Journey to the World

The Summer Palace is located twenty kilometers from the center of Beijing. According to the Lonely Planet you can get there by riding a bike. I took the opportunity, started cycling at 10:00 in the morning for a long ride in Beijing’s streets. I had a map for a change, which I purchased in the hostel I was staying in (10 yuan), and so the planning became a little less complex.

Riding in Beijing’s streets, apart from the physical effort and lack of convenience, gives you a freedom similar to what you get by riding a motorbike. You can stop everywhere, sometimes ride against the traffic direction or on sidewalks. Those who plan to ride along with the traffic should know that traffic lights in general, and the green or red lights specifically are taken by Chinese drivers as a recommendation and nothing more. The roads are wide and organized. There are traffic lights for cars, for pedestrians and even special traffic lights for bicycles. Traffic policemen are stated in almost every possible location. Any one of the described does not seem to interfere with cars, pedestrians or bicycles to cross a junction on a red light in front of the open eyes of the cops, without any implications whatsoever. Surprisingly, drivers who cross on a red light are very cautious. They get into traffic without a difficulty. It seems as if this is part of the driving culture of the city. I have not seen accidents or near-accidents in the entire time I was in the city.

I stopped in a supermarket on the way to get some food and water. A computer store in one of the junctions gave me an extra confirmation regarding the limited variety and the high pricing of electronics and computer parts in Beijing. I could not find what I was looking for.

I arrived at 13:00 after making a lot of detours on the way. A little tip about parks in Beijing: I tried to take a shortcut through one of the large parks on the way, but failed since bicycle riders are not allowed in. Sounds strange? Well, many parks in Beijing require buying a ticket for entrance. They also close rather early. For example Beihai park is closing at 16:00.

The summer palace is a huge compound including a large lake surrounded by a park. On the banks of the lake you can find old structures and impressive temples. You can go on a cruise in the lake using a pedals boat, or inside a big tourists boat. The place is very touristic, loaded with visitors, but its huge size allows you to find some quiet corners to rest in.

When I realized how big is the place, I boarded the tourists boat designed as an ancient Chinese boat. It took me, as well as other tourists, to the other side of the lake (10 yuan). The cruise is not too long and nice. I had some time to rest from the long cycling to the park. Most of the attractions around the lake are located to the right of the main entrance. I had no time nor energy to research the left side of the lake. It seems like it’s suitable for a quiet tourist-less walk. When I refer to tourists I mean Chinese tourists. There are indeed western tourists, but these are a small percentage compare to the total number of visitors.

The boat ended its route near a beautiful stone ship. From that spot I started walking, checking the attractions. As said before, the compound is huge. You’d better purchase a map (10 yuan) and plan your way properly to avoid walking unnecessary kilometers.

Entrance to most sites is included in the ticket you buy at the main entrance (45 yuan if I’m not mistaken, students pay 20 yuan). A number of sites require a separate fee, such as the Suzhou street which is supposed to be a replica of a street in the real Suzhou (nearby Shanghai). I skipped it since site (10 yuan) since you can see the entire street by standing over the bridge next to it. The ticket gives you the opportunity of visiting inside stores where people are dressed traditionally. If you’ve ever visited or plan to visit the real Suzhou, you can pass this place.

Another temple named Buddha’s Incense on the other hand, does worth the visit. After a short climb you get to an amazing viewpoint where you stand between two Chinese-styled towers. The entire structure is impressive by itself.

I’ve spent over five hours walking in a substantial pace on trails within forests, nearby the lake, visiting ancient Chinese structure and climbing huge temples. Half a day is the minimum required to see this place. You can easily extend your visit to a full day by making a picnic and going for a cruise in the lake.

In the evening I started getting back toward the entrance. On an impressive bridge leading to a temple on a superficial island in the middle of the lake, stood some kite fliers showing their expertise by taking the kite way up in the skies, hundred of meters from the ground. A sepcial equipment of a pulley and kilometer long string allow you to get to this kind of level. One of them showed how to get another butterfly kite on a string that was already reaching the skies.

Getting back to my bike, I started cycling toward the hotel. It was going to be a long ride. I forgot about the map, trying to cycle toward everything that is interesting as well as it’s also South or East to the Summer Palace. That was the direction to my hotel. It didn’t really work so as usual, I lost my way, but at least I visited some interesting places on the way. This was my last full day in the capital of China. I already had a train ticket for the next day to Pingyao. On the way I’ve stumbled upon a strange show – a group of a beauty spa went outside to promote their business. They danced coordinately along the loud music that was being played. That is not something you expect to see in the middle of the street.

At some stage I got tired of getting lost, so I started the usual routine of asking people how to get back to Tiananmen square. I have already learned how to get back from there to my hotel. Most locals pointed me to the right direction, and gave me a detailed explanation of how to get there. The problem was not their explanation but the fact that my Mandarin level was so low that I had to reduce their words into whether I have to keep on straight, turn right or left. Of course that was not enough to getting where I wanted to go… And so this procedure repeated itself in every junction I’ve been to. This could go on and on till I would find a known street on the map or I would meet an English speaking local, a rare phenomenon in Beijing.

It was the night before the Paralympic games (the Olympic games for disabled athletes). I was in the main street leading to Tiananmen Square. It’s a kilometers-long street. As I got close to Tiananmen Square I’ve noticed Chinese soldiers scattered on the street.

Now is a good time to mention that China is a communist country. During the entire week I’ve spent in Beijing I haven’t notice that fact, except for one time. One of the days I arrived in a non-touristic area, entered a place with the sign Internet over the door. I remember in my last visit to Thailand that locals surf the net in cheap places, so when you find this place, you can, as a tourist, surf the net for a similar price. I went inside to make sure this statement is valid for China. Inside the place there were about eighty computers. No tourist was found but only locals. When the girl in the fron desk asked me for 4 yuan, I realized I arrived at the right place. My feeling of success was pre-mature. A moment after I paid I was taught a quick lesson in communism. The girl asked me for an ID card, and got my passport. Then she quickly located my Visa page to China. As she was entering my personal details into her computer I was start to feel uncomfortable. And if it was not enough, she turned the pages back to the front page getting my full details which got me to think what are they going to do with this info. I couldn’t get out of my head the thought that a keylogger might be installed on those computer, fetching emails passwords and other sensitive information. Meanwhile the girl put my passport into a special scanner, probably placed there by the Chinese government to complement the surveillance of people or tourists who use the internet.

This whole experience left me with a bad taste, causing me to avoid access to any email or other private account. Even the USB sockets of those computers were blocked, and every computer was locked so no one would try to bypass these restrictions.

Back to the soldiers on the road. Soldiers stood from both sides of the street. Every 10 meters stood a soldier to the opposite direction of his friend. I’m not talking about dozens of soldiers but hundreds of soldiers standing still for a long time. From time to time I would see their commanders inspecting them. A lot of policemen and police cars circled the area. It was a night before the Paralympic games, and the Chinese proved their decisiveness to keep order intact no matter what.

Tiananmen Square that is known for political protests was closed for a week. As I got closer, military presence got bigger. I wanted to take a photograph of the soldiers but was not sure whether it was allowed. I really didn’t feel like getting into trouble with the police in the night. I was tired and wanted to get back to the hotel. Nonetheless I couldn’t resist and took one photo. Later I asked a soldier using hand signals if I can take his photograph. He nodded lightly with his head since he wasn’t allowed to move. This is how I got my first OK to take photos of the soldiers. So I took a couple more pictures. A few days before my flight to Beijing I heard the police forbidden on taking photographs in the entire area of Tiananmen Square. This was true especially for reporters, so going against a communist regime is not a smart thing to do.

I kept on riding but was stopped by a policeman. He stood with a camera while photographing one of the soldiers. He had a serious look on his face. I waited until he finished taking the photo. When he noticed me, I smiled at him and his serious expression turned into an apologizing smile. Then I realized the instructions that were given to policemen and soldiers were not as strict as it comes to tourists.

On the way I met a Chinese guy who told me about one of the lighted buildings that I photographed. Yes, he spoke English! I then arrived in a beautiful theater built especially for the Olympics. An egg-shaped building located within an artificial lake causing an optical illusion which complete the egg within the water. Around the lake sat local people to pass the evening quietly.

I then arrived in Tiananmen Square, where police presence was large. A policeman signalled me to move on as I stopped in the junction to take some photographs. After a long day I got back to my hotel to get some sleep.

 

This article was published at 6-09-2008 Time: 12:47 and belongs to categories Bicycle, Summer Palace, Beijing, Far East Travel Journal 2008 - 2009, Tiananmen Square, China. You can follow comments to this article using the feed RSS 2.0. You can post a comment, or trackback from your website.