It’s aready more than 2 years that I live between China and Italy. During this time I often flew to Běijīng but I never had the time for traveling there. My tours of the city just included a stay at the airport…a very nice airport but not so interesting ^^
Last december I decided to stay some days in Běijīng before coming back to Italy for the Christmas holidays: that was my first real visit to the city and my impression was more than good ^^
I stayed in Běijīng just for 2 days during which I decide to visit just few places. Most of all I wanted to see something old and traditional so I focused on the hútòng and I spent my time walking around and visiting some temples.
I think I arrived in Běijīng at the right moment: december is very cold there but luckly it was sunny, the sky was so blue and the air clean and fresh. Finally a real winter weather!
I chose to stay in a hotel in a hútòng, because I was interesting in these traditional neighborhoods. Hútòng now are very tourist places so you can find many hotels and hostels no metter what is your budget. I stayed at the Happy dragon courtyard hostel, a nice hostel (you can choose between dormitory or private rooms with bathroom) in a not too turist hútòng. The location is very good: the main street is full of restaurants and shops, tourist spots are easily reached by foot and it is very close to the Zhangzizhong subway station (line 5). I booked a private room, with double bed and bathroom inside for about 190 Yuan…a good price for Běijīng. The room was nice and clean, with heater and air conditioner, tv and kettle; because it is in an old house renewed, door and windows are kind of original but even if it was cold and windy outside no draughts came inside. I think I made a good choice, it is a cozy hotel where to stay.
As I said before, I didn’t have much time for visiting this big city and most of all I was interesting in traditional spots (living in Shenzhen doesn’t feed my interest on traditional culture much) so I decided just to walk around in the heart of the city and maybe visit some museums. At the end I’ve spent most of my time walking slowly through small lanes, taking pics of everything around me, trying local snacks and dishes, visiting the Lama Temple and the National art museum.
The Hútòng, 胡同, are narrow streets common in the north of China, most of all in Běijīng, formed by lines of traditional courtyard residences. The word hútòng was used from the Yuan Dynasty, it comes from Mongolian and means “water well”.
This kind of neighborhood was popular and well organized during the chinese dynastic era, but following the founding of the People’s Republic many hútòng disappeared replaced by wide boulevards. Today there are still many ancient hútòng , some of them are even protected area and some have become very tourist spot, icons of the cultural heritage of the city. In these neighborhoods now you can find many shops, museums and tourist attractions; the most famous can be very crowded and some part can look like “fake old style” but if you visit the “normal” ones you can feel a relaxed and peaceful atmosphere.
The second day of my stay, I decided to visit the Lama Temple (雍和宫, Yōnghé gōng). This temple is the most important tibetan temple (and monastery) of Běijīng, it is a very popular place, crowded outside and inside. The works for this builing started during the Qing dynasty in 1694: at the beginning it was an imperial residence, later half of it was converted in a monastery. Subsequently, it became the residence for many Tibetan Buddhist monks and the national centre of Lama administration.
I like visiting temples even if I am not religious. When I go in a temple I always feel very calm inside; I feel the atmosphere is always very relaxing and, even if I don’t know almost anything about these religions, I feel a kind of cozy feeling inside when I look at these big gold or stone’s statues. Also visiting this temple has been a relaxing experience, even if there were so many people (and many tourists too) that spot was very quiet and silent. It cost 25 yuan but I think it worth it; the area around is full of small shops, most of them sell goods related to buddhism but you can find also snacks or something to drink. The main street in front of the entrance of the parking is very busy, so the best waay for going there is catching the subway (Line 2 or Line 5, Yonghegong -Lama Temple stop), the station is very close to the entrance.
Just in front of the entrance you can find a steet that takes you to the Confucius Temple, the second biggest in China. Unfortunately when i went there it was closed for maintenance so I just took a walk through the street of that hútòng.
At the end I can say that my short experience in Běijīng has been very positive, I really enjoyed my time there: the air was fresh and cold, very beautiful days for visit a city walking around.
Trip Frames 