Day 39 – October 26 – Beijing

This morning, I took a less water-intensive shower in an attempt not to flood my room. I was successful. I got my things together and walked the short distance to the Forbidden City. This was the home of the Emperors and their place of work during the later years of several dynasties. The first thing one notices on entering is the sheer mass of the place. It is enormous. Once again, not on a human scale. There were gardens, fountains, petrified trees with poetry inscribed on them and throne room after throne room. The whole place is made of wood, so it had burned downed numerous times before. They had very rudimentary lightening rods installed on all the roofs of the city, but that hadn’t stopped several massive fires from gutting the place. The city is entirely painted in red, and it must be repainted constantly, because the color is so vibrant and shiny, there is no way that it could be this consistent without constant care and upkeep. I wandered around with the aid of one of those audio guides. I’ve really had it at this point with guides who are pushy, cannot speak English well, and are not knowledgeable about their subject. I have had one spectacular tour guide in my life, and that is Catherine Cartwright. She used to be an assistant in London for GS, but attained her tour license in London this year. We were fortunate enough to take her tour when Katie Reyero, her husband Jay, Robin, Heather and I were all in London prior to the U2 concert in Barcelona this July (I know, rough life). She showed us around the city, answered all of our questions (even the inane, silly ones), and was, without a doubt in my mind, the most knowledgeable person about a city I had ever met. So, if you are in London, want a good guide, look up Catherine, she’ll show you around! (www.londonundone.net). So, I had no interest in another guide with no idea about the subject at hand, so the audio guide would have to do. It was helpful, giving me background on the lightening rods and areas of the city which were open to the Emperor’s court, only, and those areas open to audiences. The whole city runs along a primary axis which is denoted by marble. This was so that when the Emperor walked through the city, or more accurately carried through the city, he would only set foot on marble or be carried over marble. Good for him.

Outside the Forbidden City is Tiananmen Square, site of the democratic protest massacre in 1989. On the walls of the Forbidden City looking at Tiananmen Square is the large portrait of Mao Zedong. Locals venerated it pretty openly. The line to take a picture in front of it was way too long for me to even consider waiting. What I found interesting was the fairly obvious group of plain clothed police officers or security marshals who were staring people down intensely. They looked young, and I wondered if some of them were just local youths who were very loyal to the Party and the State and took it upon themselves to maintain order in this area. I walked through Tiananmen Square, having my bags searched and x-rayed prior to entering. There were still many signs, posters, flowers and other remnants of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. A long digital screen projected a video over and over, exclaiming the virtues of “Glorious China.” I have to admit, the country is pretty spectacular as I have seen it thus far, but they have a long way to go. Maybe they should spend some of that money they’ve been using to buy US treasuries and spend it on updating the decrepit sewer system… wait, no, please keep buying US treasuries, we need it.

I hopped on the subway, which is fantastic, and made my way to the Summer Palace. I was debating whether or not to see this place, and I am so glad I did. It is easily my favorite place in Beijing. The Summer Palace was built in the later dynasties as a residence for the Emperors. It is a bit outside the city center, but a new subway line goes directly there, score! From the front entrance, one walks past a small river with a few stores and houses around it. This tiny village was created to house servants and people who catered to the Summer Palace. It was quite idyllic, small and well kept. There were a series of stairs which led one up to a temple. This part of the palace was built in the Tibetan Buddhist style to remind the Emperor of his connection to Tibet. Since I will be going there in a couple of days, I’ll have the opportunity to see if it does resemble a Tibetan monastery. I walked across some of the rocks at the top, some of which had tunnels carved through them to connect different parts of the palace. Once I made it over the summit, I was treated to an absolutely spectacular view. There is a large temple, with about four tiers. It is surrounded by trees in different stages of autumn colors and looks down upon a large lake with the city of Beijing in the distance. The vista is absolutely magnificent. There was a sign to keep off the rocks, but hell, this was too beautiful of a sight not to take some good photos. So I jumped up on some rocks and took way too many photos. I was amazed that the sky was blue for the first time since I had been in Beijing, further contrasting spectacularly with the red and green temple. I just sat there for about 45 minutes and looked out at the view. I loved it. I started climbing down the stairs to the different levels of the Palace. There were a couple of brightly colored tea houses and walkways, giving the whole scene a storybook feel. The bright red, green and yellow pathways and houses each had intricate detail in the woodwork and painting. Smaller temples were propped up on rock outcroppings, looking over the water. Once at the bottom, I walked along the lakefront, surveying the view from below. It was equally magnificent. I was able to walk up from the bottom to the temple which I had seen from above. This was a temple designed and created by the Empress. Only she was allowed to use it. The were winding staircases to the top, with several huffing and puffing tourists struggling to get to the top. But once at the top, the view was, again, surreal.

I walked down, enjoying the views from different levels, and walked along the lake again. There was a procession of some older people dressed in traditional clothing, chanting something. It was very nice and calming. I walked to the other side of the lake where a bridge lined with over 40 lion statues connected to a small island. This island was calm and quiet, except for an occasional exclamation from children flying a kite near the bridge. It was great. I guess I could compare this to Central Park in New York. One can escape the craziness of the city in only a few places, with Central Park being one of them. It is a respite of green and calm in a city of grey and insanity. Similar is the Summer Palace in Beijing. Although it is not as central as the Park in New York, it really is a peaceful retreat in a city of hustle and bustle. If I lived here, I would definitely try to live near it or at least go jogging around the lake once in a while. It just made me so much happier with where I was.

As the sun set, I got back on the subway and headed for the Olympic Green. The 2008 Olympics still hold a lot of pride in the people of Beijing, and it is easy to see why. The Olympic Green was spectacular. A main road runs down the center with the Olympic Stadium, or Bird’s Nest (designed by Herzog and de Mueron), on one side and the Aquatic Center, or Water Cube, on the other. Both are spectacularly lit at night, making my decision to come here in the evening the correct one. There is also the Olympic Tower, a weird tripod of a building with eight colored triangles in the middle. It changes colors and lights up in different orders… I don’t know, kind of kitschy without the cool factor. Other than that, one can see how much work went into this site and how much of a show they wanted to put on for the world. There is an Olympic subway line that runs along the axis of the site which replays footage of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and the best wins of the Chinese. The whole area is incredible, and it makes me think that the Olympics should be given to cities which have something to prove. The Olympics help development, as is clear here, and I would rather see the international games aid development in Rio rather than Chicago. London should be an interesting case in 2012. I don’t know how they can possibly do better than Beijing, which had a centralized economy and government behind every move of the Beijing games. Good luck!

This is my last night in Beijing, and while it was an interesting visit, I am excited to go to Hong Kong. I cannot wait to see my friend Palin and check out a real, functioning city!