A Whirlwind Tour of Beijing - Part 2

This was the really big day, 11 miles of walking by the end, according to my iphone. When I looked at the map, it was pretty much a straight line north from Tiananmen Square to the Drum and Bell Towers. I wasn't sure how long it would take to see everything between, but I figured we could start at Tiananmen and see how far we got.

We took the subway to the Tiananmen East stop and walked upstairs to find lines of people waiting to go through security to get into Tiananmen Square. The lines were long, but it was only a short wait before we were on the huge square with crowds of people. We happened to walk out when the fountain show was happening in front of the Gate of Heavenly Peace. Mao's Mausoleum already had a long line, so we decided to save that for another time. The Forbidden City is directly north of Tiananmen Square through an underground passageway.

The Forbidden City or Palace Museum is massive and crowded. Everything about it involved lines and crowds, like many of the sights in Beijing. Despite this, it really is fascinating to see. Starting at the south end, we entered into The Forbidden City through the Meridian Gate and the Gate of Supreme Harmony and wandered from hall to hall. Mostly everyone followed the main route, so if you wandered just off the main path, it was possible to get away from the crowds. Not all of The Forbidden City is open to tourists, but there was plenty to see. We spent at least a couple hours there, and probably could have spent more, but we were ready to move on. The main ticket gets you into most of the sights, but the Clock Exhibition Hall requires an additional ticket and we decided not to go into that area. The far north end is the Imperial Garden and then the exit.

Jingshan Park is directly north of The Forbidden City, right across the road. There is an admission ticket, but it was only 2 RMB. The park is one of the few hills in Beijing and was created from the excavation of the moat surrounding The Forbidden City. It's a small park, but a nice break from the crowds, and there are some pretty pavilions. Following the paths up to the top, there is a nice view over The Forbidden City and then exiting on the west side it's easy to go right over to Beihai Park.

Between Jingshan and Beihai Parks, there is a short hutong or alleyway. A number of shops were selling food items. I had been wanting some tea and I found a tea shop in the alleyway and managed to buy some red tea. There were also two sweets shops with a number of different cookies and cakes, I think mostly made from sesame and peanut. I sampled a couple and found them quite tasty.

Beihai Park is a pleasant park that surrounds Beihai Lake. The Jade Islet with Yongan Temple at the center, is a small island in Beihai Lake that was created from the making of the lake. To the north of Beihai is the Shichachai neighbor hood, with many alleyways of shops, which were pretty touristy.

Continuing north are the Drum & Bell Towers. This is another area that seemed a bit off the main tourist route. It was not crowded at all. The towers face each other across a square. Each tower has a very steep set of stair to climb, along with a view of the city and a large bell in one and large drums in the other. We were able to catch a drumming demonstration, which was fun to see.

It was only mid-afternoon by the time we reached the towers so we had some time to explore the hutongs in the area. Heading east from the Drum Tower along the main road, my first goal was more tea at shop called Famous Tea of China. Just before reaching the tea shop, I found a hole-in-the-wall dumpling shop that looked popular. Softball sized, these dumplings were the largest I have ever seen. They had three varieties and they were 1-2 RMB. I pointed at one, which ended up being the most expensive one and then bit into it to see what I got. It turned out to be black bean and was delicious. Almost next door, I found Famous Tea of China and purchased some of the prettiest green tea I've seen, along with some jasmine tea.

And then turning south we wandered through the hutongs. Nanluogu Xiang was the touristy part with lots of shops and restaurants and people, but turning east or west off the main street, it was mostly residential and pretty calm. And down a quiet alleyway, we found Great Leap Brewing with craft brews and a courtyard to sit in. We got a flight and ginger soda and sat until the sky got dark and thunder started to rumble and we headed back to the closest subway station and nearly made it before it started to pour.