The 798th district oozes art
1. TRY THE PEKING DUCK
This mythical dish owes its fame to the roast that gives the skin of the bird a very greasy and delicate texture like a candy, the pathetic equivalent of the suckling pig we all adore . Here it is consumed by wrapping the duck in a kind of fajita with thin tortillas and accompanying it with chives. chain restaurants Quanjude are the most famous and visited , consisting of up to four floors of large rooms, reserved with padded sofas, queues of people waiting, many waiters, chefs and service, and above all a lot of brilli brilli, color and brilliance of Chinese taste . And, apart from the tinsel, how is the duck being carved in front of their enthusiastic customers? To cry rich.
Peking Duck
two. FOLLOW IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF PIERRE LOTI AND APPRECIATE THE METEORIC URBAN CHANGES
Touring a place with the help of a writer who visited it decades ago is one of our favorite jerk-off pleasures. The contrast between the city that we visit and the one that the sailor found in 1900, fresh from the Boxer Rebellion, could not be more pronounced, and yet there is the same Beijing, built of gray stone and filled with clouds and dragons . The huge walls that so dazzled him were toppled fifty years ago, and the Forbidden City compound is no longer home to mandarins and eunuchs, nor does it encompass the parks of Behiai or Jingshan, but his insights into the decline of the 2,000-year Empire could not. be more visionary The last days of Beijing It is edited by Laertes and is a perfect complement and contrast for any room.
3. SEE HOW FAR MAO HAS BECOME A POP ICON
In the tradition of personality cult of the 20th century satraps , his effigy today adorns mugs or lighters and squarely watches over the north end of Tiananmen Square. On the south side, his mummy remains as a somewhat incongruous and strange relic, reminding us of the unusual paths that history can bring us.
Four. EXPLORE THE HUTTONGS
The traditional form of urban organization in Peking was through blocks delimited by a wall in which the houses faced an interior courtyard, connected by narrow alleys. That formed a hutong, some very humble, others apparently just as humble but with luxury cars parked at the entrances. They are peeking into a life that is equally intimate and public, collective and domestic. Many are still preserved from the time when the city was practically made up of them. The above mentioned area of Gulou East Street is a good point to explore them.
The famous Chinese hutongs
5. NOTE THAT THE MARINA D'OR CONCEPT HAS A LONG TRADITION ALREADY IN THE SUMMER PALACE
The emperors of the Quing and Ming dynasties created their vacation retreat to escape the rigors of Forbidden City, filling it with artificial lakes, forests, palaces, temples and even a reproduction of a classic Chinese village (with beautiful and completely false houses) to walk in a beautiful environment whose artificial beauty is reminiscent of a Disneyworld Chinatown. But since a long time has passed since its last reforms and additions, it has acquired a curious patina of authenticity that it did not have at the time and that makes it a more than worthy figure in the list of World Heritage.
6. STROLL THROUGH THE OLYMPIC AREA
The sporting event that China used to tell the world “we are here and we are serious” left a perfect space for outdoor activities (and a few traditional neighborhoods destroyed and their inhabitants displaced) to which citizens are enthusiastically engaged. Between the photogenic stadium of “El nido” on one side and the “Cubo de agua” on the other, tourists and Pekingese take in the cool, fly kites, sing at street karaoke, they play mahjong or badminton, do group aerobics and take millions of photos with their mobile phones.
A feast of flavors and textures
7. CHECK THE SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HIPSTER NEIGHBORHOODS
We talk about the hipster neighborhoods of the world in Gulou East Street or the crowded Nanluoguo Xian (where the already famous Spanish churros take over). The walk to the drum tower leads down a street where Western-style cafes, trendy clothing stores, cupcake shops and frozen yogurt shops They coexist in harmony with traditional restaurants and junk shops with unusual uses.
8. ENJOY THE SUPER GASTRONOMIC PANORAMA OF THE CITY
The capital has an offer that allows you to try dishes and specialties from all over the country (which, in case we did not know, is very large and very complex), from Shanghai dumplings and sweet flavors from the south to everyone's favorite, Sichuan food. "Spicy" falls short to define it, but it is a non-anesthetizing itch, which is enjoyed and allows you to delight in the different flavors. The star dish is the hot pot, a kind of fondue with fish broth and spicy broth to which ingredients are added to taste, from thousands of types of tofu, through mushrooms, bamboo and algae, to fish balls or guts of pork.
the popular mahjong
9. REMEMBER THE MOST DRAMATIC RECENT HISTORY OF TIANANMEN
China remains a dictatorship that tightly controls information, and today most Chinese do not know the story of what happened there in 1989, nor do they associate the name of the square with any revolt or repression, nor do they think of the tanks or the anonymous hero who faced them (with unfortunate consequences) . Despite controls on the passage of visitors and the obvious presence of soldiers, the gigantic open space remains as a leisure and recreation area for city dwellers and tourists , with the presence of sober Soviet-inspired buildings that remind us at all times where we are.
10. SOAK UP THE SMELL OF INCENSE AT THE TEMPLE OF THE LAMAS
Much of the country is still Buddhist, and this is one of the most important temples in China, if not the most. Prayers, offerings, monks and onlookers mingle in its courtyards.
eleven. FOLLOW IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF EMPRESS CU XI OR PU YI, THE LAST EMPEROR, IN THE FORBIDDEN CITY
It is impossible to walk the vermilion walls of the huge city without remembering Bertolucci's film. Shot in the same rooms that belonged to those historical figures whose lives seem like fiction, its viewing and the journey through the concatenation of palaces, doors and patios barely gives us an idea of the delicacy, the artifice, the deep symbolism of the protocol that regulated the life of the son of heaven.
Follow in the footsteps of the emperors
13. MARVEL AT THE COLOR OF THE TEMPLE OF HEAVEN
The place of prayers and thanksgiving of the last two dynasties continues to fascinate with its concentric altar and multicolored vaults. The surrounding park is dotted with temples, pagodas and marble bridges in the style of the Forbidden City and of people who do taichi or play cards protected by the polychrome wooden railing.
14. GET TO KNOW DISTRICT 798
An area of old abandoned factories houses today galleries, art and bohemian rollaco that allow to know another facet of the city, more arty, perhaps more committed and even slightly rebellious.
fifteen. CHALLENGE CRAZY TRAFFIC ROUND THE CITY ON A BIKE
To some of us it may seem heroic, but it shouldn't be much of a mystery when millions of Pekingese they do it daily.
Beijing on pedals, dare!
fifteen. LISTEN TO STORIES OF CONCUBINES THAT ENDED IN SUCCESS OR MORE COMMONLY IN TRAGEDY
Like Pearl's, which was thrown by Empress Cu Xi (another aggrandized former concubine) to a well before her escape during the Boxer Rebellion. Be aware of how the Forbidden City exemplifies like few other places on earth the idea of the “golden cage”.
16. CONTEMPLATE THE NEW PRODIGS OF ARCHITECTURE THAT MODIFY THE SILHOUETTE OF THE CITY
Like the Great National Theater or the Television Tower. Beijing does not have the high-rise abundance of Shanghai, but its skyline stands out more and more like that of the megacity with international projection that is.
17. FLIP ON THE GREAT WALL
Whether you go to the Badaling stretch or to the less visited Mutianyu or Simatai, one reaffirms that China really is the most populous country on Earth, that man's constructive capacity knows no limits and that the physical form of the legs. Spectacular landscapes and a defensive prodigy whose remains continue to amaze any visitor.
A defensive prodigy and a spectacular landscape
18. LEAVE THROUGH SANLITUN
By becoming the area with the highest concentration of Westerners, bars have come to the Westeros and a night entertainment concept halfway between the relaxed bar where you can have a beer with background music and the place where you can dance or go wild in the omnipresent karaoke.
19. HAGGLING IN THE MARKETS
The one about silk and the one about antiques will test the negotiating skills of the most well-versed traveller, while Donghuamen night market will allow the intrepid to try centipedes and grasshoppers. These delicacies are only for tourists wanting to be cool or to photograph, those who stay in the classic have skewers of squid or meat, sausages, tripe stews, noodle soups and fashion creations of each season like propeller potato skewers and other even more creative inventions.
Beijing night market
twenty. JOIN THE CROWDS
Pekingese and tourists, mainly Chinese, wander sheltering from the sun (or rain) with their umbrellas through streets like Wangfujing, with its shopping malls, luxury shops and refreshment stalls. Touring the outskirts of Lake Houhai means frequenting the favorite area of young people. In the parks and open spaces you will always find families always ready to fulfill the whim of a child or elderly people who dance in a group. It is necessary to enjoy , in general, of urban animation; Pekingese, with their long and exhausting working hours, have time for leisure and know how to enjoy life in what is the center of the world.
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