Holland - China: a Travel Adventure

Beijing: Emperors, Communists and Capitalists

Flying into Beijing on a clear summer day is a great way to get a grip on Chinas imperial capital. As the plane begins its descent, the arid Mongolian grasslands to the north of the city give way to a craggy mountain range. Just as the mountain range gives way to the fertile Beijing plain, the watchtowers and garrisons of the snake-like Great Wall become visible on its southernmost peaks. Below them, the temple structures of the imperial Ming tombs appear, nestled among green fields. Within seconds, the northern edges of the city are in view, and then the approach lights of the runway.

Imagine for a moment that the plane didnt have to land but could continue flying south at this low altitude. After the airport, the fifth ring road would appear, an oblong highway that encircles the fast-expanding city. Shortly afterwards, the fourth and third ring roads would come into view, and then the second ring road, which is built on the remains of the ramparts of ancient Beijing.

Next, you would glimpse the sparkling yellow roofs of the most important structure in China, the Forbidden City, home to 24 Ming and Qing emperors from 1421 to 1911. The imperial axis, which metaphorically channels all power and authority in China, runs due south through the Forbidden City and its majestic throne room to the center of it allthe Gate of Heavenly Peace, or Tiananmen.

The gate divides the Forbidden City from vast Tiananmen Square to the south, and is far more than a gate in the Western sense of the word. It is a large structure of vermillion red with an impressive marble balustrade, topped with a two-storey pavilion that can hold several thousand people.

An elite guard standing at attention at the Gate of Heavenly Peace. Built in 1417, this rostrum is the symbolic center of power in China. Tiananmen Square lies to the south and the Forbidden City to the north, and a large portrait of Mao Zedong hangs over its central entrance.

Chinese tourists queue up to view the embalmed body of Chairman Mao Zedong in Tiananmen Square. Mao, looking smaller and more frail than he appeared in life, lies in a crystal sarcophagus.

It was here that the emperors appeared to their people and announced their decrees in front of kneeling dignitaries. It was also here that Mao Zedong declared the founding of the Peoples Republic of China in 1949. Although Chairman Mao died in 1976 and many of his policies have been reversed, his portrait still hangs over the main door, at the symbolic heart of China.

Tiananmen Square lies directly to the south of the gate, on a continuation of the imperial axis. It is reputedly the largest urban plaza in the world, with standing capacity for 600,000 people, and is where students gathered in 1989 to stage their pro-democracy demonstrations. Other significant demonstrations happened here in 1919 and 1976 as China moved through the turmoil of the fall of the Qing dynasty, republicanism, foreign occupation, civil war and the Cultural Revolution.

In the middle of the vast expanse of concrete sits Chairman Maos mausoleum. Inside, Maos body lies in a discreetly lit crystal coffin in front of an engraved homage which reads Eternal praise be to Chairman Mao, our great leader and master.

Two top-heavy triumphs of Stalinist architecture flank the square itselfthe Great Hall of the People to the east and the Museum of Chinese History to the west. Both were completed in 1959, just before the Sino-Soviet split, with sheer people power. Flush with revolutionary zeal, Beijingers toiled on the buildings after finishing their day jobs and got them completed in ten months.

Posing for a photograph in front of the Gate of Heavenly Peace is practically a patriotic duty for Chinese tourists. This eager young girl holds up two Chinese flags for good measure.

The Gate of Heavenly Peace bedecked with rows of flowers ahead of National Day. Chairman Mao proclaimed the establishment of the Peoples Republic of China here on October 1, 1949.

The Forbidden City was completed in 1421 and was the residence of 24 Ming and Qing emperors. The best of its collection of jades, bronzes and paintings was taken to Taiwan by retreating Nationalist forces in 1948, but there is still plenty to see in its various courtyards.

The Gate of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City is flanked by a pair of fierce bronze lions, guardians of imperial might. This is the female of the pair as she has a cub playing under her left foot.

The Chinese capital started life as a small frontier base, important mainly as a staging ground for campaigns against the nomadic peoples north of the mountains. In the 10th century these nomadic peoples pushed south and founded a walled city that eventually boasted a population close to one million. That in turn fell to the Mongols, and when the great Mongol leader Kublai Khan took control of all China in 1279, he made the city his capital.

Beijings remarkably straight avenues, like the grand boulevard that runs below the Gate of Heavenly Peace, originate from this time, as do the small lanes that crisscross the gridthese are called hutongs , a corruption of the Mongolian word hottog , which means water well.

The Mongolians were also responsible for a grand irrigation scheme that guaranteed water to the city and created a series of pleasure lakes to the north of the Forbidden City. The Italian traveler Marco Polos descriptions of Beijing at this time are full of wonder at its splendors, which were unmatched in the Western world.

The splendidly decorated Imperial Throne in the rather vast and gloomy Hall of Supreme Harmony. This is where the emperor, or Son of Heaven, was crowned and married. He also commissioned high-ranking military officials and interviewed the top candidates in the imperial examinations from his throne.

In contrast, modern Beijing is a seething mass of humanity and bureaucracy. As the capital city for most of the past 800 years, it houses all central government ministries, central military command and high-level delegations from each of Chinas provinces, regions and municipalities. It is also the center for state-sponsored art troupes, musicians and acrobats and boasts most of Chinas best universities, libraries and archives.