Travel To China & Taiwan by Stig Albeck
A visit to Beijing China is known as the Middle Kingdom or the Central Kingdom and its central point is the capital, Beijing. Chinese culture has developed in the different areas of the nation over thousands of years and since the emperors took up residence in Beijing and made it the capital city, it has been favored with one fantastic building after another. Today, after the fall of the empire, tourists and the general populace are admitted to the opulent palaces, the temples and all the places where the emperors once made their way.
Beijing’s vastly rich cultural heritage, from its thousand-year history to the burgeoning economic progress of today, creates an immediate and grand impression on the occasion of a visit to the capital. One is impressed with it all – from the imperial dynasty’s ancient and grandiose structures to the innumerable buildings that have shot up during recent years’ explosive growth. Construction is going on everywhere, and things happen so quickly that exciting new locations have sprung up on every new trip to China.
Chinese culture and gastronomy are something most travelers look forward to, and even in the midst of newly-constructed areas, lovely spots with an authentic atmosphere are never far away. To the north, close to Beijing, the Great Wall stretches out and the mountains hide the many burial grounds of most of the earlier emperors. These, too, are things one ought to see in order to get a proper impression of the Chinese society’s historical achievements.
Have a good trip!
The Beijing area has been inhabited for thousands of years, all the way back to the time when the Peking man lived in the area around the present city’s southwestern suburb of Zhoukoudian. The area was extremely fertile and dwellings flourished over time. The formation of various states took place during the millennium up to the birth of Christ, and in the third century BC, the first Qin Emperor, Qin Shi Huang, united six states into the first major unified state in China. The city of Ji, which lay in the area of present-day Beijing, became the administrative center. Ji’s military and strategic role was maintained until the close of the Tang dynasty at the beginning of the tenth century, when the Khitanes from the north conquered the city.
The Khitanes made Ji their second capital, giving the city the name Nanjing, which means ‘Southern Capital’. Under the Liao dynasty of the Khitanes, from 926-1125, a number of palaces were built. The city was to be used as the starting point for further expansion towards the rest of the Chinese territory. From 1125, the Liao dynasty was replaced by the Jin dynasty (1125-1234), which made Nanjing the new capital of their kingdom. Nanjing was renamed Zhongdu, the ’Central Capital’. Zhongdu competed with the Song dynasty to the south, which was ruled from Hangzhou.
Around the year 1150, the Jin emperor undertook a large-scale expansion of Zhongdu. Palaces and numerous large public buildings were constructed. The population of the city grew – it was during this period that it reached one million. In 1215, the Mongolian army invaded Zhongdu, giving it the status of a provincial capital subordinated to the Mongolian capital of Kaiping. In 1271, Kubla Khan established the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) and made Zhongdu its capital. It now became known by the Chinese name Dadu, but was even better known by its Mongolian name, Khanbalik.
Kubla Khan’s realm became the greatest in the history of the world so far. The Mongolians also conquered the southern Song dynasty, thus uniting the entire Chinese land area. For the first time, Khanbalik was the capital of all China. Zhongdu, from the time of the Yin dynasty, was destroyed by a number of fires, and then Kubla Khan founded his new capital northeast of the old center – this was the beginning of Beijing as we know it today. The years 1267-1293 saw the building of the major share of palaces and fortifications.
In the 1360s, Mongolian rule was weakened and in 1368, the Ming army conquered Khanbalik. The city was renamed Beiping and came under Ming rulership from Nanjing. During the reign of the first two Ming emperors, Beiping was a regional center. The great city walls and The Forbidden City were built before Emperor Yonglei moved the capital there in 1421, now calling it Beijing, the Northern Capital.
Beijing’s development continued with extensive building projects throughout the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Construction activities continued under the Manchurian Qing dynasty (1644-1911) and vast gardens and parks were added. Both the Ming and Qing dynasties elaborated on the city plan that had been conceived in Khanbalik times. It was based on a central axis from south to north with the imperial palace as its absolute center.
After the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1911, the Republic of China was established under the rule of the Koumintang. Nanjing was intended as the capital, but Beijing maintained its position – but only until 1928 when Nanjing became the official capital of the republic. Beijing returned to its former name – Beiping. In 1937, Beijing became part of the Japanesecontrolled Chinese area and became the capital – under the name Beijing. In the time after the Japanese domination from 1945-1949, it returned to its former name of Beiping.
Through the decades, social unrest had grown and in January of 1949, the Chinese rebel army entered the city. A few months later, on 1 October 1949, Mao Zedong proclaimed the establishment of the People’s Republic of China from the Tianamen gate. Both Beijing’s area and its population increased notably during the last half of the 1900s, and especially in Deng Xiaoping’s time much construction work was initiated. For a great number of years, development has been almost explosive with construction of new neighborhoods, development of infrastructure, new office buildings, shopping centers and more.
Ancient imperial China meets the new, modern nation in the city, which, at the time of writing, is being extensively enlarged in anticipation of the Olympic Games to be held in Beijing in 2008.
Tour 1: Beijiing
1. Tian’amnmen Square/Tian’anmen Guangchang
At the middle of the square is an obelisk raised in
1958 in memory of the heroes of China. The square’s most centrally positioned building, the mausoleum of Chairman Mao, also stands here. The mausoleum was opened in 1977, the year after Mao’s death, and every day thousands of Chinese make their way here from every part of the enormous nation to see Mao’s embalmed corpse.
At the southernmost end of the square is the great and impressive Qianmen gate, which was originally the southern entrance to Beijing. The gate, which consists of two separate buildings, was erected in 1421 and is part of Emperor Yongle’s city, which also includes the Forbidden City. The southernmost building is called the Archery Tower, Jianlou, while the northernmost is the main entrance gate, built into a preserved part of the city wall.
The northern end of Tian’anmen Square is surrounded by the Great Hall of the People/Renmin Dahuitang to the west, The Historical Museum of China (Zhongguo Lishi Bowuguan) and the
Revolutionary Museum of China (Zhongguo Geming Bowuguan) to the east and the Tian’anmen gate with Mao’s portrait to the north.
2. The Tian’anmen gate
The Chinese emperors traveled once a year to Heaven’s Temple, Tiantan. On their way there from the imperial palace in The Forbidden City, they stopped at the Tian’anmen gate to make offerings. The emperors would then continue by way of the centermost of the five marble bridges that face Tian’anmen square. The emperor alone used the central bridge; everyone else had to use the other four. On 1 October 1949, on the balcony of Tian’anmen gate, Mao was proclaimed founder of the People’s Republic of China. Today, the huge portrait of Mao, which is so well-known to the world, hangs under that very balcony looking out over the square. Today it is possible to take a guided tour of Tian’anmen Gate itself. One can go up onto the balcony and stand where Mao stood, looking out across the colossal square.
3. The Forbidden City/Zi Jin Cheng
of the complex began in 1404 and in 1421 Ming Emperor Yongle moved in with his court. The
emperors of China lived here until the republic was instituted in 1911.
In imperial times, the Forbidden City housed up to 10,000 persons, about 3,000 of which were eunuchs. Despite the numerous inhabitants, there were no problems finding space, as there were more than 8,500 rooms.
The central part of the Forbidden City is the imperial palace, Gugong, which is placed in the center of Yongle’s geomantically designed city. The imperial palace is thus placed on the northsouth axis of Beijing and is protected by 10- meter-high walls and a 50-meter-broad moat.
Starting from the moat at the southern end, the first thing one meets is the mighty Meridian Gate, Wumen, which is 35 meters high. Then the landscaped Golden Stream runs in front of the Gate of Highest Harmony. The gate is the entrance to the front courtyard of the complex.
In the courtyard, there are three impressive buildings, which together symbolize both the three Buddhas and the three pure gods of Taoism. The southernmost building, Tauhe Dian, is the Hall of Highest Harmony, within which the Chinese Dragon Throne is placed. It was in this building that the emperor reigned and imperial coronations took place here. The other two buildings are the Hall of Middle Harmony (Zhonghe Dian) and the Hall of Preserving Harmony (Baohe Dian), respectively.
The next building is the Gate of Heavenly Purity, Quanqingmen, which is the entrance to the imperial family’s residence. The actual living quarters of the emperor and his family were located in the Palace of Heavenly Purity, Qianqing Gong, and here one can still see some of the original interior, for example, the sleeping quarters.
To the north, we find the pleasant, finely landscaped imperial gardens, after which we leave the Forbidden City by the Gate of Spiritual Courage, Shenwumen. Before exiting, however, one can take a stroll between the buildings to the east and west of the actual axis of the palace. Here one can see a museum that holds relics from the palace and The Wall of Nine Dragons, Jiulongbi.
Tour 2: Beijiing
4. Jingshan Park
In the time of Qianlong, the park was called the Garden of 100 Fruits because of the many fruit trees that grew there. The present park was laid out later and opened to the public in 1928. At the top of Coal Mountain itself, one is rewarded with a fantastic view of the Chinese capital – especially the Forbidden City to the south and the Drum Tower to the North.
If one climbs to the summit via the eastern side, one passes the spot where the last Ming Emperor, Chongzhen, hanged himself in 1644 when an army of peasants under the leadership of Li Zicheng invaded Beijing. A new tree has now been planted to mark the spot.
5. Beihai Park/Beihai Gongyuan
Today, nothing remains of Kubla Khan’s palace. On the spot where it stood, the 44-yard-high White Dagoba Temple, Bai Ta, was built in 1680. The White Dagoba Temple is a Buddhist shrine whose characteristic form can be seen from afar. The style is Tibetan and it was chosen on the occasion of the Dalai Lama’s first visit to Beijing. Across from Jade Island is The Round City, Tuancheng, named after its shape. In The Round City you can see the building called Chenghuang Dian; here, the 1.6-yard-high Buddha in white jade can be seen. In the park we also find the Nine Dragon Wall from 1756 (it was, however, reconstructed in 1885) and the five pavilions, all connected to each other by bridges.
6. Prins Gong’s Palace/Gong Wang Fu
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