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TIANANMAN
SQUARE!
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China,you
really surprised me. As a young girl fresh out of school the first
novel that I read was “Peony” by Pearl S. Buck.Then "Good
Earth" the Noble prize winning book on China. Then I read
about what life was like with one room tenements for all and the
single child policy where children were considered the property of
the state.I read about all men and women dressing in blue coloured
uniforms of trouser and jacket.
But
lo and behold, the Beijing that I saw took my breath away.It was
nowhere near the China of my imagination. Going towards the hotel
there were so many Oohs and aahs and "Look at the roses",
"look at the roads", "Look on the left", "oh
look at those colors!"It was as if we were in a Rose garden or a
display of roses.
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The roads were lined with beautiful roses, it was a
virtual rose garden! The roads were like Expressways, there were
so many roads, one over the other, criss cross and at different
levels. The roads seemed as if they had been laid only last night.
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The
cars on the roads were orderly, everyone was in their own lane. There
were Volkswagon, Audi, BMW or Chevrolet,a number of Hondas too were
there and a number of Porsche too were plying. It looked like a rich
city of rich people. The buildings all over the place were
skyscrapers. Was this East Asia or Manhattan? Houses are
expensive and our English speaking guide Eva told us that she lives
on the outskirts of Beijing as she cannot afford to live in the city.
Beijing
is modern, beautiful, sleek and very very clean.
Cleaning
up all the time.
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We
went to the Tiananman Square which is the world's largest Square. It
again took my breath away to see the beautiful landscaping. There
were pillars with coloured patterns of flowers. It was very
systematic, organised, neat and beautiful. The place was very crowded
and yet there was no filth around. No empty bottles, no food packets
lying around. There were people going around on scooters collecting
all the garbage as soon as any could be spotted. The place is
beautiful and one can easily forget the Tiananman Square massacre.
The moment I asked my guide about the massacre, she quickly stopped
me from talking about it.
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FORBIDDEN
CITY
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The
Forbidden City is next to the Tiananman Square. It was the palace of
the Emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasty. The common people were not
allowed to enter this Palace therefore it was called the Forbidden
City. There are a number of beautiful palaces one after the
other and one has to go from one courtyard to another to enter the
next palace. One cannot exit from the gate through which one enters.
This Forbidden City was home to 24 Emperors since the 13th century.
After Puyi the last Emperor of China abdicated in 1912, the Forbidden
City became a museum for the people.
WE
CLIMBED THE WALL!
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The
Great wall of China is a Wonder of the World. They say it is the only
man made structure that can be seen from the moon. The wall suddenly
comes upon you as soon as the hills appear on the horizon. These
walls were started in the 7th century BC. They were constructed to
stop the intrusion by nomadic groups or people from Mongolia. The
wall was later on added to by various dynasties. It runs along the
East to West border across the Northern border of China. The wall is
made of stone, brick, wood, and earth. In 220-206 BC Emperor
Qin(pronounced Chin) Shi Huang added to the wall,the Ming Dynasty
rebuilt and maintained the wall for the purpose of Border Control,
imposition of duties on goods transported along the Silk Route and
movement of troops. The Great Wall has watch towers, Garrisons
stations and troop barracks.
LOCKS
ARE FOR SECURITY...JUST LIKE THE GREAT WALL.
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Climbing
the wall was formidable. But I and a friend Mila decided that having
come to China we had no option but to climb the Wall. The climb was
steep and looking at it from the base the task appeared daunting.
With water bottle in hand and big fat handbags on arms we ventured
up. I could count only up to 30 steps at a time and then would take a
“Catch your breath” halt. So I do not know the number of steps
that we climbed. There were a lot of people climbing the wall, one
notable climber was an old gentleman with a stick and another very
old gentleman whose climb was being video recorded.
While
we were climbing up both of us would look down and wave to our
friends who actually could not distinguish us from the rest. We
however could see them clearly from the steps. There were two big
steps and then one small step. The steps are quite wide at the
bottom, but they get narrower as one goes up.
It
was arduos but exhilirating too! I felt like shouting, “I climbed
the Great Wall of China!”
Chairman
Mao had said "Until you reach the Great Wall, you're no
hero.”So Meela, TNN my husband and yours truly are now heroes!
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JADE
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Jade
is found in China and every girl wears a jade bangle. It is said that
if the jade bangle turns dark then it means that the girl wearing it
is not healthy. I remember having read somewhere that Mughal emperors
ate food from jade plates. It is said that if there was poison in the
food the jade plate would turn dark.
We
went to the jade factory and saw very beautiful jade carving. The
craftsmanship is remarkable.
BIRDS
NEST-OLYMPIC STADIUM
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Beijing
had hosted the 2008 Olympics and the Birds Nest Stadium, was
worth looking at. The walk along the stadium was lovely. More
gardens, more flowers, lots of colour, beautiful kites and lovely
breeze made it even more enchanting.
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SUMMER
PALACE
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Beijing
had lovely cool weather, yet the Emperors had a Summer palace. There
is a huge lake with lots of beautiful boats plying for tourists.
WEEPING
WILLOW
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The
Weeping willow trees look very beautiful as they all droop towards
the huge lake.There is a lovely covered long walkway which has
beautiful painting. Huge carved gates, colourful painted walls,
beautiful trees and plenty of water all round made the place quite
enchanting. None of us wanted to leave the place.
Beijing
is actually like a show piece. Tall buildings, beautiful roads,
lovely flowers and historical buildings maintained in picture perfect
condition.I have to say that I least expected what I saw. I came away
thinking that Beijing is truly amazing. It is very beautiful,
colourful , clean, modern and yet so very ancient. Very much like the
Chinese characters which look very beautiful, intricate, mysterious
and like a work of art rather than words which one can read.
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THE
DRAGON BOAT AT SUMMER PALACE
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