Welcome to China

Stepping off the plane in Beijing was a surreal experience. I had anticipated prior to arriving that China was going to be more foreign than any other place we had yet visited on the trip. Our planned itinerary included sites that are so timeless and grandiose that it is difficult to grasp the full extent of them. Whether it be standing in the middle of Tian’amen Square, exploring the Forbidden City, or walking on the Great Wall, Beijing has some truly powerful landmarks to offer those willing to brave a difficult city to fall in love with.

It was a great surprise, however, that it wasn't these notable sights that I'll remember from our visit to China. The sightseeing, while monumentally grand and awe-inspiring, left us feeling cold and detached from the city.

Tian’amen Square is coupled so closely with so much history, war pride, and terrible massacre. It is also an ugly sprawling concrete city block. The government buildings that flank its edges were designed to be purposefully drab when built in the communist era. Policemen today still patrol to ensure that order is being maintained and that the monuments are left untouched. Each person actually needs to pass through metal detectors prior to being allowed in the Square (metal detectors and x-ray machines are littered throughout the city’s underground system. Though they are all manned, they are very loosely enforced, and we simply strode by them each time). As a city square and meeting place it lacks the warmth and welcome of many other major squares throughout the world. Still, standing in the Square and looking at the huge portrait of Mao above the gates to the Forbidden City is indeed still a ‘wow’ moment.

You can quickly overdose on temples while in Beijing, and there are enough imperial sights to keep you busy for weeks. The Forbidden City itself takes at least 1 full day to explore its inner walls. We spent five hours inside the compound and only really scratched the surface. The Forbidden City was the home of a number of emperors from 1420 to 1924. Besides the emperor and empress, it housed a small army of concubines, and a huge staff (10,000+) of unics (as to not threaten the emperor’s masculinity). I should also note that all the viewable areas of the palace are outdoors and the temperature in Beijing on the day we visited was well below zero. For warmth, we needed to seek refuge in a coffee shop midway through the day.

The parks of Beijing are very well maintained and would likely be beautiful in the summer when flowers are in season. They are also ordered very specifically and all the trees have been dutifully planted in dead straight lines. The parks and imperial palaces that are situated within them are some of the best sights in Beijing. Unfortunately they also require hours of walking in the freezing temperatures.

The highlight of Beijing for me was the Great Wall. There are a number of places on the wall that you can visit. A particularly interesting part called Simatai involves a 4 hour hike through an unrestored section of the wall. Filled with breathtaking scenery, the hike is also quite a dangerous one and includes very steep sections. Apparently a number of people die each year just walking this section of the wall. The snow had begun to fall in Beijing, and we didn't think it was best to take any chances. We visited an area called Mutianyu instead, about an hour from the centre of the city. We left at 7 in the morning in hopes of avoiding the rush. The snow was falling dangerously hard, and our mini bus skidded around every corner. When we arrived at the wall the parking lot was empty. We were the only people that had made it so early and through such perilous weather.

To get to the top of the wall, there are two options. One includes a short but grueling hike up the hill and one includes taking a relaxing cable car ride to the top. The cable car was not running when we arrived but they started it just for our small group. Actually, the cable car had a sign on it that said it was closed for maintenance for the entire month. The fact that they could turn it on so quickly for us was a little disconcerting. Jen and I would have hiked the path to simply stay warm but the snow was quite deep and they had gone to the trouble of turning the cable car on for us. The snow was quite thick when we alighted at the top and made our way to the wall. While visibility wasn't great at first, you could see for a kilometre in each direction that we had it completely to ourselves.

Built by the same emperor that built the Terracotta warriors, the wall is on average 15 metres tall and spans 4000 miles in length. Sadly, as in many large wall projects (the Ligne Maginot, the Mexico - United States barrier), it never really protected the country. The most prominent enemies of the Chinese at the time were the Japanese who attacked from the sea to the East and Genghis Khan's army were only shortly impeded before bribing the guards to open the gates.

After a couple of hours walking, sliding, and almost falling on our butts, we made it back to the cable car just as a handful more tourists began trickling in. It was pretty great to have a picturesque and snowy Great Wall all to ourselves.

While we were never quite comfortable or content in Beijing, it was our first step in a country that would soon surprise us.