Beijing in Fast Forward

Tuesday, September 13th

Welcome to the Beijing sightseeing express.  Please make sure you've had your coffee.  You might need it, even just to read about our last day in Beijing.  This was the opposite of a relaxing day on vacation.  This was a jammed-packed, run all over the city, non-stop day... But when a flight cancellation cuts your time short and you're not willing to sacrifice anything on your "must-see" list, what choice do you have?

After a big breakfast to fuel us for the day ahead, we started back at Tiananmen Square.  It was a much different scene from our visit the night before, this time the world's largest public square bustling with thousands of people.  I was too young to remember the tragedy that occurred here in 1989 when student demonstrators were killed, but my mom reflected back on it and what she had seen on the news.

Then it was onto the Forbidden City, once home to a long line of emperors, twenty four to be exact, and the largest palace complex in the world.  Even though we covered the grounds quickly, we were able to gain an appreciation for the magnitude of the place with 800 buildings and over 8,000+ rooms.  And we can only imagine the power trip the emperor must have been on knowing he was the only one permitted to enter this palace accompanied by select family members, concubines and eunuch-servants of his choosing.

We left through the Imperial Gardens and the Gate of the Divine Warrior at the north end of the palace and hiked up to Wanchun Pavilion in neighboring Jingshan Park.  The hill the Pavilion sits on was created to improve the feng shui of the palace using the land excavated to build the moat.  The pavilion is supposed to offer stunning views of the Forbidden City and beyond... on a clear day.  And it's nowhere near clear.  I wonder how many clear days they actually get here in China.  This can't be good for the lungs of the locals.

After working up a sweat climbing to the top... (the smog seems to hold in the heat and humidity making it feel so much hotter than the actual temperature), we decided to cool down with a rickshaw tour of the Hutong neighborhoods.  Hutongs are the traditional form of residences here in Beijing, narrow alleyways that open up into a courtyard with small houses lining the perimeter.  Several families occupy a hutong and share the common courtyard.  This style of living has been around for nearly a decade but is quickly disappearing due to urbanization.  Our guide was very sweet and helped give us a feel for the laid-back, light hearted lifestyle of these communities.  Plus we got to sit for a bit and our feet thanked us for the much needed relief.

Next up, the Lama Temple, a Tibetan Buddhist haven functioning as one of the most important temples in Beijing.  The grounds, with colorfully decorated halls and courtyards, were beautiful, but the highlight was the eighty-five foot Maitreya Buddha statue carved from a single block of sandalwood.

We hopped on the subway for the thirty-five minute trek outside of Beijing to the Summer Palace.  This is a royal retreat in every sense of the meaning.  The palace, sitting high on a hill overlooking the lake, is magnificent.  You can feel the money, power and royalty as you stroll the grounds, watching the dragon boats cruise the lake as they drift under willow branches hanging out over the water.  Beautiful pagodas line the shore and bridges connect islands, pagodas and docks.  It's a fairytale.


Reluctant to leave this peaceful oasis, but racing against daylight, we headed back to the city center to see Beihai Park lining the shores of Beihai Lake.  This is a retreat in itself from the hustle and bustle of the surrounding city and our relaxing stroll around the city's largest and most beautiful waterway allowed us to see a different side of Beijing.

Crossing the street, we explored neighboring Quinhai Lake as the sun set.  Quinhai and Houhai Lake to the north, offer lakeside bars and restaurants with live music and a pleasant atmosphere for an evening out.  We treated ourselves to a local Chinese beer and an opportunity to sit for a few minutes as we enjoyed the lake scenery and ambience.

Then we hustled back to our hotel for a quick shower before heading to dinner at Made in China, a popular choice among locals and foreigners for Executive Chef Jin's famous Peking duck.  They serve it in three courses with the crispy skin first, meant to be dipped in sugar.  Secondly, they serve the duck breast, which is meant to be put in a potatoe pancake with celery, leek, garlic and their homemade duck sauce.  It's sort of like a duck taco.  The third course is the leg meat, meant to be eaten the same way as the second course.  It was very tasty, but one whole duck was probably really ambitious for the two of us and we left a lot of good meat behind.

Both of us can barely keep our eyes open.  I don't think we've fully caught up from getting just an hour and a half of sleep on Saturday night and then combine that with our intense schedule and the oppressive heat... It's a wonder we're still functioning at all!  Unfortunately we have a 5am wake up call tomorrow to catch an early flight out of Beijing to our next destination, Hangzhou.  I think we're going to need a vacation after this vacation!!