北京 rendezvous, day 6.
the first part of day 6 was spent in BLCU. i tagged along with philippe as he went about registering for his classes, and setting up internet access on his computer. we thought it best to get this out of the way since i was flying out in three days, while philippe had four days till the start of school. following the hurly-burly from the morning’s activities (read: walking around campus from one building to the next), and having late-lunch at a nearby japanese restaurant, we finally set out by 2PM for our usual sightseeing.
» DAY 6: FORBID, FORBADE, FORBIDDEN
philippe and i had planned on seeing the forbidden city that day since we didn’t get the chance to go the day before. as we were nearing the place, our cab driver told us that the forbidden city actually closes at 3PM. my thought bubble at that point: “what!?! don’t tell me we struck out twice?” as if in denial of the info that was just dished out to me, i looked into my handy lonely planet for info about its opening hours. true enough, it did say that it would close at 3PM. we got off the cab a few minutes before closing time, but i already knew we wouldn’t make it upon seeing the throng of tourists exiting the forbidden city. we made a mad dash to the ticketing booth only to find them all closed already. sigh.
since we were already in the area, philippe and i decided to settle for the next best thing, and that is to visit the tian’anmen square. we knew that tiananmen square was across the forbidden city since we had driven past it a couple of times already. problem was, the cab dropped us off at the back entrance of the forbidden city, and the only way to get to tiananmen square was to walk around the walled city. i know we could’ve taken a cab too, but that would’ve been wasteful since our next destination was just around the corner…or so we thought. you see, the forbidden city is a complex which covers 720,000 sq m of ground — this meant we had a whole lot of walking to do. with no GPS to rely on, philippe and i walked for at least 30 minutes through streets and alleys, until we finally saw the familiar monument of tiananmen square. along the way, we discovered some picturesque parks which gave me (and my tired feet) a welcome break from all the walking.
tiananmen square is the largest city square in the world. this plaza, located near the heart of beijing, played a significant role in shaping chinese history — it is where the protests of 1989 took place. this event is also known as the “tiananmen square massacre” since it led to the death of hundreds of protesters who were fighting against corruption and for democracy.
(1) view of tian’anmen square from the forbidden city
(2) r-e-s-p-e-c-t!
(3) monument to the people’s heroes: a 10-storey high obelisk
(4) so near, yet so far: the closest philippe and i could get to “mao’s house” that day
(5) one of the two statues next to mao’s mausoleum
(6) the great hall of the people: china’s parliament building
after visiting tiananmen square, i dragged philippe to see beijing’s national centre for the performing arts. i stumbled upon this place while i was doing some pre-departure research in wikipedia about beijing. since i remember reading that it was situated near tiananmen square, and we caught a glimpse of it as we drove past tiananmen the other night, it was an opportune time for us to finally see it. philippe had never been there before, so it was a first for both of us. the locals also call this opera house “the egg”, attributing it to its oval-shaped dome. when i saw pictures of it online, i was immediately in awe of its modern architectural beauty, and i knew i had to see it in-person.
“the egg” is made of titanium and glass, and is completely surrounded by an artificial lake
we had one more tourist destination on the list to see that day, and it was the temple of heaven. another famed UNESCO world heritage site, this taoist temple was where emperors of the ming and qing dynasties held ceremonies to pray for good harvest. after reading in our lonely planet book that it closes by 6PM, philippe and i left the egg in haste, and got on the subway like we were contestants on the amazing race. the subway experience was an adventure in itself. we happened to hop on the subway during rush hour, and boy, was i in for a treat (not!). talk about an “in-your-face” experience, in the literal sense of it — i’m talking about having some chinese man breathe on your face. the trains were so packed, i got shoved, elbowed, and squeezed in between people a good number of times. we got to the temple of heaven a little before 6PM, but only got to walk in the park around it since they stopped admitting tourists into the temple grounds. i guess this will have to wait until my next beijing visit. too bad, it would’ve been another first for both philippe and me.
(1) closing time: we didn’t make it, yet again.
(2) the best pic i could take of the temple of heaven was its silhouette
(3), (4) for now, i will have to imagine what’s behind those walls
if i were to sum up our entire day into a few words, i would say: “mad rush”. so glad it was over after the temple of heaven. whew! philippe then took me to xidan, a commercial area in the xicheng district where we leisurely strolled along malls and department stores. i even helped philippe shop for the perfect messenger bag to gear him up for his first day of school. the day ended with some hot pot, which i unfortunately didn’t get to take photos of anymore. boo-hoo, that’s actually the first in this travelogue series that i didn’t post any food pics. i must’ve been THAT tired.
beijing by night: good night, beijing! see you tomorrow.
