These sights are such cultural icons that, like the Mona Lisa, it is hard to see them with fresh eyes. Even so, we had to be moved by the same famous view of the Imperial Courtyard as that of the infant emperor Pu Yi in Bertolucci's film The Last Emperor (right).
The crowds of tourists were mostly Chinese, coming from the provinces for the first time to see their capital, a sign of the growing affluence. They like to be photographed alongside "Longnoses" (Westerners). We were everywhere impressed by just how friendly the Chinese were towards us. |
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Beijing was teeming - it alone has four times the entire population of New Zealand. Almost everything looked modern. Tower blocks loomed everywhere, exotically designed glass-fronted corporate ones and drab concrete apartments. The traffic density is frightening. The older bicycles (right) are giving way to motor scooters, and those in turn to flashy new cars. Ignoring all rules of the road, drivers were constantly switching lanes missing one another by inches. At road junctions when the lights changed, traffic from all directions intermingle at once, causing chaos. The scale of road and subway building, though huge, struggles to keep up. |
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The city parks, with their avenues of gingko trees glorious in their yellow leaves at this time of year, provide a haven. Beijingers retire at age 55 and many older people are to be seen in the parks where they meet up for exercise, tai-chi, or even community singing. People seemed to pride themselves on keeping fit.
We had read of social unrest in China but there was no sign of that, or, with income and life expectancy rising rapidly, of dissatisfaction with the government. Despite the military presence in Tian’anmen Square this did not feel like a police state, though we were conscious of the rather heavy-handed state media control and censorship. |
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A few of the old ‘hutong’ areas are being preserved in the centre of Beijing (where we spotted this game of Chinese chess, right). These are old style two storey dwellings within courtyards, with narrow passageways between. With housing costs having risen astronomically, those who live here consider themselves fortunate to be able to live in these crowded conditions. One couple provided lunch for our small group in their house, squeezing us into their two tiny rooms, the husband cooking and the wife being hostess.
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With its unregulated traffic, and the huge coal-fired power stations, Beijing and the other cities we visited have smog worse than anything since London of the 1950’s, though it does at least produce atmospheric sunsets (right).
We were glad to be out of Beijing in the fresh air for a day to visit the Great Wall at the Juyongguan pass (below), where we climbed 960 uneven steps to the top. It too was heavily restored, one of a few sections permitted to tourists owing to the wear-and-tear they cause. Beyond the top, the ‘wild wall’ as it is called was so ruinous that we could barely make out where it had run. |
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Another city, another tour guide. Xi’An, the ancient capital of China and the world’s largest city for many centuries, was, like Beijing, a modern city with some much restored ancient monuments. We were told that no high-rise buildings were allowed inside the area of the old city wall – at a mere 35 stories, our hotel wasn’t considered high-rise.
Here we visited the Terracotta Army, part of the mausoleum of the first great Chinese emperor, finished in 221 BC. Much of the site, including the tomb itself, still remains to be excavated. “We are leaving it as a gift for the future to discover”, our guide explained. We suggested that if the tomb had been known about for two millenia, it was inevitable it had been robbed. |
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“Impossible. It is still sealed”, said our guide, “and nowadays is well-guarded”. Ironically, we learned when we returned to New Zealand that the tomb was being robbed even as she spoke.
After this our tour group of 14 split up. As our plane to Shanghai left last, we had most of an extra day in Xi’An on our own. “What would you like to see?” our guide asked. We said we’d like to visit a temple high up in the mountains outside the city that she had pointed out on our journey to the Terracotta Army. She was dubious. “Western tourists don’t usually go there, but we can if you really want.” We needed to take a cable car up the first part of the mountain. Set in tranquil pine forests among the Lishan mountains, Laomu Temple is a Taoist convent, very like the Buddhist temples but with different idols. No incense sticks, but many prayer ribbons fluttering in the trees. Almost alone, apart from the 'nuns' dressed in simple peasant clothes, we finally discovered the serenity and sense of timelessness that was so missing from the tourist traps we had previously visited.
Below: three religions, three temples in Xí'An. Left, the Wild Goose Buddhist Temple. Centre, the Great Mosque. Right, Laomu Taoist Temple.
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Then, to our surprise, our guide took us to a second, far less known, emperor's mausoleum full of terracotta figures. This one dates from 153 AD. So far only 10 of possibly 86 pits have been excavated. We were the only Western tourists there. The figures were smaller than life-size, and originally dressed rather than painted so with the clothing and wooden arms rotted away, rather less impressive. They are presented in the positions found, rather than with the restoration of the Terracotta Army. As well as soldiers there are citizens, everyday implements, and thousands of domestic animals (detail right. Unfortunately for my photo, the exhibits are displayed in low light to help preserve them). |
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Shanghai, by contrast, has no pretentions to anquity, yet tucked away in its centre is the extraordinary Yuyuan garden built to the classic Chinese model with pagodas, huge rock gardens and a lake, for an emperor in the C17th. We were fascinated by the wealth of roof detail in all the traditional buildings we visited, but nowhere more so than here. The photo (right) shows a typical corner.
China’s new wealth is at its most conspicuous in Shanghai. There are more dollar billionaires living here than in any other city on earth, wanting to buy all the latest Western style consumer goods. The photo below is of the skyscrapers in the financial section as seen from the Bund.
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From the top of one these, we looked down on the river winding its way through the city centre carrying many cargo ships, and like on the Thames in London, a variety of river boat trips. There was a vertiginous view down 88 stories of the hollow centre of this skyscraper (above). The skyscrapers are particularly impressive lit at night, that above right is the Oriental Pearl tower.
Even from the air China looks different. As we flew off for a final brief stopover in Hong Kong, we could see the valleys full of mist leaving only the tops of the mountain ranges visible, like a traditional Chinese painting. |
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