Hot on the heels of the new calendar year beginning, it's now time to celebrate Chinese New Year (any excuse for a celebration!). The coming of Chinese New Year, combined with the surprisingly cold weather we had at the end of January, made me think about a great trip to China I was lucky enough to take a few years ago.
I went to Beijing in October, and despite still being autumn it was already freezing, even when wearing a jumper, jacket, gloves and scarf. Even the street cats in Beijing have big fluffy coats of long hair to keep them warm.
Beijing was an impressive city to walk around in, with its huge, imposing Soviet-style government buildings and boulevards contrasting with narrow side-street neighbourhoods (known as hutongs). The hutongs are amazingly atmospheric, with single-storey grey stone houses and shops on cobbled streets that look as if they've barely changed for a century — although when I was there many were being knocked down to be replaced by new and expensive looking replicas of what was just demolished. Some of the hutongs were also night-life hubs, full of great bars and cafes, music venues and restaurants.
An obvious highlight of Beijing is the huge and heavily policed Tiananmen Square, a place full of history and ghosts. Next to the Square is the incredible Forbidden City, which is big enough to get lost in for an entire day. I was lucky in that apart from a few tour groups, the place was almost empty when I was there — maybe because of the freezing weather — so I was able to wander alone through many of the ancient palace's maze-like passageways and courtyards.
A couple of hours out of Beijing, part of the Great Wall can be explored, and once again I was lucky in being one of the few people there on the day I climbed over thousands of the tiny steps that cover the top of the wall. The misty views there were picturesque and dream-like to the point of being surreal.
Beijing was an unforgettable experience, and I hope to go there again one day. In the meantime, happy Chinese New Year!
Ben Edwards
Editor
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