Beijing, Peoples Republic of China - Part 1

We've been looking forward to this, our first visit to Beijing, China for many years. First reason, Tiananmen Square. Second; The Great Wall. Both destinations have been on our bucket list - & what a great, firsthand history lesson it was. While we made both destinations, it wasn’t without incident or many challenges, most imposed by the Chinese government. We’re glad to be back on the ship, though we had an excellent, caring guide for two days & made some great memories.

Formal Function - Evening Before Arrival

We booked an overnight - or OVERLAND as Holland America classifies it, and did so several months ago. We were with a group of 60 couples, or 3 bus-loads of folks. Today, I’ll cover Day 1 which began nearly 90 minutes late. We packed-up Sunday night after the ‘White & Black’ formal function. After an early morning breakfast, we watched the sail-in from our cabin because the winds were quite brisk and the temps around 40. There wasn’t much to see because the port is situated in Xingang, largely an industrial harbor approximately 2.5 hours from Beijing. In addition to cargo vessel operations, there’s a huge cruise ship terminal in the seaport, much larger and more modern than most in the US…though you’d never know it based on their skeleton staffing. We were told to meet our overland group along with our luggage at 8:30, to depart at 8:45. We arrived at 8:00 (early as usual) but didn’t leave the ship until 10:00. The Chinese government only provided ONE immigration officer to process 1,000 people, and we were later told that this is typical in China – that they purposely delay or throw roadblocks whenever ships carrying Americans arrive. I’m still trying to understand the particulars around this, and don’t want to speculate or mention the many rumors I’ve heard. If I can get some facts, I’ll share in a later post but suffice it to say, it threw our entire schedule off and we scrambled for two days trying to catch up. More on that later.

As I mentioned, Beijing is about a 2.5 hour drive from the port. Between Beijing and the Xingang port, there are (what they call) ghost cities – recently constructed high-rise apartment & condo buildings along with strip center malls that are totally vacant. There was a special aired on 60-minutes recently featuring the ghost cities. They’ve been constructed by the Chinese government for investment considerations & anticipating increased growth. If it were only a few buildings here and there, one could easily understand. But there are literally HUNDREDS of high-rise buildings, each 30 or more stories high, with half-completed, very elaborate freeway systems & bridges that go for miles...leading nowhere.  Absolutely amazing!

Passing the ghost cities, our tour guide received a call from his boss. He was instructed to collect all our passports before reaching Beijing. Our escort from the ship (as well as all passengers) became concerned because those weren’t the original instructions. On the ship, we were told to keep our passports in our possession at all times if traveling overnight. Plus, this had never been done before – this was highly unusual. Some of the older, more experienced travelers refused, and advised us not to surrender them. Things got a little ugly on our bus – a lot of tension. Our escort phoned the office on the ship and after a lengthy conversation with Holland America officials, told us it would be OK to give our passports to our guide, but recommended we all get written receipts. The only explanation we received was that the hotel in Beijing needed our information in order to expedite check-in later that evening. This made no sense to anyone but it was either that, or the bus was to return to the ship. The process of collecting passports & writing receipts took the better part of an hour. At that point, we stopped at a rest area and the passports from all three busses were combined, placed in one large plastic bag & given to a representative from the tour company who met us in his car. Again…highly unusual but we were at the mercy of Chinese government protocol & the tour company. Many folks were giving our guide a pretty hard time who apologized profusely, and said he was only following instructions. Tension remained for most of the day as our ship escort tried her best to calm the apprehension. She wasn’t convinced herself & could only tell us that in fact Holland America had conversation with the government & everything appeared to be legitimate although abnormal. So, on we go.

(More on this later as we near the end of Day 2)          

Beijing itself is a city that, according to our guide, has in excess of 30 million people even though the published population is roughly 22 million. The freeways and most road systems are lined with poplar trees & weeping willows – thousands & thousands of them, & quite pretty. Our guide says they’ve chosen these species because they grow quickly and can withstand weather extremes. I’ll share with you…Beijing makes New York City look tiny – I’ve never seen a city so large, or so many people EVERYWHERE you go - & traffic is an absolute congested nightmare at all hours of the day & night. As we went from one location to another, our guide would tell us the distance may be only one mile, but could take between 5 - 60 minutes depending on traffic. He wasn’t kidding, and went on to say there are 7 million autos in Beijing and 9 million bicycles. Just when I think I’ve seen it all…incredible. Although it was chilly, the air quality was excellent and our guide told us we were extremely lucky – that normally, the city is shrouded in thick smog. Apparently, the recent typhoons to the south brought high winds to Beijing and cleaned the air.

The Great Wall of China is actually northwest of Beijing, so leaving the port at 10:00, we reached the Wall shortly after 1pm. The photos below really don’t do justice, as it’s much more intimidating in person. I was concerned about the climb and so was Cheryl. With my breathing condition, I wasn’t certain if I could make it although since boarding the ship, we’ve been taking the stairs (almost exclusively) to prepare. As a ‘bucket-list’ goal, I sure didn’t want to come all this way and fail, but then with age & health issues you just learn to accept certain limitations. We were among the first couples off our three busses and without delay, we started up. Initially there was a sloping, cement walkway but once you reach a certain point, the stairway hits you and the steps aren’t uniform – they’re all irregularly shaped & spaced. We stopped several times on the ascent and it was gratifying to me that many teenagers, obviously in good condition, were stopped as well, huffing & puffing. Looking down, we could also see many fellow ship passengers turning back. This gave us even more determination, so on we went. By the time we reached the top, which was labeled Tower Eight, our legs were burning intensely, and despite temps in 50’s, both sweating profusely. After exchanging high-fives and a few hugs, we started the decent and in some respects, that was equally difficult because of the asymmetrical steps. Once down, our legs were like spaghetti and as I write this 48-hours later, I’m still very tender though Cheryl is fine. Here are the photos and following, a brief description of the balance of the day & how the government almost forced us to cancel our visit to Tiananmen Square on Day 2.                

Now almost 2 hours behind schedule and very hungry, we had prearranged lunch around 3:30. The food was all authentic Chinese cuisine (as you would expect) and the best we’ve ever had – it was like Panda Express back home…on steroids! Then the news came…no Tiananmen Square tomorrow – the government was closing the facility to foreigners to accommodate local bike races. You must be kidding?! Talk about some upset folks on the busses! Although confused & disappointed, Cheryl and I have learned to roll with itinerary changes like this in foreign countries. Sometimes, things just happen beyond your control. We were embarrassed though, when one guy on our bus stood up, got on the loudspeaker, and encouraged all of us to ban together &  protest…his wife was doing everything she could to quiet him down…he even called our Chinese tour guide (a great person & excellent guide) a liar to his face – in fact, several times. Once we got him contained, the escorts from Holland America (one on each bus) had a meeting with the three Chinese tour guides and together, agreed to change the schedule and go to Tiananmen after dinner. THIS ended up being a huge bonus for us, because not only were we able to visit Tiananmen Square during the evening hours with all the lights on, but the Chinese guides arranged to take us back early the morning of Day 2 BEFORE the government closed it down! So, tomorrow I’ll share many photos with you & additional commentary. It was awesome. We got checked-in to our hotel (Sheraton Beijing) around 10pm and exhausted, we were in bed by 11:00, LONG past my normal time!

 

 

 

 

   

   

   

   

     

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

 

   

   

   

     

   

     

   

     

 

     

   

If interested, here’s some information about the Great Wall itself.  

One of the ultimate wonders of the world, The Great Wall was listed as a World Heritage by UNESCO in 1987. Just like a gigantic dragon, the Wall winds up and down across deserts, grasslands, mountains and plateaus, stretching approximately 5,500 miles from east to west of China. With a history of more than 2000 years, some of the sections are now in ruins or have disappeared. However, it is still one of the most appealing attractions all around the world owing to its architectural grandeur and historical significance.

So, who built the Great Wall? I found there are many answers - & this is what I got from our pre-arrival lecture. Some say Emperor Qin Shihuang. Some say ordinary working people of ancient China, and some say that it was slaves who built the wall. This isn’t an easy question to answer, just like the wall wasn’t easy to build.

Experts have given the most credible answer. As early as the Warring States Periods (476 BC - 221 BC), the ruling powers began to build walls as a defense against the northern nomadic tribes and other potential enemies. The state of Chu (11th Century BC-223BC) was the first to build a wall, followed by the Qi, Yan, Wei, Zhao and Qin. After Emperor Qin Shihuang unified the six states, he ordered General Meng Tian to connect the existing walls and to extend them further as a front line defense against possible invasion. Thus the Great Wall was formed. It extended from Lintao (present Lintao County in Dingxi City in Gansu Province) in the west and ended at Liaodong (present the eastern and southern parts of Liaoning Province) in the east. It was called "Wan Li Chang Cheng" (The Long Wall of 10,000 Li).

Three groups of people built the wall. They were soldiers, common people and criminals. Many people died during its construction, due to the heavy work, short time limit and tough conditions. An accurate number of those who died is unknown.

During subsequent dynasties, the wall was extended, repaired or modified. The section built in Han Dynasty (206BC-220) is the longest. During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the wall was substantially repaired on more than twenty occasions. Today, the best known and most visited sections are at Badaling, Mutianyu, Simatai and Jinshanling and these were built in the Ming Dynasty. They were all built to protect the people and territories south of the wall from a continued threat of invasion by the northern nomadic tribes.