Xingang - Beijing, People’s Republic of China - Oct 15, 2011

Xingang the gateway to Beijing. Beijing literally means “Northern Capital” and is the capital of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Formerly known as Peking, Beijing is China’s third largest city in terms of population (22 million), after Chongqing and Shanghai and is a major transportation hub. Beijing is thought to have been the largest city in the world from 1425 to 1650 and from 1710 to 1825. The Forbidden City was built between 1406-1420, followed by the Temple of Heaven and numerous other projects. Tian Anmen, the state symbol of the People’s Republic of China, burned down twice during the Ming Dynasty and the final construction was carried out in 1651. On January 31, 1949, Communist forces entered Beijing and on October 1 of the same year, the Communist Party of China, under the leadership of Mao Zedong, announced in Tian Anmen the creation of the People’s Republic of China in Beijing.

Our guide Jerry from Silk Holidays gave us a Beijing experience not a tour of Beijing, he invited us into his Beijing and welcomed and treated us like we were family. I cannot say enough about our experience and will let the pictures speak for themselves.

The Temple of Heaven is where we began. This imperial temple & park is where emperors offered sacrifices for a good harvest. The Temple of Heaven contains 28 pillars, 4 identifying the 4 seasons, 12 for the 12 months of the year and 12 for the 12 hours of the clock. Beautiful and majestic, many of locals come to the park area here to relax and sing, dance and enjoy there weekends.

 Tian Anmen square was next. This is the world’s largest public square which houses Mao’s Mausoleum. First built by Ming rulers, this more than a half square mile plaza has changed quite a bit during the centuries and received a new facelift for the 2008 Olympics. On the north side, Tian Anmen Gate was last restored in 1651. Also known as the Gate of Heaven, it leads onto the Imperial Way and Gu Gong (the Forbidden City) beyond. 

The gate is the very symbol of Imperial China. The huge structure has five doors leading to several viaducts. Only the Emperor himself was allowed to use the central passage and bridge. Anyone else who attempted to do so was executed on the spot. This was one on a list of Imperial excesses that eventually led the Chinese revolution - simply put the emperors were out of touch with their subjects. Mao now watches over the portal. 

 A delicious lunch at a local restaurant and then onto the Forbidden City, in one word it was wow! The Forbidden City compound was begun more than 500 years ago when Ming Emperor Yong-Le ordered construction of the imperial sanctuary. It encircling 33 foot wall is enclosed by a wide moat. Vermillion color was exclusively for the Emperor - violation of the edict resulted in severe punishment. The designation “forbidden” meant that nobody was allowed inside the walls except the Emperor, his wives, concubines, eunuchs and diplomats, or citizens invited for official business. The royal grounds cover some 250 acres, and there are more than 9,000 rooms in the various buildings. 

 Me and Jerry

 Our experience than continued and took us to a Hutong. Unique to China, a hutong is a microcosm within a large city that offers a haven from the surrounding bustle. The communities have emerged as a matter of natural course is a place where space is a luxury. The “typical” hutong is a narrow lane that links two courtyards, but is often an entire district of adjoining hutongs. A phone call later and we were on a rickshaw touring one of the oldest hutongs in Beijing, our local guide Vivian then took us through the backstreets where we entered the house of Mrs. Wong. This hutong is protected from development to keep them from disappearing to development, Mrs. Wong’s home consists of one bedroom, Kitchen, one bathroom, living and dining area about 600 square feet in total, valued at about 8 million canadian. A wonderful surprise experience recommended by Jerry.

 Off to a Silk factory next stop, very interesting, we saw the entire silk making process. I did not know that there are two types of silk threads, a single and a double.   

Our factory guide shows us the silk worm cocoon.

 Yes, these are actual live silk worms. 
 Some cocoons contain one worm, some two. This is where this is determined and from this the threads are pulled. A single thread is used for clothing, bed covers etc. While the double, which a thread inside a thread is used for the filling of a bed cover, similar to a duvet. This natural silk thread bedding keeps you naturally cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Very interesting... while we where touring the Forbidden city we noticed that there was no heating (fireplaces) or ways of cooling in the hot summers. They use these covers to keep the body naturally warm or cool.

 They use every bit of the silk worm. A silk worm will lay some 400 eggs, they eat a natural leaf, then cocoon themselves, single or double. At the end of the process the little bug is removed, toasted and eaten as we would eat peanuts in a bar - no waste. Our guide here is showing us this with excitement.

 The thread is then stretched and stretched using these apparatuses until they are large enough to stretch by hand.

 Here is Jan helping making the filling for a bed cover. 
 The prices were surprising reasonable (perhaps because it was a factory and not in a major store), so yes we now own a silk bed cover and two pillows - sorry Zydnea but your sleeping arrangements may need to change.

Dinner time, Jerry took us to the best Peking Duck restaurant in all of Beijing, Quanjude Sanyuanqiao Roast Duck Restaurant. This restaurant was established in 1864, the 3rd year of the reign of emperor Tongzhi in Qing Dynasty. We had feast fit for an emperor, mouth watering where the duck skin just melts in your mouth, sorry to all you vegetarians out there.

 Now we could have simply have gone to our hotel but as Jerry asked us about our energy and checked in to see if we would be interested in seeing a Peking Acrobat show. Okay so off we go he got us great seats at a great price. Yes we have seen the Peking acrobats at the PNE but really that is only a sampling appetizer of the show they put on here. The last picture show a huge metal sphere, when the third motorcycle went in I was very impressed as there is not much room in there to for them to zip around, upside down and around and around. I was completely amazed when the 5th one entered, we are playing with inches here...

 A very comfortable quite 10th story bed was awaiting us at the beautiful and impressive Novotel Hotel Peace - a great day.

 Tip or comment of the day. When coming to Beijing use Jerry at Silk Holidays, he introduces himself first as your friend, then tour guide, bodyguard and finally as your grandmother. And yes he was all that, Jerry is very interesting man and we were blessed to have him.