Beijing is a city that has probably left most visitors feeling both overwhelmed and underwhelmed. Over- because there is just too much to see and do and taste and play and ... *exhausted man*. Under- because it is ALWAYS choked with traffic and when you go to any attraction, most of what you see will be dotted with human heads instead of whatever relic you were meant to go see. My most recent trip to Beijing was neither though. It was one of the best short vacays I had ever taken in China and I did not expect it to happen in Beijing - the traditional land of smog, honking, long drives, perpetual queues and vacationing Chinese tourists (which are the scariest kind ok).
So, here are some of the key ingredients that made my trip such an awesome one, which you could try asking for the next time you go to Beijing (hee hee...):
1. Clear, blue skies
This is the famous Temple of Heaven 天坛. It is always listed as a must-see in Beijing, after the Forbidden City. But I would personally put this as the #1 place to visit. It is a magnificent, expansive brightly-coloured place of worship, where the emperors of days past used to come to pray for good harvests for their people. This is a place full of symbolism and quiet contemplation and yet, architecturally, it is astounding. There is a temple which was ingeniously put together with clever Jenga-like pillars, without using a single nail. The way the entire prayer site was planned and put together tells us much about how the ancient Chinese were so thoughtful (not considerate cos they still had "death by a thousand cuts". I mean, more like put a lot of thought) and deliberate. An entirely different way of thinking from today's fastest, biggest, brightest, most orbid architecture competitions.
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| Nat-geo worthy hor? |
Back then, the middle-of-the-world Chinese believed in something greater than money, cars, authority - that life was not entirely in their hands, that humility in asking for good weather was important and even mandatory. The Temple of Heaven was where the emperor was not the utmost power, unlike in the Forbidden City where he was the be-all and end-all (wisest, wittiest, kindest, most just, most handsome, most virile etc etc). Everything structured here was for him to make humble requests of the gods. I mean, come on, wouldn't you want to see your boss kneel for once? On a bed of nails please! (oops... my tail dropped out by mistake...)
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| Wedding photo shoot! |
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| The animals were smoking up a storm on the roof.
2. Smooth Traffic
This included my uncanny ability to summon an empty cab whenever I left an attraction. Ok, the picture below is of stationary cars but focus on the mural behind! This was taken in 798, an organic-ish art space which used to be the grounds of a military factory. You can still see the pipes, tracks and buildings from its past. It was hip many years ago when I first came here, with buskers, indie art galleris and people selling one-of-a-kind pieces. But with its indie hippie vibe came indie-hippie wannabes (including me of course) and we weren't there to really appreciate nor buy art, but to be infused with the scent of art. With the onslaught of plebeians, it was inevitable that this space would become more common and less indie. Today, it features many souvenir shops selling Mao caps, pins, posters, shirts etc. And the galleries showcase someone's discarded science or geography project that pass of as crazy installations. But this is still a fun place to hang out at, if just to do gallery- and cafe-hopping.
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3. Serenity
Rarely do we find spaces where it is truly quiet in China, especially in the large cities like Shanghai and Beijing. And yet, I found these spaces in the most unlikely of places - the Summer Palace 颐和园. This beautiful palace garden has captured my imagination since I first came here four years back. Then, I had only 1.5 hours to get through the entire 2.9 sq km of alcoves, temples, houses because I had a flight to catch. And mind you, the palace ground is situated on an undulating hill so we were huffing and puffing all the way through the speed-walking (it is a hard trek ok!). We hired a guide who patiently tried to help us appreciate the architecture of the palace and the uses of each room and house. But whenever he asked, "Do you want to go in and take a look at this?", we all went, "No time, no time!", then whenever we arrived at a scenic spot, he would go, "Oh, let's take a moment to savour this..." and we all chimed, "No time, no time!". He also sent us through this building which was very very very interesting architecturally - I think it probably was, but I cannot be definitive about it because we raced through it - and when we emerged, he went, "What?! How did you do that in such a short time? Didn't you stop to look at the 1,000 year-old artifacts inside the hall?" Guess what we said... So needless to say, he ended our tour looking dejected and utterly flabbergasted (that we would pay him good money to bring us on a half marathon) and he probably thought we were barbarians who didn't appreciate culture and history.
This time round, I was determined to take my time, so I set aside half a day to stroll the palace grounds (the recommended time is at least 3 hours hor). And I was well-rewarded. The palace is filled to the brim with people every single day. I think on peak days, there are probably people who are pushed accidentally into the vast lake. But amazingly, there are turns and corners where the place is just empty. Quiet. Peaceful. Like here ...
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| This is not a camera trick. |
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| No photo-bombers |
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| I don't know how to use photoshop. |
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| There... got sommmmeeee people! |
4. Crazy company
I have been to the Great Wall quite a number of times and always on the Mutianyu 慕田峪 part of the wall. This trip, we drove to the wild part of the wall, Simatai 司马台. It is called the wild Great Wall 野长城 because this is the most natural, unkempt part of the wall. It took us about 2 - 3 hours to drive from Beijing city and then another 4 - 5 hours trekking on the wall. This was the ultimate highlight of my trip to Beijing. The #nofilter photos below say it all.
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| Some parts of the wall were mere tracks. There were a number of "danger" signs along the way, telling us to go around the paths that were no wider than one foot, but we were too lazy to go down and up again, so we trudged on. |
But like the title of this section says, one of the key factors that made this drive/trek fun was because of the crazy people I travelled with. We stayed overnight at one of the nicest hostels I have ever been in - The Great Wall Box House. This was right next to a village where we spent our post-dinner drinking, singing and basically making noise. The night started with a night "trek" (which I think was more treacherous than the Great Wall trek) from the hostel to the village. A mere 5 mins distance away, we took forever because it was pitch dark and there were cute-looking dogs who were bipolar - waggy tails + snarly teeth. Someone had the good sense to bring a head lamp and the rest of us used our phones to light the way.
Oh did I mention that we made a new friend along the way? We met an Aussie girl who had just arrived in China and was alone at the hostel so we invited her along. She was entirely new to everything Chinese which made the night's antics even more fun. We started the night with, what else but KTV. Except we sang in someone's hostel living room and drank baijiu. For the sake of the Aussie girl, we sang English songs and because we were all tipsy, we picked hits like Macarena, everything from Spice Girls, Bangles (omg) and Take That. We got on so well, the Aussie girl and I, we decided we would make a great two-girl singing band and we called ourselves Hamster and Rabbit. (By now, you would probably realise I don't remember her name...) We then moved on to another villager's restaurant and again, drank baijiu. We drank so much we lost the Aussie girl. Like really lost her as in she disappeared. We asked the peh peh sitting outside the restaurant if he saw a yellow-haired girl and he pointed vaguely in some direction which we were too drunk to follow. So we just started yelling for her. When she finally appeared, she was with a group of villagers and apparently, I squealed, "Rabbit! Where were you??" and we proceeded to hug like long-lost sisters. She had no idea where she went or how she came back. During her disappearance, I also stepped on a dead rat in the restaurant. The owner coolly picked it up by its cold tail and threw it by the roadside. I think he also laughed at me cos I jumped a foot high. Pui. After the girl-band was reunited, the group moved out to the "riverside" and continued our nonsensical night al fresco. (In the day, I realised that the romantic river was actually a man-made drain). From this point on, I only remember someone playing Frozen's "Let It Go" on loop and everyone singing which therefore means we all know the lyrics, albeit subconsciously. Actually, maybe I should stop the blog post here....
The night kinda ended with us dabao-ing the baijiu and going back to the hostel to continue drinking. I don't remember how I made it back to bed but the next morning, we discovered the following:
1. Aussie girl and a friend had huge bruises on their foreheads.
2. I found photos in my phone of someone pointing and laughing at something close by.
3. Outside my room, there were many empty bottles of baijiu plus a bottle of whiskey.
4. Someone poo-ed in the shower cubicle. Like two perfect strips of poo. I am not kidding.
So we pieced the story together based on the above evidence: The Aussie girl and our friend leaned on a swing door and fell onto the ground, hitting their faces. And someone stood and pointed and laughed. And someone used my phone to take useless photos (definitely not me because I don't remember any falling over and I would more likely be the one pointing and laughing than the one taking photos). And then we continued drinking into the night. BUT... how the poo got to the shower cubicle remains a mystery to this day. I am not telling which shower cubicle we found the offending particles. Have fun at the hostel if you do go!
Xoxo,
Tracy
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| Four is just nice, This photo was taken 4 years back in 798. |
