One of my favorite things about moving to Hong Kong is the ability to hop a plane and visit the rest of Asia, one weekend at a time. Having just arrived here last month from Brooklyn, I chose Beijing, just three and a half hours away, for my first trip.
Like many Asian cities, Beijing is constantly transforming. Restaurants and bars come and go, while a massive, citywide construction boom means more and more highways and new buildings. The Forbidden City and neighboring Tiananmen Square are still must-sees, but the new Beijing is clearly moving away from its Communist past, with an influx of late-night clubs, hipster bars, modern cafes and a burgeoning art scene. Today’s Beijing is the point where old meets new, East meets West.
I start my weekend tour Friday at the Summer Palace in northwest Beijing. First stop is in nearby Haidian to pick up my friend (and de facto tour guide) Ben. A Dartmouth grad, Ben is among the growing number of young Americans teaching English (or in his case chemistry) at private Chinese schools.
A few minutes north by taxi, we arrive at the regal Summer Palace, a great place to escape the city’s noise and crowds. Once the playground for China’s imperial court during the hot summer months, the grounds, temples, gardens, marble boathouse and pavilions around Kunming Lake are now open to the public. Ben and I wander for hours among scores of Chinese tourists who are flying kites and snapping photos, while we all enjoy one of Beijing’s few clear days without pollution.
That night, Ben asks if I want to see the hutongs, the city’s thirteenth-century alleyways. Hidden among Beijing’s wide thoroughfares, they are among the last remnants of old Beijing. Ben takes me to the hutongs around the ancient Drum and Bell Towers in the northern Houhai area. The two towers date back to 1272 and played an important role in helping people tell time by beating the drum, then ringing the bell to mark the local bedtime. Today this neighborhood is ironically home to a bustling nightlife.
The local favorite bar is the cozy Drum and Bell. You can hear live music, snack, and drink with friends. There is a rooftop accessible by ladder, which feels like a tree house and is open in summer. After a drink, Ben and I duck in and out of the area’s many cafes and enjoy walking around the narrow alleyways.
Beijing has changed in surprising ways since my last visit in 2002. The roads once clogged with bicyclists are now jammed with cars: everything from Audis to BMWs to Hondas. In the 1980s, four out of five commuters pedaled to work; today many locals drive, causing terrible traffic jams. Cabs are relatively cheap, but prepare to wait for a taxi, especially in Beijing’s central shopping district Wangfujing, where waits can run up to twenty minutes on weekends.
Going against the trend, Saturday I decide to pedal to Tiananmen Square for some sightseeing and a lazy brunch. From Wangfujing, I bike through a maze of back-alley hutongs which spill onto busy Changan Avenue.
I bike until I see Mao’s iconic image at the Forbidden City entrance, cars whizzing by on my left. Across the street, Tiananmen Square looms large. I bike south along the side of the square, past the ultra-contemporary National Center for the Performing Arts, a sign of Beijing’s new architecture, a titanium and glass half-dome which stands in stark contrast to the buildings around it.
Finally, I arrive for brunch at the highly regarded Capital M. Perched at the south end of Tiananmen, the restaurant’s elegant outdoor terrace offers up stunning views of the world’s largest public square. I spend hours watching the tourists below, admiring the gorgeous architecture and lounging over a three-course brunch. The menu serves multiple variations of eggs, fish, meat dishes, pastries, fruits, coffee, teas, chocolate and desserts. The Arrow Tower and Qianmen pedestrian area are below, for when you are ready to walk off your meal. By the time I am done, the waiters are setting up for dinner, the sun is fading against the smog filled sky, and I am ready to cycle back and call it a night at my hotel.
Ben recommended I spend my last day at 798 Art District, a former electronics factory built by East Germans in the 1950s, a collection of buildings now home to Beijing’s contemporary art scene. The sprawling concrete industrial complex located in the Dashanzi area in northeast has been converted into galleries, studios, shops and cafes. It’s easy to spend a day browsing the art and funky shops. The area has a Soviet factory feel, interspersed with massive sculptures and Maoist slogans painted on the walls. There are quite a few cool gift shops where young Chinese artists sell handmade purses, key chains, mugs, Mao t-shirts and other retro Communist wares. There are several trendy cafes. I recommend a local staple, At Café. It serves up good coffee, pizzas and Italian cuisine in an industrial-chic setting with exposed brick walls.
Check out all of Tablet’s hotel selections in Beijing.
© 2010-2011. TABLET TALK IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE TEAM AT TABLET.
This was very helpful – we plan to visit Beijing in April, and it’s nice to have some recommendations for places to visit. Thanks!
Jenn, glad you’ve rediscovered the “new” Beijing — although having lived there from 2003 to 2006, and then having visited several times in the past four years, your narrative was all too familiar! A nice weekend guide, glad you’re enjoying being in Asia again.
A lovely ‘first impression’ piece. One question:
Re: “Across the street, Tiananmen Square looms large. I bike south along the side of the square, past the ultra-contemporary National Stadium, a sign of Beijing’s new post-Olympic architecture. The stadium’s bird’s nest of interlaced steel beams stands in stark contrast to the architecture around it.”
The National Stadium is nowhere near Tiananmen Square—were you referring to the National Center for the Performing Arts?
Thanks Michael for the comments! Well spotted. Yes, it is the National Center for the Performing Arts, indeed.”