When I arrived in Beijing
Capital Airport Terminal 2 from Manila, I am glad to see a sunny weather outside
the building. Thinking it wasn’t that cold, I decided to wear only a
cardigan to cover myself. But the moment I step outside the door of the arrival
hall, there was suddenly a breeze of a full blast air-conditioned air that is so
cold! I was caught in surprise! The sunny-like weather deceived me. The coldness of the place is the true reality. Chill easily ran through my skin and my back, so I urge my travel mates
to get a taxi immediately as I cannot endure the cold wind anymore!
Back at the taxi seat, random
thoughts circled my mind on this trip. I rarely experience Winter in overseas
trips. Maybe because I’m used to a tropical weather of my home country and
chooses places to visit with the same tropical weather. Honestly, I have second
thoughts on pursuing my winter trip to China. I thought that visiting the
country on a winter season wouldn’t be an enjoyable trip since the weather is
cold, therefore it is hard to roam around and the surroundings like trees and
plants are dry and withered, thus not perfect for souvenir photos. But despite
of those thoughts, I still had an enjoyable worthy time in China at wintertime.
And Beijing is a perfect city choice to explore China during this season. No
chilly wind, cold weather or even frostbite can stopped me in exploring China!
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| Winter Sonata in China at Beihai Park lakeside view. |
When we arrived at the hotel
where we will stay for the next three nights, we almost had a whole afternoon
conversation and argument with the hotel staffs due to language barrier. We had
difficulty to converse with them in settling our hotel accommodation because
they are really “no-English” speaking people. Good thing, I bought a calculator
which really help us alot in dealing with them. Funnily, we also did charade
and drawing just for them to understand us. The language barrier was quite a
challenging experience in Beijing.
My first “Winter Sonata”
experience in China started in Beihai
Park. This imperial garden situated at the heart of Beijing is perfect for
afternoon walks and relaxing strolls. Even expose on a chilly weather, the vast
lake that greet me upon entrance in the park keep me warm with its scenic
feast. It was here I experience my first winter sunset in China. Seeing the sun
sets against the dried branches of the the tree was a dramatic sight to behold.
As we further explore the surroundings of the park, I saw snows piled on the
ground! My reaction was kinda like the delight of a first-timer to see a snow
as it really is my first time to see a snow though it was melting already.
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| Winter Sunset... |
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| Snow! Melting already... |
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| My first winter sunset in China... |
I trek the top hill part of
the park called Jade Flowery Islet where main landmark of the park can be found
– the imposing white dome called White Dagoba. At the back of White Dagoba,
there is a viewing deck where one will see a vast view of the entire Beihai
Park complete with lake and city skyline view. On the way down, I explore the
Chinese pavilions surrounding the lake side of the park. But it was really the
serene lakeside view of Beihai Park that my eyes keep looking upon. The
tranquil lake is surrounded by dried trees while shinning in flashes of golden
color because of the sunset. It was a very picturesque view. The winter scene
was intense after the sun sets with the winter sky turning violet with haze
of amber and yellow.
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| Trees sleeping in the wintertime of Beijing. |
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| White Dagoba at Jade Flowery Islet. |
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| Winter in China! |
It was a chilly night coupled
with freezing blow of winds, when we arrived at
Tiananmen Square. But even with a dropped temperature, it did not
discourage us from exploring this huge square with a significant historical
background. Tiananmen Square is the site
of Tiananmen Square protest of 1989, a pro-democracy movement which ended on June
4, 1989 with the declaration of martial law in Beijing by the government and
the death of several hundred civilians commonly known as Tiananmen Massacre.
One of the famous landmarks of Tiananmen Square is the Tiananmen Gate or Gate
of Heavenly where a picture of Mao Zedong – leader of the Chinese Revolution and
the founding father of the People's Republic of China is displayed. Crowds of
local tourists also flocked the square even in a very cold weather. This just
proves that Tiananmen Square us a popular tourist site in Beijing.
In the morning, we return
again to Tiananmen Square. It was cloudy and cold morning but crowds of
visitors still flocks the grounds of the square. From the Tiananmen Gate, I can
clearly see the Monument to People’s Heroes and Great Hall of the People across
a street. We proceeded inside Tiananmen Gate, but the wide opened doors dotted
with small gold circles seems to fascinate visitors and rubbing it as if
getting a “good luck” after doing so. Inside the gate, I saw a large square
grounds where there is a group of Chinese military soldiers doing a morning
exercise routine.
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| Night time at Tiananmen Gate. |
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| Tiananmen Square. |
After Tiananmen Gate, is the
Meridian Gate that serves as entrance to the
Forbidden City. This interesting sight of Beijing is one of the
best historical site that must be visited by any local or foreign visitor to the
city. It presents the rich historical heritage of China as well as a sample of
imperial life inside the palace of imperial China. It also a perfect place to
appreciate Chinese architecture due to the structures’ amazing construction and
design that stands against time. Forbidden City is literally a huge palace
grounds. It is so huge that I call it a “Palace City” and it needs almost a day
to fully explore every corner and grounds of the palace. Inside Forbidden City,
I saw how huge the palaces, grand thrones
and artistically designed hall rooms of the emperor leaders of the ancient
China. Also, I did saw hundred furnitures, thousand accessories and even beds
used by the emperor himself and his family (the empresses, princes and
princesses) during the dynastic period of China on display. One of the best
remembered imperial history I learned and depicted inside Forbidden City is the
rise and fall of Pu Yi – the last emperor of China. A trip around the grounds
of Forbidden City is an ultimate trip down to history books of China’s
history.
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| Goodluck charms at Tiananmen Gate. |
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| Morning routine of Chinese military army. |
The exit gate of Forbidden
Palace, leads to
Jingshan Park,
an imperial park that is just separated from the palace by a street.
Inside the park, most of the trees and plants were withered and dried due to
Winter which quiet disappointed me because I imagine that this place was nice
with all these plants and trees. Perhaps the better time to visit Jingshan Park
is on Spring or Summer time. But as we roam around, I saw some shrubs with buds
already – signifying their readiness to bloom in the upcoming spring and some
tall trees have full leaves already. I rested for a while in one of the benches
to regain energy as I still feel weariness from the hours of walking the huge
Forbidden Palace. Then, together with my travel mates, we trek the highest hill
of the five hills found inside the park to see a rewarding panoramic view of
Forbidden City. Even on a cloudy weather coupled with mist and haze, I was still
able to clearly to see how huge is Forbidden Palace and every detail of the
buildings inside it. This is the best admirable view at Jingshan Park! While at
the back of the viewing area, visitors will also appreciate the view of the
rest of the park grounds and on the left one will see the Beihai Park and its
prominent landmark, the White Dagoba.
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| Meridian Gate - entrance to the biggest historical palace that I have been! |
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The
throne in the Hall of Preserving Harmony. The largest hall within the
Forbidden City, it was the location where Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty
Emperors hosted their enthronement and wedding ceremonies.
|
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| A gilded lion in front of Hall of Supreme Harmony at Forbidden City. |
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| It's Spring! The stairs going up to the highest hill in Jingshan Park. |
We took a taxi to proceed to
our winter exploration of China in
Beijing
Zoo. Of course, we immediately proceeded to the must-see animal of the park
– the Giant Panda! Giant Panda is endemic only to China and is an endangered
species so measures are taken to preserve its population. The Giant Panda's diet
is 99% bamboo. In the wild, it lives in a few mountain ranges in central China,
mainly in Sichuan province, but also in the Shaanxi and Gansu provinces. As a
result of farming, deforestation and other development, the panda has been
driven out of the lowland areas where it once lived. They are extremely cute
and cuddly so I’m glad to heard in the news that despite being an endangered
specie, their population is rising due to consistent conservation measures.
Other unique animals that I
saw in the park were Peacock and Peahen in which the Peacock made a flash of
his tail to woo the Peahen, a too much sleeping Red Panda, Crown Pigeons, a
weird looking bird, Ibis, jumping Ring-tailed lemur and night-dweller Tarsier species.
The grounds of Beijing Zoo was also perfect for afternoon walks and relaxing
strolls as it has scenic spots like lake swimming ducks and swans with
landscape gardens and benches set in between huge landscape trees to rest upon.
If you still have time to roam
around,you may also visit Beijing Aquarium to see marine animals on display and
sea creatures performing tricks.
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| A scenic winter view inside the facades of Beijing Zoo. |
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| Sleeping Red Panda. |
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| An odd bird, Ibis - one of the displayed birds at Beijing Zoo. |
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| Swan Lake. |
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| The star of Beijing Zoo - The Giant Panda. |
A visit to Beijing Zoo is also
an opportunity to visit
Julong
Underground Market connected via the subway station of the zoo. The market
is perfect for shopping good bargains of class A branded bags, clothes and
shoes. Just be sure to haggle a lot so you get bigger discounts. Although,
language barrier will be a hindrance for shopping in this market, there’s no
harm in trying if you want to get good bargains. Plus sellers are usually open
to haggling their commodities and goods.
The National Centre for the Performing Arts or popularly known as The Egg because of its structural oval shape
was our next destination. Here, we got time to relax again because it has large
spaces to rest upon and spots to seat so we can have relaxing afternoon before
the sun sets. Temperature starts to drop this time because its going night time
already. Yet, I leisurely rest here while waiting for the nighttime because the
building is said to be beautiful at night because of its amazing lighting. I noticed that some locals were also doing
afternoon strolls here while others were doing a jog exercise by circling
around the structure. The Egg is one of structural wonders of Beijing as it was
very modern in its design. It is surrounded by an artificial lake and entrance
is only made via an underground tunnel under the artificial lake. It is covered
with titanium plates that has a modern concept with ultra-white glass designs
to make it beautiful and stunning. By nighttime,
it glowed with a starry night like concept with random distribution of blue
lights around the structures’ metal cover. I was quite disappointed with the
lighting I saw as it was different from the pictures I saw from the magazines
which were brighter and livelier but nevertheless The Egg is perfect for both
appreciation of magnificent architecture and for enjoying various art performances
staged here like operas, ballets and dramas.
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| Probably the biggest egg in the world... or the National Center for Performing Arts. |
Strong freezing wind starts to
chill our spines and longed us for a warmer place to stay. This led us to
explore the nearby place in our hotel and a very popular place in Beijing - the
lively
Wangfujing. It is basically a
long street of shopping malls, boutique shops and commercial place in Beijing
but it also popular with its night market scene. It is a lively place in Beijing
because it never runs out of crowd and things to see and to do. It has a very
active scene from strolling, shopping, dining up to sightseeing!
One of the main night market
we explore was the Donghuamen Night
Market which is mainly consists of long line of stalls of various food and
grilling stations. It was perfect for our growling stomachs after a day of
exploring Beijing. I tried grilled pork (5 Yuan per each stick), Banana custard
cake (10 Yuan for 2) and Sugar-sprinkled Strawberry on-stick (10 Yuan per
stick). But one streetfood in Beijing that really got me addicted is
Caramelized fruits on stick or Bingtanghulu
which either comes in Strawberry, Crab apples (Chinese Hawthorns) or mixed
fruits of Kiwis, oranges, crab apples and strawberries. I think I had a stick
of it every night in Beijing! But if you have brave stomach you might want to
try their other exotic food on a grill like starfish, seahorse, scorpions and
snakes.
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| One of the grill stations at Donghuamen Night Market. |
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| I love Bingtanghulu! |
The following morning, we
started early to travel to Mutyaniu in Huarou country to see the
Great Wall of China despite of a cloudy
winter weather again. I was praying for
a clear weather to clearly see the wall but it seems cloudy is a typical sky
during winter in China. It was almost a two-hour trip via bus and a private
hire taxi to Mutyaniu. At the Great Wall
grounds, visitors have options to hike up the wall – hiking and cable car. We
opted to do cable car going up then to do a hike going down to feel what its
really like hiking the Great Wall. The cable car was a faster way going up the
wall. And when we reach the summit view of the hall, I was in awe to see face
to face one of the world wonders made by man. The Great Wall of China was a
wonderful work of Chinese people. The wall is gliding on the ridges of the
mountain top and hill curves. Even expose on a colder breeze of air and
freezing weather because of the high elevation, the Great Wall was still a
magnificent sight to behold. Even from the far mountain slopes that it reaches
were vague because of foggy winter weather, I was still able to clearly see how
long the wall reaches thru. It is said it is visible to the outer space of Earth. I explored the towers that serves as command posts and signal stations
of Chinese imperial army during its dynastic period. I peeked to the viewing
decks of the wall and side windows of the towers, and I realized how high it is
located in the mountains but the views also greeted me with beautiful mountain
scenery.
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| Winter all over the Great Wall of China - Mutianyu section. |
As I expected it was less
crowded and touristy in Mutianyu. So it was perfect for me and my travelmates
not just to have numerous souvenir photos but do tranquil exploration of one of
the greatest work of mankind. While on exploring the wall and sees how far
reaches through the mountain ranges makes me think that the wall never ends. So
after reaching 8 towers we decided to hike down on the Great Wall which lasted
for about 30 minutes including rests in between. It was a tiring hike but a
good and healthy hike as it let us exercise our muscles and joints.
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| It's time to do a "Dragon Hike" to the Great Wall of China! |
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| One of the 22 towers which can be explored at the wall. |
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| Seeing one of the wonders of the world from one of the towers... |
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| Winter or Summer? Trees while hiking down the Great Wall. |
We have been stucked into a
road traffic going back to Beijing but we still barely made it to
Olympic Park by six in the evening. By
this time, strong chilly winds really froze us in the park that prompt us to
buy spicy hot noodles to keep us warm in a nearby food stall. I didn’t mind sipping
one spicy soup after the another as all I want was just to feel warm from
strong chill bought by the winter wind! But despite of this cruel weather, me
and my travelmates did not stop from exploring this modern park. Olympic Park
is the site of the facilities used in the 29
th Summer Olympics 2008
where Beijing was the host city of the biggest sporting event. Olympic Park
boasts modern facilities of sporting events used in the games designed with
wonderful and magnificent architecture. These admirable structures were the
National Stadium or fondly called “Bird’s Nest” because of its shape like a
nest of a bird primarily covered with twig-like sticks intertwine together and
the National Aquatics Center or popularly known as “Water Cube” because of its
bubble-like covering structure. The 2008 Olympic landmark with its emblem was
also an admirable structure inside the park. All of these structures were
stunningly lit at night so it is just perfect for evening time visit like we
had. Kite flying is also a popular activity inside the Olympic Park. As we
departed, I noticed local visitors and tourists crowding the park didn’t seem
to mind to cold weather too as time goes by flocks and flocks of visitors keep
arriving in the park. This just proves the huge amount of attention and legacy that
Beijing and China got from hosting the Olympic games four years ago.
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| It's glowing! The Bird's Nest or the National Stadium at Olympic Park. |
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| My very first proudly made Peking duck wrapped in a pancake! |
Via subway, we returned to
Wangfujing pass eight in the evening to take our dinner of
Peking Duck and other Chinese cuisines at
Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant. Eating
Peking Duck is one of must-try when in Beijing as it is one of the most
authentic Chinese cuisine I have tasted. The roast duck will be bought to the
dining table and will be slice front of you by a chef, then it will serve to
your table by parts. First, you’ll be serve with the duck’s crispy and sweet skin
which is perfectly served and eaten with sugar or garlic sauce dipping. Then,
the roast meat comes next. The perfect way to enjoy the succulent meat is to take pieces of the meat to a pancake then add
some slices of spring onions, cucumber and spread with sweet plum sauce. Roll
the pancake and take a bite. It was heavenly delicious! The remaining fat, meat and bones was made
into a broth, served like a soup. I am glad that the waiter taught me the right
way of eating Peking Duck with the pancake because I thought the meat is just eaten
as it is with a rice! I tasted the bare Peking Duck meat afterwards and it was sweet,
succulent and delectable but quite oily.
I also did try other Chinese
cuisines like Chinese shrimp dumplings and pork balls with crackers and sweet
plum sauce. And I enjoy sampling the various Chinese cuisines via Quanjude
Roast Duck Restaurant. The sumptuous
dinner of Chinese cuisines was a perfect way to cap our last night in Beijing. Other recommended restaurants
that offers delicious Chinese cuisines are Da Dong Roast Duck Restaurant and
Bianyifang Restaurant.
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| Suzhou Market Street at Summer Palace. |
The following day was filled
with a sunny sky but with freezing wind blows at times. It was a perfect day to do sightseeing but
unfortunately it was our last day stay in Beijing as in a few hours we will
depart for our flight back home. Since we still almost have a half day stay in
the city, I decided to see
Summer Palace – a famed imperial garden in Beijing. Together
with my travelmates, we took a subway to Beigongmen Station to see this
must-see imperial garden. Summer Palace is a UNESCO World Heritage
Site situated in Haidian District which is quite far
from central Beijing. It is famous for its artistically designed pavilions,
towers and bridges that all of which are ideal for sightseeing. But the most
imposing scenery of Summer Palace is Kumning Lake with the Tower of Buddhist
Incense in the background. It is here where I also saw winter scenery of frozen
rivers filled with cracked ice sheets at riverside market attraction of Suzhou
Market Street. Although filled lots of tress, flowering plants were not in bloom
yet in Summer Palace. So, I imagine how
much beautiful it is when it is in spring or summer time where all the flowers
are in full bloom and plants are fully green and grown. This imperial park must
have been more stunning at those seasons! Since it was morning, some group of
middle-age Chinese women were doing a group morning exercise routine in the
park. Summer Palace is a huge place which I think almost half day is needed to
fully explore its grandiose.
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| Grandiose structures fills Summer Palace. |
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| Endless bargains at Silk Street! |
We left immediately after a
short stay but because of its far distance to the airport, we missed our flight
back home. Though a mishap happened, I
took it as a blessing in disguise for us to extend our stay and savor our
winter trip to China for the last time. Good thing there is a next early
morning flight back, so we had another half day stay in Beijing. We took this
opportunity to visit
Silk Street, a
premier bargain shopping and market center in the city. This shopping center is
a four floor building that offers affordable bargains from jewelries, clothes,
souvenirs up to local treats. It is popular among international tourists for
its wide selection of counterfeit designer brand apparels. Silk Street is
easily reached via subway at Yong’anli Station that has an exit directly inside
the market.
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| Indulging in Bingtanghulu for the last time in Wangfujing! |
My last few hours stay in
Beijing is spend probably in the best winter place at night – in Wangfujing
where we return again for the last time. And course, I munch on a stick of
Bingtanghulu again for the last time! It was really addicting! This time, I
explored Wangfujing Night Market with
my travelmates where we were tempted to buy numerous China souvenirs because of
its affordable bargain prices. I was fascinated with Giant Panda stuff toy
souvenirs there which prompt me to buy one as a memento of my China experience.
The last walk through experience in the lively and colorful streets of
Wangfujing is one of the best memories of my winter trip to China. So, when the
time has come to left Beijing and return to airport for our flight back, I felt
that winter trips are definitely worthy. Doing a trip on Winter season is
enjoyable at all especially with Beijing as an ideal city to explore in this
season.
No cold wind or freezing weather has stopped me from discovering the
best of Beijing and China! And when we board the plane, where a very cold winter
air slipped through inside the aerobridge and jolt my spine to a sudden chill, it let me suddenly realize that I enjoyed my “Winter Sonata in
China” journey so much but I am leaving Beijing with a heavy heart.
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Winter Sonata in China is part of my Beguiling Beijing.Captivating China
series where I share my birthday trip adventures, travel stories and first-time
experiences in Beijing, China last March 20-24, 2012. You might also
like the other parts of the series:
+Beijing - A Beguiling City
+Winter Sonata in China
+Roaming through Beijing
+One Spring Day in Beijing
+Forbidden City: Forbidden No More
+A Dragon Hike to the Great Wall of China
+Beijing's Architectural Wonders
+Peking Duck: An Authentic Chinese Cuisine
+Wangfujing's Lively Street Life
+The Imperial Gardens of Beijing
