Beijing was hot (well it seemed it at the time), stepping outside into 30 degree heat and 100% humidity after 14 hours in air conditioned planes and airports felt like walking into a hot, wet blanket.
As B and I planned to stay in Beijing for only a few days we decided to try and visit as many of the famous sites as we could.

The temple of Heaven Park is a huge sprawling area of temples and woods where we saw many locals (who get in free to Beijing parks) walking backwards, sitting, playing cards, flying kites, playing instruments and ballroom dancing. Being just a five minute walk from B’s apartment it is one of her favourite places to escape to - you pass through the gates and enter a more civilised world, seemingly from a previous century. I had hoped to return early one morning, jetlag free and camera in-hand, when all the Beijingers are practicing Tai-chi, but foolishly never managed to drag myself out of bed in time.

Joining thousands of others, B and I spent a morning queuing across Tiananmen Square to file past the in-state Chairman, who I thought glowed rather creepily (apparently he goes to visit Lenin once a year for a cup of tea and a touch-up). Where Mao once viewed parades of 1,000,000 troops and a unknown man halted a line of tanks, families now go to fly kites or throw frisbees.

Imediately north of Tiananmen Square lies the the Forbidden City. A vast 3 palace complex, one mile long and 1000m wide, off limits to everyone except the Imperial Court until the early 20th century. Although packed with tourists, it was not difficult to imagine it being occupied solely but the Emperor and his retinue, living in luxury and bound to ritual, isolated from the lives of the people.

Eschewing the tour groups, we chose to visit the Old Summer Palace, whose remains, having endured several rounds of demolition, burning and looting, now lie in largely overlooked grace. Although less manicured and visually impressive (than the Summer Palace), the abscence of great flocks of people made a welcome break from the noise of 13 million people going about their days.

Finally in Beijing we visited the Great Wall, something that you can’t really not do when in China. Out of convenience and chance we ended up at Badaling, where the wall has been reconstructed for the privellage of visiting dignitaries and the like. Luckily, the majority of visits choose to climb the easier east side of the valley, leaving the steeper western wall in relative peace. By the time we reached the top of the 400m climb, we were still undecided on the number who must have died to build the wall along knife-edge ridge, and how futile it was as the defensive capacity was never tested.

A trip in a Beijing would be incomplete without a ride in a Xiala ‘Bullet’ taxi. An experiece to give you the feeling that you are a passenger in a stock-car race (but one where buses and bikes are compete too). One day I could see our driver thinking ‘theres a car in lane 2, and one in lane 3, but lane 2.5 is clear’, followed by me asking B what the city speed limits were (40kph), as the speedo hit 100.

Bejing seems to have a buildings from the very beginning to the present with Hutongs (traditional courtyard/terrace housing) lacking heating, running water and sanitation, to the marble-and-glass Nike-selling Wangfujing Centre. However, change and westernisation are catching up with Beijing, and quickly. Huge areas of Hutongs and other ‘undesirable areas’ are being leveled and replaced with tower blocks in time for the 2008 Olympics (building works run 24/7). McDonalds and KFC’s are springing up like weeds and there is even a Starbucks in the Forbidden City.

Hopefully there will be enough of the ‘old way’ left to dilute the changes and prevent Beijing becoming less of a city.

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