I chose to stay at Mövenpick – a nice looking 4 star hotel with several restaurants offering European cuisine. It’s not that there is something wrong with Chinese cuisine, but I discovered that there were many different types of Chinese cuisine depending on the region.
It appeared that the one known in Europe is not the same as the one in Beijing. In Beijing they use a different type of soya sauce which is quite sweet. Luckily, you can always find some Stella Artois to make your life easier.
night skyline across beijing city
There are many things to be seen around Beijing: The Temple of Heaven where the emperors used to prey; many Buddhist temples; the Beihai park - full of extraordinary flowers and plants; the Forbidden city, of course.
Do you remember “The Last Emperor”? The summer palace of empress Tz’u-hsi is very impressive. Tz’u-hsi was maybe the cruelest woman emperor in all times but also one of the most powerful. Her story is very intriguing.
Amongst the many places, undoubtedly the most spectacular is the Great Wall. Needless to say it is full of tourists. I was surprised to find out that it looked exactly like on the ancient paintings I’ve seen. It is winding along the mountain ridges, intangible, unthinkable, unending. Longer than you could imagine.
The Great Wall of China
It stays there as a monument of some clever defense plan or of some megalomaniac ambition. I don’t know which one of the two. The wall is something you must see at least once. I can’t help but remember that beautiful song of Bob Dylan:
“Then take me disappearin’ through the smoke rings of my mind,
Down the foggy ruins of time, far past the frozen leaves,
The haunted, frightened trees, out to the windy beach,
Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow.
…
Let me forget about today until tomorrow”
