Travels in China

[Birdjaguar]

The modern sunglasses certainly complete the look of the traditional wedding clothes.

The old China meets the new! Young hip and feeling rich!

 

[Birdjaguar]

One of the sights within the walls was a pawnbroker's house that was open to the public as a museum. The complex was more than just a house, as you can see in the first picture. The "shop" was a self contained living/working space for a large family and lots of workers.

Photo map
Street entrance
Courtyard
Upstairs walkway
Jewelry room
Local Transportation

 

[Birdjaguar]

Pingyao's Ming dynasty walls are part of the attraction here. Unlike the larger grander walls in Xi'an which have modern city inside and outside the walls, Pingyao has remained true to its ancient roots within the walls. All the streets are walkable and automobile traffic is strictly limited to the edges and in emergencies. From the walls you get a view of the old city and the back yards of those still living within the walls.

The first picture is not mine. I included it because it is a great shot of the how formidable the walls were.
The second picture shows the outside of the walls near one of the (in the distance) gate towers)
Top of the wall with a corner tower
Looking at the walls as I left in a taxi for the train station
Backyard laundry from the wall
Gate tower
The in side of the wall without its stone covering. there were several places where the stone was missing. I don't know if it is a permanent situation or it is being replaced. It shows how the walls were basically two walls that were filled with earth between them.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Here is a video from the wall top looking over the old town.


Link to video.

And this one is of the moon gate in the Confucian Temple. the people you see are going somewhere after doing their morning exercises in one of the courtyards.


Link to video.

Pingyao was a fabulous three days and I would go back and recommend it to others.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Next stop Beijing!

I took a fast train from Pingyao and you can see that the country side was pretty similar as from Xi'an to Pingyao, but the pollution thickens and tall apartment towers become more common.


Link to video.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Beijing is a huge city. The current population is about 21 million.Currently there are 7 ring roads around the center to facilitate driving. I stayed in a hotel outside the 4th ring, about 5 miles from the city center. There is lots to see in Beijing and I had four days. the biggest problem in seeing all the sights is getting round. Things are too far apart to walk. The subway can take you most places once you figure out how it works and there are taxis. Driving is not really an option. What first time visitors are not aware of is how complex getting around is, how time consuming it can be and then once you get to a place, getting inside is often not simple. Not speaking the language or being able to read signs makes it ever so much harder. That is why most folks go on group tours that spirit you from place to place and move you about in groups of 20 or so at a predicted rate to keep you on schedule.

Key sights generally promoted within the area of Beijing:

• Forbidden City
• Tiananmen Square
• National Museum
  
• Summer palace
• Temple of Heaven
• Great Wall (four options, take a bus, walk the wall return)
• Ming tombs (take a bus)
• Zoo
• Hutongs area

Given my limited schedule, the ones crossed out I did not see. Of the places I did see, the Summer Palace was my favorite.

I wanted my stay to be as full and interesting as possible with as little wasted time as I could manage, so I hired a personal guide for each day. It was a very smart choice. My guide went by Lena and she lived out near ring 6 and ran a custom bicycle shop with her family when she wasn't giving tours. She arrived at my hotel about 9:00 each day and we we took cabs everywhere. Simple and pretty fast. Lena cost me $80 a day and I bought her lunch. I had to pay entrance fees, but since was an official guide, she got in free. She could answer any question I had about any of places we visited. She was super friendly and great fun to be with. Having a personal guide was money well spent. We set our own schedule and spent more time or less time as we wanted. The group tours looked to be just terrible experiences. If you are going to spend the money to go to China, spring for a personal guide. Here is Lena and one of her bikes. Her English was excellent and she handled all the getting around and getting in stuff.

 

[Birdjaguar]

We began our visit to Beijing to the heart of the city Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. The square is huge and it is mostly just empty space. I have one video of it. In the distance you can see the gates to the Forbidden City. Also you can see some of the many tour groups gathering before going into the FC. To get into the city, you have to go out of the square to the far left corner (video wise) and then go underground and through a series of tunnels before you get there. You can also see the National Museum in the video.


Link to video.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Tiananmen Square pictures

 

[Birdjaguar]

As an active palace the Forbidden City would have been an impressive place with thousands of people scurrying about keeping the place running. Certainly the building are spectacular, but they seem a bit sterile amid the emptiness and hard stone of all the walls and courtyards. there is a lot to see here and visitors have quite a lot of freedom to wander around.

For those interested here is a lot more about the Forbidden City.

Spoiler :

The Forbidden City is a palace complex in central Beijing, China. It houses the Palace Museum, and was the former Chinese imperial palace and state residence of the Emperor of China from the Ming dynasty (since the Yongle Emperor) to the end of the Qing dynasty, between 1420 and 1924. The Forbidden City served as the home of Chinese emperors and their households and was the ceremonial and political center of the Chinese government for almost 500 years.

Constructed from 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 buildings and covers 72 hectares (over 180 acres). The palace exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture, and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987, and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world.

Plan of the Forbidden City. Labels in red are used to refer to locations throughout the article. - – - Approximate dividing line between Inner (north) and Outer (south) Courts. A. Meridian Gate B. Gate of Divine Might C. West Glorious Gate D. East Glorious Gate E. Corner towers F. Gate of Supreme Harmony G. Hall of Supreme Harmony H. Hall of Military Eminence J. Hall of Literary Glory K. Southern Three Places L. Palace of Heavenly Purity M. Imperial garden N. Hall of Mental Cultivation O. Palace of Tranquil Longevity[/quote]

The Forbidden City is a rectangle, measuring 961 metres (3,153 ft) from north to south and 753 metres (2,470 ft) from east to west.[3][4] It consists of 980 surviving buildings with 8,886 bays of rooms. A common myth states that there are 9,999 rooms including antechambers,[32] based on oral tradition, and it is not supported by survey evidence. The Forbidden City was designed to be the centre of the ancient, walled city of Beijing. It is enclosed in a larger, walled area called the Imperial City. The Imperial City is, in turn, enclosed by the Inner City; to its south lies the Outer City.

The Forbidden City remains important in the civic scheme of Beijing. The central north–south axis remains the central axis of Beijing. This axis extends to the south through Tiananmen gate to Tiananmen Square, the ceremonial centre of the People's Republic of China, and on to Yongdingmen. To the north, it extends through Jingshan Hill to the Bell and Drum Towers.[34] This axis is not exactly aligned north–south, but is tilted by slightly more than two degrees. Researchers now believe that the axis was designed in the Yuan dynasty to be aligned with Xanadu, the other capital of their empire.

Walls and gates[edit]

The Meridian Gate, front entrance to the Forbidden City, with two protruding wings

Close-up on the left protruding wing of the Meridian Gate

Northwest corner tower and moat
The Forbidden City is surrounded by a 7.9 metres (26 ft) high city wall[16] and a 6 metres (20 ft) deep by 52 metres (171 ft) wide moat. The walls are 8.62 metres (28.3 ft) wide at the base, tapering to 6.66 metres (21.9 ft) at the top.[36] These walls served as both defensive walls and retaining walls for the palace. They were constructed with a rammed earth core, and surfaced with three layers of specially baked bricks on both sides, with the interstices filled with mortar.

At the four corners of the wall sit towers (E) with intricate roofs boasting 72 ridges, reproducing the Pavilion of Prince Teng and the Yellow Crane Pavilion as they appeared in Song dynasty paintings.[37] These towers are the most visible parts of the palace to commoners outside the walls, and much folklore is attached to them. According to one legend, artisans could not put a corner tower back together after it was dismantled for renovations in the early Qing dynasty, and it was only rebuilt after the intervention of carpenter-immortal Lu Ban.

The wall is pierced by a gate on each side. At the southern end is the main Meridian Gate (A). To the north is the Gate of Divine Might (B), which faces Jingshan Park. The east and west gates are called the "East Glorious Gate" (D) and "West Glorious Gate" (C). All gates in the Forbidden City are decorated with a nine-by-nine array of golden door nails, except for the East Glorious Gate, which has only eight rows.[39]

The Meridian Gate has two protruding wings forming three sides of a square (Wumen, or Meridian Gate, Square) before it. The gate has five gateways. The central gateway is part of the Imperial Way, a stone flagged path that forms the central axis of the Forbidden City and the ancient city of Beijing itself, and leads all the way from the Gate of China in the south to Jingshan in the north. Only the Emperor may walk or ride on the Imperial Way, except for the Empress on the occasion of her wedding, and successful students after the Imperial Examination.

With Lena taking the lead, we got to skip the lines and go right in.


Link to video.

Lena at the entrance tunnel and one of its gates.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Once through the Meridian Gate you can see the Gate of Supreme Harmony which is the entrance to the courtyard before the Hall of Supreme harmony. (see the map in the spoiler in post 109) This large space was largely for ceremonial purposes.

Gate of Supreme Harmony
Turning around and looking at the inside of the Meridian Gate which I just came through.

 

[Birdjaguar]

When we moved through the Gates of Supreme Harmony you enter an even bigger courtyard in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. I took this video to pan around the entire courtyard.


Link to video.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony is the largest hall within the Forbidden City in Beijing, China. It is located at its central axis, behind the Gate of Supreme Harmony. Built above three levels of marble stone base, and surrounded by bronze incense burners, the Hall of Supreme Harmony is one of the largest wooden structures within China. It was the location where the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties hosted their enthronement and wedding ceremonies. The name of the Hall was changed several times throughout the past few centuries, from its initial Fengtian Dian (奉天殿), later to Huangji Dian (皇极殿) in 1562 and to the current one by the Shunzhi Emperor of the Qing dynasty in 1645.

Together with the Hall of Central Harmony and Hall of Preserving Harmony, the three halls constitute the heart of the Outer Court of the Forbidden City.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony rises some 30 meters above the level of the surrounding square. It is the ceremonial center of imperial power, and the largest surviving wooden structure in China. It is eleven bays wide - with the main room being nine bays wide - and five bays deep, the numbers nine and five being symbolically connected to the majesty of the Emperor. The six pillars nearest the imperial throne are covered with gold, and the entire area is decorated with a dragon motif. The Dragon Throne, in particular, has five dragons coiled around the back and handrests. The screen behind it features sets of nine dragons, again reflecting the "nine-five" symbolism. The Hall of Supreme Harmony features an exquisite throne made of red sandalwood, and formerly used by the emperors of the Qing dynasty.

Set into the ceiling directly above the throne is an intricate caisson decorated with a coiled dragon, from the mouth of which issues a chandelier-like set of metal balls, called the "Xuanyuan Mirror", a reference to the Yellow Emperor, a mythological Chinese ruler. According to legend, the metal balls will fall and strike dead any usurper to the throne.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony
In the Ming dynasty, the emperors held court here to discuss affairs of state. During the Qing dynasty, emperors held court far more frequently. As a result, the location was changed to the Inner Court, and the Hall of Supreme Harmony was only used for ceremonial purposes, such as enthronements, investitures, and imperial weddings.

The original hall was built in 1406 during the Ming dynasty, destroyed seven times by fires during the Qing dynasty, and rebuilt for the last time in 1695–1697. After a reconstruction in the 16th century, the dimensions of the hall were reduced from around 95m by 48m to its present measurements, 64m by 37m. Inability to find sufficiently large logs was cited as the cause for this change.

Visitors are not allowed in these buildings but I did take some pics of the throne room and the throne from the doorway. In the last picture you can see the golden throne.

 

[Birdjaguar]

One more pic of the throne:

 

[Birdjaguar]

In such a "barren landscape of painted wood and stone the architectural details stood out dramatically.
Carved stone ramps (not for walking)
Looking up the ramp
Looking down the ramp
Looking down the ramp towards the courtyard

 

[Birdjaguar]

More details.
Over the centuries the Forbidden city has been attacked, damaged, poorly kept and portions burned. upkeep on it must have been and still must be enormous.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Turtles all the way down....

 

[Birdjaguar]

I think this is where we ate lunch in the FC. And....lunch.




I don't know why the middle pic is turned sideways; it is correct when tucked away in it folder.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Hutongs are the last of the old 19th C and earlier neighborhoods in Beijing that are characterized by narrow streets and courtyard homes hidden behind generally closed gates. They have become a tourist attraction. Nonetheless, my guide and I took a rickshaw tour of one of the neighborhoods. It is an area that bears little resemblance to the rest of Beijing. They looked pretty similar to low income housing in many US cities. If we had had more time we could have found houses to gain entry to and talk with the owners, but the day was drawing to a close and Lena had a two hour trip back to her home. The fourth image shows one of the closed gates into a courtyard home. I preferred the ancient streets of Pingyao.

 

[Birdjaguar]

This video got left out of the Forbidden City material above. It is of the 9 Dragon Wall which was built in 1773 as part of a renovation. It separated two parts of the palace area and kept evil spirits from getting around. Chinese dragons are more benign than western dragons and represent both power and longevity. These dragons are swimming in ocean waves. This was my favorite spot in the Forbidden City. The wall is 100 feet long.


Link to video.

 

[Birdjaguar]

My favorite part of Beijing was the Summer Palace and we spent most of day there. It is a huge park area several miles NW of the Forbidden City. It's origins date back to the Yuan Dynasty and the late 1200s. The lakes and hills are all man made; the dirt from the excavated lakes was used to build the hills. The various palaces there went in and out of favor over the centuries. The current form took shape during the Qing Dynasty, but in 1860 at the end of the 2nd Opium War the French and British looted teh palace and Lord Elgin burned many of the building. In the 1880s and 90s Dowager Empress Cixi rebuilt the palace. In 1900. again the European looted the palace during the Boxer Rebellion and it was once more rebuilt. After the 1949 revolution Mao lived there for some years after which restoration work was done and it became a public park and then in 1998, a World Heritage Site for UNESCO. it is a big place with a large lake and lots of buildings. We walked along the lake shore under a beautiful painted covered walkway, crossed a bridge to an island and then took a boat back to our starting point.

The image below is an 1888 painting of the summer Palace in all its glory.

 

[Birdjaguar]

The Summer Palace is much changed from the above 1888 painting. Beijing surrounds it. It covers 290 hectares (just over 700 acres) with three fourths of that area being lake Kunming. If you visualize the space as an inverted triangle with most of the land along the top (inverted base) and along the right side of the shape. Longevity Hill sits along that top edge and the Long Corridor (I'll talk about that later) runs along the edge of the lake along the north edge.Most of the building are in this area and on the slopes of Longevity Hill. the hill was created from the land dredged to create the lake.The Marble Boat sits at the top left corner. Various temples and buildings are along the right side of the lake and run about halfway down. At this point the 17 Arch Bridge extends into the lake out to an island. Boats carry tourists from this island back to the docks at the Marble Boat. Lena and I entered the palace at the upper left near the marble Boat. We followed the Long Corridor and made excursions up the Hill to see the various buildings. The we followed the lake down and across the bridge to the island where we took a boat back to our starting point. I did not see all there was to see,

These first pictures show the areas near the entrance and the walk down to the lake and the Marble boat. The tourist boat landing area is among the pictures.