Day 1 Zhuhai-Tianjin

In late October in the golden autumn, LP and I set off for a tour in the north. This time, we plan to visit Tianjin, Beijing, Shanxi and Yinchuan, Ningxia. There are direct flights from Zhuhai to Tianjin. We drove to the airport early in the morning to catch the early flight. The flight took about three hours, and the flight arrived at Tianjin Airport on time at noon.

The driver of the pick-up service was already waiting for us and took me to my place of stay for the past few days-Xinda Plaza Hotel Apartment was already around 1 o'clock in the afternoon.

The hotel is in a good location. On the edge of the Haihe River, the living room and bedroom rooms of the apartment can see the Haihe River and the high-rise buildings on both sides.

We went into the room, put down our luggage, and went downstairs to the nearby food court for lunch. After a simple lunch, walk to the Wudadao Tourist Area across the road to visit. There are scenic spots and tourist guide maps of the Wudadao Tourist Area on the street.

After taking pictures, we walked along the route shown in the picture, mainly to watch the garden-like European buildings on the edge of the street. Many officials and celebrities from the Qing Dynasty and the Beiyang government once lived here. Beautiful and elegant houses poured out to us. It is said that there are more than 2000 European buildings here.

Stroll to Qing Wangfu and buy a ticket to visit it. This place was originally the residence of Xiao Dezhang, a famous eunuch in the late Qing Dynasty. It was later purchased by Prince Zai Zhen of Qing Dynasty and became his residence in his later years. From the street, only the high courtyard walls and gates can be seen, but you can't imagine what it looks like inside.

After entering the gate, I realized that there was a unique charm. The beautiful Western-style villas and the Chinese-style rockery gardens did not feel incompatible. The interior of the Western-style main building should have been renovated, but it is very contemporary.

The hall in the middle is very grand. It is surrounded by a two-story building, with magnificent crystal lamps hanging from the roof. There is a corridor on the second floor. The hall can be used as a banquet hall or a dance hall. It is grand and elegant.

From the side door, you can lead to the garden, with rockery, pool, and small bridge. The delicate Chinese landscape shows the world a different scene.

After the tour, you will continue walking along the street and not far from Minyuan Square. This is a European-style stadium and the core attraction of the Five Major Roads. The tourist distribution center is also here. There are guide maps and film and television materials showing the various tourist attractions of the Five Major Roads.

The renovated Minyuan Square retains the sports and fitness functions of the original Minyuan Stadium, and adds functions such as tourism and leisure, cultural and cultural display, and special catering. It is open.

Walking into it, you will see a 400-meter plastic track and a sunken open-air square. Many surrounding residents and tourists relax and exercise here. However, now the original stands have been built into rooms, and outdoor activities have been changed into indoor areas. There is a Culture and Sports Museum to showcase the history of the Minyuan and the Five Major Roads and Tianjin culture.

There is a Dalong Post Office opposite the small square outside the gate. Many tourists come here to stamp a postmark.

Our feet became a little sore from shopping, so we took a taxi to Jingyuan to continue our tour. Jingyuan was built in 1921 and was formerly known as Qianyuan. It is the private residence of Lu Zongyu, the envoy of the Beiyang government to Japan.

From 1929 to 1931, the last emperor Puyi, his queen Wanrong, and his concubine Wenxiu lived here and renamed it "Jingyuan".

The intention is to wait and see the current situation in order to restore it. The overall building is a brick-and-wood structure building with a quiet environment and a combination of European and Japanese customs.

The furnishings and information display in the small building are very careful and detailed. It depicts the end of an old era and the beginning of a new era, which is very touching.

We visited the museum carefully until it closed before leaving Jingyuan. We came to Goubuli Steamed Bun Main Store, one of Tianjin's top three wonders. The driver who drove us told us that this place was all for tourists and no one from the local area came here to eat. I have been to Tianjin several times and tasted the taste of Goubuli steamed stuffed buns, so I was prepared, but this is the first time I have come here and I don't want to spoil her, so I'll accompany her to experience it for myself.

This is a small two-story building with set meals on the first floor and a la carte meal on the second floor. The purpose of our visit was to taste Goubuli steamed buns, but we didn't want to eat stir-fried vegetables, so we ordered two different flavors of 88 yuan set meals on the first floor. It is a cage of steamed buns and 2 small dishes and a bowl of millet porridge, haha.

After eating, the LP finally understood why it was called Goubuli steamed buns. It was worthy of its name. Even dogs really couldn't care! The taste is worse than the steamed buns anywhere in the south. LP also experienced the three characteristics of Goubuli steamed buns: great fame, high price, and delicious! But the value of the brand is reflected in the fact that no matter what the taste is, most tourists come to Tianjin come here to taste it, so business here is still very prosperous, with an endless stream of tourists.

It is very close to Binjiang Road Pedestrian Street, so it is just in time to go shopping and eat digestion. I see many shops selling food. Big hemp flowers on the 18th Street, one of the three unique places in Tianjin, can be seen everywhere. It is estimated that a big hemp flower needs to be eaten by several people.

Tourists are bustling and neon lights are bright. The Quanyechang building is classical European. The old building is simple but magnificent and straight, and the golden lights set off its majestic momentum. "Each person advises his own career and enjoys his own work." Here,"persuasion" means "hard work", while some people think it means "encouragement". Quanyechang is a place to encourage commercial industry and is one of Tianjin's landmark buildings.

There is an old building opposite-Zhejiang Industrial Bank, but the door is marked with the Starbucks sign. Walking into it, you will find the perfect integration of European historical buildings and coffee culture. The original Zhejiang Industrial Bank Building stands on the bank of the Haihe River and watches Tianjin. A European-style foreign-style building in the most prosperous commercial district for nearly a century, finally welcomed Starbucks in the changes of history and times.

She restored it to the greatest extent possible and preserved the original appearance and internal structure of this historical building. There is a metal "big copper coin" carving on the ground of her gate, and many tourists are taking photos.

This store is not only a coffee shop, but also a tea bar and a bar in an area. The interior decoration is perfectly integrated with this historical building. The bar inside uses the arc-shaped structure of the bank counters back then.

In the evening, a waiter taught on-site demonstrations on the methods and steps of making several different types of coffee, and invited us to sit at the bar to taste the taste of different types of coffee for free.

On the second floor, there are photo exhibitions of the historical features of this ancient building and text pictures of coffee culture, which are fascinating. In the terrace space on the second floor, in addition to enjoying the aroma of coffee at the same time.

You can also overlook the bright neon lights of the entire Binjiang Road Commercial Street, and you can also have a panoramic view of the Tianjin Quanyechang opposite. The night view is picturesque!

We reluctantly left and ordered a cup of coffee and three cups of freshly brewed coffee and beer with different flavors.

After spending a long time here, I reluctantly returned to the hotel apartment.

Day 2 Ancient Culture Street-Italian Style Street

The sun is shining in the morning. After breakfast, go to the food street downstairs and take a taxi to visit Tianjin Ancient Culture Street.

This is the concentration of Tianjin's most famous time-honored brands and handicraft shops. Most of them are Tianjin time-honored shops, full of strong folk characteristics.

There are many handicrafts such as Yangliuqing New Year paintings, clay figurines, Weiji kites, etc. You can also taste specialty foods such as nut slices, skin sugar slices, and crushed bean slices;

Walk into "Clay Figurine Zhang" and admire all kinds of lifelike painted clay sculptures.

There is an ear eye fried cake shop at the entrance of ancient culture street. It is one of the three classics in Tianjin. Let's try it and it really tastes good, much better than Goubuli steamed buns.

Tianhou Palace is located in the center of Ancient Culture Street and is also the core of the ancient culture street. It is said that it has a history of more than 600 years to worship the Goddess Tianhou, who blessed the safe sailing at sea.

She sits facing west, facing east, from east to west, from the theater, banner, mountain gate, archway, front hall, main hall, phoenix tail hall, scripture gallery, and Qisheng Temple

It consists of the Bell and Drum Tower, Zhangxian Pavilion and four auxiliary halls. It is the earliest existing ancient building complex in Tianjin City.

Today's Tianhou Palace has become the Tianjin Folk Museum. In addition to retaining the restored display of Tianhou Palace,

An exhibition based on displaying Tianjin's folk customs has also been opened, systematically introducing customs such as water transportation, marriage and childbirth, commerce, folk life, folk art and folk beliefs.

Many tourists happily compare the year of their birth in the Taisui Hall to find out which Taisui they belong to.

There are two tall wooden flagpoles erected on the Tin Hau Palace Square. They have been renovated, and the replaced old flagpoles are preserved in the palace courtyard as cultural relics.

The theater, also known as the "Jinmen Old Theater", can watch cross talk and magic performances. Dashizi Hutong is the former residence of Yan Fu, a modern thinker and educator. The original house is no longer there, but now a bronze statue of Yan Fu is cast on the former site.

Looking at the road sign indicating the way to the Jade Emperor Pavilion, we also went over and visited it with great interest. It is located on the west bank of the Haihe River. It was built during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, that is, in 1368 AD. It has a history of more than 600 years and is Tianjin. One of the oldest existing buildings. To this day, you can still clearly see the "Thousand Years Belt" on its beams, which clearly records the years when it was repaired by successive dynasties.

Yuhuangge was the largest Taoist temple in Tianjin at that time. The main worshipers in the temple are the Jade Emperor, who is second only to the Three Qing Dynasties in the Taoist deity system. In modern times, due to imperialist aggression, the buildings of the Jade Emperor Pavilion were severely damaged.

The remaining Qingxu Pavilion is the only remaining Ming Dynasty building in the Yuhuangge complex.

Before I knew it was nearly noon, I went to a nearby local restaurant with a lot of family members and had lunch.

We went to the bridge near the restaurant to admire the Sancha River Estuary and the Tianjin Eye Ferris Wheel.

Crossing the bridge and stroll along the east bank of the Haihe River to visit the Italian customs area. There are more than 200 elegant buildings in Mediterranean style here. Many former residences of celebrities and filming sites for film and television dramas also add a lot to the journey. Passing by a Catholic church, it looked quite simple. I guess it must have been for some years.

Soon, I arrived at the Memorial Hall of Li Shutong's Former Residence. Li Shutong is the famous Master Hongyi. His former residence is a large house consisting of four quadrangles built during the Qing Dynasty.

The plane is in the shape of a field, and there are verandas and small gardens in the courtyard. The interior furnishings are exquisite and the environment is elegant.

There is a Western-style study in the house, named "Yiyuan", which was built by Li Shutong when he returned to his hometown after studying in Japan in 1910 to show his willingness to show his ambition.

The garden verandas in the courtyard are connected into one piece, and the interior furnishings are exquisite.

There are some wax figures showing the life scenes at that time, and the overall environment is elegant and pleasant.

After visiting, we saw many shared bicycles at the door and the street, so we rode to Liang Qichao's former residence, which mainly consists of Mr. Liang Qichao's former residence and the "Ice Drinking Room" study.

The front floor of the former residence is the main building with a basement. There are 9 bedrooms on the first and second floors. The overall building is divided into two parts. The eastern half is dedicated to Liang's and has a small study, living room, living room, etc.;

The western half is home to family housing. The back building is an annex building with a kitchen, boiler room, storage room, servant housing, etc. The front building and the back building are connected by corridors and overpasses. The whole building is quite exquisite, with gardens, garages, communication rooms, etc.

The ice drinking room study is built side by side with the residence. It is a light gray two-story small foreign-style building. There are three small arched halls on the front of the building. There are stone steps on both sides of the door. There is a reservoir in the middle. A stone beast is carved in the pool, and water is constantly sprayed from its mouth all year round.

The center of the first floor is the hall. Except for one room, the rest are study rooms and library rooms.

There is also a hall near the northwest corner of the second floor, and several rooms near the southeast corner are mainly used as bedrooms or library rooms.

Liang lived here in his later years to write. The ice drinking room was designed by Italian architect Bellonio and is a patio corridor with an enclosed canopy. The building has a unique shape. The center hall is actually the canopy of the patio courtyard. The canopy is higher than the roof and is inlaid with flowered glass.

The exhibition room of the former residence reproduces the life and work scenes of the Liang family at that time, and displays Liang Qichao's letters, books, historical documents and activity photos.

Continue to ride around the Italian style area, looking at the red-roofed Italian buildings and European sculptures, come to the pedestrian area, and walk to Marco Polo Square, one of the landmark buildings in the scenic area, with the central Collins stone pillar standing. The Goddess of Peace holding an olive branch.

In addition to Li Shutong and Liang Qichao, the scenic area also has many former residences of celebrities. The former residence of the great warlord Cao Kun is now a commodity exchange; the former residence of Yuan Shikai and Feng Guozhang have been converted into hotels; there are also the former residence of Cao Yu and Zhang Ting'e, etc.

Not far from the square is an exhibition hall introducing Tianjin's history and future urban planning. We have no intention or ability to visit it again. The Western restaurants and coffee shops on both sides of the pedestrian street are crowded with tourists and lively even during the day.

I took a taxi to the Central Park, got off the bus and continued to stroll around. I found that there seemed to be many people gathered in front of me to take photos, so I also walked over to watch the excitement. A very beautiful house made of ceramics appeared in front of me. This was the "porcelain house".

Entering the visitor center on the side to read the introduction, the wall of the porcelain house is made up of hundreds of ancient porcelain bottles from the Republic of China and the Late Qing Dynasty. It is called Ping An Wall.

A dragon made of ancient porcelain pieces on the roof spiraled to form a pattern of "China", and behind the dragon is a bird's nest model made of broken porcelain pieces. It was late, the ticket price was quite high, and LP was reluctant to climb stairs. Moreover, we had been to Jingdezhen, the porcelain capital, many times and were a little tired of porcelain. So like most tourists, we took photos and went to Zhang Xueliang's former residence not far away. have a look.

Zhang Xueliang's former residence is a magnificent three-story small Western-style building. The building is a white Western-style building in a stepped shape. There are large terraces on the second and third floors. The top of the red house has Tianjin in English and Chinese. The words "Young Marshal Mansion" are written, and the interior of the building is the place where the Young Marshal once lived and lived.

I went back to the hotel apartment building and went to the nearby supermarket to buy some beer and cooked food.

After returning to the room for simple processing in the microwave oven, we will have dinner while watching the night view of the Tianjin Haihe River.

Day 3 Nankai University-Drum Tower

After waking up in the sun, I went to the food street downstairs for breakfast and took a taxi to visit the famous Nankai University. It coincided with the 100th anniversary of Nankai University, and many alumni returned to the school to participate in activities.

Nankai University is located on the southwest side of Tianjin City. It is a century-old school. The campus is relatively simple and there are not many historical buildings.

However, the lakes and trees here are fresh and beautiful, and many students are studying on campus. The scholarly atmosphere is strong, giving people a quiet and pleasant feeling.

We cruised around the campus on a shared bicycle and saw that the school buildings and teaching buildings of Tianjin University, which were separated by a fence from Nankai, had been connected to the one in Nankai. Tourists could hardly tell the difference between them.

The Horseshoe Lake on campus is a highlight. Large areas of lotus flowers are planted here, and the flowers bloom very beautifully every summer.

Siyuan Hall not far southwest of Horseshoe Lake is an ancient building on campus, and the Roman-style building at the entrance is very characteristic.

Seeing Nankai's ancient school clock, I think it carries the past and history of Nankai University.

Leave Nankai and take a taxi to Nanshi Food Street, just across the street from the hotel.

This is a cloister three-story building with entrances in all four directions. The entrances are as majestic and tall as the city gate tower. The first floor here is relatively open and is a replica of an arcade building.

The main shops are various snacks, such as Guifaxiang Mahua, Shibajie Mahua, Erduyan, Bengdouzhang, etc.

In addition to delicious food on this floor, you can also find interesting traditional stalls such as painting sugar figures. The second and third floors are semi-open clover-style buildings. Each entire floor is connected, and you stroll through shops one after another. These two floors are dominated by various restaurants, including Sichuan cuisine, Shandong cuisine and other cuisines. Tianjin Cuisines and Yaxi Restaurant are also among them.

After coming out, we rode north along the wide avenue and came to the Drum Tower. It is located in the center of the city. It is called the Drum Tower, but it is actually the Bell Tower.

The Drum Tower is three floors high. On the first floor of the building, there is a square platform made of bricks. It is wide at the bottom and narrow at the top. There are four arched doorways that pass through four streets, east, south, and south.

On this platform, two floors were built. The first floor is dedicated to the Goddess of Mercy, the Virgin Mary of Tianhou, Guan Yu and Yue Fei, etc., and there is also an exhibition introducing the development history of Tianjin City.

On the second floor of the Drum Tower, there is a famous plaque hanging outside.

There is an iron bell weighing 300 kilograms hanging in the building. The bell of the Drum Tower is 1.4 meters in diameter, 2.3 meters high and weighs about 1500 kilograms. It is known as the "Bell King" of Tianjin. This clock is cast of iron, with precise casting and simple shape.

The bell body is all embossed cast in the sun. The bell button is cast into a pair of tails. The scales are clearly visible. The two heads and four feet of the pair are connected to the bell body. The other four feet are grabbing each other, and the body is bent to roar.

There is an exhibition hall in the Drum Tower introducing the history of foreign powers 'invasion and occupation of Tianjin in the past. Looking at Tianjin from the Drum Tower, there is a hazy feeling. I guess the smog index has exceeded the standard.

After lunch at the restaurant on the street of Gulou Street, I wanted to visit the Gege Mansion next to it, but it was not open.

When I was tired from shopping, I called a taxi and went back to rest. I saw the huge mechanical clock on the Century Bell Square by the Haihe River. It was quite spectacular. The minute plate, the pendulum and the base were all metal and shone brightly. The pendulum goes up and down, the sun and the moon shine, and China and the West blend.

The side of the dial has a huge pendulum shape, with the "sun" on the top and the "moon" on the bottom. The pendulum is S-shaped, which is based on the shape of the Taiji dividing line, implying the alternation of yin and yang, beginning and ending each other.

For dinner, we came to Qishilin Hotel, which is close to our hotel apartment. Qishilin is the earliest Western restaurant in Tianjin. The original Qishilin was a small restaurant that made and operated bread. It was founded in 1908 by the German Qishilin. Qishilin attracted customers with its authentic German-style Western food, breads and snacks, and its business was booming.

Many celebrities have come here to eat. It is said that Puyi and Wanrong also came here many times to eat while living in Tianjin. Now Shilin operates a variety of Western food. There is a pastry shop on the first floor, Russian food on the second floor, German food on the third floor, French food on the fourth floor.

Because the founder is German, we chose the German restaurant on the third floor, and a set of self-brewed German beer equipment was prominently placed in the central kitchen.

There is a dining table around it, where you can see the busy process of chefs making Western food.

We ordered 2 different flavors of freshly brewed beer and German sausage platters and signature beef dishes.

The taste is not bad. It's not as bad as some reviews I've read before and it's difficult to adjust.

When leaving, LP went to the pastry shop on the first floor and bought several snacks to take away. The night was beautiful, and the building next to it lit up with the lights of 'Long Live the Motherland'!

Day 4 Tianjin-Beijing

After waking up naturally, I went to Tianjin Station and took the high-speed train to Beijing South Railway Station. There were many flights. I purchased my ticket online in advance. There was still some time before the departure time when I arrived at Tianjin Station.

Breakfast was served while waiting for the bus. The high-speed rail was fast and we arrived at Beijing South Railway Station in about half an hour. We took a taxi straight to the Jingtailong Hotel where we stayed for the past few days. It is located on Zhushikou East Street, just near the south entrance of Qianmen Street.

I checked in to my room, put down my luggage, and after a short rest, I walked to the nearby Qianmen Pedestrian Street for a stroll. The main reason why I chose this hotel was for the convenience of shopping and eating. The sky turned cloudy and drizzled, but it could not stop us from playing.

Qianmen Pedestrian Street starts from the outside of Zhengyangmen Arrow Tower in the north and ends at Zhushikou East Street in the south. It is about 800 meters long. It has been the most famous commercial street in Beijing since ancient times.

Nowadays, there are also many time-honored restaurants and shops, as well as snacks from all over the country. Shopping and enjoying delicious food here are the best choices.

The buildings on the street are all antique, paired with archways, old signboards, red lanterns, etc. Is this the taste of old Beijing?

Not far from the south entrance of Qianmen Pedestrian Street, you can see a Qingfeng steamed bun shop. The scale is quite large when you enter. I ordered several steamed buns with different fillings to taste it. The taste is average, similar to that of Tianjin Goubuli, but it is more cost-effective.

When I walked to the middle of the pedestrian street, I saw that the Dazhalan and Xianyukou Hutongs next to me were also very lively. There were many snack and pastry shops on the streets, and I could buy them whenever I wanted.

Walking into a branch alley in Dazhalan, I saw there was stewing, so I bought a bowl to taste it. The stewing taste was not bad, but the cake was a little hard and needed to soak it for a while longer.

There are train tracks on the pedestrian street, and there is a small sightseeing train called the Dangdang Bus that you can ride on, but we only saw one train passing by after shopping all afternoon.

There are many time-honored restaurants such as Quanjude, Bianyifang, Donglaishun, and Liubiju in the pedestrian street and surrounding hutongs. You can eat traditional delicacies such as roast duck and hot-boiled mutton. I am thinking about which restaurants to visit in the next few days.

In addition to time-honored restaurants, we also see time-honored shops and old buildings such as Ruiqixiang and Guanmao Culture Museum.

There are also some teahouses that feature traditional artistic performances such as cross talk and storytelling.

Unconsciously, the sky was getting dark, and we came to Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant for dinner. Quanjude is a well-known trademark of a time-honored Chinese brand. It was founded in 1864 (the third year of Tongzhi of the Qing Dynasty) and has made great progress after several generations of entrepreneurial hard work.

I have been to Beijing many times before and eaten Quanjude Roast Duck many times, but LP still wanted to taste Quanjude Roast Duck again. When we entered the hall, there were a lot of people waiting in line, so we also took a number and sat down and waited.

When waiting for the table, you can see the oven in the glass room and the chefs busy roasting ducks. The oven door is wide open and the fire is blazing inside. The golden roast ducks attract the people waiting for the table to swallow their saliva.

After waiting for almost an hour, it was our turn to sit down at a square table on the second floor.

I told the waiter to place an order based on the name of the dish selected when waiting for the table. The taste of the duck was okay, but the price was high. However, I was quite happy to see the chef sipping freshly baked duck on the cart beside the table and drinking beer!

The fifth day of the Forbidden City

It was sunny today. After having some breakfast in the restaurant next to the hotel lobby in the morning, I took a taxi to the Forbidden City. In fact, the hotel and the Forbidden City were less than 3 kilometers walking distance, but it took nearly an hour to get to Donghuamen by taxi. It was really the 'first block'!

I bought tickets online yesterday. The entrance to the Forbidden City is at Wumen Gate. Therefore, it is not far to walk from Donghuamen to get outside Wumen Gate. The battery car will be there in a few minutes.

There are many people visiting the Forbidden City, but the Forbidden City has a limited number of visitors, so it does not feel crowded. There are many teams and noisy queues to enter the park. However, the line of individual visitors entering the park is very short. After taking a few photos outside the noon gate, we passed through the gate and entered the noon gate in a short time. In order to understand the details of the Forbidden City, we rented two electronic commentators, which will automatically play the explanation when visiting various places.

The Forbidden City, also known as the Forbidden City, was a royal palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties. It is a relatively well-preserved and large-scale ancient wooden buildings in China and even the world. It covers a wide area and has more than 70 palaces of various sizes and 9999 houses. Half rooms, these splendid buildings can be divided into two parts: the "Outer Dynasty" and the "Inner Court".

With Qianqing Gate as the boundary, south of Qianqing Gate is the Outer Dynasty, where the emperor handles government affairs. To the north of Qianqing Gate is the Inner Court, where the harem and concubines live, which is the place where the emperor's family lives. Walking through the throne hall, Qianqing Palace, and Kunning Palace, and enjoying the beautiful scenery in the emperor's imperial garden is refreshing and refreshing.

Walking into the Wumen Gate, there are five Jinshui bridges in the square in front of Taihe Gate. They are single-hole arches and have beautiful shapes. They are set off against the majestic Wumen Gate Tower and the resplendent Hall of Taihe, making them fascinating.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony, commonly known as the "Golden Luan Hall", was the place where emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties held grand ceremonies. On every day of the ceremony, there is a huge ceremonial ceremony from the Hall of Supreme Harmony to Tiananmen Square.

Yangxin Hall is a "Gong" shaped building, divided into two halls.

After Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty, the emperor's bedroom was moved to the back hall, and the front hall became the place where the emperor handled daily government affairs and received ministers and servants.

Kunning Palace is one of the last three palaces in the inner court of the Forbidden City in Beijing. In the Ming Dynasty, the Kunning Palace was the queen's bedroom, but in the Qing Dynasty, it was gradually changed into a place for worshipping gods.

Baohe Hall is the essence of traditional Chinese palace architecture and belongs to a palace-style building in the Forbidden City in Beijing.

Every New Year's Eve, the emperor banquets for ethnic minority princes and ministers here. Since the late Qianlong period, this place has become a place for holding "palace examinations".

The Treasure Hall is located in the Ningshou Palace area. It has a nine-dragon wall. The upper part of the wall is a yellow glazed tile hall roof, and under the eaves are rafters, purlins, and dougong with imitation wood structures. The wall surface is shaded by clouds and water, decorated with blue and green, creating the majestic momentum of connecting water and sky. The lower part is a white marble stone base, which is dignified and dignified.

North of Ningshou Palace are the Yangxing Hall, Leshoutang and Yihe Xuan in order. Among the three halls, Leshoutang is the most gorgeous.

The interior decoration of the hall is mostly made of nanmu wrapped with precious wood such as red sandalwood and rosewood, and decorated with jade and enamel, making it look elegant and luxurious.

In the center of the north hall of the indoor room is Yushan Mountain, the largest jade carving hidden in the Forbidden City.

The wall of the corridor outside the hall is inlaid with "Jingshengzhai Fa Tie" engraved stone, which is the inkmarks of Emperor Qianlong's temporary writing of the book title and classic quotations.

Emperor Qianlong mainly lived here after he became Emperor Taishang, and he also lived here after Cixi's 60th birthday.

The collection is particularly rich in treasures, covering Buddhist supplies, ornaments, daily utensils and enjoyment treasures.

Most of these treasures are made of precious materials such as gold, silver, jade, emerald, pearls and various gemstones, and famous craftsmen from all over the country are recruited to design and manufacture them.

With every effort of ingenuity and cost, its craftsmanship represented the highest level at the time.

The Clock Hall is located in the Fengxian Hall in the palace. Fengxian Hall is on the east side of the Three Inner Palaces of the Forbidden City. It was originally built during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty. "Fengxian" means respecting the meaning of our ancestors.

In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, this was the home temple where emperors sacrificed sacrifices to their ancestors. The hall is divided into two layers, front and rear, connected by a hall, forming a noble "Gong"-shaped hall form. The back hall is decorated with the sacred tablets of emperors and empresses of successive dynasties.

In ancient times, my country often used gutters, sundials, and colander pots to keep time. European mechanical clocks began to be introduced to my country in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, gradually replacing traditional timekeepers.

In the 18th century, mechanical clocks were widely used in the Qing Dynasty. More than 200 watches and clocks of various types made at home and abroad in the 18th century are displayed in the museum.

Most of them are British products, as well as watches from France, Switzerland and other countries.

These clocks have accurate timing, exquisite shape, brilliant colors, beautiful music, funny acting skills and various auspicious connotations.

It was deeply loved by the Emperor's Houmen and became a precious decoration in the palace.

The Forbidden City was so big that I was a little tired after watching the clock shop. I came out and bought a lovely stone lion-shaped Forbidden City ice cream to relieve my fever and ate some snacks to satisfy my hunger.

After that, we continued to listen to the explanations and visit the twelve east and west palaces. The six east palaces refer to Jingren Palace, Chengqian Palace, Zhongcui Palace, Jingyang Palace, Yonghe Palace, and Yanxi Palace.

The West Sixth Palace refers to Yongshou Palace, Yikun Palace, Chuxiu Palace, Xianfu Palace, Changchun Palace, and Qixiang Palace (Taiji Palace).

There is a three-story Western-style building-Water Hall in Yanxi Palace. The water hall is surrounded by dredged ponds, and the jade spring is surrounded by mountains and rivers. Also known as the Crystal Palace, all the structures of the hall are cast in iron, and the four coil-dragon-patterned pillars in the hall are also forged from cast iron. Most of the entire building is made of white marble, with bricks rarely used. The exterior walls are carved, and the interior walls are covered with white and colorful tiles. Due to the empty treasury, construction was forced to stop, but it has not yet been completed, but the idea is still touching.

Continue north to the Imperial Garden. The Imperial Garden is located north of the Kunning Palace. This has always been a place for the emperors and concubines to rest and play after dinner. Activities to climb mountains and admire the moon in the palace every year are also held here.

This place was called Gonghouyuan in the Ming Dynasty and renamed Imperial Garden in the Qing Dynasty. It was built in the 18th year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, and it still retains the basic pattern when it was first built.

The buildings in the park adopt a symmetrical layout with central axes. The Qin 'an Hall in the middle houses Taoist gods, and Lian Libo, who meets above the corridor in front of the hall, is also one of the strange trees in the palace. There are two pairs of Wanchun Pavilion, Fubi Pavilion, Qianqiu Pavilion and Chengrui Pavilion, which represent the four seasons, each on the east and west sides.

Among them, the Wanchun Pavilion and Qianqiu Hall, which face the east and west, are unique and exquisite in shape, and are known as the most beautiful pavilions in the Forbidden City. The area of the Imperial Garden is not large, but ancient cypresses, old locust trees and exotic flowers and grasses are scattered in it.

There are also dotted with pavilions, halls and criss-crossing gravel roads, making the entire garden quaint and quiet without losing the royal spirit.

North from the Imperial Garden is Shenwu Gate, which is the north gate of the Forbidden City and the exit of the Forbidden City. It was called Xuanwu Gate in the Ming Dynasty. Xuanwu was one of the four ancient mythological beasts. In terms of location, Qinglong on the left, White Tiger on the right, Rosefinch on the front, Xuanwu on the back, and Xuanwu on the back ruled the north. Therefore, the north gate of the imperial palace was often named "Xuanwu". During the renovation in the Kangxi Year of the Qing Dynasty, it was renamed Shenwu Gate to avoid the name Xuanye of Emperor Kangxi.

The Shenwu Gate Gate Tower is built on a city wall more than 10 meters high, with a width of 5 rooms and a double eaves covering the roof of the hall. There is a Chinese plaque under the eaves on the upper floor, books filled with the Chinese "Shenwu Gate", and a stone guardrail surrounds it downstairs. There are three gate gates in the city wall. The middle gate can be opened and closed, and there is a stone plaque of "Palace Museum" on the upper part of the gate facing north. You can leave the Forbidden City from here, or you can go up the tower to continue visiting. Opposite is Jingshan Park. Looking at the Jingshan Park opposite from the tower, the setting sun sets off the Jingshan Park.

What surprised us was that there were many cultural relics from the Moscow Kremlin, including the tsar's fine clothes, military uniforms, decorations, utensils, archives, documents, printed materials, etc. on display in the tower.

Each piece is an art treasure used in the most important court ceremonies held in the Kremlin in Moscow in the 18th and 19th centuries.

According to chapters such as the entrance ceremony, announcement to the world, the imperial throne, the coronation ceremony, sacred rituals, grand parade, luxurious feast, and celebration, the magnificent scene of the Russian court celebrations will be restored in all aspects.

From the tower to the east, we walked on the city wall to watch the beautiful scenery inside and outside the city. At the corner at the end, there was a corner tower. It may seem inconspicuous, but in fact it carried the highest skills of traditional wooden structure in ancient my country.

The internal structure consists of nine beams, eighteen columns and seventy-two ridges. Such a complex and exquisite building shows the superb architectural skills of ancient Chinese craftsmen. In addition to playing a decorative role, the corner tower, together with the city wall, gate tower and moat, belongs to the defense facilities of the palace. It functions as a lookout tower and is condescending to facilitate detection of enemy situations.

The yellow glazed tile roof and the gilded crown shine brightly in the sun, setting off the blue sky and white clouds, making them more solemn and beautiful.

Continue to walk on the eastern city wall until you reach the Donghuamen Gate Tower before you come down and leave the Forbidden City.

As the sun sets, tired and happy, I reluctantly take a taxi back to the hotel under the sparkling water of the Tongzi River.

After a short rest, I came to Donglaishun Pork Shabu on Qianmen Street. This Donglaishun house is on the second floor of a building in Dazhalan. There is an old tram model on the first floor for tourists to watch.

The night view of Qianmen Street was beautiful, but we couldn't afford to stroll any more. After dinner, we went straight back to rest.

On the sixth day, Gong Palace-Nanluogu Lane-798 Art District

After a night's rest, my energy was restored. After breakfast, I took a taxi to visit Gong's Mansion. Like the Forbidden City, I bought tickets in advance. After renting two electronic explanation devices at the door, I directly used my ID card to enter the gate while listening to the explanation and visiting.

Gong's Mansion was the largest palace in the Qing Dynasty. It was successively the residence of the major corrupt official He Shen and Qing Prince Yong Lin. It was named after the residence of Prince Gong Xin. Gong Wang Mansion went through the historical process from its peak to its decline of the Qing Dynasty, so there is a saying that "a Gong Wang Mansion is half of the history of the Qing Dynasty."

The building complex has a very complete preservation site, with more than 30 building communities of various types, with exquisite layout and extraordinary style. The whole is divided into two parts: the mansion and the garden.

The mansion is in the south, the garden is in the north, and a back building known as the "99 and a half rooms" separates it at the waist.

The mansion consists of multiple courtyards with strict axes running through it. It is divided into three buildings: middle, east and west, with three courtyards on each road.

The main buildings in the middle road are Yin 'an Hall and Jiale Hall. The roof of the hall is made of green glazed tiles, which shows the majestic style of the middle road and is also a reflection of the identity of the prince.

The front yard and main house of East Road is Duofu Xuan. He Shen's son Feng Shen Yin De later married Emperor Qianlong's youngest daughters Gulun and Princess Xiao, and lived here, making this mansion a de facto princess for a time.

The main room in the courtyard behind the entrance is called Le Dao Hall, which was the living place of Prince Gong Xin at that time. The courtyard on the West Road is relatively small and exquisite, and the main buildings are Baoguang Room and Xijinzhai.

The architectural masterpiece belongs to the tall and elegant Xijinzhai. There are beautifully carved nanmu sections in the hall. It was built by Heshen in imitation of the Ningshou Palace in the Forbidden City.

The garden is located north of the mansion, also known as Cuijin Garden. It covers an area larger than the Imperial Garden of the Forbidden City and has 31 ancient buildings.

Back then, Prince Gong mobilized hundreds of skilled craftsmen to build a garden.

After its completion, its grandeur was the crown of the 100 royal palaces in the capital and is the essence of the existing royal palace garden art in Beijing.

The whole park is dotted with the word "blessing" and the theme is clear.

The Xiyang Gate, the imperial inscription "Fu" and the large indoor theater in the garden are all called the "Three Wonders" of Gong Wang Mansion.

It was noon at the end of the visit, and you quickly took the subway to Nanluogu Lane, one stop away. South Tongluo Lane is an alley that starts from Gulou East Street in the north and ends at Ping 'an Street in the south. It is about 800 meters long. It is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Beijing. It has a history of nearly 800 years. It is a complete preservation of the Yuan Dynasty Hutong courtyard and the largest traditional residential area, and is the street with the most old Beijing style.

There are many literary specialty shops here, as well as a wide variety of snacks. I found a specialty snack shop and ordered bean juice, scorched rings, fried liver, fried tripe, etc. To be honest, it is not very delicious and is worse than southern snacks. It's far away, but it's also good to take a break while tasting local specialties.

Turning into the hutongs on both sides of the main street, there are many fewer tourists. The old houses tell the history of old Beijing. Unfortunately, most of the buildings are inhabited by residents, so they can't go in and visit, so they have to walk outside.

In addition, the Central Academy of Drama is also located here, and you can see the old buildings in the fence.

After shopping, take a taxi from the north exit and go straight to the 798 Art District. It is located in the northeast of Chaoyang District. It is a creative park transformed from an old factory building. There are many galleries, exhibition halls and independent art homes.

The buildings are also new and fashionable, with a full sense of design. There are many specialty shops, which is the beauty of feeling the literary atmosphere.

The 798 Art District has a large area, about 1 kilometer in length and width. Various galleries, exhibition halls, art centers, etc. are distributed in renovated factories. Here, the main purpose is to experience the artistic atmosphere here.

Visiting the exhibition is the main content. There are many art exhibitions in the park, most of which are free.

There are also individual exhibitions that charge fees, mainly displaying the works of the artists stationed in the park, most of which are cutting-edge and creative.

We visited casually along the way.

Various sculptures, graffiti, etc. are scattered on the streets in the park, each with its own characteristics.

Even the public toilets are designed with a creative sense, and taking artistic photos here is a very good choice.

In addition to various galleries and art centers on the street, there are also many art shops, cafes, restaurants, etc. The art shops sell various unique small works of art, such as painted pottery, fabrics, etc.

The afternoon flies by while visiting the exhibition. In the evening, take a taxi to the cheap restaurant located in Xianyukou not far from our hotel to eat roast duck and experience the difference between it and Quanjude roast duck.

The cooking methods between the two are different. Bianyifang has a stored-stove roast duck, while Quanjude has a stored-stove roast duck. The taste and taste of the stored-stove and stored-stove roast duck are somewhat different. Because the stored-stove duck is roasted by the heat of the furnace wall. During the roasting process, the temperature in the furnace first rises and then drops, and the firepower is mild but not strong. Therefore, the surface of the crammed duck is evenly heated, the fuel consumption is small, and the duck breast appears plump and swollen. The roasted duck has a crispy skin and plump meat, and the meat is white and tender. The meat feels obvious and the taste is delicious. There is no furnace door for hanging roast duck. The fruit and wood are fully burned. The ducks are evenly heated and the heat is strong, and the fat is melted away under the skin. The surface of the roasted ducks is golden and shiny, with the dry and charred skin and crispy skin, and the taste is charred.

In short, I think the duck skin from Quanjude is more delicious, while the duck meat from Yiyi Fang is more delicious. Overall, they are both very good, and the taste and preferences vary from person to person. I ordered a whole duck and ate it full and took a walk back to the hotel.

Passing by Liu Laogen's Grand Stage and Liu Laogen's Restaurant, the lights were brilliant, and there was a huge root-carved old birthday boy on the roadside happily looking at passers-by.

Day 7: Red leaves in Xiangshan Mountain

The first day and the driver who made an appointment discussed the departure time. He told me that there were often traffic jams when we went to Xiangshan during this time and suggested that we set off early. So the driver came to pick us up early in the morning. When we arrived at the intersection of Xiangshan, we saw many police officers starting to set up roadblocks to prepare for traffic control. I was lucky to enter Xiangshan Road before traffic control, arrived at the north gate of Xiangshan Park, and bought a ticket to enter.

Xiangshan Park is located in the western suburbs of Beijing. It is a royal garden with mountain forest characteristics. The park is lush with lush forests and many historical relics hidden in the forest. It is an ornamental resort and natural oxygen bar in Beijing.

Every autumn, the "red leaves in Xiangshan Mountain are red all over the sky" is the highlight of the scenic spot and is almost a household name in China.

We also came to admire the red leaves of Xiangshan Mountain. The cable car leading up the mountain had not yet started running. There were many tourists waiting in line. We walked around casually and had breakfast.

Soon after, the cable car began to operate. We lined up to buy tickets and took the cable car to Xianglu Peak on the top of Xiangshan Mountain.

Xiangshan Park has a history of nearly 900 years since its establishment. As early as the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, the royal family built a separate courtyard of the Li Palace in Xiangshan,

Every summer and autumn, the emperor would come here to hunt and cool off.

There are many cultural relics and historic sites in the park, with pavilions and pavilions scattered among the mountains and forests. The "Biyun Temple", a temple that integrates the architectural styles of the Ming and Qing dynasties; the only remaining wooden gold-plated "Five Hundred Arhats" in China;

The palace to welcome the Sixth Panchen Lama, the palace "Zongjing Dazhao Temple", and the quaint courtyard "Jianxinzhai" with Jiangnan characteristics,

Shuangqing Villa on the southeast slope of Xiangshan Temple are good places to visit.

In the middle of the mountain, I saw the place where Mr. Mei Lanfang was playing. A huge word plum was carved on the rock, with two small characters: Lan Fang.

When walking down the mountain and out of the East Gate, I encountered a large number of tourists pouring into Xiangshan along the way.

The crowd was crowded and the scene was grand. Fortunately, many people entered and relatively few went out.

We took the subway Xijiao Line from Xiangshan Station to Bagou Station, then got off and transferred to other lines to go to Yuanmingyuan Ruins Park.

It consists of three areas: Yuanmingyuan, Changchun yuan and Qichun yuan.

Because I had gone in to see the marble stone pillars of Yuanmingyuan before, LP's feet were sore when walking in Xiangshan. Seeing that there were no battery cars to travel on in Qichun Garden, I couldn't be bothered to walk, so I took a photo at the west gate of Tsinghua University and took a taxi and left.

While on the bus, I heard the driver say that Niujie is a gathering place for the Hui people. The halal restaurant Jubaoyuan there has very good pork hotpot. We asked the driver to take us directly there for lunch. When we arrived, it was almost 1:30 in the afternoon. We were a little dumbfounded as soon as we got off the bus. We saw several long lines lined up. We asked if they were queuing up to buy beef, mutton, cakes and other items on the first floor.

We also need to get a number and wait for meals. We still need to wait for more than 20 tables to get a table. Fortunately, we have stools to sit and wait. It was not until near three o'clock that we were assigned a small table on the second floor that the waiter was cleaning. I couldn't wait to order and eat the most delicious hotpot meal in years. Maybe it was the reason why I was so hungry after waiting for a long time. I ordered too many dishes, so I packed the mutton kebabs and cake balls.

LP bought some pastries on the first floor before going back to the hotel. It was not far from our hotel. It was already evening when I returned to the hotel. I bought some beer from the small supermarket downstairs. I no longer planned to go out at night. I would just eat mutton kebabs and pastries, drink beer and watch TV and spend the last night of this trip in Beijing.

Day 8 Beijing-Datong

It is very convenient for Beijing to take the high-speed train to Datong, but because we wanted to visit the newly built Beijing Daxing Airport, we specially purchased a flight from Daxing Airport to Datong, Shanxi Province this afternoon and slept until we woke up naturally in the morning.

After breakfast, we took a taxi to Daxing Airport, which is more than 50 kilometers away from the hotel, but the road was smooth and we arrived at Daxing Airport in more than an hour.

After we changed our boarding pass and checked our luggage, we began to tour around.

The airport is very big, with a subway leading to downtown Beijing and a high-speed rail leading to Xiongan New Area. LP saw on TV that there is a robot parking service in the underground parking lot of Daxing Airport.

I specially visited the underground parking lot. Unfortunately, because the airport has few flights and few cars parking in the parking lot, robot parking service has not been activated for the time being.

Walking to the dining area, we saw many restaurants, including Quanjude, Lao She Teahouse, etc. We also accidentally saw a "grandma's house". We have been to my grandma's house in Hangzhou many times before and have a good impression.

So I chose this restaurant for lunch for Chinese food, which was really satisfying. After dinner, we checked into the terminal and checked in when we found our waiting gate.

The LP's seat is close to the window. After the plane rises into the sky, you can clearly overlook the Daxing Airport Building, which looks like a big starfish.

The flight was very short. It took about 40 minutes to arrive at Datong Yungang Airport. I took a taxi from the airport to Yungang Jianguo Hotel, where I would be staying for the next few days.

The taxis here didn't even use the meter. After negotiating the price with the driver, they got on the bus and went to the hotel. Fortunately, the price was not too outrageous and the driver had a good attitude. He told us that the most famous hotel in Datong was Fenglin Pavilion in the ancient city. When we arrived at the hotel, the driver gave me a business card before leaving, saying that if I needed to charter a car to visit the surrounding areas in the next few days, I would call him one night in advance to inform him.

At night, I took a taxi to the ancient city of Datong for dinner. Fenglin Pavilion is in a pedestrian area, not far from Yanhua Temple. There are not many pedestrians at night, and the street seems a little deserted, but Fengling Pavilion still needs to take a number and queue up to wait.

This is an ancient building with flying eaves and arched arches, carved beams and painted buildings, with curved corridors inside, and different scenery.

It brings together many styles and styles of ancient Chinese architecture.

It took about an hour to wait before it was our turn. We had already chosen the dishes when waiting for the table. The must-eat here was Baihua Shimai. The freshly baked wheat was very beautiful, like pear blossoms blooming.

Through the dough, you can see the meat filling. The skin is thin and the meat is tender, the taste is very delicious, and the color, aroma and shape are excellent. It is known as a famous food in Datong.

The night in the ancient city was a little cold, and the night sky was bright with stars. We didn't linger here much. After dinner, we took a taxi back to the hotel to rest.

(See Travel Notes (Part 2) for follow-up)