to operate this little new machine and its wonders. The flight over was very very very easy. Only 6 hours and 20 minutes from take-off to landing. A record in my own time with Emirates. It actually felt like being on the Concorde. Especially when we greeted our passengers goodbye : “is someone picking you up ?? Yes ? Well we’re a little early on schedule so you might have to hang around the newly, amazingly built archicteture wonder that is Beijing Capital Airport. They apparently scrapped 3 neighbourhoods to have this gigantic Dragon-like building ready for the Olympics. They also built it on time and on budget unlike Terminal 5 in Deathrow, London. Just for the record, Terminal 5 was a major f-word-up thanks to BAA and their amazing skills at planning and organizing !
A quick transit by bus got us round our ideally situated hotel in the heart of this metropolis. China’s capital. The Forbidden City, the Great Wall and all the other sightseeing in mind I went to sleep. Waking up the next morning to a beautiful sunshine and clear blue sky. Went for breakfast, had pork of course, spuds, baked beans, croissants, muffins, fresh juice. Your usual BB (breakfast buffet). Stuffed myself to be able to conquer the crisp cold that was about to skin me as I walked outside.
I didn’t want to go to the Great Wall as I couldn’t face another epic journey in a mini-bus (like our return from Columbo city). So I decided to wonder off on my tod and check out the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square which is just behind and the Temple of Heaven. The latter is very well named ! More on that further down.
I’d climbed in a cab from the hotel to the back entrance of the Forbidden City. Going against the flow of thousands already here at this unholy time of the morning (9am-ish). Guided tours going the opposite way with guides waving their flags around flocking sheep people to the next sight with megaphone blasting the historical facts. Not quite my learning style. So I swiftly got round the crowds and found myself inside this amazing place. Taking snaps of everything and reading the boards. I’m apparently good at multitasking, but only realised today !
The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the mid-Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum. For almost five centuries, it served as the home of the Emperor and his household, as well as the ceremonial and political centre of Chinese government. Built from 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 surviving buildings with 8,707 bays of rooms and covers 720,000 square metres (7,800,000 square feet). The palace complex exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture, and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987, and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world.
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The place is breathtaking. I was truly in awwww as I walked through all the buildings, the squares and the grounds. The only thing that hold me back was probably the cold. It was starting to get me. I was covered thought. Had my trench out, a few layers and a beannie.
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I continued my treck across the Palace and took more pictures. The colors were crazy. I loved that red they had put on the walls. The bronze sculptures were bad-ass, especially that turtle/dragon I took…(see pictures). I then left the Forbidden City towards the main gate. Where a hell a lot more people were queuing. Finally I was happy to have come in there early enough. The rest of the day was spent walking around the centre. And also history filled Tiananmen Square. Remember that’s where this student blocked a tank column in 1989 and that’s where that famous picture was taken :
The square itself has nothing much but you can feel the history sweating from the cement tiles beneath your Converse All-Stars. It’s surrounded by official buildings such as Mao’s memorial. To access the square I had to take the underpasses located at each corner. But before I figured that one out I was going round and round in search of a zebra. In fact they didn’t have any ! Instead wide streets with zooming vehicles ready to snap shorts out of your jeans. I aslo came to the conclusion that Chinese official nowadays are seriously lacking aesthetics for everything they build. To be glorious it has to be huge, cubic, grey with a splash of red here and there. Very monotonous compared to Forbidden City. Sat down, and educated myself a little. I tried to understand the map. Five minutes later I ditched that thought and went to grab another taxi.
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Taxis in Beijing DO NOT SPEAK ENGLISH. Be well aware of that when you hail one down. The Bellman gave me a business card with the famous landmarks and the translation in Chinese. All I had to do was point on the card and off we went !
The next stop on the agenda was the Temple of Heaven in the Chongwen District, a 10 minute ride from the main entrance of the Forbidden City and it’s Dongcheng District. This place I didn’t hear of before. But the name itself made me go there. And lucky as I am, it was heavenly. It’s a park with a stricking Temple in the center. This place was extremely quiet and is a superb alternative to the busy Palaces. The architecture is equally amazing. Blue ornaments, red walls, gold artifact and beatiful roofs. They sure had a quality home designer at the time ! Loved it so much I stayed there quite a bit. Wondering around the park, soaking in the sun and taking picture…
The Temple of Heaven, literally the Altar of Heaven is a complex of Taoist buildings situated in southeastern urban Beijing, in Chongwen District. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest. It is regarded as a Taoist temple, although Chinese Heaven worship, especially by the reigning monarch of the day, pre-dates Taoism.
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The temple complex was constructed from 1406 to 1420 during the reign of the Yongle Emperor, who was also responsible for the construction of the Forbidden City in Beijing. The complex was extended and renamed Temple of Heaven during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor in the 16th century. The Jiajing Emperor also built three other prominent temples in Beijing, the Temple of Sun in the east, the Temple of Earth in the north, and the Temple of Moon in the west. The Temple of Heaven was renovated in the 18th century under the Qianlong Emperor. In 1914, Yuan Shih-kai, then President of the Republic of China, performed a Ming prayer ceremony at the temple, as part of an effort to have himself declared Emperor of China. The Temple of Heaven was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998 and was described as “a masterpiece of architecture and landscape design which simply and graphically illustrates a cosmogony of great importance for the evolution of one of the world’s great civilizations…” as the “symbolic layout and design of the Temple of Heaven had a profound influence on architecture and planning in the Far East over many centuries.” According to Xinhua, in early 2005, the Temple of Heaven underwent a 47 million yuan (5.9 million USD) restoration in preparation for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and the restoration was completed on May 1st, 2006.
The Temple of Heaven is a very popular park for exercising, and particularly for practicing taiji bailong ball, which is a paddleball variation of Tai Chi. I also learned that squares represent earth and circles would represent heaven, that explains why the Temple is of a round shape and the grounds cubic… God, I’m a genius !
My day ended in that peaceful part of town. I was already shivering like a goat when I boarded my last cab. Straight back to the hotel. I was now ready for that Club Sandwich. And it wasn’t the best. Your average one really. It had fried egg, which is a disgrace !
One of your more serious posts but enjoyable nonetheless! Glad you had a great time in Beijing!
Hey….are you following me???
Definately one of your best posts in my opinion!
I reckon you should have a club-o-meter on the side of your site, a top 5 or 10 of the best clubs, by destination. May give some of the current crew something to consider during bidding or swaps, seeing as less crew seem to be going outside of the hotel these days…
haha the club sandwich in the end was a must. Génial!!! sorry to hear it was not the best though.
Looks like you had a wonderful time. How long was your layover there?
hey what are like your top 5 layovers?
happy holidays!