A cynical guide to visiting Beijing
8 days before our cycling adventure in China, my random thoughts:
Through the miracle of Facebook, it came to my attention that a FB friend, would be visiting Beijing with her partner, at about the same time that we plan to be there.
She offered to meet, which if we can coordinate, will be wondeful.... And she asked if I have any recommendations of places to visit in the city.
I know that Beijing can offer you ANY kind of experience you can imagine.... From the most touristy traps, to the most unique and authentic experiences........
So here is my cynical (but TRUE).... guide to Beijing:
When you get off your plane, after your long international flight, if it is suppose to be daylight, but you do not see any remnants of the sun.... Get used to it!
The sun in ALL of the cities of China, is shining very dimly behind an apocalyptic cloud of yellow and grey smog.
You really have to see it, to believe it.....
It is like no other place on earth....and it is a living testimony to the intentions of a man named Mao Tse Tung....
Mao stood on a hill, and gave a speech to the people.... (in a similar spirit to this of Martin Luther King's, speech "I have a dream....")
In it, he cast his hand over the green landscape and said: "I have a dream......that one day..... ALL this land, will be filled with smokestacks..........as far as the eyes can see...
I have a vision of an INDUSTRIAL China..."
Like many 'earthly visions,' the man who did not like to brush his teeth, but only gargled with lukewarm tea, got his wish....
A few decades later, China has become the manufacturing capital of the West.....with sad results to its own inhabitants quality of living....in the form of polluted air and waterways.
While visiting the city, be aware that all the major historical sights, will be filled with people who will try to engage you.....not for your shining inner light..... But in an attempt to make their living from the dollars in your pockets.
They will present themselves as students, or art students, and will offer to guide you around, or will ask you to come and to see their artwork, or their calligraphy or their teacher's artwork.
You do NOT have to buy... Just come and have a "looky looky.... "
You can go if you wish to waste some of your time,....... and you truly will not be charged anything for the visit, because they get paid just for bringing you over....
When the taxes are high and the government meddles in people's lives, the people become very shrewd and crafty....
The main shopping street of Wangfujing - which all the guides recommend, is basically a waste of time.
It is filled with Global Multi National chain stores, selling goods at ridiculously high prices.
If you imagine that you could also find some local designers there......, you have a vivid but unrealistic imagination....
The streets of Wangfujing are peppered with all sorts of tourists traps...
Go instead to visit the Pānjiāyuán Antiques Market ( 潘家园古玩市场) which is filled with fakes, but is very interesting to walk through...
It got memorabilia from all political eras, and the area surrounding the market, has some small and authentic eateries.
It is the best place to look at, or to buy antiques.
It’s noisy and crowded, and stuffed with sharkish antiques dealers, posing as innocent country folk.
There are also real characters to see there.
You have to bargain hard, and assume that most things are fake, but the choice is vast and the atmosphere is great.
Visit the old Hutongs.
YES......There a few of them still remained standing in the Old City.
Most of the Hutongs were 'cleaned up' for the Beijing Olympics.
The words 'Clean up', may conjure in your mind, images of buckets filled with fresh paint and many city workers with brushes and brooms.... But they actually did it with the help of bulldozers....
Yes, the Hutongs, which were the beautiful old traditional neighborhoods.... Are mostly 'cleaned up' now.
Hutongs are traditional neighborhoods filled with homes, narrow alleyways and courtyards...... They were the ways the old neighborhoods looked once....... They used to cover all of Beijing.....
Many of the affluent ones, still survived today, and are pleasant to walk or bike through.
Much has changed, but you can still see and imagine how people used to live in the past....
You can still see old men playing game boards...
And old ladies gossiping and drinking tea from large clear glass jars.... You may be able to see a man painting Chinese characters in water, on the asphalt, with a broom size water brush.... They dry quickly in the warm day and disappear like magic...
A good Hutong is "Nanluoguxiang"- It also offers some good Cafes.
Another good street, is "Liulichang" (Glazed Tile Factory), named for a factory that once made glazed roof tiles for the palaces and temples around Beijing.
Is now a wonderful place to shop for traditional brushes, paper, ink sticks, rubbing stones, and other artist supplies.
Shops also sell traditional art work, antiques, art books, ceramics, porcelain, and tea.
Another Hutong is at "Shichahai".... Which also has some bars and Cafes...(I read they offer now free wi Fi Internet in some of the Cafes.)
A visit to Beijing will not be complete without a visit to a traditional tea house.
Come hungry, because the 'tea' actually includes a large array of sweet and savory dumplings, which comes with the tea...
The tea house we stumbled upon, and found delightful years ago, was
"Yi Qing Quan" (Pleasing Green Spring)
The teahouse resembles a Suzhou- (a provincial canal city) landscape mini park.
The rooms were decorated with owner's collection of treasures and antique furniture.
We were the only ones in the teahouse, so she sat with us and conversed in fluent English.... And we got a glimps into the hard times this elegant lady had, in the communist era...
(Located on the Southeast corner of Madianqiao)
The Lao She Teahouse, is more commercialized and has brunches in a few city locations.
It is named after the famous Chinese author, Lao She, (one of his books, is called "Teahouse." )
It has a traditional setting, and you can drink teas, and watch all kinds of traditional Chinese performance art.
They serve traditional Beijing-style snacks and food, with recipes from the Qing Dynasty era.
It can be a bit pricy, (for a tea house,) but they do offer set menus and a live opera, (which is a bit nicer than seeing an opera in a concert hall.)
Oh.... Who am I kidding?.....
I have no patience to write a guide book.... NOR do I like to be cynical for too long.....
For us, our allotted time in the cities, is very short....
We are flying over to cycle the Silk Road...And to visit Tibet....
We want to see the rural parts of China, that we did not see yet...
I know that China is not perfect...
It is still taking off the coat of fear that it has worn, for far too long....
But I am not traveling so I can criticize a place....
I am going to see the beauty and to enjoy....
To touch and to be touched....
To taste..............and to fall in love....
So I will say:
See as much as you can,.....
Taste as much as you can,.....
Listen... Look... And learn.... As much as you can...
Visit the alternative art zone of 798, filled with abandoned factories and warehouses, which were converted into contemporary art spaces.
Or if you are a lover of struggling artists, go to "Caochangdi Village," which is the NEWEST alternative art area, into which many emerging artist moved, after the prices of spaces in 798 Artzone, got a bit pricey for them... ( Caochangdi is 30 minutes drive Northeast, from central Beijing into the suburbs)
Visit the night markets...or dine in some elegant places, eat hand pulled noodles... And many delicacies...
Choose which temples you have time to visit:
The Lama Temple,
The Confucian Temple,
The Tanzhe Temple
The Big Bell Temple,
If you have time, visit the magnificent "Temple of Azure Clouds"
( 碧云寺 also called Biyunsi) located just outside the North gate of Xiangshan Park (fragrant Hills Park) about 20km northwest of Beijing city centre.
Visit "Hou hai" which is a man-made lake, that used to feed into the canals that served the waterways of the Imperial Palace.
Now it's a beautiful recreational area surrounded by a walking path, lined with hip restaurants and bars.
And walk, walk, walk around... Let the city find YOU.... unfold before you... Show you all its magic..... The beauty of it's people....
And if you ask me...skip the pickled body of Mao in the Memorial Hall,
And many of the concrete new streets..... And other tourist contraptions..... Sorry......attractions.
Through the miracle of Facebook, it came to my attention that a FB friend, would be visiting Beijing with her partner, at about the same time that we plan to be there.
She offered to meet, which if we can coordinate, will be wondeful.... And she asked if I have any recommendations of places to visit in the city.
I know that Beijing can offer you ANY kind of experience you can imagine.... From the most touristy traps, to the most unique and authentic experiences........
So here is my cynical (but TRUE).... guide to Beijing:
When you get off your plane, after your long international flight, if it is suppose to be daylight, but you do not see any remnants of the sun.... Get used to it!
The sun in ALL of the cities of China, is shining very dimly behind an apocalyptic cloud of yellow and grey smog.
You really have to see it, to believe it.....
It is like no other place on earth....and it is a living testimony to the intentions of a man named Mao Tse Tung....
Mao stood on a hill, and gave a speech to the people.... (in a similar spirit to this of Martin Luther King's, speech "I have a dream....")
In it, he cast his hand over the green landscape and said: "I have a dream......that one day..... ALL this land, will be filled with smokestacks..........as far as the eyes can see...
I have a vision of an INDUSTRIAL China..."
Like many 'earthly visions,' the man who did not like to brush his teeth, but only gargled with lukewarm tea, got his wish....
A few decades later, China has become the manufacturing capital of the West.....with sad results to its own inhabitants quality of living....in the form of polluted air and waterways.
While visiting the city, be aware that all the major historical sights, will be filled with people who will try to engage you.....not for your shining inner light..... But in an attempt to make their living from the dollars in your pockets.
They will present themselves as students, or art students, and will offer to guide you around, or will ask you to come and to see their artwork, or their calligraphy or their teacher's artwork.
You do NOT have to buy... Just come and have a "looky looky.... "
You can go if you wish to waste some of your time,....... and you truly will not be charged anything for the visit, because they get paid just for bringing you over....
When the taxes are high and the government meddles in people's lives, the people become very shrewd and crafty....
The main shopping street of Wangfujing - which all the guides recommend, is basically a waste of time.
It is filled with Global Multi National chain stores, selling goods at ridiculously high prices.
If you imagine that you could also find some local designers there......, you have a vivid but unrealistic imagination....
The streets of Wangfujing are peppered with all sorts of tourists traps...
Go instead to visit the Pānjiāyuán Antiques Market ( 潘家园古玩市场) which is filled with fakes, but is very interesting to walk through...
It got memorabilia from all political eras, and the area surrounding the market, has some small and authentic eateries.
It is the best place to look at, or to buy antiques.
It’s noisy and crowded, and stuffed with sharkish antiques dealers, posing as innocent country folk.
There are also real characters to see there.
You have to bargain hard, and assume that most things are fake, but the choice is vast and the atmosphere is great.
Visit the old Hutongs.
YES......There a few of them still remained standing in the Old City.
Most of the Hutongs were 'cleaned up' for the Beijing Olympics.
The words 'Clean up', may conjure in your mind, images of buckets filled with fresh paint and many city workers with brushes and brooms.... But they actually did it with the help of bulldozers....
Yes, the Hutongs, which were the beautiful old traditional neighborhoods.... Are mostly 'cleaned up' now.
Hutongs are traditional neighborhoods filled with homes, narrow alleyways and courtyards...... They were the ways the old neighborhoods looked once....... They used to cover all of Beijing.....
Many of the affluent ones, still survived today, and are pleasant to walk or bike through.
Much has changed, but you can still see and imagine how people used to live in the past....
You can still see old men playing game boards...
And old ladies gossiping and drinking tea from large clear glass jars.... You may be able to see a man painting Chinese characters in water, on the asphalt, with a broom size water brush.... They dry quickly in the warm day and disappear like magic...
A good Hutong is "Nanluoguxiang"- It also offers some good Cafes.
Another good street, is "Liulichang" (Glazed Tile Factory), named for a factory that once made glazed roof tiles for the palaces and temples around Beijing.
Is now a wonderful place to shop for traditional brushes, paper, ink sticks, rubbing stones, and other artist supplies.
Shops also sell traditional art work, antiques, art books, ceramics, porcelain, and tea.
Another Hutong is at "Shichahai".... Which also has some bars and Cafes...(I read they offer now free wi Fi Internet in some of the Cafes.)
A visit to Beijing will not be complete without a visit to a traditional tea house.
Come hungry, because the 'tea' actually includes a large array of sweet and savory dumplings, which comes with the tea...
The tea house we stumbled upon, and found delightful years ago, was
"Yi Qing Quan" (Pleasing Green Spring)
The teahouse resembles a Suzhou- (a provincial canal city) landscape mini park.
The rooms were decorated with owner's collection of treasures and antique furniture.
We were the only ones in the teahouse, so she sat with us and conversed in fluent English.... And we got a glimps into the hard times this elegant lady had, in the communist era...
(Located on the Southeast corner of Madianqiao)
The Lao She Teahouse, is more commercialized and has brunches in a few city locations.
It is named after the famous Chinese author, Lao She, (one of his books, is called "Teahouse." )
It has a traditional setting, and you can drink teas, and watch all kinds of traditional Chinese performance art.
They serve traditional Beijing-style snacks and food, with recipes from the Qing Dynasty era.
It can be a bit pricy, (for a tea house,) but they do offer set menus and a live opera, (which is a bit nicer than seeing an opera in a concert hall.)
Oh.... Who am I kidding?.....
I have no patience to write a guide book.... NOR do I like to be cynical for too long.....
For us, our allotted time in the cities, is very short....
We are flying over to cycle the Silk Road...And to visit Tibet....
We want to see the rural parts of China, that we did not see yet...
I know that China is not perfect...
It is still taking off the coat of fear that it has worn, for far too long....
But I am not traveling so I can criticize a place....
I am going to see the beauty and to enjoy....
To touch and to be touched....
To taste..............and to fall in love....
So I will say:
See as much as you can,.....
Taste as much as you can,.....
Listen... Look... And learn.... As much as you can...
Visit the alternative art zone of 798, filled with abandoned factories and warehouses, which were converted into contemporary art spaces.
Or if you are a lover of struggling artists, go to "Caochangdi Village," which is the NEWEST alternative art area, into which many emerging artist moved, after the prices of spaces in 798 Artzone, got a bit pricey for them... ( Caochangdi is 30 minutes drive Northeast, from central Beijing into the suburbs)
Visit the night markets...or dine in some elegant places, eat hand pulled noodles... And many delicacies...
Choose which temples you have time to visit:
The Lama Temple,
The Confucian Temple,
The Tanzhe Temple
The Big Bell Temple,
If you have time, visit the magnificent "Temple of Azure Clouds"
( 碧云寺 also called Biyunsi) located just outside the North gate of Xiangshan Park (fragrant Hills Park) about 20km northwest of Beijing city centre.
Visit "Hou hai" which is a man-made lake, that used to feed into the canals that served the waterways of the Imperial Palace.
Now it's a beautiful recreational area surrounded by a walking path, lined with hip restaurants and bars.
And walk, walk, walk around... Let the city find YOU.... unfold before you... Show you all its magic..... The beauty of it's people....
And if you ask me...skip the pickled body of Mao in the Memorial Hall,
And many of the concrete new streets..... And other tourist contraptions..... Sorry......attractions.
