Beijing

Beijing Beijing has undergone vast changes since the 2008 Olympic Games. Panorama Media / age fotostock

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Every day tourists rush in their thousands to visit the Forbidden City, the symbolic place of the eternal China, though the tourists are 99% Chinese so you will not feel like you are in an excessively touristic place.

A city built in the 14th century, it is an incredible maze of palace (9,000 rooms!) and small pagodas covered with yellow tiles (yellow being the colour of the emperor, exclusively).

It is impressive to go to the top of the Tiananmen Gate to the place where Mao proclaimed the Chinese Republic and made so many appearances, surrounded by his faithful followers; access costs around £7.00. Mao's mausoleum in itself is worth a visit to observe the devotion of the crowd, who come every morning (8:30 - 11:30 am) to pay him silent homage in his crystal casket. The Museum of History and Revolution is just next to it. The Qianmen Front (or southern) Gate of the City is, in fact, a double defensive gate that previously marked the limit between the Tartar town and the Chinese town. It dominates Tiananmen Square. You have a unique view over the whole of the Forbidden City from the top of Coal Hill (Meishan). It is best to go from 6 am or at sunset: in the morning, the alleys and summit pagoda are the favourite meeting place for the old Pekinese who come and do their tai-chi-chuan exercises there and, for the old opera singers, their vocals. Fantastic!

The eastern moats of the Forbidden City partially run alongside well-restored traditional working-class houses. You should go to the superb park around the North Lake (Beihai), used for boating, and its "Peppermint Bottle" (nickname of the white pagoda of Mongol inspiration overhanging it), particularly on a Sunday, to see the Pekinese stroll with their families or in couples. The Fangshan is a very famous imperial restaurant. You should also see the Temple of Heaven (Tiantan), located to the south of the old Chinese town. The very famous temple with blue roofs, built without one single nail, was built during the reign of the Ming dynasty to stay in touch with heaven. The emperors came here twice a year to celebrate the harvests. It is open from 5am, and devotees of tai-chi-chuan also get together there. Not far from the Temple of Heaven, in the Muslim district and inspired by Ming Chinese architecture, the Niojie mosque was built in 1442. There is a warm welcome in all the small streets, particularly for Muslim visitors. Beijing has around forty mosques; however, that of Niujie (the street of the cow) is the most famous.

There are two cathedrals in the capital. The South Cathedral opened officially at the time of Mao, however, the religious offices were only used by courageous Christians and diplomats, to command respect. The North Cathedral was transformed into a factory. Both have been restored now and are open for visits. There is also a Protestant church dating from 1925. Three traditional Pekinese houses, the residences of artists with interior courts, are also worth a visit. Make a particular effort to see the one where the famous contemporary writer and thinker Lu Xun (the Chinese Victor Hugo) lived in 1924. Also see the residence where the biggest opera singer in Beijing, Mei Lan Fang, spent the last years of his life, and, finally, that of Lao She, a martyr of the cultural Revolution and author of "Tea House" and "Rickshaw".

Around the Drum Tower (Gulou) which was beaten on the hour every hour, a working-class district with an open-air market and hutongs (small streets) of long ago. This should be discovered quickly, before it all disappears, even if preserving the unhealthiness of the rooms for the satisfaction of the tourists is not really a solution.

Half a century of communism and the absence of any concern for maintenance have not improved day-to-day life; however, the old Pekinese prefer to continue this way of life rather than being re-housed in anonymous buildings in the suburbs.

All the tour operators present the Temple of the Llamas, which is rather over-restored and shiny, as a real place of prayer for the current "monks". The Temple of Confucius is more authentic, and very close by, surrounded by big trees and pillars. There are not many visitors in this atmosphere recalling the charm of Old Beijing which can also be said for the Temple of the Five Pagodas, behind the zoo which is of Indian inspiration and dating back from 1473. Calm and serenity are guaranteed.