One of the reasons to visit Beijing is the Forbidden City. To tell you the truth, when I was a child I did not really know what was this about. I knew it was in Peking, and that was some kind of palace (I was right with this) but I thought the entrance was really forbidden. Some years ago, I realized it is just the name it got because the entrance was forbidden for many people when the emperor lived.
Now, it is the one of the biggest and well preserved palaces in the world, and its visit in a normal not too busy winter day takes a good couple of hours. This has been for me one of the most interesting sights in the trip, and a must in Beijing, although some people I met were not specially surprised for this…
Sooooo… Here I am, in Beijing. Also known by many (foreign) people as Peking. I got a very good located hostel, very nice atmosphere… but freezing in Winter, because it was not that well neither isolated nor heated, and the temperature was slightly low: my first day we had a windy day with -16ºC. The second coldest temperature in my life (the other one was in… out of the scope of this post).
Well, as I was saying, the hostel was really well located, in the middle of Beijing, next to Tiananmen Square. Probably, most of you have heard about this square, famous for the protests which took place here in 1989 (with a great picture of a student stopping a lane of tanks) and for holding a record: the biggest square in the world.
Well, this is the geographical center of Beijing, and they also pretend to place it as the center of China, but it is too eastern… But it does not matter, they have the zero point of the chinese highways there.
In the south of the square, you can see one of the old gates of the city, the Front Gate. Next to this gate to the north, you can find Mao Zedong‘s mausoleum, which I did not visit… because I would have had to queue! And because I am not eager to see dead bodies for free… or even worse, paying!
In the north side, you can find the Forbidden City, but before getting there, the National Flag flutters in front of Mao Zedong’s portrait, guarding the Gate of Heavenly Peace leading to the Forbidden City. To both sides, two stands wait for a crowd ready to see a parade, for example (1, 2, 3, repita otra vez), a militar parade. Anyway, this square was built with political purposes…
And they are doing great, with the combination of flags, Mao’s images, the well preserved doors, the Great Hall of the People, one of the main buildings for the People’s Republic of China and the Communist Party.
I went through this square everyday… and I was always thinking the impression it must cause to see that square full… either with people or with other stuff… Is it possible at all?
I am back in Tokyo. I am getting used again to the silence of this country, to the big smiles even though they do not understand you, and to the fact of the paying what the price tag says,.reunion with real sushi, plenty of pending housework… :S
Hong Kong is one of those special places in the world for several reasons. It is a city in chinese territory, and now under the chinese flag (until 1997 this was Great Britain), but still with special agreements regarding passports (you do not need a visa if you come from the EU, for example), currency (HK dollar), driving (on the left)… and, of course, appearance.
It is also peculiar because they are a set of islands with many mountains, so the space is quite scarce. Its situation has been very important in the history, and therefore it is one of the economic poles in the Globe. That justifies being the second city in the world in number of skyscrapers.
I like this so far. It does not have many spots to see, but it is clearly different from the rest of China, which makes it interesting by itself in this trip.
I should be boarding my flight to Hong Kong at this moment to begin my trip around China. I will visit Beijing, Xi’an, Shanghai and Hong Kong, and I hope not to freeze too much. It is the first time I am not at home at all in Christmas and I have a strange feeling. I hope going to a country where Christmas means nothing, will help me in not feeling homesick during this time.
Why China? I want to visit it before it changes… I have the impression it is already changing a lot, and with a economy growing at an annual 10% rythm, it is likely that even the Chinese will face problems in recognizing their own country. So, I want to see that change. Now, and in some years…
I will try to write from time to time… Or maybe I just rely on a notebook.