I dutifully hit some of the must-see places: Tian Tan, the Forbidden City, and the Great Wall. In the mean time, I filled up on the unassuming, hearty local fares, got lost in a few of the remaining Hutong on a rented bike, and sharpened my bargaining skills at the Silk Market.
A couple of policemen standing next to the entrance to Tian Tan, otherwise known as the Temple of Heaven. The main temple was closed for renovation, a recurring theme at many of tourist attractions during the low season.
The studded bright red gates opened to the causeway to the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in the distance.
This conjoined twins-like pavilion was a popular spot for locals to rest and exchange gossip.
View of one of the gates through holes of a cast iron urn.
Long corridors like this connect different temples inside Tian Tan Park. This one was the place where local retirees came to play chess, do their knitting, or practice their Peking opera.
Standing guard in front of Tiananmen Square under the watchful eyes of The Chairman
One of the smaller gates of Tiananmen
One of the pair of stone lions standing guard in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony
Handles on one of the giant bronze urns placed throughout the Forbidden City. These urns were used for holding water to put out fires.
Blue Sky, Red Wall, Bronze Urn
Getting lost wandering around the maze of corridors is a guarantee. Each one of the 9999 rooms in the Forbidden City has its own history.
The low afternoon sun cast a shadow of the decorated roof ridge from an adjacent building on the wall of this one.
Reflections
The cracked paintjob on this heavy door was starting to show its age.
The sun was out, but it wasn’t working. I was wearing every item of clothing I had.
In the late afternoon, people started to stream down the long lane between two courtyards.
Leaving the Meridian Gate~~~~~~~~~~
I did a 10k walk on the Great Wall from Jinshanling to Simatai. The terrain ranged from easy walk on flat and well-maintained sections of the wall to scrambling up vertigo-inducing steep and dilapidated sections.
Along the way, hawkers followed us and tried to sell us postcards and other souvenir. This being the dead of winter, farmers from villages along the wall took to selling trinkets for extra income.
Taking a break after one of the steep climbs
View through a window in a watch tower
The weak sun laid low on the southern sky the whole day, giving the brown hills and the wall a forlorn appearance.
A section of the wall that had not been rebuilt – not recently anyway~~~~~~~~~~
I rented a bicycle and rode aimlessly along the maze of lanes through old neighborhoods that had not been torn down. Many of the hutong I saw were crumbling, damp, cold, and lacked plumbing. As much as we decry the demise of these traditional dwellings, I wouldn’t be surprised if the residents would prefer to live in bright high-rise apartments.
An elderly man pushing his cart down a lane, seemingly oblivious to the fast-changing world around him
Banana Vendor
Tiny eateries packed tightly together along a small lane. Many of them consisted of no more than a couple of small tables in the front room of a family’s home, but the food they served was cheap, delicious, and filling.
Brightly lit and frequented by the well-heeled, Wangfujing is one of the premier shopping centers in Beijing.
At Panjiayuan Market, Mao statues seemed to be one of the hot-ticket items.
Hutong Scene 1
Hutong Scene 2
This Muslim eatery, just down the block from my hostel, served delicious breakfast. The locals loved it too.
Drying Vegetables
Coal, the main fuel used by a lot of people living in hutong, was still distributed by people pedaling flatbed tricycles.
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