I visited Beijing in 2007. The reason for this trip was both educational as cultural. I visited the city with my student association, which meant that I visited both the main sights of the city as well as NGOs and Govermental Organisations. In this post, I’ll introduce you to these main sights. Their perfect for a short two-day trip to this enormous Chinese city, which I think is long enough.
Beijing: Day 1
Tiananmen Square
The first day of your visit to the city, is a perfect day to visit the main sight. The most centrally located one, namely Tiananmen Square. This square leads up to the Forbidden City which was the first sight I visited in China. Be aware that visiting this sight can be incredibly overwhelming. I struggled through the busyness and amount of local tourists who were running around me and creeping in front of me and trying to take a photo of me. This did not stop and I wonder how many people have my photo in their photo albums.
The entrance to the Forbidden City is Tiananmen Gate Tower. It’s difficult to miss, because of the huge painting of Mao Zedong. This painting has survived eggings and burnings, however on the day that I visited nothing eventful happened to it.
The Forbidden City is a palace complex, which has been the imperial palace and state of residence of the Emperor of China all the way from the 15th century until the 20th century. Nowadays, it houses the Palace Museum. It’s possible to visit the Forbidden City with a guided tour as well, which is what I recommend if you actually want to understand what you’re seeing.
Imperial Garden
I didn’t take any photos of the Forbidden City itself, because it was too busy for my liking. It was as if I knew that the pictures from Summer Palace and Temple of Heaven would look quite similar, which they do. I did take one photo of the garden though, which was gorgeous and quiet and a great place for a quick nap.
Temple of Heaven Park
The next place to go would be the Temple of Heaven Park. You enter through the Long Corridor (which is similar to the one in the Summer Palace) and some more Chinese-styled buildings (similar to both the Forbidden City and Summer Palace). Back then I didn’t do an in-depth investigation into all the sights I visited. I think it’s not necessary to know more than that it’s a beautiful area to roam around in and to take photographs. That’s what I would advise you to do. Most signs are in Chinese anyways, so it will be hard to read without a guide.
Practical Info:
Take the subway to Tiantan East Gate Station on line 5. The station name may also be labeled as “Tiantandongmen” on some signs. You will see the east gate of the Temple of Heaven when you exit from exit A1 or A2.
Beijing University
This stop is one that probably isn’t for everyone. The reason I visited it was because of the student association program. I can highly recommend the walk through the garden, as it’s pretty quiet. I found out that a lot of the trees in China are painted white halfway. To this day I don’t know why. If anyone knows, please put it in the comments. Another great shot is the one of the lake. Where I was focusing on the building and the pretty water. Four year later I found out that the guy is actually holding his book behind his head. If my visit to China has taught me anything, it’s that it is a strange place.
Beijing: Day 2
Summer Palace
My tip would be to leave a visit to Summer Palace for another day. It’s my favourite place in Beijing. The buildings are gorgeous (even though they look similar to all other buildings we’ve seen before in the city, but the surroundings really match the beauty of the buildings. If that makes sense. It’s a serene area and I can imagine that royalty liked to stay here.
Practical Info:
By subway you can take line 4 to Beigongmen, and exit from D. After that, it’s a 3 minutes walk to the North Palace Gate.
Where to Stay?
The hotel were is stayed was located in a Hutong (a Chinese residential area) in the south west of the city. The hotel itself is not worth mentioning, but it’s a lot of fun to stay in a similar area. That’s because even though the busyness, the smells, and all the little habits of the inhabitants of these Hutongs are overpowering; it’s still a very emersive experience. You can’t say you haven’t experienced anything of the city when you’ve stayed there.
You can use this map widget to look for (more recent) hotels in the city.
Conclusion
This trip was years ago, but the main sights remain the same. Beijing will always remain in my heart as one of the first faraway cities I have visited. I don’t remember it very fondly, but I’ll remember it nevertheless. One day, I hope to return. In my next post, I’ll tell you all about my adventures on the Great Wall of China!
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