Beijing: bike, food and art
Door: Jill Peters
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Jill
04 Oktober 2013 | China, Peking
Tuesday: relaxing day at the lake
Today, October 1st, was a national holiday. This also means the start of a whole holiday week, called the golden week. This would mean that from now on, all the top sights would be overcrowded with Chinese tourists. So today I took it easy and I slept in. In the afternoon I went strolling around in the hutongs. I first went to see the Drum Tower, but unfortunately it was closed because of the holiday. When I walked a little further I arrived at a lake. There are a lot of people who come here to relax, walk around the lake or even float around in little boats.
I also stayed here for a little while, enjoying the sun and watching the people coming by. It was very crowded, because of the holiday and the perfect weather. There were also some street artists, one of them was a somewhat older man who did sit ups while holding a heavy weight in his neck and he even threw it up in the air. I also visited a Taoist temple dedicated to the fire god. This was quite a nice experience, because it was the first time I’ve ever been in an actual Taoist temple. I didn’t do or see that much today, but it was pleasant and laidback.
Wednesday: cycling like a local
Oh yes, I dared to rent a bike and go around Beijing! It was really a lot of fun. If you think people in Amsterdam pull off crazy stunts to get where they are going, this is nothing compared to Beijing. The big difference is that people on their bikes and scooters go a lot slower than in Holland. Of all the scooters, I think one third was driving slower than I was cycling, one third was going about the same speed and the rest was going faster. Also when crossing roads, don’t expect that all the cars will stop for a green light. Cyclists and pedestrians will wait for a green light between two lanes of cars. Not to mention the rickshaws that just cross through everything. Despite all this, I thought it wasn’t that bad when you were actually taking part in the traffic. It is scarier watching it from the sideline. I liked being on my bike, because it really felt like I was part of the city (despite having a camera and city guide lying in my basket). I first went to the Confucian Temple and the Imperial college. I especially liked the exhibition about Confucius here and the part about how Confucianism supposedly influenced the West and gave rise to the French Revolution and the Enlightenment. This was because of his famous saying, “Do not impose on others what you do not desire others to impose upon you.” There was also an exhibition in collaboration with Amsterdam on traditional Chinese paintings combined with mannequins with red dresses on.
After this I cycled for a few hundred meters and arrived at the Lama Temple. This is a Tibetan temple with five main halls and and it is Beijing’s foremost Buddhist temple. The combination of two types of visitors was interesting to see. On the one hand you had Chinese people who came there to pray. On the other hand you had the tourists, especially Western tourists. They were taking a lot of pictures, especially of the believers praying and burning incense. But they were also constantly clicking their camera’s within the temple buildings, where this is actually not allowed. I especially found the final main hall very impressive, inside was a statue of Maitreya Buddha that I believe was 18 meters tall. Behind this there is a small statue of Guanyin.
The rest of the afternoon I filled with doing a cycling tour around the hutongs and the Forbidden City. I went through very small streets were I was almost got stuck in a traffic jam of rickshaws that did hutong tours. I saw Mao Zedong’s former home in the hutongs and got lost a couple of times, because it wasn’t always clear where to go. The last part went around the Forbidden City and it was jammed with people, so I was glad I was just passing by. Then I went to cycle passed Tian’anmen Square. I felt like a celebrity because there were a lot of people waiting behind the fences with little flags. I still do not know what or whom they were waiting for.
When I came back to the shop where I had rented my bike, one of the girls who worked at the hostel and my roommates Erick and Paul were just about to leave on their bikes. So I decided to go with them for another round. It was a bit funny because they asked me constantly if we were going the right way for Tian’anmen Square, apparently they weren’t sure of the right direction themselves. When we cycled by again, there were still a lot of people, but they weren’t waiting behind the fences anymore. The cycling lane there is as wide as a four-lane highway, this is incredible, but I guess it matches the enormous size of the square. After this we went to get some food. Where we went there was a whole line of food stands and we decided to taste some food here and there. And I had the most adventurous food I ate in my whole life: scorpion. Paul, Erick and me all ate little scorpions on a stick. They were also selling the big black ones, but this was scary enough for me. And I have to admit that it actually tastes quite good. You do not have the feeling that you are eating an insect at all. You mostly taste something crispy and fried and the herbs. The little bit of meat inside is just white meat like chicken. I did feel very brave after this. After this we went for a beer nearby and then let Erick taste Belgian beers in a bar near out hostel. And you wouldn’t guess, but we actually met two Belgians here. There was also a girl from Israel, Alona. Paul, she and I decided to go visit the Forbidden City together the next morning.
Thursday: Forbidden City and art district
This was my last full day in Beijing. We left the hostel early in the morning to go to the Forbidden City. There was an immense crowd at the entrance and we stood out between all the Chinese. When we’d finally bought our ticket and went through the gate, we were amazed at the size of the place. Like Paul said, the emperor could have done with a bicycle to go around his palace. There were a lot of tourists from other parts of China who didn’t see foreigners that often. This resulted in us feeling like celebrities. Some made sneaky paparazzi pictures of us, while others asked us to pose with them or their children. When one person had asked us to pose, immediately there were multiple camera’s pointed at us of other people wanting the same opportunity. These small photo shoots were actually more fun than the Forbidden City itself. Don’t get me wrong; it is really impressive and beautiful, but it is still one of those mandatory spots you have to go to. Still I am glad I have seen it.
For lunch we had Swiss Cheese Fondue from a little restaurant next to our hostel and we had it served on our roof terrace. This tasted really good, but of course was a heavy lunch. After lunch we took a taxi to the art district 798. This was the last day of Beijing Design week. Amsterdam was the guest city of this year’s design week and so there was an area with all Dutch designers. Erick and Paul had a stand here, with their company Studio Mango. They specialize in industrial design and make really cool stuff. Their website is: http://www.studiomango.nl .
I said goodbye to Erick, who would be flying back to Hongkong later that day and went to explore the art district by myself. It is an old industrial area that has a really modern feeling to it. There are a lot of exhibitions, art galleries and cafés in this area. I mainly just wandered around and didn’t go inside any exhibitions because there was already so much to see on the streets. If you go to Beijing and like art, you should definitely go here. Afterwards Paul and I wrapped up the stand and went back to the hostel. We wanted to go to a market in the evening, but it turned out it was closed. Afterwards we wandered around for a little bit and had dinner. Upon returning I packed my bags and went to bed for my last night in Beijing
Friday: the Great Wall
On Friday I had to leave early because I had to catch my plane back to Amsterdam. I was secretly jealous of Paul who would stay another day and was going to visit the Great Wall. On the plane I was chatting with the stewardess and during take off she told me that if the weather was clear enough I should be able to see the Great Wall. And through the fog (or actually pollution) I did get a glimpse of it. So I can say that I have done/seen the Lonely Planet’s top 5 in Beijing: Getting lost in the Hutongs, the art district 798, the Forbidden city, cycling around town and finally the Great Wall.
Today, October 1st, was a national holiday. This also means the start of a whole holiday week, called the golden week. This would mean that from now on, all the top sights would be overcrowded with Chinese tourists. So today I took it easy and I slept in. In the afternoon I went strolling around in the hutongs. I first went to see the Drum Tower, but unfortunately it was closed because of the holiday. When I walked a little further I arrived at a lake. There are a lot of people who come here to relax, walk around the lake or even float around in little boats.
I also stayed here for a little while, enjoying the sun and watching the people coming by. It was very crowded, because of the holiday and the perfect weather. There were also some street artists, one of them was a somewhat older man who did sit ups while holding a heavy weight in his neck and he even threw it up in the air. I also visited a Taoist temple dedicated to the fire god. This was quite a nice experience, because it was the first time I’ve ever been in an actual Taoist temple. I didn’t do or see that much today, but it was pleasant and laidback.
Wednesday: cycling like a local
Oh yes, I dared to rent a bike and go around Beijing! It was really a lot of fun. If you think people in Amsterdam pull off crazy stunts to get where they are going, this is nothing compared to Beijing. The big difference is that people on their bikes and scooters go a lot slower than in Holland. Of all the scooters, I think one third was driving slower than I was cycling, one third was going about the same speed and the rest was going faster. Also when crossing roads, don’t expect that all the cars will stop for a green light. Cyclists and pedestrians will wait for a green light between two lanes of cars. Not to mention the rickshaws that just cross through everything. Despite all this, I thought it wasn’t that bad when you were actually taking part in the traffic. It is scarier watching it from the sideline. I liked being on my bike, because it really felt like I was part of the city (despite having a camera and city guide lying in my basket). I first went to the Confucian Temple and the Imperial college. I especially liked the exhibition about Confucius here and the part about how Confucianism supposedly influenced the West and gave rise to the French Revolution and the Enlightenment. This was because of his famous saying, “Do not impose on others what you do not desire others to impose upon you.” There was also an exhibition in collaboration with Amsterdam on traditional Chinese paintings combined with mannequins with red dresses on.
After this I cycled for a few hundred meters and arrived at the Lama Temple. This is a Tibetan temple with five main halls and and it is Beijing’s foremost Buddhist temple. The combination of two types of visitors was interesting to see. On the one hand you had Chinese people who came there to pray. On the other hand you had the tourists, especially Western tourists. They were taking a lot of pictures, especially of the believers praying and burning incense. But they were also constantly clicking their camera’s within the temple buildings, where this is actually not allowed. I especially found the final main hall very impressive, inside was a statue of Maitreya Buddha that I believe was 18 meters tall. Behind this there is a small statue of Guanyin.
The rest of the afternoon I filled with doing a cycling tour around the hutongs and the Forbidden City. I went through very small streets were I was almost got stuck in a traffic jam of rickshaws that did hutong tours. I saw Mao Zedong’s former home in the hutongs and got lost a couple of times, because it wasn’t always clear where to go. The last part went around the Forbidden City and it was jammed with people, so I was glad I was just passing by. Then I went to cycle passed Tian’anmen Square. I felt like a celebrity because there were a lot of people waiting behind the fences with little flags. I still do not know what or whom they were waiting for.
When I came back to the shop where I had rented my bike, one of the girls who worked at the hostel and my roommates Erick and Paul were just about to leave on their bikes. So I decided to go with them for another round. It was a bit funny because they asked me constantly if we were going the right way for Tian’anmen Square, apparently they weren’t sure of the right direction themselves. When we cycled by again, there were still a lot of people, but they weren’t waiting behind the fences anymore. The cycling lane there is as wide as a four-lane highway, this is incredible, but I guess it matches the enormous size of the square. After this we went to get some food. Where we went there was a whole line of food stands and we decided to taste some food here and there. And I had the most adventurous food I ate in my whole life: scorpion. Paul, Erick and me all ate little scorpions on a stick. They were also selling the big black ones, but this was scary enough for me. And I have to admit that it actually tastes quite good. You do not have the feeling that you are eating an insect at all. You mostly taste something crispy and fried and the herbs. The little bit of meat inside is just white meat like chicken. I did feel very brave after this. After this we went for a beer nearby and then let Erick taste Belgian beers in a bar near out hostel. And you wouldn’t guess, but we actually met two Belgians here. There was also a girl from Israel, Alona. Paul, she and I decided to go visit the Forbidden City together the next morning.
Thursday: Forbidden City and art district
This was my last full day in Beijing. We left the hostel early in the morning to go to the Forbidden City. There was an immense crowd at the entrance and we stood out between all the Chinese. When we’d finally bought our ticket and went through the gate, we were amazed at the size of the place. Like Paul said, the emperor could have done with a bicycle to go around his palace. There were a lot of tourists from other parts of China who didn’t see foreigners that often. This resulted in us feeling like celebrities. Some made sneaky paparazzi pictures of us, while others asked us to pose with them or their children. When one person had asked us to pose, immediately there were multiple camera’s pointed at us of other people wanting the same opportunity. These small photo shoots were actually more fun than the Forbidden City itself. Don’t get me wrong; it is really impressive and beautiful, but it is still one of those mandatory spots you have to go to. Still I am glad I have seen it.
For lunch we had Swiss Cheese Fondue from a little restaurant next to our hostel and we had it served on our roof terrace. This tasted really good, but of course was a heavy lunch. After lunch we took a taxi to the art district 798. This was the last day of Beijing Design week. Amsterdam was the guest city of this year’s design week and so there was an area with all Dutch designers. Erick and Paul had a stand here, with their company Studio Mango. They specialize in industrial design and make really cool stuff. Their website is: http://www.studiomango.nl .
I said goodbye to Erick, who would be flying back to Hongkong later that day and went to explore the art district by myself. It is an old industrial area that has a really modern feeling to it. There are a lot of exhibitions, art galleries and cafés in this area. I mainly just wandered around and didn’t go inside any exhibitions because there was already so much to see on the streets. If you go to Beijing and like art, you should definitely go here. Afterwards Paul and I wrapped up the stand and went back to the hostel. We wanted to go to a market in the evening, but it turned out it was closed. Afterwards we wandered around for a little bit and had dinner. Upon returning I packed my bags and went to bed for my last night in Beijing
Friday: the Great Wall
On Friday I had to leave early because I had to catch my plane back to Amsterdam. I was secretly jealous of Paul who would stay another day and was going to visit the Great Wall. On the plane I was chatting with the stewardess and during take off she told me that if the weather was clear enough I should be able to see the Great Wall. And through the fog (or actually pollution) I did get a glimpse of it. So I can say that I have done/seen the Lonely Planet’s top 5 in Beijing: Getting lost in the Hutongs, the art district 798, the Forbidden city, cycling around town and finally the Great Wall.
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Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
