北京, Peking, Beijing, Běijīng

March 11, 2016

Whatever your pronunciation, visiting the capital city of China is an amazing way to be thrust into Chinese culture. At just under a population of 20 million people, Beijing has crowded subways, vague signage, busy city streets, people everywhere, and a plethora of options for tourists.

After having slept about 11 hours, we poured over the tour guide and opted for Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Shopping Street, Temple of Heaven, and the Pearl Market. To accomplish this on foot in one day would be a lot of walking. With map in hand, we headed around the corner to the subway, where we fumbled through ticket purchases and getting on the wrong subway a couple of times before we figured out the complex underground system.


As we rose from our subway stop, we found ourselves directly across from Tiananmen Gate. There was a strong police presence and extremely long lines of Chinese tourists waited to enter. Therefore, we opted to go around to a side entrance at an east gate. This turned out to be a great choice for us because not only was it NOT crowded, it was peaceful and even had a lower entry price!

Around at the side entrance, the grounds were very peaceful and it felt like we were truly in a forbidden area. We didn't feel rushed and the sounds of the busy city surrounding us vanished. Within the gates, a peaceful hush hung over us like a blanket. Even the incessant city car horns could not be heard from within these walls behind walls behind walls.



The grounds were meticulously kept and demonstrated a high level of respect for the extremely busy tourist attraction. Despite the massive volume of visitors on the site (based on what we observed outside the gates), it never felt busy at all. It actually felt extremely serene and quiet. We took a long time to explore the grounds and the many, many great halls with all their glorious detailed ornamentation and carvings.


In several of the great halls, there were exhibitions of ancient Chinese art, while in others, exhibitions of Chinese fashion. While the displays were interesting, we were keen to go inside to warm up a bit.

My favorite hall was Taihe Hall (Hall of Supreme Harmony) where the marble steps led to an ornately carved and painted ceiling and displays of colorful temple bells.

Imperial Palace

After meandering the Forbidden City grounds for quite a while, we decided we were getting hungry. We walked past the Imperial Palace and decided the line was way too long for us and we opted out. so we could go find lunch.


With our next planned tourist attraction being "Shopping Street", we headed south and found lunch. We settled for a busy shop that had what looked to us like dumplings. We learned that our notion of dumpling and actual Chinese dumplings are very different. The delicate bread surrounding a liquid center filled with what I can only call a meatball, was delicious...and cheap! She had soup and we also got two drinks. The calculated total bill was $2.87 USD!

Appetite now satiated, we headed to Shopping Street. We weren't sure what we would find, but we were intrigued by the name alone and wanted to see what it had available. Arriving, we saw many Chinese tourists and one shop after another offering the same things....little trinkets or tea. D had money burning a hole in her pocket and quickly spent just over $15. She was too eager and excited to shop, so she paid too much for her purchases. She will learn how to negotiate.

Onward to the Temple of Heaven. Originating from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, emperors held Heaven Worship Ceremonies in this sacrificial building complex. Built in 1420, it was opened as a park in 1988 as a way to teach about ancient philosophy, religion, and history. Most impressive to us was the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. This large, round roofed palace was where the emperor held worship ceremonies to pray for good weather and abundant harvests. The emperor would literally crawl on hands and knees upon his lengthy approach to the temple. This is the earliest building of the Temple of Heaven and the complex includes the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests and the Altar for Grain Prayers. The park complex that makes up "The Temple of Heaven" is huge; larger than the Forbidden City.

We were starting to tire so moved along to our final destination of the day, the Pearl Market. With its name, we thought it would be nothing but pearls but we were mistaken. The Pearl Market only has pearls on the top floors (in addition to other fine jewelry). On the lower floors, one could bargain galore on handbags, electronics, clothing, automotive accessories or you name it. The vendors were very aggressive and we learned not to look at anything for more than a split second or we would become targets. Seeing all the pearls on the upper floors was amazing. There are all sizes, shapes, and colors. By the time we leave China, we'll have to purchase some for sure!

By the time we finished walking the 6 or 7 floors of the Pearl Market, we were exhausted and ready to finish our day, but we still had to get back to our hotel. More walking was involved but fortunately, the subway station wasn't far and now we knew how to navigate. Leaving the Pearl Market, we got to see a beautiful sunset through the haze of Beijing's infamous pollution. We watched people flying kites in the park as the sun went down over the Temple of Heaven and we felt satisfied that we had done and seen all we could in one day. We walked about 8 miles and our feet hurt. Next time we come to Beijing, more adventures will await us and we'll be slightly more efficient because we have now acquired some familiarity with the city.