Members of the Population and Place Research Lab recently traveled to Beijing, China, to take part in the “Training Seminar on Future Earth – Health and Environmental Changes” at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research (IGSNRR). The workshop was an amazing 4 days, but that’s not all we got up to!
We strategically planned our days off to maximize site-seeing around Beijing. Although a little (okay, a lot) jetlagged after arriving on Sunday, we were up bright and early on Monday morning to start checking things off our list.
Monday: On Monday, we went to visit the Summer Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage site described as a ‘masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design’. Originally built in 1750, the palace served as an Imperial Garden and summer retreat. The Imperial Garden was conceived as the ‘Garden of Clear Ripples’ by the Qing Emperor Qianlong during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and consists of numerous traditional halls and pavilions, Longevity Hill, and Kunming Lake. Unfortunately, the original garden was largely destroyed during the Second Opium War of the 1850’s, however, was reconstructed by Emperor Guangxu for use by the Empress Dowager Cixi. Damaged again during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, it has been restored and open to the public since 1924.
For more information on the Summer Palace, please visit the UNESCO World Heritage site.
To say the Summer Palace was breathtaking would be an understatement. From the architecture to the landscape design of the Garden, to the beautiful view of Kungming Lake and the mountains, this is a must-see in Beijing.
While at the Summer Palace, we also visited the Long Corridor, a 728 m corridor constructed in 1750 as a part of the Imperial Garden. The Corridor consists of 4 gazebos representing the four seasons and is decorated with over 14,000 paintings depicting scenes from Chinese history, literature, and mythology, as well as flora and fauna native to China. Like the Summer Palace, the Long Corridor was severely damaged in 1860 during the War and was rebuilt in 1886.
Finally, to end our visit, we hopped on a ferry which took us to one of the Islands of the Imperial Garden. Although the sights were amazing, the ferry alone was so very cool.
Tuesday: On Tuesday, Lab Director Dr. Maxwell Hartt, Rachel, and I traveled to Tsinghua University for a Shrinking Cities roundtable, lunch, and tour of the campus. Tsinghua University was established in 1911, originally named ‘Tsing Hua Imperial College’ and then ‘Tsing Hua College’, serving as a preparatory school for students sent by the government to study in the United States. Tsinghua launched its first four-year undergraduate program in 1925, followed by its graduate school in 1929. The University is now renowned as “as a unique comprehensive university bridging China and the world, connecting ancient and modern, and encompassing the arts and sciences” – I couldn’t have said it better myself.
For more on Tsinghua University, please see this informative post by IAMCR.
The campus was an amazing mix of modern and traditional architecture, however, the company was even better! Thank you again, Yao Tong for organizing an awesome tour and Professor Ying Long and colleagues for a delicious lunch.
Following our visit to Tsinghua, Rachel and I went to visit Prince Gong’s (or Kung’s) Mansion (Gong Wang Fu), the most distinguished princely estate in Beijing. The mansion was originally constructed at the end of the 18th century for the Grand Secretary Heshen. Following the death of Emperor Qianlong, Heshen was found to be corrupt (and is now remembered as the most corrupt court official in Chinese history). Emperor Jianging took Heshen’s wealth and ordered his death, passing the mansion to younger brother, Yonglin, Prince Qing. Following the death of Prince Qing, Emperor Xianfeng passed the mansion to his brother Yixin, Prince Kung – who the mansion is named after.
In 1921, after the collapse of the Qing Dynasty, the property was mortgaged to the Order of Saint Benedict of the Catholic Church. The Benedictines restored the mansion, turning it into Fu Jen Catholic University, which was later taken over by the Central Ministry of Education and merged with Beijing Normal University. In 1950, the Beijing Academy of Arts was established on the property.
The property was declared a Major Historical and Cultural Site protected at the national level in Beijing in 1982 and in 1988, it was opened to the public. The mansion is known as the largest quadrangle in the world, including a 30,000 m2 garden, Grand Theatre, and siheyuan-style architecture.
For a detailed history on Prince Kung’s Mansion, please visit this Prince Kung’s Palace Museum.
To wrap up Tuesday, we took a stroll through the Shichahai Scenic Area. The scenic area includes three lakes: Qianhai, meaning Front Sea; Houhai, meaning Back Sea, and Xihai, meaning West Sea. During the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), the Shichahai was the terminal point of the Great Canal. In the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the terminal was closed, and the area was turned into a place of leisure for the people of China. The area is also the most complete historical district in Beijing, connected to Qianhai, Houhai, and Xihai.
From Wednesday to Saturday, we took part in the Training Seminar on Future Earth – Health and Environmental Changes. On the Sunday, the Institute organized a trip to the Great Wall of China for us – but I’ll let you read about that in Liat’s blog post.
Our trip to Beijing was truly a once in a lifetime experience and one that I am incredibly grateful for. The food, sites, and company were amazing. If China was not on your list of places to travel, I would highly suggest adding it!
While site-seeing in a foreign city may seem a bit overwhelming, we found it to be quite easy. There are English translations to most signs:
and English speakers at most tourist sites. Where we couldn’t converse in English – Google Translate allowed us to communicate effectively. Pro tip: downloading AliPay is a must. This app allows you to order taxi’s, pay for items, and acts as a metro pass (which was very easy to navigate and a great way to get the full Beijing experience).
To conclude, I will leave you with one last bonus item that we saw, Beijing Olympic Park. While the Park is lovely to walk through during the day, we agreed that it came alive at night. Below I have included photos of the Beijing National Aquatics Centre (Water Cube), the National Stadium (Bird’s Nest), and the new Beijing Olympic Tower, designed with the concept of the ‘tree of life’.
Cheers! Now, go visit Beijing, China!!