Hutong hopping, Beijing

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<li class="cat-item cat-item-4588"><a href="https://blogs.bootsnall.com/Danny-in-Asia/category/chinahong-kongmacau" title="Entries from my February/March, 2006 trip.">China</a> (16)
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<li class="cat-item cat-item-4593"><a href="https://blogs.bootsnall.com/Danny-in-Asia/category/eurasia-marco-polo-in-it" >Eurasia: Marco Polo-in' it</a> (88)
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<li class="cat-item cat-item-2223"><a href="https://blogs.bootsnall.com/Danny-in-Asia/category/chinahong-kongmacau/hong-kong" title="The most entertaining city I've been to in Asia.  When you're Chinese visa expires, this is where to come!  March 31st-April 6th, 2006.">Hong Kong</a> (4)
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<li class="cat-item cat-item-3035"><a href="https://blogs.bootsnall.com/Danny-in-Asia/category/eurasia-marco-polo-in-it/iceland" >Iceland</a> (11)
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<li class="cat-item cat-item-4589"><a href="https://blogs.bootsnall.com/Danny-in-Asia/category/teaching-english" title="Thoughts and reflections about my time teaching in Japan.">Teaching English</a> (10)
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<li class="cat-item cat-item-4587"><a href="https://blogs.bootsnall.com/Danny-in-Asia/category/thailandcambodia" title="Entries from my February, 2006 trip.">Thailand</a> (12)
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<li class="cat-item cat-item-4590"><a href="https://blogs.bootsnall.com/Danny-in-Asia/category/trip-preparationdeparture" >Trip preparation/departure</a> (5)
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<li class="cat-item cat-item-3401"><a href="https://blogs.bootsnall.com/Danny-in-Asia/category/eurasia-marco-polo-in-it/uzbekistan" >Uzbekistan</a> (10)
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Beijing (14)

Brooding in Japan (6)

Cambodia (3)

Capitals tour of Asia (24)

China (16)

Eurasia: Marco Polo-in' it (88)

Hong Kong (4)

Iceland (11)

Japan (33)

Japan on the cheap (14)

Kazakhstan (3)

Korea (10)

Kyrgyzstan (9)

Macau (1)

Mongolia (24)

Nanjing/Suzhou (3)

Poland (4)

Shanghai (8)

Sweden (2)

Teaching English (10)

Thailand (12)

Trip preparation/departure (5)

Uzbekistan (10)

Beijing’s size in area would have to make it one of the world’s largest, most sprawling cities. It’s set out in a grid of expanding loop road, the second of which used to be the old city wall but is now the main inner city transportation source with wide congested roads and the subway line 2 loop running underneath. Beyond ring road two the city feels inaccessible. Apartment high-rises and cranes are scattered among the old Chinese tenements, rundown or half demolished. Surrounding these neighborhoods is a web of freeways and mega highways that always have me searching for a taxi.

Today I came into the city center to explore. All of the ring roads make Beijing maps look like a dart board with the Forbidden City in the bull’s eye. I started here.

The area surrounding the F.C. has a surprisingly mellow feel to it. Two lane, tree-lined streets carry you past one story grey bricked homes with bright red doors.

I followed this up and past the front of the F.C. and its surrounding moat. Beijing is flat except for a hill just north of the F.C., the site of Jingshan park. Because the moat is so big they ended up with a lot of extra earth that now makes up this beautiful little hill, a great place to look down on the yellow tiled roofs that make up this huge city of royal decadence.

The area north of here is a maze of Hutongs, narrow alleyways for which Beijing is famous. You can wander these cozy little streets for days. In recent years these Hutongs have had a major facelift with new bricks, roofs, sewers and lavatories. This is the Beijing I’m warming up to.

Tags: Beijing, Eurasia: Marco Polo-in' it

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 12th, 2007 at 1:51 am and is filed under Beijing, Eurasia: Marco Polo-in' it. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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