Barb and Bill take their first tour of China together, along with Kate Garrett and her Mom, Mary. This post covers our first day in Beijing, seeing Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, Summer Palace and Beijing Zoo.
Friday, November 11, 1988
Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Big Day ahead!
This day, along with tomorrow’s trip to the Great Wall, are what we came to China for: seeing the sights of Beijing — Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace.
I had been in Beijing in 1982 for business and had a chance to see Tiananmen and a bit of the Forbidden City, but was eager to get a proper tour. For Barb, it was all new, though she knew more of the pre-20th century history through her studies.
First stop was Tiananmen Square. We were taken directly to Mao’s mausoleum and, as a foreign tour group, we skipped to the front of the long line. We were in and out in 20 minutes while the regular folks in line had to wait for hours, even early in the morning. No photos were permitted, but Mao was looking pretty waxy. It was a strangely muted experience — little rhetoric or explanation, almost no English. We saw Mao, but there was almost no explanation of why he was there. We just shuffled through like we were in Madame Tussauds on a FastPass. There was no opportunity or willingness on our guides’ part to discuss Mao’s impact or legacy; it was not a safe topic. But there was already a lengthy line of regular Chinese people solemnly waiting to pay their respects to the Great Helmsman. They seemed to be there out of genuine respect rather than obligation but it was impossible for us to really tell.
Mao’s Mausoleum in background 
After seeing Mao, we were given exactly 25 minutes to see the rest of Tiananmen Square before getting back on the bus. It was a ridiculously short amount of time to cover the enormous square.
We scampered around, snapping photos and generally behaved like the desperate tourists we were. I wished we had more time to relax, people watch and soak in the atmosphere, but there was a schedule to keep.
We actually did pretty well, covering a lot of ground in a few minutes, but it was a sprint (relatively speaking). We were lucky to have a cloudless, bright day.
It was fun to see the groups of Chinese tourists just as excited as we were to be there. For many, no doubt, it was the trip of a lifetime to be in the square. None of us had an inkling of what was to transpire in this spot just six months hence, one of the most pivotal and problematic episodes of Chinese history, the Tiananmen protests of April-June, 1989. As it was, there was a palpable sense of being in the vast, beating heart of official China. There are few places its equal.
Soon enough, we gathered everyone back on the bus and scooted around Tiananmen into the Forbidden City itself, getting out at the Meridian Gate (Wumen), the official entrance.
We waited around for a bit for our guides to get tickets sorted out. More time for photos.
There was a special exhibit about the Last Emperor’s Court, building off interest in the film, The Last Emperor, which had come out the year before and won many Academy Awards, including Best Picture. The film, about Puyi, was a reference point for tourists, and most members of our group had seen it. Though parts had been filmed in the Forbidden City, the movie was still forbidden in China — our guide referenced some scenes and locations in the film, but she hadn’t actually seen the movie. It wasn’t clear how much of the actual history she knew.
Orientation time, a few facts about the Forbidden City and Palace Museum.
The palace complex is overwhelmingly vast, a Russian nesting doll of elaborately designed and deeply symbolic courtyards, gates and great halls. A few of these pictures are postcard shots but most are actual ones from our visit. It’s hard to convey the distance between buildings and grandeur of the overall layout.
Some of the halls were under renovation, a seemingly endless task.
The central staircase of Taihe Dian, or the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the first of three halls in the outer court of the palace. Only the emperor used the elaborately carved central staircase. The hall was used mainly for weddings and coronations.
Barb considered making a run for it
More of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The incense burners were still in place and very impressive, though not burning.
We all jostle for a view of the Emperor’s throne inside the Hall. This is the one featured in the Last Emperor film where young Puyi hides a cricket and pulls it out 60 years later. The guide recounts this story as if it’s a fact. It can’t be. But why let reality get in the way of a good story?
Each of the Halls are made of wood and very delicate; they were still open to the air but no one was permitted inside. They were generally dark and dusty, not well lit. But the ornamentation from floor to ceiling was extremely impressive. One wished for a better view, but at the same time I was glad that people were not allowed to tromp around inside.
Postcard 
Actual view
More views from the other side of Tianhe Dian. The beautiful and intricately carved marble platforms were where imperial exams were given, we were told.
Interesting rooflines 
OK, what’s next?
(Barb, Linda, Elanor, Ingrid)
There are many parts of the palace complex that seemed to not have been touched in decades. There was a daunting amount of renovation work that still needed to be done.
Portions of the side Halls had become a museum filled with dusty artifacts that didn’t look nearly as good as these postcard versions.
Each building is ranked in importance by the number of dragons protecting the emperor from the serpent. It’s a handy guide. They say nine is tops but here is one with ten. What’s up? Maybe one is not a dragon?
This one goes to 10? 
Emperor chased by serpent 
More sights to see. Barb gets the low-down on Foo dogs (actually lions, but why quibble?). Male lions hold down a ball representing imperial power, female lions hold down a rolled-over cub.
What fun it is to be a tourist…no matter where you’re from.
Views out the north side of the palace, toward Jingshan Park or Prospect Hill. We never got up there, but it would be a good view.
Some last images, exiting the north side of the Forbidden City. I enjoyed this Mom and baby who couldn’t quite get their smiles synchronized.
The Imperial Gardens at the north end of the Forbidden City, are open and popular for outings. It gives you pause to consider the crowd of ordinary Chinese citizens in a place they couldn’t have dreamed of entering a few decades before. You also have to wonder at the centuries of emperors and court officials that strolled these stones and contemplated the sights, maybe even clambering onto the elephant or other ornaments.
Pretty well exhausted, we exit the Forbidden City to our waiting bus, once we find it. It’s been overwhelming, but it’s just the morning, and time for lunch.
Back on the bus, we drive past Beihai Park on the way to lunch at a modern Chinese hotel, the name of which is lost to the sands of time unless you can make out the Chinese characters, which I no longer can.
After lunch, we drove a half-hour or so to the Summer Palace. This imperial garden and playground was on the cooler outskirts of Beijing back in the day. The gardens and mix of natural and man-made lakes have a nearly thousand-year history, but most famously were a pet project of the Dowager Empress Cixi in the late 19th century. She diverted funds from the Chinese Navy to rebuild the gardens and palace buildings for her 60th birthday.
Summer Palace postcard 
Dowager Empress Cixi 
Your nutshell history
The palace is an impressive complex of buildings and walkways fronting a series of lakes. It’s quite pretty and actually relaxing, compared to the formality of the Forbidden City. One of the main lakes had been drained for indeterminate repairs the day we visited but the views were still impressive.
Summer Palace layout 
We love our mythical beasts 
Drained lake didn’t slow us, or others, down 
The palace was several years into a thorough renovation that included meticulous, vibrant fresh paint and building restorations. The guides were proud of it as a showcase, and indeed it was impressive to see the buildings pop in a semblance of their original colors. So much of China we’d seen so far had been gray and dingy; the Summer Palace buildings were actually pretty and gave a sense of how the imperial buildings looked in their prime.
One of the most famous and impressive structures in the palace is the Long Corridor, a covered walkway that stretches nearly a mile along the lake. It was built, so they say, so the Dowager Empress could move from palace to palace without getting wet. Every crossbeam on the Corridor has a different painting illustrating famous Chinese scenes and stories. These panels, recently repainted, were especially impressive.
Another Summer Palace highlight is the Marble Boat. The original dates to 1755 but had been destroyed during the Opium Wars. Cixi had it rebuilt as a mixed Chinese and Western folly, rumored to be stationary to counter her seasickness. Only the base is actually marble; the rest is wood, painted to resemble marble.
The Summer Palace was a great place for people watching; like Hangzhou, it was a delight to be in a place where “regular” Chinese families could relax and have a good time. One didn’t often see many smiles on the street, but here in the park there were far more kids in colorful outfits and smiles.
Disarmed soldier 
Credit to Barb for this picture 
Bill looked at same scene and forgot to focus 
Happy tourists 
A moon gate, one of the few we saw 
Well, not all smiles
The day was not quite done. After the Summer Palace, we made a quick, unnecessary stop at the nearby Beijing Zoo. I’m sure the stop was included so we could say we saw a panda, but this particular panda looked very forlorn and immobile in his (her?) solitary confinement. The panda enclosure looked very spartan, and the nearby space for the red pandas was no better. It was a sad little stop at the end of a highlight day.
Sad panda 
Red pandas 
Quick relief thanks to split-crotch pants
But the zoo was not even the end of the day…there was one more stop at a department store where we were unleashed to do some souvenir shopping. Keep China Green! We complied, buying a bunch of cloisonne doo dads.
We got back to the hotel an hour late, but Mr. and Mrs. Ireland, who were stationed in Beijing at the time, were waiting faithfully for us as we’d let them know we were coming on this tour. We had drinks together, commiserated, and made arrangements for a shopping tip on Sunday.
Dinner was another highly anticipated Western one at the Sheraton, this time with steaks! There were nine steaks left over since some tour members had taken the opportunity to eat elsewhere. Barb spearheaded the drive to get doggie bags for the leftovers — a good move as they come in handy for lunch the next day.
After a very long, eventful day, it was early to bed in anticipation of tomorrow’s trip to the Great Wall.
A contemporaneous account!
You must be logged in to post a comment.