The city you must see before you leave By Constantino Tejero Philippine Daily Inquirer First Posted 00:35:00 08/31/2008
MANILA, Philippines - You know you’re in Beijing when you sit for dinner à la carte and read the menu describing the herb-encrusted steak as “fragrant wonderful fat cow.”
So you see, it isn’t really hard to communicate in this city. It just sounds a bit quaint with all that wondrous poeticism and extra details.
Now, after 17 days of the Olympics, after seeing Michael Phelps just rise and rise and Liu Xiang limp away, it’s time for more important matters. It’s time to know the place and its people. In other words, it’s time for real action.
In this ancient imperial city, everywhere you go culture seems to follow. You go to the flea market and see a Tibetan temple bell for sale as garden décor. You enter a noodle house or jazz bar and it’s heritage architecture.
You approach some istambay in the park and they’re brushing calligraphy on the pavement or practicing Peking opera music. You visit a shop in the hutong and it is selling classical Chinese-brush paintings, scroll calligraphy and traditional paper-cut art.
There are four or five cultural landmarks in Beijing a visitor ought to see before leaving. Without seeing any of them is like a probinsiyano going to Manila and departing without having seen the Luneta.
Symbolic heart
First, of course, is Tian’anmen Square, the symbolic heart of the country. This was the approach to the city in the time of the emperors, and where Mao Zedong declared the People’s Republic in 1946.
Every square foot of this large plaza in central Beijing is history, at one time written in blood by those student demonstrations in 1989.
Step into the place through the Gate of Heavenly Peace, as in its shadow, embedded on the ground, is a large circular landmark of bronze and brass with the inscription
“Zero Point of Highways, China.” That should start you on a propitious journey.
On weekends, tourists by the thousands crisscross the seemingly horizonless square. Red flags can be seen everywhere, as well as soldiers in full uniform who never smile.
You can never miss the Great Hall of the People, and, on the southern end of the square, the Mausoleum of Chairman Mao—exemplars of the monolithic Soviet-style architecture.
On the northern end, across the road, is a short-spanned white bridge thronged with tourists. (Think of the Mendiola Bridge approach to Malacañang stormed by demonstrators.) This leads to the Meridian Gate, formerly called the Five-Phoenix Tower, the Gate of Zenith, and the Gate of the Midday Sun, which opens to the Forbidden City.
Seat of power
The Forbidden City, also known previously as the Imperial Palace and now the Palace Museum, covers an area of 1-million sq m in the Dongcheng District, with its some 800 buildings occupying 170,000 sq m. For five centuries, 14 Ming and 10 Qing emperors lived in and ruled from this place.
It is the largest and best-preserved palace complex in the world, housing over 1.5-million objects. With construction starting in 1420, every aspect of its design and administration is said to reflect the tenets of Confucian thought.
Only about a third of the complex is open to the public, for an entrance fee of 40-60 RMB (at P7 to 1 yuan or RMB). There are 8,999 rooms here, in case you’d want to peek.
You better set aside a whole day and put on industrial-strength shoes to walk through all those gates, halls, courtyards and gardens: the Golden River Bridges; the Gate of Amiability; the Gate of Literary Brilliance; the Gate of Supreme Harmony; the Pavilion of Manifest Benevolence; the Pavilion of Literary Profundity; the Hall of Martial Valor; the Hall of Respectful Thoughts; the Palace of Heavenly Purity; the Palace of Celestial Favour; the Hall of Spreading Virtue; the Gate of Earthly Tranquility; the Hall of Mental Cultivation; the Palace of Established Happiness; the Hall of Exuberance; the Pavilion of Cultivating Nature; the House of Crimson Snow; the Pavilion of a Thousand Autumns; the Pavilion of Ten Thousand Springs; the Pavilion of Floating Jade; the Pavilion of Lasting Splendour; the Gate of Loyal Obedience; the Gate of Divine Prowess.
Most popular
The Hall of Central Harmony, originally called the Hall of Overwhelming Glory, then the Hall of Central Extremity, was where the emperor rested before and after ceremonials. Its present name was taken from the Book of Rites: “When we handle matters properly and harmoniously without leaning to either side, all things on earth will flourish.”
Next to it, toward the Inner Court, is the Hall of Preserving Harmony, where on its north side sweeps down a great marble ramp carved with relief of dragons and billowing water. This is the biggest sculpture on a single block of stone to be found in China.
From the permanent and temporary exhibitions scattered throughout the complex you’d get a lasting impression of imperial life in the Ming and Qing Dynasties: the insignia of the court; the treasures of the palace; ritual music and gifts; weapons and armors; breathtaking glimpses of imperial weddings and birthday celebrations; the concubines’ life at court; the Empress Dowager Cixi ruling from behind the screen.
Surely the most popular to tourists and curiosity-seekers is the exhibit at the Palace of Gathered Elegance. It is a comprehensive showcase of the life of the last emperor, Puyi.
Natural world
In the Imperial Garden, toward the northern gateway to the outside world, can be found the Hall of Appreciating Flowers. It is surrounded by ancient trees, shrubs, climbers, blossoms of vivid hues, marble basins and bronze vats, a shrine of the Taoist water god, ornate kiosks and patterned walkways, literary and historical allusions in metal and stone.
The ancient Chinese were already strong advocates of environmentalism, as you can see in how painstakingly they tried to preserve the natural world. An inscription in a concubine’s garden reads: “A single act of carelessness leads to the eternal loss of beauty.”
The same environmentalism manifests in the Hill of Accumulated Elegance, previously called the Hill of Accumulated Embroidery. An inscription on its base reads: “Perilous hills, no climbing please.”
It is actually just a boulder 10-m high, an artificial hillock of piled-up rocks the people collected as art objects, chosen for their shapes and patina.
On top of this fantastic rock formation is the Pavilion of Imperial Scenery, or the Imperial Sight Pavilion, where the emperor and his consorts would survey the scenic beauties within his city and outside toward the northern and western hills.
Classical design
Then there is the Summer Palace, covering an area of 2.9 sq km in the Haidian District. This was the first group of historical and cultural heritage sites in China to be placed under special state protection.
Constructed in 1750, it was originally called the Garden of Clear Ripples as ¾ of it is water while 70,000 sq m are palaces, gardens and ancient structures. It was renamed the Garden of Health and Harmony, as it follows the guiding principle of traditional Chinese garden design: “The works of men should match the works of Heaven.”
For 30 RMB, you’ll spend a whole afternoon strolling, trekking, boating and traversing gardens, hallways and pavilions, through flowering plum and pear trees, across bridges and bodies of water.
This place is so big it is hard to maintain for even a country of 1.4 billion. In one deserted pavilion, for instance, classical paintings that could have been national treasures are fading from being exposed to the elements.
Two major spots here are the Pavilion of Bright Scenery and the Hall of Serenity. Other attractions include Kunming Lake; the Spacious Pavilion on its bank; the Seventeen-Arch Bridge that spans it and links to South Lake Island.
Unusual spot
On the island can be found picturesque structures such as the Hall of Embracing the Universe; the Tower of Moonlit Ripples; the Chamber of Heartfelt Contentment; the Temple of Timely Rains and Extensive Moisture (now run-down).
Not to be missed is the Long Corridor, the longest in the country at 728 meters with 273 sections, starting from the Gate of Inviting the Moon and ending at the Pavilion of the Stone Old Man.
Along this corridor are four octagonal double-eaved pavilions: the Pavilion of Mesmerizing Scenery; the Pavilion of Harmonizing with the Lake; the Pavilion of Autumn Water; and the Clear and Carefree Pavilion. At the center is the Hall of Dispelling Clouds.
Running the whole length of the corridor, on its beams, are over 8,000 paintings depicting birds, flowers, landscapes, stories from Chinese literary classics.
Manmade wonder
Finally, of course, there is the Great Wall, running some 10,000 km across mountains. A few sections have been opened to tourists, such as Badaling, Huanghuacheng, Mutianyu, Simatai.
The Mutianyu section in the Huairou District is considered the quintessence of the Great Wall, its architecture unique for having double-side battlements and branch walls. It is certainly the most popular.
Trailing that popularity is the inevitable defacement of this Unesco World Heritage site. On several portions of a parapet we’ve found graffiti, some inscribed by recognizably Pinoy tourists.
Trek as long as your legs can take or daylight permits. There are also cable cars and speed slideways across and down the mountains. (We tobogganed on the mountainside—riskier but more exhilarating.)
There’s even a two-star hotel called Mountain Villa. And a Dream Stone City, assembling rocks of fantastic formations gathered from all parts of the country.
The Great Wall of China has recently been declared as one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and as such it is better experienced than described. Wonders beggar description.
Perhaps as farewell dinner before leaving Beijing you’d have the obligatory Peking duck? Why not a golden-roasted spring chicken—and when you read the menu describing the pullet as “chicken without sexual life,” you realize it’s hard to say goodbye.
Copyright 2008 Philippine Daily Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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