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1997
Route in China (CHINA - Beijing)
Bec2004-09-19 16:22:55
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Beijing
I got off the night train from Luoyang at Beijing' West Railway station from where I took a taxi to the Yongdingmen Hotel where I had planned to stay. It was closed for repairs so I went to the Jing Hua Hotel on Nanshanhuan Xilu.
The girl at the reception desk curtly told me they had no vacancies but I had been warned that desk clercs in government hotels sometimes say the hotel is full when they need to catch up in their paperwork. I insisted politely and hung around until she did find me a bed in a four place dorm for only 35 yuan (2.85 $US).
The Jing Hua Hotel turned out to be one of the favorite hangouts of backpackers in Beijing as you can see from this night scene at the privately run outdoor cafe of attached to the hotel. There were two such cafes. Thanks to competition, the service was excellent in both.
By pure coincidence, Barry Kowal a backpacker I had met in Shanghai's Pujiang Hotel was also staying here. I have pleasant memories of several evenings spent drinking Quingdao beer and exchanging tips and experiences with fellow travelers here during my two week stay in Beijing.
This is the new face of Beijing. When I was here the last time, in 1973, there were very few cars and they had to negotiate their way through a blue sea of Mao suited cyclists.
Beijing had been the capital of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties during seven centuries when SunYat Sen chose Nanjing for capital in 1911. When Beijing regained its title with the communist takeover in 1949, Soviet advisors flooded in and the city underwent a period of reconstruction during which much traditional architecture was destroyed to widen Chang'an Dajie and to make Tian'anmen Square large enough to accommodate the massive manifestations favoured by the Soviets.
During this period, Beijing's famous fortified walls were torn down to make way for a ring road like Moscow's. This is part
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See photographs from:
China Gallery
