Last National Day, I flew from Hangzhou to Beijing and started my 5-day solo trip in the capital city. For those planning to visit Beijing this year, you can check out my humble account.
At midnight on October 1st last year, after a 2-hour flight, I arrived at the Capital Airport. We stayed in Wangfujing, which is quite far from the airport. It's worth mentioning that the taxi drivers in Beijing must have flown planes before—right after starting, they hit 160 km/h, which scared the pee out of me. We didn’t reach our accommodation until 3 a.m., and I collapsed and fell asleep right away.
On the morning of the 2nd, following a plan from south to north, we first went to the Temple of Heaven. But apart from these circular mounds, there wasn’t much to see, and my legs were sore from all the walking.
The Temple of Heaven is huge in area.
There’s not much to see here.
We finished exploring in the afternoon. When we exited the south gate of the Temple of Heaven, there were many underground restaurants. We randomly ordered some Peking duck, donkey burgers, and zhajiangmian (noodles with soybean paste), which were expensive but surprisingly delicious. Then we headed to Sanlitun for a look and planned to return to Wangfujing for a meal. We ended up eating to the point of nausea at the Wangfujing Snack Street.
Donkey burger
Zhajiangmian (noodles with soybean paste)
Peking duck slices with crispy skin and tender meat, melting in your mouth
Wangfujing Snack Street
If you’ve got money, you can eat abalone and sea urchins to your heart’s content
On the morning of the 3rd, we watched the flag-raising ceremony, walked around Tiananmen Square, and prepared to see the main attraction—the Forbidden City.
Monument to the People’s Heroes
Newly built statue of Sun Yat-sen
Huge flower basket
Flag-raising platform
Tiananmen Gate
The Forbidden City in Beijing centers around the Three Great Halls, covering an area of 720,000 square meters with a construction area of about 150,000 square meters. It consists of over 70 palaces and more than 9,000 rooms. It is the largest and best-preserved ancient wooden structure complex in the world and is hailed as the foremost of the world’s five great palaces (Forbidden City in Beijing, Palace of Versailles in France, Buckingham Palace in the UK, the White House in the US, and the Kremlin in Russia). According to ancient Chinese astrology, the Purple Star (i.e., the North Star) is located in the center of the sky, the dwelling place of the Heavenly Emperor. Correspondingly, the earthly emperor’s residence is also called the Forbidden City.
The Hall of Supreme Harmony, also known as the Golden Throne Hall
The Hall of Preserving Harmony
The Gate of Supreme Harmony
On the city tower
The Golden Water River
The Gate of Heavenly Purity
It’s very eerie here
The Imperial Garden
In the evening, we went to Nanluoguxiang—a street full of food, fun, and entertainment
Nanluoguxiang
The 4th was the most unforgettable day. To visit the Badaling Great Wall, taking the train by myself was too far and troublesome, so the hotel owner helped book a one-day tour. I got up at 3 a.m. and arrived at Badaling around 5 a.m. I thought no one would be there so early, but there wasn’t even space to park the buses. We waited in the rain until after 7 a.m. When I finally stood at the highest point of the Great Wall, I truly understood the saying, “He who has never been to the Great Wall is not a true man.”
A Dragon in the Clouds—The Great Wall
At noon, the bus took us to the countryside, where we unexpectedly found ourselves at the Ming Tombs. According to the guide, locals in Beijing don’t usually come to see the imperial tombs due to various superstitions and not wanting to disturb the emperors, etc. Those who didn’t want to go could stay on the bus. We post-90s were full of youthful vigor, fearless of anything, so we decisively went in. But as soon as we entered the gate of the Ming Zhao Tomb, we felt uneasy—the whole tomb area was empty except for a few people. We walked around once and then got scared off by the atmosphere and headed back. There are all kinds of legends about the Ming Tombs online; I’ll spare you the details.
Ming Zhao Tomb
In the afternoon, with light rain falling, we strolled to the Bird’s Nest and Water Cube. It’s best to come at night—the night view is really beautiful.
Water Cube
Bird’s Nest
On the 4th, we visited Shichahai and Prince Gong’s Mansion. This Prince Gong’s Mansion is like a smaller version of the Forbidden City. No wonder when Heshen and others were in power, they were all corrupt and had all sorts of luxury items here. Culture, art, and many precious relics are displayed in various halls. On the 4th, we also went to Houhai. There are many bars and teahouses by the lake, and there are also many performances. We listened to a very funny erhu performance.
Floor Plan of Prince Gong’s Mansion
You can look up this “Fu” (blessing) character online—it’s quite interesting.
On the 5th, the last day, we wandered around Tsinghua and Peking Universities. Couldn’t get in? Well, at least we got to see them. After a quick glance, we headed to the Summer Palace. Boy, this place is really huge. They even brought over West Lake—Hangzhou residents aren’t going to be happy about that.
Summer Palace
Rockery in the Summer Palace
This imperial garden is adjacent to the Old Summer Palace. Built with Kunming Lake and Longevity Hill as its foundation, modeled after Hangzhou’s West Lake, and incorporating design techniques from gardens in southern China, it is a large-scale landscape garden and the most completely preserved imperial garden palace. It is hailed as the “Museum of Imperial Gardens.”
On the afternoon of the 5th, under gloomy skies, we packed our bags and took the high-speed train back to Hangzhou. Looking out the window, scenes of Beijing kept flashing through my mind. This trip to Beijing allowed me to experience the millennia-old history and culture of the ancient capital, as well as the poetic charm of old Beijing’s alleys.
Mighty capital through the ages,
Where nature’s finest essence gathers like dragons in a deep pool.
First moved from the Jin Dynasty to Yan territory,
Until the Red Capital shone upon the Jizhou plains.
Clear waves on Beihai float painted pleasure boats,
Red leaves on Fragrant Hills dye the frosty sky.
The bloodlines of China are bound by kinship,
All under heaven united in shared joy.