beijing city guide:
Off the Beaten Track
Looking along a section of the Great Wall at Mutianyu. © Glenn Beanland Lonely Planet Images
Ancient Observatory
The Lama (or Tibetan) Temple, with its beautifully landscaped gardens, stunning frescoes and tapestries, and incredible carpentry is a temple to die for. Inside is a Buddha statue for every occasion but the most impressive is the 18 m-high (60 ft) sandalwood statue of the Maitreya (future) Buddha in the Wanfu Pavilion, carved from a single tree. The first thing you encounter is the holy shins--they're at eye level--and from there it's a head-tipper to the ceiling as the statue soars up and over the galleries. Flitting around the future Buddhas head is what appears to be spinning prayer wheels, emitting a sweet harmonious whine. Closer inspection reveals them to be pigeons with whistles attached, doomed to be followed by that sound wherever they go. You can't help thinking the poor things are on one of the lower levels of samsara or the Wheel of Life--it's a crappy job even for a pigeon.
The temple is a working lamasery so it's closed early in the mornings for prayer. Some have questioned whether the monks in the tennis shoes are real monks or government stooges. Most tour guides will answer that of course they are real Tibetan monks; that the alleged oppression of Tibet is propaganda put about by the Dalai Lama; that Tibetans love the Chinese; and that the existence of the temple is proof of China's good intentions. Take this with a grain of salt.
Underground City
In the late 1960s, with a Soviet invasion looming, Beijing's citizens started to go underground. The shadow-city which resulted was constructed by volunteers and shop assistants living in the Qianmen (Front Gate) area south of Tiananmen Square. About 2000 people with simple tools and 10 years of spare-time work created this subterranean network which has now been put to use as an unofficial tourist attraction and site for everything from warehouses to hotels, restaurants and even a roller-skating rink. There are roughly 90 entrances to the complex, all of which are hidden in shops along Qianmen's main streets. A fluorescent wall map reveals the routing of the entire tunnel system.
Simatai Great Wall
While the tourist masses tend to head for Badaling to grope the Great Wall of China, there are more challenging stretches of this historical and architectural marvel within an easy day-trip from Beijing proper. One of the least developed (for now) is Simatai, and it's not for the faint-hearted. The 19 km (12 mi) section is very steep, with a few slopes built at a 70-degree incline but it's worth it to see the Wall au natural, in contrast to the heavily-touristed Badaling and Mutianyu sections, which are so well restored they could have been built yesterday.
Tianjin
OK, it's not in Beijing--but it is Beijing's port. Officially a special municipality belonging to no province. Tianjin is nicknamed 'Shanghai of the North' because of its history as a foreign concession port, its Europeanized architecture and impressive industrial output. Apart from wandering around imagining you're in Vienna, you should investigate Tianjin's antique market, a massive collection of junk and gems which miraculously survived the Cultural Revolution. Ancient Culture Street is an attempt to re-create an ancient Chinese street, complete with traditional-looking buildings and vendors flogging cultural goodies to the strains of Western music. Hai River Park is lined with photo booths, people fishing, early-morning t'ai chi exponents, outdoor opera singers and old men toting birdcages. The old part of town is chock-a-block full of lanes, traditional architecture and dilapidated temples.
Drum Tower
This tower is the Big Ben of Beijing. Drums were beaten to mark the hour and time was kept with a water clock. Not surprisingly the rise and rise of Rolex and other watchmaking companies has made the tower somewhat redundant. The buildings also came close to ruin during the Cultural Revolution when they were reviled as artifacts from a feudal past. The Drum Towers have survived both Swiss engineering and Maoist scorn and are now protected treasures.
It's easy to spend money in an inept manner in Beijing: the tourist emporia with their hectares of jade and pearl are enticing but prices are comparable to those you'll pay in 'Chinatowns' throughout the world. Beneath the Drum Tower, opposite a hutong fruit market, is a labyrinth of junk shops that will appeal to op-shoppers and bargain hunters. Antiques, gems and other Chinese goodies are more reasonably priced and there's a greater range of off-beat items.
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