Beijing Day 3 Tienanmen Square / Temples / Hatongs / Bell and Drum Tower

Qianmen Shopping

Tienanmen Square

Zhonghai Boats

White Pagoda Temple

 I hung out with Chad in the morning and got breakfast near my hostel.  He's a multifaceted man - photographer, food critic.. He recommended I visit Qianhai again by day and so I set off on a walking tour (map here).

I started off near the hostel and went to a new main Qianmen shopping street with its little tram.  There are a bunch of upscale stores (many foreign chains), I had a browse and bought a bubble tea.  I headed straight across Tienanmen Square (past Chairman Mao's Mausoleum), at the gates of the Forbidden City I headed west through Zongshan park and into Zhongnanhai.  Just before the park on the left I could see the shiny new    National Centre for the Performing Arts.  There are two huge lakes there - Nanhai and Zhonghai. 

Distant Drum Tower

Hilltop Temple

Cave Entrance

Caves

Right in the middle is a temple set up on top of a large hill.  It was kinda unique in that you had to walk through temples to get to the stairs at the back and continue up.  The view from the top was really cool. On the way down I went through a large cave structure (filled with weird religious relics and dolls), I saw a traditional Buddhist ceremony at the temple in Beihai park and Lama Temple.

Zhonghai Park

North Central Beijing

Summer Swimming

Silkworm Temple

I crossed over the main road to Qianhai park.  Its a rather upscale area, lots of bars and nice restaurants, swimming in the lake, and the hutong here was being demolished but carefully rebuilt with wide roads and proper houses.  I took a wander around Tea street and bought some green tea.  The I headed east and got lost in the nearest Hutong (traditional slumlike district).  The government is really trying to clean up the Hutongs, either by rebuilding, demolishing or simply trying to modernize them.  I saw examples of all three.  Close to the Forbidden city it seemed like they were just trying to make them livable, with new cables and lots of safety signs everywhere.  Be warned, it was really easy to get turned around and lost in the windy little alleys.

Bell and Drum Towers

Bell Tower

Ancient Time Systems

Next stop was the Bell and Drum towers (admission to both 20 CYN, 9:10-17:00).  As you're headed north the Bell Tower is the first one you see, presumably you could use the two towers to judge where you are in the city (like in Joburg with the Hillbrow and Brixton Towers).  The Bell and Drum Towers were used to keep time and were the official government timepiece for 700 years until 1924.  I visited the Bell Tower (Zhonglou 钟楼) first, unfit or fat travellors beware - both these towers had a steep climb of about 70 stairs to reach the top.

Ancient Drums

Stairway to the Tower top

Next up was the Drum Tower (Gulou 鼓楼), another steep climb up a bunch of stairs.  The view of northern Beijing from here was quite amazing.  After watching the drum performance and learning about the complicated time system Beijing worked on (the drums were beaten 108 times a day).  From there (a bit tired I'll admit) I headed further north towards the subway line.  I asked some locals for directions when I was a little unsure of the way but they simply pointed me back towards the Bell and Drum towers (I guess thinking I'd gotten separated from my tour group).  Travelers tip - don't point when asking directions.  In China and Korea people will simply agree with you to save face even if they have no idea.  I headed through another hutong, this one close to the new subway line being built, and the whole area was simply being demolish.  I guess by the end of the year skyscrapers and highclass coffee shops will be appearing.  Somewhat of a pity for a large chunk of old Beijing to lose all it's character - the subway station could be built with minimal damage.  Hopped back on the subway at Gulou Dajie.

View over the Hutong and Modern Beijing