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Beijing
  The quantity and variety of cultural and artistic places of interest in Beijing are enough to warrant a stay of at least a week, without any risk of boredom. Since there are a number of interesting sights in Beijing which you simply have to see. If you don't visit these places, you can hardly claim to have been in Beijing. The most important of these sights are the Imperial Palace, Gugong, the Square of Heavenly Peace, Tiananmen Square, the Temple of Heaven, Tiantan, the Summer Palace, Yiheyuan, on the northwestern edge of the town, the Great Wall, Wanli Changcheng, and the Ming Imperial Tombs, Shisanling. The last, however, are situated 31 to 44 miles (50-70 km) outside the city to the northwest. Foreign guests in Beijing make their way first of all to the Square of Heavenly Peace. This square may rightly be seen as the centre both of the old, and of the new, China. Here the eye looks on space and time. About 40 years of socialism, made manifest in the government buildings and in Mao's mausoleum, as well as 600 years of the feudal history of the Middle Kingdom have combined to surround this, the largest city square in the world. From here you can set out on a journey into the past of the Chinese empire, the Imperial Palace, the Summer Palace, the Great Wall, the Temple of Heaven and many other historic buildings. Unfortunately, much has either fallen into ruin over the years or been destroyed, victim to violence and vandalism. Fanatical Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution, and Japanese soldiers in search of booty during World War II, have been responsible for much destruction, but it was European troops who destroyed one of the most beautiful buildings in Beijing, the Old Summer Palace, back in the 19th century. They left it a pile of rubble and ash, so that little remains to let the visitor guess at its former glory. But Beijing is, of course, a living city. Nearly 12 million people live here, with all their desires, wishes and claims on the city. Some may not be satisfied with the present, but the glories of the past hold no attractions for them today. The capital of China is not only inhabited by rulers, but also by workers, who work hard and—this should not be forgotten—enjoy themselves just as people in any other city. If you want to gain any insight into a city, the people are the most important factor. For this reason, you should sometimes leave the main roads and take a walk into the lanes of the old city, across the markets or into the little parks. You should enquire about tourist offers and bookings for guided tours as soon as you arrive in your hotel. It may have a booking office for the China International Travel Service (CITS) or other travel agencies. While making your plans, keep in mind that the various sights are often far apart, but even if this is your first visit to Beijing, you should soon be able to find your way on your own because of the rectangular street plan. The public transport network, particularly the city buses, is comprehensive, so that you can see almost all the sights by public transport. You can also discover Beijing quite comfortably by bicycle. You can often hire a bicycle right by the entrance of your hotel, and you can definitely do so at the large bicycle hire agencies in the city. However, the old parts of Beijing should really be explored on foot. Around any of the famous sights and the squares in the centre of Beijing, it is possible to turn off and make an interesting journey into the past and the present. Beijing Today Beijing has come a long way from the days of the old seventies and eighties where it was difficult to see travelers to a modern, metropolitan city with western style high rising buildings and shopping malls that are juxtaposed with the traditional architecture that remain widely throughout the capital. Western businesses have been entering this lucrative market at an alarming speed and success, so it’s common to see western name brands from hotels to restaurants doing business, especially since Beijing will host the 2008 Olympics, China has been working hard in adding and improving many public facilities and systems. Today, fashionably dressed young people stroll through the streets pf Beijing, where in earlier years the indigo blue of the Mao suit predominated. Even the most daring styles no longer cause offense. Sunglasses should, if at all possible, display a foreign trademark, even if they are only cheap copies. If you own a pair of jeans, you can be sure of the envious glances of others, and in the few dance halls and discos people dance to the international top hits. Bradd Pitt is no longer unknown in Beijing and the first foreign rock groups have played in here to astonished but enthusiastic audiences. Beijing is well on the way to becoming an international metropolis. Luxury and first class hotels of international standard, financed and built by foreign investors either on their own or in partnership with the Chinese, accommodate business people and diplomats from all over the world, as well as tourists and an international jet set. It is no longer only the bars in the big hotels that offer an international range of drinks; in the underground shelters, which Mao Zedong had constructed in fear of a possible Soviet atomic attack, restaurants have cropped up offering foreign specialities, which must, of course, be eaten only with a knife and fork. The city grows fast, too fast. Inflation is high. Essential services do not follow the growth in some districts. New hotels appear everywhere, condominiums crop up for overseas Chinese, there are office buildings, a World Trade Centre. From the upper floors of hotels one can see the steel structures of cranes on the horizon. Three ring roads have been built, yet the building of roads can hardly keep up with the increasing use of motorised transport. The state limousine Hongqi, Red Flag, and the standard Chinese automobile, Shanghai are a minority among locally built Volkswagons, Peugeots or Jeeps, or imported Mercedes Benz's, Volvos and Japanese cars; and the British Ambassador to China is no more the only user of a Rolls Royce in Beijing—a luxury hotel has a fleet of two, used for important guests. Such remains Beijing after the events in Tiananmen. Beijing is filled with evidences of wonderful Chinese history and culture. The Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square are both located here. The best way to visit the Great Wall would be from Beijing, where a car ride could land you in one of the most convenient entrances to visit the Wall. There are also a large number of different ethnic groups in Beijing, such as the Koreans, Mongolians, and Manchurians, each group contributing to the economic and social progression of China. Although there are a number of different dialects being used in China today, the Beijing dialect, Mandarin, is considered to be the official language of China. Cuisine Beijing cuisine, in contrast to that in other parts of China, tends to be rustic, a sort of good home cooking which uses onions and garlic, but not the great variety of vegetables used in the rest of China. There are climatic reasons for this, since in the winter, Beijing does suffer shortages of vegetables. It is not unusual that for weeks, nothing but cabbages line the streets and fill the markets. One of the most famous dishes of northern Chinese cuisine is unquestionably Peking Duck. Its preparation, naturally, requires some skill and experience. There are several duck restaurants in Beijing which has specialized in this dish, but which, unfortunately have all too often become pure mass production centers. A prerequisite for true Peking Duck is a special kind of duck bred in, and around, Beijing. These animals are force-fed before slaughter for about six months. After slaughter, plucking and cleaning, the duck is carefully blown through a hole in the neck, so that the skin is loosened from the flesh. This process serves to make the skin as crisp as possible after roasting. The duck is then painted with a mixture of honey, water and vinegar and hung up in an airy place for three days. Afterwards, still hanging up, it is grilled in a specially built stove. Just as important as the preparation of the duck itself are the side dishes served with it: very thin pancakes, little sesame seed rolls, spring onions and haixian sauce (hoisin sauce, a sweetish bean sauce with garlic and spices). An authentic meal of Peking Duck begins with many hors d'oeuvres, which should ideally all derive from various parts of the duck, e.g. fried duck liver, boiled duck tongues, variously prepared duck eggs, and the webbed skin of the feet cut very fine—in Chinese cooking, very little is wasted. After these, the cook brings the finished, grilled, ducks to the table and arranges bite-sized pieces of skin and meat on a platter. You take a pancake, and making use of the chopped spring onion, spread haixian sauce on it, put a piece of duck and some spring onion on top of it, roll the whole thing up, and eat it with your hands. This is the very combination that provides the highest gastronomic pleasure and makes the often rather fatty meat digestible. For the final course of such a meal, a soup made of the remains of the duck is a must. Of course, such opulent, expensive duck banquets are not indulged in very often by most Chinese families, and are usually eaten on very special occasions. The main meal of a family of four mostly consists of rice, noodles or steamed dumplings, plus soup and three or four dishes, the dishes are almost always freshly prepared and hot. Cold meals and sandwiches such as we eat are unknown in China. People eat three cooked meals a day, which makes for a lot of work. For this reason, most working people eat in canteens or cook shops. | |
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