A couple of things remain the same in Beijing, like the Forbidden City, that just gets more crowded, and
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Inside the Forbidden City
Tiananmen Square, that just gets better guarded - and we tourists are no longer able to enter Mao's mausoleum.
On previous visits to Tiananmen Square we have been advised not to talk about the 'Tiananmen Square Incident' that took place on the night of June 3–4 1989. This time, I heard it being openly discussed by a tour group leader. The Square's history has become one of its attractions.
| The Tiananmen Square Incident - paraphrased from Encyclopaedia Britannica
Student-led demonstrations calling for more individual rights and freedoms in late 1986 and early 1987 caused hard-liners in the government and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to suppress what they termed “bourgeois liberalism.” |
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Tiananmen Square
As mentioned earlier, our accommodations were not within the city centre, requiring a bus trip of up to an hour, to and from. This had the advantage that we got to see quite a bit more of the outer suburbs and road systems than on previous trips.
The highways are typically flanked by pristine parkland (no trash) before a wall of high-rise dwellings and businesses, housing most of the country's 1.4 billion people. On the outskirts of Beijing, median strips housed beds of roses, all in bloom, and we were told that the plants are changed regularly, depending on what is in bloom at any time.
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Roses in bloom along the highway - for tens of kilometres
Any thought that China is in recession is contradicted by looking out the bus window. New infrastructure construction is largely in the government sector, encompassing new roads; railways; spectacular bridges; water; sewage; and electricity transmission. Dwelling construction; communications and manufacturing are mostly in the private sector. New housing developments abound with forests of construction cranes over new developments. Some people are making lots of money.
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New infrastructure and construction everywhere
Across the country, average dwelling size is now around 60m2. Typical new dwellings, for a family of 2.98 residents per household (national average) is 80m2 - similar to several European countries. According to the South China Morning Post, with the adoption of the three child policy, the average size of flats offered by developers may increase to 120 square metres, with three to four bedrooms, to accommodate new larger families.
At the upper-end of the market, as everywhere in the world, the sky is the limit. See: the movie: Crazy Rich Asians - set in Singapore. Yet, a lot of Shanghai is reminiscent of Singapore - some are very rich indeed.
Most Chinese own their dwelling. There are also rental properties, typically owned the Local Government or wealthy landlords. According to Google AI: "China boasts a very high homeownership rate, with over 80% of households owning their homes, significantly higher than many Western nations. This is a relatively recent development, as public rental housing was dominant in the 1980s, but a large-scale privatization of housing in the late 1990s led to a dramatic increase in homeownership. While the majority of households own a single home, a substantial percentage also own multiple properties, indicating a complex interplay of factors driving this trend, including social norms and financial strategies."
Despite the growing gap between rich and poor, there are very few homeless. We have seen one or two beggars on previous trips (in Guangzhou and Beijing) but none outside the major cities. I have often heard it alleged that Chinese people have only their families for support. This is not true. China has an elaborate social security system that includes free health services and a range of pensions. Indeed, early retirement is compulsory for government workers and many older people continue to work for little or no additional income.
The Great Wall
No trip to China is complete without a visit to the Great Wall. This was at a different place to the last time we visited it - organised by ourselves. But just as steep.
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At the Great Wall. The guard were tall people - many step risers are about half a metre.
Bottom Left: Going back down.
We went to a show.
The 'Golden Mask Dynasty Show' was a Beijing package 'extra'. I was sceptical but we had recently enjoyed a show in Las Vegas that sounded similar. So, 'in for a penny in for a pound'. This show has been evolving for over a decade and features spectacular water effects, pouring all around the theatre. We were in the middle, in row 6. We didn't get wet but might have had we been further forward, the first three rows were empty. But it was noisy. The performance would best be described as a ballet: Bird Princess loves fish Prince; Evil fish uncle demurrers and floods the world; The Queen is sacrificed for the common good; Good prevails, thanks to a golden mask that calls the sun; a new golden dawn arrives. The costumes were amazing, including half a dozen live white peacocks. Some of the staging is an illusion thanks to very cleaver use of big LED screens, allowing pre-recorded components including 'live' action, complementing a huge, actual, cast.
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Amazing costumes, including live white peacocks and
tonnes of water pouring all around the theatre - including the side walls.
Hutongs
On our first visit to Beijing in 2009, together with our friends Craig and Sonia, we stayed in a hotel, in an historic hutong area, that was internally modernised with ensuites and quite comfortable.
Since then, a rickshaw ride around an historic hutong area has become an essential tourist experience, like ascending the Eiffel tower when in Paris.
As we were pulled around, it quickly became evident, from the very expensive cars sitting around in here, that this area, beside the Houhai lake, is a desirable place to have a pied-à-terre, evidently owned by rich Chinese, who want to be in their own semi-detached house close to the city centre.
On average hutongs in Xicheng District are 4.1 meters wide and 240 meters long (984 m2).
To preserve the hutong cultural heritage, traditional working families here are protected tenants, still sharing a communal toilet, until age has its say.
If you think that you may visit Beijing in future, this website provides some interesting information about the hutongs; and more: (Follow here)
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A rickshaw ride around an historic hutong area,
alongside the Houhai lake, was part of our tour package.
Back in 2009 the area heading south from Tiananmen, along Qianmen St, was still being reconstructed as an historic retail walking street with traditional trams - now battery powered.
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Top: Qianmen St in 2009 (my photos)
Middle: 2018 (my photos)
Bottom: 2025 (thanks to Google Street view).
The time of year and the air pollution back then are partly to blame for the colour changes
my old Kodak (digital) camera didn't usually make everything brown.
Now it looks as good as old.