Even arriving in Beijing for only 1 or 3 days, you can discover many things for yourself once and for all! After all, Beijing is, by right, considered one of the most beautiful cities in China. Coming here, many tourists, in the first place, visit the Great Wall of China, the Summer Palace, the Temple of Heaven and the Peking Opera – an integral miracle of China. This and much more attract visitors from all over the world to see with their own eyes the magnificent buildings that have been around for more than one century.
Most tourists visit the Great Wall of China, it is located 90 km from Beijing. Its construction began the Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang in 210 BC to protect his kingdom from the warring neighbors. The length of the Wall is 6000 km – just as much, according to the legend, the mythical winged horse of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, galloped along the ground where his hoof touched, guard towers appeared. Although, in reality, the distance between the towers is strictly measured: two flights of an arrow shot from a bow. This was done with the condition that any piece of land could be shot through by the defenders.
The residence of the emperors Iheyuan located 25 km from Beijing, the summer is hot in the city, so the palaces were erected outside the city, where the air temperature is much cooler. In 1703, the Summer Palace was built by Emperor Kangxi. The beauty of Chengde is 270 km from Beijing, striking and gorgeous: rocky gloomy mountains, a transparent river of lakes and vast steppes. The whole territory was fenced with a 10-kilometer wall. There are two stones in front of the main gate; every visitor here had to dismount and walk.
The Emperor’s sacrificial altar, the Temple of Heaven, was erected on the southern outskirts of Beijing. The ancient Chinese believed in the existence of good and evil spirits, they needed to be appeased. Therefore, the peasants made sacrifices to the spirits of the home, the aristocracy to the spirits of rivers and mountains, the relatives of the emperor to the spirits of the Moon or the Sun, and the emperor himself offered sacrifices to Heaven and Earth to the supreme deities. Therefore, in Beijing, they began to build the Temple of Heaven – Tien Tan in 1406, from which time the emperor – the son of Heaven – offered sacrifices to the supreme deity: here he sacrificed animals, birds, grain, silk, jewels, and later paper money in front of a sign of the Spirit of Heaven. The walls of the Temple have an acoustic effect – words uttered in a whisper on the altar can be heard echoing at a distance of 60 m.
Have you ever heard of “gestures of feelings”? This is the Beijing Opera, which appeared in China at the end of the 18th century. During all that time, the Opera has not undergone any significant changes: neither theatrical nor thematic. Opera is a unique blend of theater, pantomime, acrobatics, circus and carnival art. In the Beijing Opera, everyone faltsat, and the female roles are performed directly by men.
Since the opera originated from ancient street performances, hence the classic set of attributes of the theater of masks. For example, the standard set of characters is female types: Zing Yu is a beautiful young girl, hua dan is a married young woman. Male types – in cheng – the role of a warrior or official, xiao cheng – this is usually a young man or student, lao chen – a middle-aged man. In addition, the actors with highly painted faces: Zheng Jing – positive or Fu Jing – negative.
The plots are quite simple: good old fairy tales about love with an indispensable happy ending. The color scheme also has its meaning. For example, gold or silver tones are attached to ghosts, monsters, or immortals. Before you apply the paint on the face, they are mixed with water or oil. To visit such a presentation is a real luck!
Of course, in Beijing there are still a lot of places to visit, sights that can be seen! Therefore, a good trip to you, my friends! Have a good time!
