Beijing, capital city of China is one of the
ancient cities on Earth with more than 3,000 years of recorded history.
Evidence of human ancestry dating back to 700,000 years ago has been found in
the southwest part of Beijing, where the remains known as 'Peking Man' were
found.
Amidst one of the tightly packed trips to Beijing got some time to check
out the City of Beijing. Landing in Beijing at 1:00 PM, had no option but to
run wherever I could have in the available one half of the day.
As I always say, best plans should be kept in the earlier part of the program. So, to explore Beijing attractions, I dumped the luggage in hotel room, took the Metro/ Subway map in my hand and started to “Tiananmen Square”. Tiananmen Square is one of the most popular and renowned spots around the world. There is no tourist who comes to China, leaves without a visit to this place.
Adjacent to Tiananmen Square is the National Museum of China. The museum has been constructed with an objective to spread awareness about arts and history of China.
Over eight million visitors had visited this museum in 2017, which makes it the second-most visited art museum in the world. Museum has some interesting artefacts from historical periods of China, I found the Gold threaded Burial suit from Han dynasty unique. Check out:
Opposite to Tiananmen Square is the “Forbidden
City”. It served as Imperial Palace for over 500 years from the Ming Dynasty to
the Qing Dynasty till 1912. Thereafter, it was turned into a museum since the
1920s. It was one of the biggest constructions to have taken place in China in
that time. It took 14 years from the construction started in the year 1406 and
employed up to 100,000 skilled artisans and up to a million labourers at its
peak construction.
By the time I came out of Forbidden City, evening
was setting in and my stomach had started sending hunger signals for food. So,
I again went inside the subway and boarded the train to Lotus Marina Market. It is a small market
with a few restaurants alongside a lake covered with Lotus Flowers. That’s why
the name Lotus Marina.
I took a
table next to the lake and started searching for some familiar menu item. As I
didn’t get any success so approached the restaurant staff for help. Again, no
success as no-one understood English, but one of the staff rescued me with an
English translating app on his mobile. Finally, I got the delicious food I was
looking to enjoy.
Ambience
is good here that I got enticed to share a few pictures on Instagram. Only to
realize that Instagram does not work in China. Not only Instagram, even
Facebook and Google are not supported in China. May be a blessing in disguise,
as no time wastage on social media. May be, good for productivity!
There was a temple adjacent to Forbidden City, which I missed out last evening. So next morning, I had some time before reporting to my office, so started early for “Temple of Ancestors”. Huge hall with large number of bells is main attraction in this temple.
Dragon mouth styled carvings along the walkways in another noteworthy feature of this temple.
Keep some time with you to enjoy a leisurely walk along the lake in this temple.
While walking along with the streets, noticed well-arranged bicycles at almost all of the subway stations. It is a nice concept to reduce the traffic density on the roads, daily commuters can avail the bicycles to reach the subway station from their homes.
Peking Duck is one of the most popular delicacies,
do try once you are in Beijing.
Beijing
is much more than above spots, a city which has preserved its traditions while
embracing modernity. As Mr. Rocky says there is always a next round. So, one
more trip to Beijing is due to cover all of the renowned spots and yes of
course the legendary “Great Wall of China”.
Subway is
a convenient option to explore Beijing. Even foreigners can buy the ticket
easily by selecting the English Option on the ticket vending machines installed
at every station.
Beijing
Metro Map: https://www.travelchinaguide.com/images/map/beijing/beijing-subway.gif