Beijing opens up

Published 9:00 pm Saturday, February 17, 2007

Until recently, most visitors to China had to tour its capital, Beijing, and other cities with an organized travel group.

Tour guides would take visitors to pearl markets or silk factories authorized by China’s communist government. Straying from the group to, say, eat out or visit a Chinese opera alone was forbidden.

But things are changing rapidly in China, not just for travelers but for the Chinese people, too. Most tourists at the Great Wall or in Tiananmen Square are from other Chinese provinces and have only recently been given permission to travel within their own country.

While tours are still the most popular way to get a taste of this massive, complex and mesmerizing country, a visit to Beijing can be tackled alone or with a few friends and is a lot of fun.

The city is gearing up for the 2008 Summer Olympics and almost everything connected to tourism is written in English.

The subway is fast and inexpensive, but you may need a guide or a patient hotel concierge to map out routes.

Street transportation is not for the faint of heart, although unlike other parts of China the traffic chaos appears to be organized. You may be hanging on for dear life in your rented minivan (driver included) or taxi, but take a look at your driver. He’s so calm he’s whistling a tune.

Plan to spend time at one or two sites per day. Whizzing through Beijing is doable but around every corner is a treasure that could be easily missed.

A few manageable highlights should not be overlooked.

The Great Wall of China is a series of small, connected forts that covers a span of almost 4,000 miles. Construction started about 200 years before the birth of Christ and continued for centuries. This magnificent feat is 42 miles outside Beijing. There are two popular entrances.

Our group of three adults and two children chose the Badaling section, where we took a green gondola up to the wall. Beware: You jump into and out of the gondola built for four or five Chinese people – or two or three Americans – while the doors automatically open and close.

At the end of our ride through the air, we walked through a tunnel, past various vendors and started to climb the Great Wall of China.

Going up the wall isn’t too bad if you consider that parts of it are very steep and without steps. Coming down is tricky. People crowd the Great Wall at all times of the day and night. You’ll be jostling hundreds of people to grab the handrail and your kids.

The views from most anywhere on the wall are fantastic. Another tip: If you wake up in the morning and there is little smog outside, go to the wall that day. It makes a huge difference. The winding stone structure seems to slither like a huge snake up hills and through valleys as far as the eye can see.

Vendors can be annoying and in your face trying to sell maps, Chairman Mao watches and cigarette lighters. They do crowd you if you look at all interested in anything they have. And they don’t take no for an answer. Say “boo yaow,” which basically means “no.”

Going to, climbing, taking pictures of and getting back down the Great Wall can take a full day.

In the city itself, there is so much to do that visitors could spend days just shopping, visiting Food Street, listening to an open air opera or sampling dumplings and noodles in every section of town.

Tiananmen Square, in the heart of Beijing, is easy to get to using the subway. Across the street and behind Chairman Mao’s famous portrait is the Forbidden City. The square has a lot to offer: Tiananmen Tower, the Great Hall of the People and a look at Mao in his crystal coffin.

The square was most recently famous for the 1989 protests by students and others that resulted in hundreds, if not thousands, of deaths.

Visiting the square today is a busy but peaceful experience.

To get to the Forbidden City or Palace Museum, you can take a walkway under the busy road.

The Forbidden City is much bigger than people think. Its many palaces and halls are spread over more than 120 acres and surrounded by a moat. A thorough visit requires a whole day.

This attraction is split into two pieces: the inner court, where the emperor and his family lived, and the outer court, where libraries and buildings such as the Hall of Supreme Harmony were used for ceremonies. The royal color, yellow, is painted on most roofs and the intricate paint work on the building is beautiful.

By far the most fun for our family while in Beijing was the Hutong Tour. We booked this half-day event with Grey Line tours from our hotel. Our driver and guide came to the hotel and whisked us through Beijing to Hutong, one of the oldest parts of the city, dating back to the 13th century, where the streets are so narrow that only bikes and pedicabs can ride.

Make no mistake, the pedicabs with their red fabric tops can travel as fast as the driver can peddle. In my case that was fast enough to whip round corners and rattle me back and forth. The look at this part of Beijing, where princes and nobles used to live and families not so aristocratic still live, takes your mind off the fact that there’s not much between you and the other pedicabs zooming by.

Our drivers dropped us all off at a courtyard still inhabited by a family. The rooms on the periphery were sparse: an almost bare kitchen, a red wedding room, a paint-chipped basic bedroom, and a formal room so small two of us sat down to let people past.

But sitting in the courtyard under a tree and gazing at the koi in a pond while sipping tea was one of the best memories of Beijing. The feeling was timeless, like this could have been hundreds of years ago. Some people in the Hutong district still live without power and, of course, without cars.

We went back on the pedicab for another ride, then a walk through the shopping area of Hutong where tourists hang out in bars while the residents go about their days. This part of the tour ends at the Bell Tower, where, after climbing some steep steps, you can take in an unrivaled view of Beijing.

A last tip: Don’t be rushed by the massive throngs of people. Take your time and enjoy the experience of everyday Beijing.

Christina Harper is a Snohomish County freelance writer. She can be reached at harper@heraldnet.com.

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