Beijing is home to my late aunt’s family. I didn’t know her well at all. She visited us once in Canada. With the seas of Chinese tourists today, it’s hard to imagine that ordinary citizens could not travel overseas before the mid-1990s. That’s not very long ago.
I remember my aunt giving us Russian lessons and how to make the dumplings Beijing is known for. One of the siblings who didn’t flee for Hong Kong, she remained to eventually become a teacher in communist China. She had three daughters, who each had a daughter of their own. Despite the language barrier, my Beijing cousin was a gracious host. Interestingly, my aunt in Beijing had girls and my uncle in Shanghai had boys. My family – many tales to tell.
The first stop of my first trip to China started in this historic city. All I knew was the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, and the air pollution, like most people. I didn’t do much research, knowing my family would likely form a big part of the itinerary.
In this article :: Forbidden City | Hutong | Great Wall | The Temple of Heaven
The Forbidden City
Perhaps the most famous tourist attraction in Beijing is the Forbidden City. Located at the heart of the city, it was home to 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368 – 1911). It is China’s largest heritage site, the world’s biggest palace complex, and a UNESCO Heritage site since 1987 as the world’s largest collection of ancient wooden structures.
Built between 1406 and 1420, the Forbidden City took one million workers to complete its construction. That’s an impressively quick build, which includes a moat that’s more than 150 feet wide and moving stones weighing more than 300 tonnes over 70 km. Just as a comparison, a Boeing 747 weighs 300 tonnes.
Since the wheel had been used long before the Forbidden Palace’s construction, the assumption that that mode of transportation was used is understandable. According to Ancient Origins’ article The discovery that revealed how the Forbidden City of China was Built, writer April Holloway shared that a 500-year document was unearthed and its translations yielded an interesting finding. Apparently, workers moved the gigantic stones on sledges over ice in the winter of 1557. A team of workers managed this in just 28 days. Sure they had the manpower to wheel the stones; this was definitely smarter.
The Forbidden City was the seat of power in China until the last emperor’s abdication and except for a brief absence due to Manchurian occupation. Anglo-French forces occupied it during the Second Opium War. Western powers’ dissatisfaction of the lack of fulfillment of the Opium War’s terms sparked this war.
The first Opium war, resulting in the handover of Hong Kong and Macau, was used to gain access to China as a market, opening ports, granting travel to the interior, lowering tariffs on imported goods, and allowing residence in Beijing by foreign ambassadors. Opium was the one commodity that the Chinese wanted in abundance. Prior to the opening of China, the trade balance was a massive deficit for China’s trading partners.
Visiting the Forbidden City
Like emperors of past, we enter the Forbidden City through the Meridian Gate at the south end of the complex into the outer court. This faces the famous Tian’anmen Square, where you buy entrance tickets. One of the tallest towers, the Meridian Gate stands some 125 feet. It’s the largest gate, with five passages and five pavilions.
No gongs or bells will ring for you, as they once did. In imperial eras, as a civilian you would have entered through the east opening, if you ever were allowed. The military used the west passage and the servants, the south.
A lot has changed since I visited the Forbidden City in 2007. Certainly, smartphone camera technology has made incredible leaps. The photos you now see from the scores of visitors are simply stunning.
I recently mined these photos from an old laptop, hence the timing of this article. The tenth anniversary of my trip. The photo quality is not great – I took these photos with a crop-sensor Canon and I no longer have the raw images to edit.
Now visitors have access to more areas of the Forbidden City. It is also possible to climb the 3.4 km wall eastward towards the Corner Tower and East Prosperity Gate. If you haven’t been, take this route for photographic vistas. Perhaps for its 600th anniversary in 2020?
980 buildings, 70+ compounds, and over 8,700 rooms. 180 acres. For comparison it’s bigger than the Louvre by three times and the Vatican by 1.5 times.
The sheer scale and cultural significance of the Forbidden City cannot be overstated.
It will take the day to wander around the grounds, even with some areas closed off due to repairs. For some people, just a few hours may be the limit. The crowds can make long lineups, and the noise level even in the open courtyard can become too much. I myself have a low tolerance for crowds and my attention span drops off quickly at a certain point. If you are like me, aim for several visits to explore the courtyards and gardens off the main attractions of the ceremonial halls.
The roof of Chinese architecture offers a study in design and cultural beliefs. According to Wonders of the World website, the Forbidden City has ten kinds of roofs. Mythical creatures sit on different levels, with different purposes. The phoenix for happiness and luck. The lion, reflecting the owner’s power. Celestial and sea horses reach to the skies and oceans. The number of these creatures reflected the power of who resided within. You will also see lots of yellow – the imperial colour. Yellow glazed tiled line the pavilion roofs, contrasting vibrantly with the vermillion walls.
To appreciate its size, head out the palace’s north gate to Jingshan Park for a hilltop view of the entire complex. Now a public park, it was once an imperial garden, a summer retreat for the royal family in the Ming Dynasty. Use the underpass on your left after exiting the palace’s north gate to cross the street which is blocked for access. Take the winding path and in about 10 minutes, you will be at the park’s summit.
Beijing’s Hutong
For a glimpse of old Beijing, I headed to the famous hutong. First built in the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368), the hutong run east-west so the residents could enjoy more sunlight from the south and protection from the northerly winds. A hutong is actually the laneways formed by the walls of the residential compounds common in the past.
By the Qing Dynasty, thousands of hutong gridded Beijing, from narrow laneways to broad boulevards. Some full of turns; others straighter. The alleyways were named after families, historical people, their shape, or services on offer. Dry Flour Alley. Wet Nurse Lane. Young Girl Lane, home of future concubines. The hutong surrounding the Forbidden City also supplied the needs of the court – clothing, woven goods, foodstuffs, candles, and silk.
The hutong is famous for the quadrangle mansions or Siheyuan (四合院), the traditional homes in northern China. Four buildings created the enclosed the central courtyard. The centre of the north building was usually the main bedrooms for the elder and senior family members. Think the beautifully filmed Raise the Red Lantern.
These houses were once grand dames where families of wealth lived. In the 1960s, they were divided to accommodate more and more people. With multiple families occupying them and sharing communal facilities including toilets, conditions became squalid.
At the time of my visit, foreigners and various businesses were purchasing and restoring many of these old houses. They made them into modern renditions or remodeled them as cool-vibe restaurants, boutique hotels, and bars. When I went in 2007, I found many interesting small businesses, including cafés. By 2017, there were perhaps just 300.
As I wandered down these grey-bricked alleyways, I could easily look beyond the doorways. A bike, a cat, stacks of old newspapers, just ordinary life. Among the many turns of these lanes, the emptiness of the lanes strongly contrasted with the lives and stories beyond the walls. All the laughter, drama, the deaths and births that breathed into these bricks all those years before.
I was lucky to visit one. My cousin’s mother-in-law still lived in hers, when I was visiting Beijing. From what little my cousin’s daughter shared with me, she seemed like a fascinating woman. Like others, she too has since been relocated. For her hutong home, she received several apartments. This is a normal process in China as the government moves people out of high-value real estate.
The Great Wall
At over 21,000 km, the Great Wall is the longest man-made structure and the most famous military project. Just 30 feet wide on average, the Great Wall, contrary to popular belief, cannot be seen from space. The Great Wall was also not a unified concept. Different sections were built at different times, the state of Chu being the first, sometime in the 7th century BC. Since the sections were joined in the Qin dynasty, the Great Wall has been rebuilt for thousands of years to defend against Mongol invaders and other northern tribes. That, incidentally, didn’t work.
While not contiguous, the Great Wall can be walked. The 21,196.18 km spreads over 15 provinces and 404 counties. It includes the best-preserved Ming Great Wall (over 8,800 km), remnants, and over 43,000 relics of towers and such.
In 2007, a British couple from north Devon walked 4,800 km in 167 days, the first foreigners to do so. They even raised £5,000 for Make A Wish Foundation. It was in the spring of 1984 that three friends – Dong Yao-hui, Wu De-yu, and Zhang Yuan-hua began their 17-month and 8,850 km walk. From the Old Dragon’s Head in Shanhai Pass, west to Jiayu Pass. Seeing the damage ignited Dong Yao-hui’s passion for restoration and conservation. He was the designated expert guide for Presidents George W Bush’s and Bill Clinton’s visits.
In contrast, I spent only a few morning hours on the Great Wall, in a section close to Beijing. Cloaked in fog, the snaking wall hid herself from view. I climbed up and down several steep inclines, walked through old fortresses, met a bored vendor at one of them and a donkey resting from transporting her wares. Because I was there early, hours before the big tour groups arrived, I got to experience the Great Wall in relative solitude and silence.
The Temple of Heaven
The original Altar of Heaven and Earth and the Forbidden City were completed together in 1420. Over 100 years later, the Circular Mound Altar was built for separate offerings to Heaven, renaming it Temple of Heaven. Reconstruction in the Qing Dynasty gives us the current arrangement of the complex which covers over 600 acres. The outer section consists of walking paths while the inner section contains the halls, such as the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests and the Circular Mound Altar which I visited. In 1961, the Temple of Heaven became one of China’s protected sites.
Once part of the imperial grounds, the government opened the Temple of Heaven Park to the public in 1918. Today, if you go early enough, you’ll see people exercising, doing Tai Chi or practicing martial arts among the knotted cypress. Casually walking the city streets or going to the park is an easy way to get a glimpse of local culture.
Tranquil oasis of peace and methodical Confucian design in one of China’s busiest urban landscapes
Lonely Planet
The Temple of Heaven is ritual architecture built for sacred use by emperors. This included animal sacrificial offerings. It was designed to represent the universe and reflects Chinese cosmology. The earth, a square and heaven, a circle.
Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests
The most photographed and the main part of the Temple of Heaven park is the three-tiered circular Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. The original building was struck by lightning in 1889. The building we see today has been rebuilt over the years, based on the original design.
The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is where emperors went to give offerings of thanks for the harvest and for more good harvests. Standing at 125 feet high, with a diameter of 118 feet, this hall is a wooden hall has been skillfully built without any nails. 28 pillars support it. The four inner and the largest central pillars represent the seasons. The next circle of twelve pillars, the months. The outermost circle of twelve, the hours. The Chinese used a 24 solar term calendar and this was represented by the middle and outer pillars.
The Circular Mound Altar
The Circular Mound Altar was built in 1530 during the Ming Dynasty and during the Qing Dynasty it was expanded in 1749.
This spiritually- and historically-significant building is a three-layered marble open-to-the-sky structure built on the number nine. Nine is the number representing eternity and longevity. It also represents the dragon, which is the emperor, and also the nine circles of heaven. The steps, pillars, and stone designs are all in multiples of nine. There are 360 slates, with the bottom, middle, and top layers of the terraces having 180, 108, and 72, respectively. The altar itself has a diameter of 450 feet, also a multiple of nine.
Heaven’s Heart Stone, located on the upper terrace, was designed with concentric circles of stones surrounding it. Each of the nine circles consist of stones in multiples of nine, from the first circle having nine to the last circle having 81 stones. This design of nine circles is also found on the other two terraces. The three terraces each have four entrances with nine steps, the nine layers of Heaven.
Another interesting aspect of the altar’s architecture is the acoustics. Due to the materials used, sounds rebound almost instantaneously. The effect is that the emperor’s voice is amplified, symbolizing these prayers having the power to be heard in the heavens.
The Circular Mount Altar is where twenty-seven emperors prayed and where elaborate winter solstice ceremonies were performed and animal sacrifices were made as offerings. From the Forbidden City, ten people manned the sedan chair that transported the emperor. The royal procession, which included the elephant and horse chariots, moved through the city, shuttered to keep the royal from view of ordinary people.
I visited Beijing in 2007, the year before the Summer Olympics. Efforts were being made to clean up the air quality and to prepare this historic city for global visitors. The skies were a blanket of white on our trip, bright and humid. The visit also included Shanghai, which we reached by overnight train, and a day trip to Suzhou and a visit to the Sheshan Catholic Church and Observatory.