Beijing has a few Smaller Attractions to Offer
Friday, May 6th, 2011
Beijing (Peking): Small Attractions
In addition to the large number of known and major tourist attractions, parks and temples, Beijing also has a few smaller attractions to offer, some of which I would like to introduce myself.
Hutong: Beijing’s building structure is characterized by the typical four-square courts Harmony (Sihe Yuan) of various sizes. The roads connecting them are called Hutong, Hutong in Beijing from the top to form a sense the passages between the yuan and behold here it is, the pulse of life even in the traditional rhythm. Hutong is at the roots actually a word, a Mongolian – Hudun – means the “well”. Previously, the fountain is always the most important point of a settlement, which was particularly true of the Mongolian nomads, who needed the water for their valuable horses. The old hutong and behold Yuan are very idyllic, for the needs of a rapidly growing, modern city but in the eyes of city planners, not appropriate. Usually a family used to live in a Sihe Yuan, need to nowadays often several families share the courtyards. In a medium Sihe Yuan live sometimes up to ten families, which means a living space in the urban average of only 3 square meters per capita. With the harmony it is with such cramped living conditions, of course not far away. Also just so reflect the hutongs, better than a museum, traditional forms of housing in Beijing. “In Beijing there are 900 hutong with names that are no name but more numerous than the feathers of a goose.” This old saying is still rather an understatement, because according to statistics, there are more than 6000 in Beijing Hutong in Hutong.Straßenleben Some of them look back on 700 years of history soon, such as the Zhuanta Hutong, the name of the resulting in the Yuan dynasty built brick pagoda. The width of Hutong was defined in urban planning in the Yuan period to 9,24 m, but later were also narrower and wider Hutong built. With just half a meter in width are the Gaoxiao Hutong Hutong Xiaolaba and the narrowest Hutong, which can be found today in Beijing. With two kilometers long, the Rongxian Hutong, the longest of its kind that Yichi Jie contrast to only 20 m, the shortest hutong in Beijing. An exploration of the hutongs can be done either on foot or one takes up the offer of the rickshaw rides back through the streets, usually associated with a stop at one of the local families. While most are View yuan and former court official residences in the four districts of the city under protection, the days are numbered, and thus the other Sihe Yuan Hutong. For not only housing for the growing population of Beijing is required, but also space for domestic and foreign investors and businesses.
Panjiayuan Market: The Antique Market Panjiayuan, is traded on the particularly with antiques and crafts, lies west of the Panjiayuan Bridge and south of the third eastern Ringstrasse.Auf Panjiayuan market The Panjiayuan was in the 1980s by some small retailers in a hutong in Chaoyang District, founded as a flea market. At that time, the Beijing in need of money and the first that sold on the weekend of art from the family estate on the market, which was also known as “ghost market” which is nothing other than “black market” means. At the time, this trade that is still forbidden, and everyone was always on the lookout for the police. Trade in rare crafts developed quickly, and in 1994 the art market finally legalized. In 1995, then opened at the current location of the Panjiayuan Antique Market – the first legal market for antiquities in Beijing. The stands in the market are so popular that some retailers up their stalls for daily rates far above their own sub-let, thus making a good profit without having to sell something to. Since he has the reputation of being the cheapest of all the antique markets in Beijing, it naturally attracts a lot of foreign and domestic tourists. But no matter whether you only just a little look around or want to buy collectibles, the Panjiayuan has something to offer everyone. The Panjiayuan market has an area of just under 5 acres and is home to over 3,000 booths, making it the largest of its kind in Asia. Previously only open on weekends, is now but seven days a week, on the Panjiayuan market although the Saturdays and Sundays are still the best days to visit are (Monday to Friday: 8.30 bis 18.30 Clock clock, Saturday and Sunday: 4.30 bis 18.30 Clock clock). The most traded items on the market are used items, arts and crafts and antique. There are also replicas of antique furniture, the “four treasures of study (writing brush, ink, paper and ink stone), old books and paintings, agate and jade objects, ceramics and ancient Chinese and foreign coins, sculptures made of animal bones, bamboo, leather figures for to acquire the Chinese shadow play and a wide selection of masks for the Chinese opera. Since many of the stalls sell the same, the market is a good place for bargain hunters. There is even a real article, but it is difficult to distinguish between original and fake, especially if you are not an expert. The market is divided into six areas. In the western part of the market is a non-covered area, are sold on the great stone sculptures of trucks down. Next to this be offered temporary area for large sculptures is a two-story building in which modern and traditional furniture. In the large middle part of the site is a covered area that forms the main part of the market. This area is open only on weekends. In the south of the market is a narrow lane to be sold in the old books and scrolls. Cheaper and less authentic versions of these books and scrolls are also offered at some other stands. In the east there are items that other ancient artefacts and objects offered for sale. High class and expensive antiques arts and crafts are offered in the small shops surrounding the market in the north and east.
Screening in the Drum Tower Drum Tower + Tower: The central, imperial axis through the city finds its northern end in the two-time character, the Drum Tower (Gulou) and the bell tower (Zhonglou). In ancient China the day was divided into two-hour sessions. The starting point was seven clock in the evening, then the big drum was struck 13 times, bringing the Clock was lodged. Then it was every two hours, only a single blow, the day on the bell at night on the drum. Even Kublai Khan was here to build in the middle of its capital city, a tower and a temple, but it has not survived. The mighty drum tower was built about 1420 with the Imperial Palace, was later renovated several times but still basic. You can climb the towers on steep, dark stairs (daily 9-16:30 Clock, 20 RMB). On the massive walled base with three tunnels is an airy hall, which is covered by a double Fußwalmdach with green glazed tiles. Today, there are the traditional drums and issued by the gallery, you have a beautiful view of the surrounding high-rise free zone and the adjacent still quite primitive Hutong area. The somewhat more northerly bell tower is smaller, more compact and easier to hold. After a fire, he was completely redesigned in 1747 and this time, all built of stone and its construction is so secure that even his worst earthquake have been able to harm it.
Zoo + Aquarium: The Beijing Zoo was founded in 1908 and is China’s oldest giant panda in the zoo’s most animal species and with an area of 86 hectares of even the largest zoo. The time of the Ming dynasty here was a garden of the imperial family and the time of the Qing Dynasty, the garden of an aristocratic family. The Empress Dowager Cixi was then allowed to create here a zoo, which was officially opened in 1908. Then called the park popularly known as “Park of Ten Thousand Animals”, but in 40 years only a dozen were monkeys, parrots and three old left a sick Emu. Meanwhile, the zoo (admission 15 RMB or 100 RMB as a combined package including Panda exhibit and aquarium) but was rebuilt several times and expanded to its present size, which was also a little benefit of the livestock. As a Western visitor should be but before entering a Chinese zoo be aware that the attitude of the animals not the standards of most zoos and animal parks in Central Europe and North America by the aquarium entsprechen.Außenfassade The attitude of local people towards animals is a significantly different than ours, because here are mostly fed with no objections from the zoo staff, the animals of the zoo visitors, throwing objects or knocked firmly on glass. Special attention is of course entirely devoted to giant pandas, which are one of the most popular attractions at the zoo, but most of the show from their lazy side. The rest of the plant is also my opinion not to be missed and really no worth visiting, but here was trying to show as many animals in a small space – a fact that trifft.Rochen nunmal not my taste in the coral reef is an absolute highlight However, the modern Beijing Aquarium, which is considered the largest of its kind in China. The visit takes place there in a kind of tour, which starts in a tropical rain forest with artificial rivers and continues through the world of the tides, the coral reef with huge multi-story glass tunnel, a shark aquarium, and the shows. In addition to marine mammals such as bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions (both seen in animal shows) holds the Beijing Aquarium a variety of fish and other aquatic living animals, including a spectacular pool big house and Chinese sturgeon and Chinese giant salamander. All characters in the show so popular in Asia and Lichtspielchen effects, not to mention the associated daunting and sometimes acting souvenir shops and fast food. So if you always visit the zoo, you should not shy away from the charge in the aquarium, but it compensates (daily opening times of 9-17 Clock) for the otherwise rather boring to the zoo.
