Good morning, Beijing!
After a western slash eastern breakfast buffet, we met up with the rest of our tour group, boarded a coach bus and headed to our first stop – Temple of Heaven, aka Tian Tian. What a way to kickstart the tour!
Located in a large and pleasant park where locals would socialize, play chess and practice tai chi and yoga, it is here where the emperor used to pray to heaven and his ancestors during the winter solstice.
The Qinian Dian (Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests), with its caisson ceiling and dragon well pillars, is the main attraction and where you’ll be jockeying most for a look beyond the stanchions. This circular tower with its conical roof, painted in blue, green gold and red, is no doubt, the most beautiful building in all of Beijing.
Mindblowing fact: the hall is entirely built of wood without using a single nail.
Next stop found us taking a walk around the National Centre for Performing Arts, commonly known as “The Egg”, where the three tenors once sang at. My mom and I must have been transfixed by the structure because suddenly, we lost our tour group. They were nowhere to be seen. Luckily, we had the tour guide’s cell number and asked a policeman to call him. Turns out, the group was well on their way to the Forbidden City.
Turns out we weren’t going to be the only ones finding themselves separated from the group, as it happened multiple times. I blame the crowds and the fact that our tour guide was walking way too fast. Turns out this was not going to be leisurely tour but a go, go, go! kinda tour. (I even had to insist nicely on time to buy souvenirs at the gift shop)
Because of how tightly scheduled this day was, we breezed by Tian’anmen Square on the way to the Forbidden City. Unfortunately, we would not be able to check out Mao’s Mausoleum, National Museum of China or Monument to the People’s Heroes on this tour.
But perhaps the bigger get was the Forbidden City? Ever since Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor, I have always wanted to see the Forbidden City. Established between 1406-1420, and with over 9000 rooms (!), “Gugong” is the largest palace complex in the world. The palace is encircled by a moat and divided into 3 sections: the palace gates, principal halls and inner court.
Mindblowing fact: the outer courtyard was designed to hold 90,000 people during ceremonies.
We went through many sections of the city and saw lots of architectural structures, but I was more enthralled by the other visitors. For a small fee, one can dress up in “imperial-style” clothes, pose for pictures and feel transported to a bygone time. Just don’t mind the thousands of other tourists milling about.
After lunch, the tour group was taken a tea house for a traditional Chinese tea ceremony. We got to sample the following teas:
* jasmine tea and jasmine/green tea
* ooling tea – good for women with anemia and those with stomach problems
* tian qi flower – good for the liver
* wild pu’er tea – good for older people. because it’s 100% fermented, this is the only type of tea one can drink on an empty stomach
* fruit tea made of kiwi, peaches and rose petals which can also be served cold
Course we weren’t being served out of the goodness of their heart, it was in hopes that we’d buy. But at the start of the tour, who’d want to lug around boxes of tea? Not my mom or me.
In the evening, we were taken to watch the Golden Mask Dynasty Show at the OCT Theatre in Happy Valley. With 200 performers, complex staging, special effects and a flood water scene (with 3 tonnes of water), this is the best live show I’ve ever watched. It was an awesome and awe-inspiring spectacle. I highly recommend it! I regret not purchasing the dvd at the gift store, but because of language barrier, I couldn’t be guaranteed it would play on North American dvd players.
A Youtuber has uploaded the show in its entirety:
After the show, we were taken on a night tour of Chang An Avenue. we were given 1/2 hour for shopping on our own. My mom and I had split up to go to different stores, which proved to be a big mistake. After 1/2 hour, I returned to the meeting point with the rest of the group but she hadn’t.
The tour guide and I looked for her for another half an hour and it turned out she got lost and was on the other end of the thoroughfare waiting for the group. Keep in mind that she’s never traveled overseas, much less outside of Vancouver by herself, so it was quite overwhelming for her.
Thank goodness we found her, safe and sound, albeit feeling quite silly for waiting on the wrong side. I would have hated the thought of making the call to my brothers telling them I lost our mom on the first day of our tour. They make children’s leashes for adults, right?
Other than a few moments of panic, today was a great first day’s introduction to China.
View more photos of my trip on my Flickr album.
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