Prince Gong's mansion
Prince Gong's mansion
Siheyuan courtyard house
Hutongs are narrow alleyways weaving through neighborhoods of Beijing. They've got lots of character and charm. Most of them have been renovated and modernized since the wooden construction could not have withstand centuries of man-made and natural disasters. They still led to courtyard homes of wealthy as well as common folks. We toured a hutong this morning west if Qian Hai. The mansion of Prince Gong was there. He was the second in command to Emperor Xianfeng (Qing dynasty 1851-1861). His mansion was quite extravagant. There were 9999 bat figurines throughout his home in his desire for longevity. The most charming part of the tour was really the siheyuan courtyard home where we had tea (in paper Dixie cups) with a young woman whose family has lived there since the late 1940's. The rickshaw ride was delightful in the almost perfect Beijing spring weather.
That was an exhausting morning! We spent the early afternoon converting currency, buying some groceries, and taking a nap. In the late afternoon, we decided to head back to Qian Men, the southern most edge of Tiananmen Square to visit a night market. Night market was under major renovation, but we did find a restaurant serving Peking duck (the fried rice was far better than the duck!). Heading back to the hotel with the sun had just set, we noticed how pretty Beijing city is lit up in lights. This is a very beautiful city. What a showcase for the world in August!
Tomorrow... Forbidden City...
No comments:
Post a Comment