Many of China's landmarks familiar to Americans are located within, or very near, to the city of Beijing. We, as a whole, have not heard of the beautiful mountains in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park or the rivers and "Dr. Seuss Mountains" of Guilin. We
have heard of the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, and of course, we have heard of Tiananmen Square.
The names of the Forbidden City and Tiananmen generate simultaneous images of opulent royalty and the brutality of a nation in the grip of change. The reality of this bustling center of Beijing is quite different from both of those images. Personally, I love being in the center of Tiananmen Square. In addition to being surrounded by a number of things to see and do, it is also one of the few wide-open, spaces in the middle of the city.
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| Panorama of Tiananmen in October, 2012 |
Tiananmen square is a giant rectangle in the middle of the city with a mausoleum on one end, entombing Chairman Mao, next to an ancient city gate, a statue to the People in the center, and the Forbidden City looming in the distance at the far end of the square. Along the length of the square are government buildings and museums. Chinese flags abound from all the buildings in the square, and in along a low wall 2/3rds of the way down the square is a giant LCD screen that highlights China's historic landmarks. In the center of the square walk tourists, both foreign and domestic, taking pictures of the center of the capital city.
There is quite a bit to see and do in Tiananmen Square, even before you get to the Forbidden City. The first being to tomb of Chairman Mao. This is no ordinary tomb; Chairman Mao is not buried, but rather displayed in a hermetically sealed, glass-topped coffin, on display to the public throughout the year. I tried to go see Chairman Mao on my first three visits to Beijing, but I was thwarted, twice by him being closed to the public, and once by mistakenly trying to see him on National Holiday (never go to Beijing on National Holiday, its packed). Needless to say, by my final visit in December I was itching to get in and see him. Mostly because I had been thwarted previous times, but also for the novelty; there are not too many places where you can seen the bodies of long dead political leaders.
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| Shots of Tiananmen, and all the way to the right, a shot of the gate at the far end (opposite of the Forbidden City) of the square. |
Seeing Chairman Mao is quite the process; you must have sleeves and shoes that cover your feet (no tank-tops and flip flops) as this is disrespectful. You are not allowed to bring any of your personal belongings into the tomb with you, but there is a building off of the square where you can rent lockers in which to place your belongings. You cannot bring a cell phone or camera into the tomb with you, and as you approach the tomb, you go through security; they scan you, pat you down, and ask you repeatedly in several languages whether or not you have a phone or camera. You show them your passport or ID and are then allowed to go through, you are asked to be quiet and to make no loud or disrespectful sounds. You enter into the building into a wide hall where you can deposit flowers, you then walk around the flowers and into a narrower chamber. Across a barrier is the glass topped coffin with Chairman Mao. For someone who has been dead for quite some time, he is looking pretty good. I do not have any pictures of him, of course, because it was not allowed, but I did buy a necklace with his profile on it. And yes, I wear it.
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| Left: The building in the background is also on the 100Y. Middle: Becky outside of Chairman Mao's tomb. Right: Liv in the center of the square, with the Statue to the People in the background |
After seeing Chairman Mao, you can stroll through the square and take in the government buildings and the statue in the center, making your way towards the Forbidden City. These not really a leisurely stroll, as there are typically a zillion people taking in the sites with you, unless you go during the middle of off season--January, which is cold and miserable. Also, there are tour guides who approach you, fluent in several languages, trying to get you to book them for various tours. I do not recommend a tour guide for anything in the city of Beijing; their are automated self-guides in dozens of languages at all of these locations, and all the signs are in English as well as Chinese. So your best bet, is to firmly say "no, thank you" and keep up a brisk pace.
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| Left: Center of Tiananmen Square from across the street. Middle: Liv and the Chinese Flag, National Holiday, 2012. Right: Mom at the far end of the Square with the Forbidden City in the background in March, 2012. |
You can see a giant photo of Chairman Mao on the outside of the Forbidden City (also called the People's Museum), which from the square just looks like a massive expanse of red wall, topped in gold tile. Now, there is a very good reason it is called a City, and not a town, village, or hamlet. It's huge. If you want to fully explore this site, do not plan on doing more than seeing the Forbidden City that day. Now, each Garden of Tranquility and Square of Illuminating Inquiry all start to look the same after about four hours, so it is possible, even recommended, to simply wander around until you have seen enough and then leave. If you do this, you can get in and out of the Forbidden City in a couple of hours. However, if you want the full experience of the Forbidden City, it can take you from the time it opens at 9:00 am until it closes at 4:00 pm. It is literally a maze of halls, squares, and gardens, not to mention the inside museum sections, which feature relics from various eras. And believe or not, the whole thing is not even open to the public!
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| Exterior of Forbidden City; you have to walk through about three gates until you are actually inside. |
My favorite part of the Forbidden City is the architecture; I am not a huge fan of the red walls and gold roofs, but I love the stone staircases, bridges, and archways. The stone is all carved, with detail work on the railings and newel posts. In between the staircases are also elaborately carved murals of dragons and clouds. Occasionally the tiles on the floors are also intricately carved. I also love the detail work near the ceilings; the arches and windows are all painted, along with many of the ceiling tiles. Perhaps my favorite part of the City is the Empress Cixi's garden; there are these enormous rocks, tumbling through the garden, trees, and painted pagodas.
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| Some of that architecture that I love, the stone work above. More architecture and the gardens below. |
The Forbidden City is totally worth the visit if you are in Beijing, but there are some things you should watch out for. The first is the tourist scams that exist in certain parts of the site. Now, of course everything is going to be over priced, and if you feel like bartering, you can purchase identical merchandise for much less elsewhere in the city. If this is not a concern for you, than just snatch up your Forbidden City swag in the gift shops. Now, there is one gift shop that will likely have a woman outside of it, asking you to come inside and look at some student art work. She will take you inside of a perfectly legitimate souvenir store, and into a room to the side of the counter. Inside are paintings, and there is a good chance that they will not let you leave this art closet until you purchase one of these highly overpriced paintings.
When it's time to leave the Forbidden City, I highly recommend walking back to the beginning and exiting out the east exit, near the entrance. If you leave out the back entrance, you are several city blocks away from Tiananmen Square, and the subway. It is a long walk, or a highly overpriced rickshaw ride; if you have to walk all that way, you might as well walk back through the major historical site, snap some more pictures, buy a few more souvenirs, and maybe hit up one more Corridor of Everlasting Effervescence. Because, hey, when are you going to see the Forbidden City again?
When you finally find your way out of the Forbidden City, you can explore the buildings around the square, which include many museums. Or you do my favorite thing, which is just to walk around the square, people watch, and marvel at all.
R.
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