We arrived in Beijing during Golden Week, a national holiday and probably the worst time to visit China’s capital city; the main railway station — the final stop on our two week Trans-Mongolian adventure — looked like an ocean of people. Local newspapers reported that Beijing welcomed over one million visitors, on top of its regular population of 21 million, just on the first day of the week-long break. Unlike Chinese New Year, a family holiday where most people return to their hometowns, Golden Week presents a solid week off work and an opportunity for Chinese travelers to play tourist. The million-strong crowds led Jen (who has visited the city before, and also caught a cold on the train) to curl up in the hotel for three days, while I put on a brave face to explore the city’s main sites, despite hour-long lines and heavy smog cover.
Record crowds gather at Beijing's main attractions during China's national holiday
As the seat of power for the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties — as well as the current People’s Republic — Beijing has served as China’s capital for most of the past 600 years. This has led to a melange of iconic landmarks (many of which were built around 1420, in the Ming years), including the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven. The latter is where emperors prayed for good harvests, petitioned heaven for blessings and where we started our city tour, hoping in vain that an early start would help us beat the crowds. The temple structures themselves are remarkable it's also worth wandering through the park, all manicured lawns and ancient Cyprus trees, and nowadays a popular local hangout.
The Temple of Heaven: Beijing's historic religious center
Next we stopped by Tiananmen Square, which ironically translates as “Gate of Heavenly Peace,” despite its controversial history. In 1989, the rest of the world watched flag-waving demonstrators face down tanks — an event many Chinese people remain ignorant of thanks to the ruling party's army of censors. The Square stands as a monument to the Chinese Communist Party, with a mausoleum displaying Chairman Mao’s embalmed body and a giant portrait of the “Great Helmsman” (aka Mao) hanging from the entrance to the Forbidden City. Mao remains a popular figure in China despite disastrous policies that cost the lives of 40-70 million people.
Mao's portrait hangs from the entrance to the Forbidden City
Following the crowds, we made our way north to the Forbidden City — a sprawling complex of staterooms and palaces named so because only members of the royal family could live inside. Though impressive, the main buildings were heaving with selfie-stick wielding tourists, so we sought refuge in the courtyards-turned-museums sitting off the central axis. The most fascinating of these housed the emperors’ concubines. One of these concubines, The Empress Dowager Cixi, wielded extraordinary power. She was chosen as a teenager and quickly rose through the ranks of the Qing dynasty court to become one of China’s first female emperors. Following the death of her husband, Cixi continued to rule on behalf of her infant son, a remarkable feat given the lowly status of women at the time, and one that demonstrates her political savvy. Unfortunately, Cixi’s reign coincided in renewed interest in China, as Western powers relentlessly pursued their commercial interests in the country. Following disastrous losses in two Opium Wars and the subsequent Boxer Rebellion, Cixi’s government was forced to yield huge amounts of territory — including Hong Kong, large parts of Shanghai and other important port cities — to foreign governments. These events have not endeared her to the Chinese people: “We hate her,” our local guide announced. “She was a monster.”
Crowds line up at the entrance to the Forbidden City
Meandering lanes filled with courtyard houses — known as hutong — crowd the area above the Forbidden City. These quaint lane houses once comprised the majority of housing for Beijing residents, though recent efforts to modernize the city have come at the expense of this traditional architecture. Thankfully in the ’90s, the government recognized that these unique dwellings deserve some historical protection. Nowadays, the remaining warren of alleyways contain an interesting mix of bars, hostels, small businesses and a few homes. As part of our tour, we met one of the few families who still call the hutong home; they must have been wealthy — only a few can still afford the sky high rents of central Beijing — and their “home” contained more antiques than a small museum.
Weary tourists check their phones at the Forbidden City
With its mix of modern architecture and ancient wonders, today’s Beijing is a fascinating place to explore. Unfortunately, the city’s more negative features — massive pollution and millions of people (our guide marveled at our patience: “Usually, this is a disaster for them,” she said, referring to foreigners’ inability to cope with the overcrowding of a typical Chinese holiday) — were impossible to escape. It was with a certain sense of relief that we left Beijing behind for the relative peace of Western China.
Tom Mountford