Beijing must be one of the fastest changing cities in the world right now.  Since China opened it's doors to the outside world again and freed up it's economy, Beijing has been changing rapidly; but with the 2008 Olympics to be held there, the city is undergoing a major facelift.  My overall impression, outside of the already modernised CBD, was of a huge and rampantly chaotic building site.  All of the major historical sites were having some degree of restoration performed and road widening projects are putting some of the city's remaining  hutong (historic courtyard homes) in peril.

Business is booming in Beijing and you can buy Prada shoes there as easily as anywhere.  Luxury goods are quite expensive but you can get the most amazing massages (2 hours long, feet a speciality) for around £35 and a taxi ride anywhere in the city costs about £2.  There are tons of antique stores for the tourist, wonderful tea shops selling the most delicious, elegant China teas, silk markets and street food.  

Culturally, the generation gap is alive and well in Beijing.  Older people are flocking back to Chinese opera, which has been restored in all it's glory since the depredations of the Cultural Revolution, while young people prefer pop music of course.  I saw some of the most beautiful scrolls I have seen in a gallery in Beijing and there are many famous artists painting in the traditional style, occasionally using more modern subjects for their theme.

As for food, everything you could want is available.  And for the eponymous Peking duck, where better to try it!  Dim sum is also a speciality as well as more esoteric imperial dishes, some containing ingredients I would rather not identify.

All this makes Beijing one of the most energetic cities I have ever visited.  The traffic is ferocious and drivers in Beijing aren't known for their respect for traffic lights and pedestrian crossings.   It's definitely no place to walk around with your head in the clouds but with so many interesting things going on, who'd want to!

The Great Wall

We arrived at 4:30am on a Monday after a mad rush for visas at the last minute.  A great time to arrive in Beijing, before the traffic starts up and with the whole day ahead.  We checked into the hotel and then hired a cab for the day.  Glen's meetings didn't start until Tuesday, so it was off to the Great Wall for us.

These photos are taken at our first stop, on  a more secluded part of the wall.  We had originally asked to go to the Badaling section, which is nearest to Beijing and the usual one for tourists.  Afterwards, we were so impressed that our driver had had the initiative to take us here as well.

This temple was at the beginning of the section of wall we were on.  It is full of the most beautiful paintings inside.

      Click to see the interior

Here are some photos of the wall at Badaling.  The guidebook (Lonely Planet Guide to Beijing) said that this part of the wall had a 'fairground atmosphere'.  Now I understand exactly what they meant.  Not only are there tons of souvenir touts, cafes selling something called 'parched flapjacks' and sideshows (a bear zoo), there was a rollercoaster!  Well, I exaggerate, it was actually a kind of cable car thingy that winched you up to the top of the wall and then took you down again at a  sometimes hair-raising pace - cool!  Nothing like a fairground ride with your historic monument.

Ming Tombs

After the Wall, we went on to see the Ming Emperors' tombs.  They are Confucian in design and very peaceful and serene.  Our favourite thing there was the staunch elephant.

Forbidden City

Glen and some colleagues took a couple of hours to visit the Forbidden City with me.  I can't emphasise enough that it is absolutely huge!  Layer upon layer upon layer, from the more official areas to the most private parts of the palace where all the real power lay.  You might notice a bit of haze in these photos.  The air quality in Beijing is lung-burningly bad, due to coal-fired stoves and millions of vehicles with no catalytic converter.  The government is making a major effort to change this, including phasing out coal stoves in homes and replacing all of the older taxi cabs (the red ones).

Around Beijing

While Glen was working, I took myself off to explore the city.  One of the things I did was to take a Hutong tour.  These take you around the old areas of Beijing in a pedicab, a kind of bicycle rickshaw - given Beijing's traffic, the pedicab ride itself is an experience.  Hutong are old courtyard houses, some dating from the Ming dynasty.  They consist of a number of rooms arranged around a courtyard in the middle, which also acts as an entryway.  Originally they would probably have been home to one multi-generational family, but now sometimes 3 or 4 smaller families live around one courtyard.  Quite a lot of these areas have been cleared now, to make way for road widening schemes and general modernisation of the city, but the government has started preserving and renovating some areas of hutong.  The one I went to is close to the Forbidden City and parts of it actually predate the building of the palace.  One street used to be home to the people who made the decorative roof tiles for the pavillions.

Here are some photos of an opera house I visited.  During the Cultural Revolution, all the opera house were closed down and the performers and support staff dispersed.  The buildings fell into disrepair, but have now been renovated by the government and opera is very popular among older Chinese.   I was very interested to see that one of the stories I saw as a kabuki play in Japan is still being performed in the opera houses of Beijing and is one of the most popular shows.  

The tour was meant to be a group one and when I booked it, I arranged to be picked up at my hotel.  However, the car coming to collect me was caught in traffic and I missed the start time for the group.  Lucky me!  Because of this, I had a personal tour with my own guide, instead of in a group of 20 odd people.  This was especially good when visiting places like this kindergarten, where children go until they are 6 or 7 years old.

Here is a photo of a very kind couple who welcomed me into their home in a hutong.  They gave me delicious tea and biscuits and we chatted with my guide translating.  They have been living in this house since the fifties and it was originally assigned to them from the organisation they worked for.  There are 3 rooms around the courtyard, and a different small family live in each one.  

Their home was lovely and warm and cozy on what was an unseasonably cold spring day in Beijing.  Most of the hutong are heated by coal stoves in the winter.  This couple had fitted a hot water heater to theirs and the water was piped through to radiators.  They also had their own shower room, which is unusual in the hutong.  Most of the plumbing in the area dates back to the Qing Dynasty and can't be used for modern appliances.  So most hutong dwellers use communal bathhouses and toilets. The government is now planning to renovate these hutong and put in modern appliances and plumbing.  Unfortunately, the homes will consequently be much more expensive and many of the current residents will be rehoused.  The price of capitalism I suppose.

One morning I decided to go and have a look at a carpet shop, but as I understand often happens in Beijing, the building had been pulled down and the shop moved on.  This disappointment had it's good side though in that I found myself near Temple of Heaven park and went and enjoyed the morning there.  The Temple of Heaven is where the emperor's investiture was traditionally held, but the most interesting part for me, was wandering around the park watching all the activities that are going on.  One area was devoted to outdoor ballroom dancing, another to people practising Chinese classical music.  Yet another was outfitted like a gym (muscle park perhaps?) and on the approach to the temple I found these people writing calligraphy with water on the pavement.

There are many outdoor food stalls and snack alleys in Beijing.  This is a photo of one of the main ones, near the up-market shopping area.  There was all kinds of street food and some great noodle shops.  Unfortunately, we only found it on our last day so will have to try it properly next time.

I also checked out the shopping in Beijing and had a great time looking through the antique markets.  One of my favourite things was spending the morning drinking tea in a tea house/tea school in Luilichang Street.  Some of the most delicious tea I've ever tasted.  There are still a lot of things I didn't get a chance to see, so am looking forward to next time!

Back home with Faye and Lily.  So tired!