Bill&Theresa: Hutongs and Towers-Monday 09-SEP

Black Swan in the hotel courtyard

Today we had the choice for either an optional (additional $) tour with the group or a day on our own. We opted for a day on our own. Theresa was our tour guide, and Mike and Mary Anne, and we headed out for some exploration. Incidentally, we did very much the same thing as the group did, but in a different order, and at a different pace (for about 15%).

Drum Tower in Beijing

We started by heading to the Drum Tower, taking a cab for the first part of our journey. I had a map, and followed along as he drove, which did not help much, except to help us know that he was lost. We got a sense of that as he looked at the map a couple times before we got started, then again on the way, including stopping to make a phone call. He spoke no English, but asked us a few questions and told us a few things. We speak no Chinese, so they were short and unsatisfying exchanges. But, as he stopped to let us out finally, in near perfect English, we hear, “Welcome to Beijing!” I guess he knew only that much English! Even after a few wrong turns and going out of the way, the cab ride was $6.

DRUMS! (In the, uh, Drum Tower)

The Drum Tower is a large structure that, well, had drums at the top. They used the beating of the drums as a means of telling time, since clocks were not really available to the masses. It was a steep and long stair case to the top, and as usual, the steps were higher than we are used to, but at least they were regular! Water never collects on the treads because they all slope a bit down, which is fun when they are wet! At the top, there was a bit of a collection of ancient time keeping pieces, including a water clock, and a ball bearing clock. The ball bearing clock had metal balls that rolled on tracks inside and hit paddles every 24 seconds. I think there were 36 balls. It was considered extremely accurate. With some frequency, they had people who beat the drums, too.

View of a hutong from the Drum Tower

Drum Show...at the Drum Tower.

As it happened, they beat the drums every hour, and we were there for it. So, we got an unexpected show. It was pretty interesting. There was a very large main drum, and eight smaller drums. But for the show, they only had five people.

Bell Tower in the distance from the Drum Tower.

After the show, we headed over to the Bell Tower, where we found…you guessed it, a Bell!! It was a big bell. The two towers were built around 1420, and so the bell was about 600 years old. They did not seem to have a show planned for us, so we left quietly! I counted the steps down, and there were 75. A typical building might have about 14 steps per floor, but the steps would likely be only ¾ the rise of these, so, I would put the height at between 5 and 7 stories up for the viewing floors.

60 Steps to the street from the only landing (15 from top).

Drum Tower from the Bell Tower

Hutong from the Bell Tower

The 21 foot tall bell (...in the Bell Tower).

Hutong alleyway.

After the Towers, we visited a hutong. Hutongs are the traditional neighborhoods around Beijing, and basically the way the people have lived for hundreds of years here. The main tour had rickshaw rides through them, but we eschewed the ride and just walked. It was interesting. If you saw this sort of thing in the US, you might be nervous that it is a bad neighborhood, and get the heck out of there. But, really, here it is just a poor neighborhood. What I found curious was that, although it looked dilapidated, it was rather clean. There was no trash or debris, and it really did not look like there was much crime as things were more or less left where they would be gotten later. These did not seem so much like laid out roads or alleys with buildings built

between, but rather closely packed buildings with whatever space remaining being the alleyway. So, some alleys were almost wide enough for a car, and others you would have to turn your shoulders to walk through. We noticed a few oddities; several vehicles had boards over the wheels, either to cover them from being hit, or who knows what.

Rickshaw drivers wait by the Bell Tower in the hutong.

Wheel covers?

Wine Museum in hutong, But, they don't have wine, so...?

Hutong Depot?

Lunch!

After the hutong, it was time for lunch. We were heading to a metro (subway) station hoping to find food along the way. First, thank you to Theresa’s boss for giving her the data plan while over here! The maps were very helpful (albeit far from perfect, much better than nothing). We determined that there seemed to be two stations equidistant but in opposite directions. So, we picked one and headed that way. We saw the sign over the wall, and were very happy…then realized there was no easy way passed the wall. We were pointed to the right to go around, which was fortuitous, since we did not know whether to go right or left. As we headed about 2 blocks down, and eventually passed the wall and buildings, we looked across the street, what to our wondering eyes should a appear? The Golden Arches!!

After lunch, we found the subway, and treated our friends to a ride. After all, it was 8 Yuan for all four of us, or about $1.33, so we figured they were worth the “treat”! We took the subway to the Temple of Heaven. It is an entire complex of buildings which includes that specific one. Interestingly, they bill it as “THE most recognized temple in the world”, and given that about 1 in 5 people on the planet are Chinese, if all of them know it by sight, it could be a true claim.

Temple of Heavenly Peace for Good Harvest

There were several side buildings that had displays of previous Emperors and such, or had furnishings as they would have been. But, there were throngs of people pushing and shoving and sticking their phones and I-Pads in the way to get that coveted picture. It made the environment neither peaceful nor heavenly. The buildings were something to look at, though, with such detail and design.