I couldn’t resist adding my own sub-page to Jensen’s blog. The trip has been great so far, and I can’t believe how much we’ve done, and we still have 3 weeks to go! My favorite places so far…
1) The Great Wall (HuangHua Cheng)
Incredible vistas, and it was so nice to have it pretty much all to ourselves. We’re still probably going to go to Mu Tian Yu to see the wall, but it’s hard to believe it could match the wall at HuangHua. The Huanghua wall is on a lake, with the wall dipping down to the edge of the lake. It is mostly unrestored and if you climb just a short ways, you can see the same wall as people walked on hundreds of years ago. This section of the wall is in a very mountainous area, and the view of the wall snaking across the mountain tops is just incredible. There were a few people on the wall when we got there, but they were leaving as we arrived, and we had the entire section to ourselves for over an hour. We left after a while, but it was one of the most memorable days of my life.
In summary: Beautiful and almost intimidating in historical feeling. I would love to go back here, as well as many other places on the wall. Maybe someday run the Great Wall Marathon. I don’t know if you could ever get tired of the wall. It gives me goose bumps.
2) The Summer Palace
Although it’s a close race , I think I like the Summer Palace even more than the Forbidden City.
The Forbidden city has much more history and grandeur, but seems cold and uninviting. The Summer Palace is easy to fall in love with and imagine spending your time there. The gardens are so fantastic and expansive, and the lake is so inviting, you hardly want to leave. Our visit was mostly limited to the North and Eastern part of the Palace, and most of the Long Corridor and Temple of Buddhist Virtue were under repair, but it could hardly detract from this place. I would love to to back and spend an entire day here, maybe two. If they had a hotel on the premises I would certainly stay there given the opportunity. They do have a nice restaurant, with a good looking menu, but we weren’t able to eat there, due to the timing of our visit.
The centerpiece of this palace is the impressive Longevity Hill. The topmost temples were closed due to renovations and repairs, but Jensen and I were allowed to see much of the closed off area. The buidings are massive, and the views incredible.
There are buildings tucked away everywhere, each with their own meaning and special purpose. The Hall of Oriole (now a restaurant) was designed for enjoying the song of the oriole.
There are bronzes and special stones called “Taihu” all over the place. The stone above is called the God of Longevity. Touching it is good luck. Another stone was the largest in any Garden, and bankrupted the original owner when he tried to move it. The bronzes have meanings. Many times the words for the animals or objects sound like other words in Chinese. The word for Deer is similar to the word for wealth, and the word for bottle is similar to the word for peace. You’ll see bronzes of deer and bottles to bring riches and peace. The stork is supposed to offer longevity. The Phoenix represents the woman and the Dragon the man, both immortal. Throughout the summer palace, Cixi switched the order of these bronzes giving the Phoenix the more important position
The beautiful lake, and the setting against the backdrop of the bridges, hills and trees has a calming effect. Really a must see site in Beijing! We loved it.
In Summary: Stunningly beautiful. Historical and amazing. Huge! I could easily spend two or three entire days here, and would enjoy returning over and over again. Get a good guide (about 100 RMB max) and tell them you don’t want to buy anything! Otherwise they will be taking you to every rip-off shop, for their kickbacks. They mostly don’t tip here. We usually don’t, but did here for very good service.
3) The Forbidden City
So much history. Entering the place you are engulfed by hundreds of chinese people who travel from all over the country. From the far provinces they all want to see the Wall, (usually Badaling) Mao’s Memorial, and the Forbidden Palace.
The first courtyard seems big, and pretty full, but then you pass into the second courtyard and it is enormous. Going through the third building into the third courtyard requires paying a 60RMB fee (about $7.50) . Most of the people touring the Forbidden City are in these central courtyards. There is a lot of construction going on, and the biggest of the central halls was closed. Each of the central halls had various ceremonial purposes, and some were the living quarters of the emperors. The buildings are all amazing.
At the end of the entire central section is a gorgeous garden with ancient trees, flowers, many little buildings for resting, and it’s very relaxing. We rested there and had snacks.
We only had about 6 hours, so we limited ourselves to one side of the forbidden city on our return walk, and came back up the East side (right side in the picture above). These places were mostly the quarters of the princes, and concubines, as well as some other famous and important people. They’ve converted many of the old buildings into small museums, each dedicated to one or two particular art forms. There were Jade, porcelain, Drum Stones, Imperial stamps, and more.
Part of the area was closed off for the Jewelry Museum, costing an additional 20RMB. They had beautiful old jewelry and magnificent statuettes and other things. The nine dragon wall is incredibly pretty, and is at the entrance to this area.
There are so many beautiful buildings, sculptures, bronze statues, and more all over the place it’s hard to take it all in. It would take days to do this place justice.
In Summary: Amazing. When you think about the history of this place and everything that occurred here, it can take your breath away. A lot of construction detracted a bit from the enjoyment. And the place seems a little cold and artificial. This place would be great to visit at length with a really knowledgable tour guide. The tour headsets are not worth it. Again, tell your tour guide that you DON’T want to visit any shops, unless you really like the hard sell and very high priced stuff.
4) Li Qun Restaurant
This restaurant, in an ancient hutong, in a pretty miserable looking part of town, is famous for it’s roast duck. Very hard to get a table there, we were lucky to have a friend who could get us in on short notice. Each whole roast duck, cooked the same way for hundreds of years, costs about $10.00.
The food here was the best chinese food I’ve ever eaten. The duck was without compare. The “Gongpo Jiding” (Kung pao chicken) was terrific (although I like it a little hotter). The first dish was a beef dish I didn’t know but was great. The “Mapo Dofu” is a regional favorite, hot, and tasty. The sweet and sour pork was nothing like the American version, and was probably my second favorite dish after the duck. I can’t remember all the dishes, but it was a really incredible meal.
The place certainly looks like a dive, and tables are pretty crumby, and there’s no air-conditioning. The place is not for everyone. But the Duck is incredible. If it wasn’t such a pain to get to, I’d eat there all the time - the price was great, about $6.00 a person, including drinks, and the food was absolutely delicious.
In Summary: Incredible food, in a REALLY lousy location. The Duck is unbelievable. If it was more accessible I would eat here all the time. Maybe not every day, but every week easily. I hear Da Dong might have even better duck, in a much nicer atmosphere, at only double the price. We didn’t have a chance to try it.
5) The Ming Tombs (Chang Ling, Di Ling, Sacred Way)
This extensive necropolis is amazing in so many ways. Resting place of 13 of the Ming Emperors, it is beautiful, impressive in its antiquity, size, and sheer majesty. The setting among the mountains only adds to the all that makes these tombs so great to see. We only were able to visit a couple of the most famous tombs. I’d love to spend another day visiting several more.
6) Terra Cotta Warriors - Xi’an
It almost feels like sacrilege, rating this place this low on my list. It was interesting, but extremely touristy. Everything was an attempt to separate you from your money, and at exorbitant prices. Pit #1, with the 6000 Terra-cotta warriors is extremely impressive, and is worth the trip by itself. Pit #3, the officers pit is also fascinating. Pit #2 is pretty boring, almost completely unexcavated, and the attempts at museums of articles and stuff is pretty weak. There are many items behind glass, but people here tend to touch the glass a LOT and you can barely see anything through half of them.
There is a movie at the beginning, in circle vision, but it’s in Chinese. They don’t have subtitles, or english versions, or even language headphones. It tells the story of the First emperor conquering the other half-dozen warring groups and creating the first Empire. It describes his buiding of the mausoleum and warriors and they’re destruction.
7) The Mansion of Prince Gong
One of the few intact mansions from the Ming and Qing dynasties, this was a fascinating place, and a strong favorite of the Chinese visitors
8) Tea house next to Forbidden City
Old, expensive tea, in a very quiet relaxing setting. Drinking tea where they have for hundreds of years, as they have for hundreds of years. It was so peaceful, and we were the only waiguoren (foreigners) there. The tea takes a while to steep, but I enjoyed it immensely.
What is in the glass?????
The glass has some very good (expensive and old) tea in it. The tea is loose, and placed in very hot water in the glass. Then the tea slowly steeps in the glass. When you want some you just drink it, careful not to drink the tea. But you don’t take the tea out of the glass. The tea in this glass costs more than dinner for all eight of us that night. (It was good, but I’m not sure it was THAT good!)
Hey Steve,
you havent updated your page lately?
Steve,
The Blog has been fun to read and follow. But I still will stay in the states and live through yuor adventures.
Steve,
That was not Caitlin nd Bailee, but myself Dan. And it lates and I did not check my spelling.
Be safe and we will see you soon.