Yuan Ming Yuan, or the Old Summer Palace, was dubbed the "Versailles of the East". Spread across 350 hectares of landscaped gardens, it was a set of 5 residences for the Qing rulers, with construction starting in the early 18th century. Each residence has its own building, artificial lakes, and water systems, meant to become a miniature model of the lands under the emperor's rule. There were also European-style buildings as well with stone facades built over Chinese wood frames that were designed by Jesuit missionaries.
Today, it lies in ruins, ransacked, looted, then burned to the ground by Anglo-French forces during the Second Opium War in retribution for several negotiators being killed while persuading for a Chinese surrender. Many stolen artworks have made their way to collections in Europe, and occasionally at auction houses.
Let's start at the entrance and the long walk to the interesting parts of the vast park.
The Xiyanglou (Western building) area was built during the Qianlong era around 1747 with a number of buildings and fountains with baroque and rococo architecture from Italian, French, and Czech designers.
I haven't been to Beijing since 2015 but I had been many times in the years leading up to that. How is compared to then? Is the pollution better? I remember having remarkably clear and crisp days, then a new weather front would blow in and the pollution would be terrible in ways that are hard to describe. One time we were staying in an old hutong inn and the smog was seeping in under the doors so that the whole hotel room was in a bit of a haze.
I haven't been to Beijing since 2015 but I had been many times in the years leading up to that. How is compared to then? Is the pollution better? I remember having remarkably clear and crisp days, then a new weather front would blow in and the pollution would be terrible in ways that are hard to describe. One time we were staying in an old hutong inn and the smog was seeping in under the doors so that the whole hotel room was in a bit of a haze.
Seems the crazy smoggy days are gone but traffic remains heavy. There are a lot more subway lines so getting around has gotten easier. The city has sprawled out even more and still remains a bit cold with wide boulevards and imposing spaces.
Beijing's 2nd international airport, Daxing, opened in September 2019 south of the city after almost 5 years of construction. This was coincided with the closure of Nanyuan Airport, which was China's first airport when it opened in 1910.
Designed by Zaha Hadid, this new $11.2 billion facility was meant to relieve congestion at the main Capital airport. With a 700,000 sq m starfish-shaped terminal building and 4 runways, it will have a capacity of 72 million passengers by 2025, although it currently serves mostly domestic flights. The terminal building is the largest in the world at the size of 98 football fields.
Initially, it was only used by a low-cost airline, China United Airlines, but has since expanded with a few international airlines, such as Qatar, Hong Kong Express, and Etihad. In 2023, over 39 million passengers used this airport.
Beijing's Muslim quarter is located southwest of the Forbidden City and mainly comprises the Hui minority. The community is about 300,000 strong in the city, with Muslim restaurants and the largest mosque centred around Niu Jie (Cow Street), named after the delicious beef dishes that the Muslim community made.
The Hui are different from the other Muslim groups in Xinjiang, who speak a Turkic language and are not racially Han. Descended from Middle East traders who arrived in China via the Silk Road and marrying local women, their community is spread throughout the country today, even though they have their own dedicated autonomous region in Ningxia.
Great set. I went to China in 2008 and really enjoyed Beijing a lot, I think it ended up being my favorite compared to Shanghai and Hong Kong. I found it to be an attractive city. What shocked my best friend and I was how autocentric/unwalkable a lot of parts were though. Extremely long blocks, huge, wide streets and just colossal scale of everything.
Nice to see the pics of the airport - it was brand spaking new at the time and still looks impressive.
Just northeast of the Forbidden City, "Guijie" sounds like "Ghost Street", whose origins go back to the Qing Dynasty when food vendors here traded from midnight to dawn. They used oil lamps that gave out a dim light, which looked a bit ghostly. The trading market gave way to restaurants in the late 1980s, and the street was renamed after a bronze vessel used to contain food during ancient times, also pronounced "gui".
Dongjiaomin Lane extends east from the Forbidden City where there once were foreign embassies stationed here. Today, we see remnants of Western architecture, including churches.
Built as the imperial family's summer retreat, the Summer Palace's current layout mostly dates from Emperor Qianlong's era in the 18th century. who commissioned the palace for his mother's 60th birthday in 1750. It was first destroyed by Anglo-French troops in 1860, and rebuilt with funds originally destined to modernize the navy during a time when China was losing wars against foreign countries.
I started at the northern end of the park. After paying a modest admission fee, I was through the gate and soon was above Suzhou Street. This was a "shopping street" created for the Emperor and his entourage to mimick life on the outside, patterned out after Suzhou's canals and architecture.
Next is a gradual climb up the back side of Longevity Hill to the Four Great Regions, a group of Buddhist buildings in the Tibetan style that were rebuilt in 1980. The gardens are laid out with hills and water to create a natural composition with bridges, temples, and halls.
After climbing up the back side of Longevity Hill, I descended down to Kunming Lake, which accounts for 75% of the park. This part is a lot more crowded with a few key sights. Kunming Lake was mostly man-made with the excavated earth used to build Longevity Hill.
The Long Corridor has over 14,000 paintings along its 728m-long covered stretch that runs along the lakeshore with 4 pavilions along the way.
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"The destructive effects of automobiles are much less a cause than a symptom of our incompetence at city building" - Jane Jacobs 1961ish
Qianmen and its side alleys such as Dashilan have been a major retail area for over 500 years. While the area has a lot of old-looking architecture, it's pretty much new and rebuilt for the 2008 Olympics. This is NOT an original hutong neighbourhood, although it is still worth a visit to check out the old brands' shops that sell traditional goods.
Zhang Yiyuan was established in 1900 and is famous for its high quality jasmine teas and honest operations. Looking at their price list, they have many different types of jasmine tea which I've never seen and prices range wildly from 88 yuan to 6800 yuan per 500g for the most discerning palette.
Tong Ren Tang is thought to be China's oldest medicine shop, founded in 1669 by a Court physician. They have been the designated medicine supplier to the imperial pharmacy since 1723 and now has branches around the world.
Neiliansheng started selling hand-made cloth shoes in 1853 to supply the imperial court. Their most intricate shoes require over 4000 stitches and can take up to 5 days to finish. There is even a museum within their shop that is worth a stop.
Liubiju has been selling pickles, a side dish favourite, for over 450 years. Historic records show the company was established during the Ming Dynasty in 1530. Initially a brewery, they turned to produce pickles and sauces.
Historically, the best view of the Forbidden City was from Jingshan Park, an imperial garden that was the highest point of the city. However, Beijing is on a flat plain, so why is there a hill next to the Forbidden City?
During the Ming Dynasty, this hill was created from excavated material for the palace moat. Named Wansui Shan at the time that meant long life, it was renamed to Jingshan, meaning view, in the following Qing Dynasty.
^You got pretty good air quality. I just remember after spending hours and hours exploring the Forbidden City that the view I got from this hill was quite a bit smoggier and disappointing.
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