SIGHTSEERS
Amazing Beijing — Five Gotta See Historic Sites
by Randy Karr

No road is better traveled than those leading to Beijing, a city where unmatched grandeur awaits the intrepid traveler. Beijing abounds with historical gems. Five of these especially captivated me and made my list of Five "Gotta See" Historic Sites in Beijing.

#1. Great Wall at Mutianyu

All are amazed as they see the Great Wall at Mutianyu snake along distant mountain ridges, like a giant dragon. The 4,500-mile long wall stretches across northern China, from the Gulf of Bohai, in the east, to Gansu province, in the west, a distance equaling the distance between New York City and Los Angeles. The Mutianyu section of the Great Wall is famous for its watchtowers and signal towers. In ancient times, these were used to send warnings from one tower to a more distant one. Smoke signals, generated by burning dung, communicated news of enemy movements. Smoke from one fire, set on top of a tower, meant there were 100 enemies nearby, smoke from two fires warned of 500 enemies, and smoke from three fires warned of 1,000 enemies.

#2. Great Wall At Badaling

The Great Wall is the world's largest military structure and one of the world's engineering wonders. What took an army of soldiers, prisoners and local people to build, now remains as a witness to human endeavor. Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, in 1949, the Great Wall at Badaling was a scene of devastation, with collapsed walls and towers. Since its renovation, this section of the Wall has attracted the most foreign visitors and is the place where Chinese officials take visiting dignitaries, among them, President Nixon, the first American president to visit China. Amazed by what he saw, President Nixon prophesized that "a great people with such a great wall will surely have a great future." Exactly 30 years after the date of Nixon's cold-war-thawing visit, President George W. Bush visited Badaling. Bush asked how far Nixon climbed up the Great Wall. When shown the place where Nixon had stopped, Bush quipped, "OK, I would like to stand several steps higher than President Nixon."

#3. Tiananmen Gate

Tiananmen Gate, or Gate of Heavenly Peace, is the main entrance to the Forbidden City and a popular photo stop for those wanting to use Mao Zedong's portrait as a backdrop. Since Imperial days, the gate functioned as a rostrum from which Chinese leaders appeared on national days to review parades. Two slogans appear on either side of the Mao portrait. One declares, "Long Live the People's Republic of China." The other declares, "Long Live the Unity of the Peoples of the World." While standing above these slogans, Mao announced to the world, and to an audience of over 500,000 standing in Tiananmen Square below, the founding of a new China, the People's Republic of China.

#4. Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Square, or Square of Heavenly Peace, is the largest public square in the world and, to Americans, one of the second best-known places in China, after the Great Wall. In the center of the square, people wait in hushed reverence to enter Mao Zedong's mausoleum and view his well-preserved body, lying in a crystal coffin. Elsewhere on the square is the Monument to People's Heroes, a 100-foot tall memorial commemorating revolutionary events surrounding China's confrontation with European powers attempting to colonize their ports. Government buildings surround the Tiananmen Square, including the Great Hall of the People, China's equivalent of a parliament. It was here that pro democracy demonstrators gathered, in 1989, and unveiled to the world a "statue of liberty" that, paradoxically, faced Mao's portrait on Tiananmen Gate.

#5 The Temple of Heaven

The Temple of Heaven is one of the most photographed buildings in the world and has come to symbolize Beijing. The design reflected the ancient Chinese belief that heaven is round and the earth is square. Emperors came to the Temple of Heaven in procession from the Forbidden City, just before the Winter Solstice, to perform ceremonies calculated to bring a bountiful harvest. There are three flights of stairs leading to the Temple, each with nine steps because nine is a number that is considered heavenly. Only the Emperor used the center path leading to the Hall. Courtiers walked on either side. The numbers of columns seen within the temple are symbolic. The four central columns that hold up the building represent the four seasons. The ring of 12 columns symbolizes the 12 months of the year and another set of 12 columns represent the 12 divisions of day and night.

For some insightful reading about present day China, browse these Chinese on-line newspapers. Most have an English language version. Go to http://www.world-newspapers.com/china.html.

© 2006 Randy Karr