Beijing

Saturday - July 29.

Left Shanghai returning to the Hongquio Station but going via arrival security with our bags and tickets made finding the platform less drama today. We had lots of time and a helpful security guard and found our way to the bullet train platform and our seats.

We travelled to Beijing in a bullet type train that took 5 hours to cover a distance similar to Sydney to Melbourne (approx 1,000Km) travelling at speeds of 307KmpH for most of the journey with only 2 stops at major stations.

On arrival in Beijing we went by taxi to our hotel and quickly realised that the world’s craziest drivers are the taxi drivers in Beijing. Ian & Di’s taxi narrowly avoided a major accident whilst ours was yelling abuse and honking the horn at anyone in his vicinity. I guess in a city with a population officially of 16 million (but more like 21 million) some aggravation can be expected.

Sunday - July 30.

Today was the official start of our Zaren Gold trip. We were taken to the Temple of Heaven Park.

The emperors, along with his many officers and entourage would travel in a silent procession from the Forbidden City to the alter in the Imperial Vault of Heaven - especially at the winter solstice.

Here animal sacrifices were made to enable the emperor to seek good harvests, divine clearance and atonement for the sins of the people.

The Hall of Prayer exemplifies the architectural style and beauty of the buildings in for Good Harvests was rebuilt after the original Ming dynasty building burnt down in 1890.

That night we had a nice welcome dinner in our hotel. We were impressed by the quality of the food and the budget the company allowed.

Monday - July 31

Today’s excursion was the Great Wall of China, which naturally was preceded by the obligatory Jade factory Tour.

At the Great Wall, Ian & I climbed to the second station in very hot  & trying conditions. Many of the group stayed at the base due to the conditions.

Ian & I  climbed it - regardless of the warning

We then went to the Ming Tombs in the afternoon. The complex was used for burial and archaeologists differ in precisely what was happening here.

Emperor Zhi Di - The most famous of the Ming Dynasty Emperors and made very significant achievements in political,  economic, military and diplomatic aspects of his rule.

The 1Km avenue of statues was used to pay homage to the emperor.

Have you every seen a elephant do this - No, neither have we nor the craftsmen.
But their work is very beautiful since they had never seen a elephant

One the road back we passed the “Birds Nest” the athletics arena for Beijing 2008 Olympics.

View from the road bridge with the Bird's Nest in the background

Tuesday - August 1

Commencing at the famous Tiananmen Square, the world’s largest public square (440,000 sq meters)-

We thought of the failed democracy movement that confronted the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in June 1989. Many buildings around the square have Russian architectural influence due to the China’s alliance when they were built.

No lucky prize for guessing who the guy is in the middle.

The Forbidden City is ringed by a 52m wide moat and towering walls. We entered though the South Gate known as the Meridian gate, and mainly followed a South- North axis - a succession of walled complexes with magnificent gate entrances to the central complex.

The grandiose main palace buildings are located in the centre of the complex with more intimate living quarters of the emperor and his family consisting of smaller palaces & gardens at the northern end.

The palace was erected by the Ming Dynasty Emperor in the early 15^th century and took 14 years to complete. It has been home to 24 emperors until the overthrow of the Quin dynasty in 1911. Much of the place was designed to dwarf & humble mere humans who were admitted inside.  

There were also a number of Museum Collections and we particularly enjoyed the exhibit of where East meets West was very interesting together with the paintings of rural peoples

Further inside we saw many buildings and exhibits of the lifestyle of the emperor and his family. One interesting area was the ancient doorway used in the movie The Last Emperor - the only film crew ever allowed into the complex.

This gate was used in the movie "The Last Emperor"
The only time commercial photography was allowed.

Later that evening we saw the very energetic show called the Legend of Kung Fu.

A story is told in a highly gymnastic style and demonstrating the art and beliefs of Kung Fu. It has been shown every night since 2004 at the centrally located Red Theatre.

A young little boy (Chun Yi - pure one) is left at the temple by his single mother, where he learns skills with Kung Fu and Zen and becomes the warrior monk and then becomes the chief temple monk. With dance, gymnastics and energetic Kung Fu displays, the audience is taken on his life journey of training, loss of direction.and finally from his following of the Buddhist faith and suffering of remorse; he undergoes the glorious ritual of passing through the temple gate and becoming a monk.

After the show we enjoyed Peking duck dinner at a leading centrally located restaurant. Then we left to wait for our train at the railways station.

To cap off the long day, we waited and waited finally departing on the Chinese train @ 0.40am (Wednesday morning)

Our odyssey on the Zaren Gold Train had finally started.