Our trip to Beijing and Xi’An
Table of Contents
The last time I was in China was more than 10 years ago, so I was very keen to check out the country’s progress. During the last trip, I wasn’t able to visit Xi’an and see one of the world’s wonders—the Terracotta Army. Thus, I spent a couple of weeks convincing my wife to come onboard on this trip.
Links to the next parts
Arrival at Beijing
In addition to hotel booking, we pre-purchased a couple of things like tickets to Universal Studios and a tour of Forbidden City, but the majority of the things haven’t been pre-planned. Also, a couple of my Chinese friends gave me a few good recommendations.
After a reasonably long trip, about 8 hours, we landed at Beijing airport. Likely, there is a metro that connects the airport with the city. Later on, we realized that Beijing’s analog of Uber/great, didi, is relatively cheap, but at the beginning, we used public transport a lot. So, after about an hour’s drive, we reached our hotel. Interestingly, Beijing’s nature and planning are quite similar to Russian ones - the same trees, grass, and planning - it was quite a big contrast with Singapore to me.
Universal Studio Beijing
Our flight was early in the morning, so it wasn’t possible to check in, so we decided to drop off the luggage and went straight to Universal Studio Beijing (USB). Our hotel was very near the train station which is actually on the same line as USB, so we decided to use the lovely Chinese metro. The important caveat is that we weren’t able to buy train tickets at the e-boot, but had to look for a boot with a human operator, it wasn’t very convenient and it wasn’t always easy to find the boot location. After a long ride (about an hour), we arrived at the USB’s entrance. My first shock was the queue length - it was huge. Even on Friday morning.
I was prepared to spend an hour queueing to enter the place, but, luckily, everything was very well organized. The giant queues followed us during the whole trip, and it seems the Chinese can manage them pretty well. After we successfully entered, we went straight to our stop number one - the Hogwarts theme area. I was very surprised at how nicely it was decorated - it was easy to imagine that we were in Hogsmeade looking at the castle. Locals also surprised us - a lot of people were dressing up in wizard’s outfits with gowns, wands, etc. Our first stop was a Hogwarts ride with obviously a one-hour queue (but it’s one of the most popular rides).
I would strongly encourage you to download the Beijing U.S. mobile application - you can see the current queue for various rides there. After the lovely ride, we explored the decorations and went to the remaining areas. USB isn’t too different from Universal Studios Singapore, but its area is far larger, so we explored a minions world, kung-fu panda, Jurassic world, etc. I can’t resist trying a minion ice cream. It’s funny to realize that a minion in Chinese is 小黄人, which literally means a little, yellow people. Lastly, on the way back, which was around 4 PM, we checked out the queue - it’s completely gone. So, I probably would advise you to go an hour after the park opens - you won’t need to spend too much time waiting in queue.
After Universal Studios Beijing, we went straight to the hotel to shower and rest for a bit. On that day we just walked around the hotel’s area and decided to go to sleep earlier.
The Forbidden City
On the next day, we decided to visit one of China’s must-have places - the Forbidden City. As I’ve been there before, I thought it was a nice walk, but things changed a lot. Firstly, we have to buy tickets in advance, but we haven’t done this. To overcome this limitation, we decided to get a guided tour, which comes with tickets. On the next day, after a nice walk, we met a tour guide and headed straight to the forbidden city. To our surprise, the guide gave us money and told us to buy the tickets on our own. But that was the main point for us to get the tour! So, we have to go through a long queue and wait for the rest of the group. After passing all the types of security checks (be prepared - security checks are everywhere in China), we entered the Forbidden City. The place is as beautiful as before with grand, amazing buildings inside. It was interesting to listen to the guide, but the weather was extremely hot that day, so it was hard to concentrate. Also, the crowd was huge, so it wasn’t easy to walk in certain areas.
During the tour, we also lerned the art of identifying a gender of a lion guardian. Chinese guardian lions, often seen in front of temples, palaces, and other significant buildings, are traditionally depicted in pairs with one male and one female. Here’s how to distinguish between them:
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Position: The male lion is typically placed on the right side (as you face the entrance), while the female lion is on the left. This positioning is consistent with traditional Chinese customs, where the right side symbolizes strength and dominance.
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Symbol under the paw: The male lion has a ball or sphere under his right paw. This represents power, authority, and the protection of the structure. The female lion holds a small cub or a paw over a cub under her left paw. This symbolizes nurturing, care, and the protection of those inside the building.
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Facial expressions: While subtler, male lions often have a slightly more assertive or fierce expression compared to the female, which can look gentler.
These differences highlight the balance of protection (male) and nurturing (female) in traditional Chinese symbolism.
I would say that the Forbidden City is definitely a must-have, but, probably, not in the summer. Also, I think I’ll enjoy walking there more freely, thinking about the times it was occupied by Chinese emperors and their servants than with a group. Nevertheless, I very much enjoyed the tour and the beauty of the place.
The Temple of Heaven
After a break from the heat and a quick snack, we decided to visit Beijing’s central square - Tiananmen Square. Unfortunately, the square was closed and we had to apply for a ticket/time slot to go there. We hadn’t done that, so the decision was to proceed to the next place - the Temple of Heaven.
During my last visit, my friend and I weren’t able to find the place, but this time it was easier. After a refreshing drink in the park, where the temple is located, we proceed to it. Firstly, you have to climb there - it’s not a difficult hike, but keep in mind the heat. Secondly, the temple was unfortunately closed for inside inspection, so we had to enjoy its beauty from the outside only.
The temple is stunningly amazing, and it was a pleasure to enjoy its iconic Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, with its striking circular shape and deep blue-tiled roof, standing on a marble platform, symbolising harmony between heaven and earth. After the temple, we had a quick dinner and went straight to the hotel to prepare for the next day.