In our travels, we have observed that the size of a country is directly proportional to the magnitude and scale of its monument. We see this in the US, Russia and certainly China. One can not help but get awed by the grandeur of things in China. What we observed in China was the sparseness in architecture. Where as the buildings and monuments are grand in scale, they are symbols of elegance in simplicity which contrasts dramatically with a place like Italy. In our interactions, we found the people to be similar. Direct and clear in expression and generally minding their own business.
The Tienanmen - The National monument of China. We're standing on Tiananmen Square, one of the largest city squares in the world. It's imposing in its barren serenity and maintained to impress and awe.
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The Forbidden city, Beijing, China. The seat of power of Ming and Qing China! Understated in its elegance and imposing in scale. It would have intimidated any enemy!
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Vistas of the Forbidden City. This place can be bitterly cold and windy in January but also has fewer tourists then. Pick your poison!
One of the pictures in this slideshow is of the Concubine quarters of the Forbidden city. The fate of the concubines is not a very happy tale. If the story of founder of this place, i.e. the Ming emperor Yongle is to be believed, then this person was not the kind you want to disagree with on any matter! It's pretty interesting how similar the story and timelines of Ming (15th century), Ottoman (15th century zenith) of Turkey and the Mughals (16th century) of India is. The motto appears to be: "Conquer all you can, all power rests with the emperor, and the objective of the emperor is to crush rebels, build grand palaces, employ slave labor, rule with an Iron fist and keep large harems" |
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And here it is - The Wall! Much has been said about it but in all our travels, this has to be the most wonderous construction that the human being has ever made - till date! The wall is actually quite big even width and height wise and to think it stretches for thousands of miles is beyond belief - that too without any help of modern tools!
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Spellbound by the wall in Mutianyu |
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We found that Vegetarian food was not easy to come by in China (even in a large city like Beijing). But due to the Buddhist influence, it's not unheard of like in some parts of the world. The veggie dumplings were fantastic and we got used to eating our food with hot tea. It was not very difficult to eat with Chop once we got the hang of it. The Chinese food in China felt like comfort food compared to Chinese food we find in US and India. We also found continental food easy to come by. Indian food was noticeable in its absence which is strange considering how popular Chinese food is in India! Tea is an experience and speciality teas can be extremely expensive. There are dedicated Tea shops! Street food near downtown Beijing. Not for the faint hearted!! |
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Vistas of normal life in Beijing! The underground Metro is absolutely fantastic. Beijing appears strikingly clean and well maintained! It's amazing that most of the modern developments have happened in the last 15 years! The road are broad and there are dedicated pedestrian crosswalks and bicycle lanes! None of this existed some 15 years ago. This is what a powerful government can accomplish! |
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A Hutong - While most of Beijing has been modernized, they have kept aside some old city remnants for heritage reasons. |
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The Richly decorated Lama temple. Photography not allowed inside the temple. It's beautiful and serene! |
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The Summer Palace of Qing Empress Dowager Cixi is spectacular and a visual delight. There are long walks along a beautiful gardens and steep climb up to the pinacle for a birds eye view of the park - palace! The last empress of China surely led a good life! Quickly after the reign of Cixi, the Chinese empire collapsed and moved toward the adoptation of communist rule of the People's Republic of China. |
