UNIMAGINABLE CHINA!

TIANANMAN SQUARE!

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. 

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. 

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.

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.

FORBIDDEN CITY

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!

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.

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!

JADE

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

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.

SUMMER PALACE

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

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. 

THE DRAGON BOAT AT SUMMER PALACE