When it comes to Beijing, the first image that pops into my head is the impression of a comedian, a long-shirted old man who speaks in a smooth Beijing accent and makes fun of himself. Beijing has too much yearning, three years ago, a set of red walls and ginkgo biloba photos in my heart planted the idea of wanting to travel to Beijing: autumn walk in Beijing, high clouds, dark red brick walls of the old city, golden ginkgo biloba; summer white sweatshirt three-wheeled master shaking the brass bells jing ding ding ding, driving me through the hutongs and long alleys, in the backseat, eating iced candied gourds and his nagging... ...Imagine it all feels good! ...it was wonderful to imagine. In the middle of the year, by chance, I found a Mini China's book "Secret Land · City Micro Travel" in a pile of abandoned magazines and books, and took it home with the idea of reading a miscellany of books, and was deeply attracted by the introduction of Beijing in it, and when I learned that it only takes three or four hours to travel from Beijing to my boyfriend's hometown by train, I was starry-eyed, so I discussed a trip to Beijing with my boyfriend before the National Day holiday, to fulfill my wish of going to Beijing. I've been thinking about visiting this city for a long time, and I think it's fate that I'm destined to visit this city.

　　Day 1

　　Escape from one foggy city to another!

　　12:30 pm like out of the airport, more or less a little confused, but fortunately the thoughtful local friends to help us book a pickup, all the way to Kan an hour to my pre-booked bed and breakfast. Thought to escape from Chengdu's perennial gray sky can see the blue sky, the result of the Empire's gray sky and our how similar ...... line it, look at the strange affectionate. Packed up to stay in the bed and breakfast on the hoof out of the stroll la

　　Sanlitun - the paradise of the trendy geese and the old masters.

　　After settling in, we met up with my sister, who works in Beijing, for dinner in Sanlitun. Sanlitun is very close to our place, so it didn't take us long to get there by bike.

Taikoo Li Sanlitun

　　Street photography in Sanlitun is very popular on Weibo, and standing under the Sanlitun Taikoo Li sign, you can see fashionable geese everywhere, carefully matching their outfits, which is very pleasing to the eyes. In addition to me, they attracted the attention of a group of photographers with short guns, young and old, some will greet beforehand, a little direct shooting, so that some of the girls are very confused, do not know which lens to look at the eyes. Look at this situation, in addition to professional photographers, there must be an old mage out to collect material ...... just think so, I saw an uncle shot out toward me, I think it's fun also shot him to shoot my picture, and then we look at each other a smile to forget each other in the jianghu (fist).

Sanlitun Taikoo Li

　　Many streets still have newspaper kiosks, reminding me of my childhood hometown, and very dear to me. Back then, the trio of favorite magazines circulated among classmates were "Reader", "Youth Digest", and "Yilin"! ~

Houhai - The Royal Legacy Hidden in the Courtyard

　　Sanlitun children Taikoo Li lapped up the heart to carefully observe, each city has such a fashionable shopping area (this call seems to me very old-school hee hee), Chengdu, there are also Sino-Ocean Taikoo Li, to shop the tide brand I can go home to slowly see, really attract me or each city deposited many years of life.

　　Subway to Houhai, seems not to experience the legendary crowded into the meat pie of the situation, the Beijing subway construction years old, carriages are older, but just showed a kind of old into the warmth of the atmosphere. Out of the subway is exactly 5:00 p.m. over the sunset when the sparkling Houhai added a soft.

　　This big brother saw me standing in the distance watching them play chess, looked up at me with a smile, this is the first time I feel the warmth and charm of "Beijing welcomes you".

　　In retrospect, I don't know how to describe the coziness and happiness of this moment, but I only remember that the setting sun was gently streaming on the waves and the faces of the pedestrians, everyone looked good, and a gentle breeze filtered through our clothes, bringing a burst of freshness to our bodies, which were a bit sweaty in the afternoon. We leaned against the railing of the lake, looking around with nothing to do, wasting time recklessly just to enjoy the sunset and the breeze for a while longer, and there was only one feeling in my heart - comfort!

　　Nanluoguxiang, Dajiejie'er has been recommended by too many people, I almost want to classify them to "Jinli in Chengdu" such as my least favorite commercial district to go - in addition to foreign tourists and local vendors, can not see the real life of the locals. My sister said it's okay, we ride our bicycles haphazardly, where there are fewer people to drill, so confused, we passed through this quiet hutong. Green leaves covered by the gate pattern detailed, bright colors, although it is an ancient building, but new. We rested on this roadside, occasionally pedestrians quietly walked by, it seems that this compound is more not angry and self-contained. Think of once heard a joke: "into the Beijing do not know the official small, into Shanghai do not know the money less", not to Beijing do not know their own official small, maybe the street encountered the kind eyes of the old man and woman, is the authority of the respected; not to Shanghai do not know their own money less, rich people are many, there is a world outside the sky.

　　Not all places are bright and shiny, the city texture between the ordinary ordinary hutongs, so that the city of Beijing more down-to-earth, have a human face.

　　Roadside barber stalls are also cycling through the alleys encountered, in the bustling capital of a small road in the famous scenic spot, cut a flat head only 7 yuan, this piece of wear and tear of handwritten signs, hanging is the simplicity of the working people.

Niche bars in the backstreets of the Museum of Fine Arts - a drink and a song and a good time.

　　Biking through the narrow alley behind the Art Museum in Dongcheng District, there was a club hidden in an old wooden door, and that night there was an event where Brazilian musician Zhao Zilong gave a speech saying that it's very difficult to do rock in Brazil, and that it's very difficult to do music festivals in ruins with the police confronting them outside, whereas in China, "people are stupid and have a lot of money" (that's what I mean by "stupid and have a lot of money"). music is very comfortable.

Backstreet of the Art Museum, Dongcheng District

　　Then there was a vocal show by South African musician Anxt, hiphop rhythms combined with sounds from life such as the sound of running water, no lyrics but intriguing melodies. We sipped our beers, didn't speak, our bodies swayed randomly to the rhythm, more sensitive to sound in the dim light, more focused on perception.

　　Finally the best, Gao Jiafeng from Shanghai was very middle-aged, talking about how he couldn't write lyrics and bought them on Taobao, and sang a demo called "Takeaway", and the whole audience laughed at the lyrics while screaming and having fun!

　　Although you can attend niche music events in Chengdu, I'll remember my first night in Beijing as a fun night of drinking and singing.

　　Day 2

　　Tiananmen Square - I love Beijing's Tiananmen Square, the sun rises over Tiananmen Square!

　　To the Forbidden City must pass through Tiananmen Square, Line 1 Tiananmen Square East Station out, found that Tiananmen Square is at least two kilometers away from us, this time has begun to line up for security checks, rubbing shoulders with the slow march of the line, I'm a little worried that the entire trip today will be in this kind of traffic, can not help but a little anxious. But luckily the crowd dispersed after the security check, and we went up to the city hall before entering the Forbidden City.

　　For the first time in my life to see the Tiananmen Square in person, standing in the wind with the red flag, standing straight officers and soldiers, towering majesty of the Huabiao, all let me emotional, a little want to tears, this a powerful aura let me feel from the bottom of my heart - great motherland is really great.

Tiananmen Square

　　Tiananmen Square - Monument to the People's Heroes before boarding the tower need to buy tickets, ticket window next to another window can be stored packages, all need to queue. The view after going up to the Citadel is not the wall side of the parade on TV, the position of the national leaders are standing is fenced by the protocol columns, I guess it is for safety, because tourists really stand in the waist-high wall side, then it is easy to fall over.

　　Tiananmen Square - People's Heroes Monument Imperial Palace - to "I am in the Forbidden City to repair the cultural property" as the guide

　　Considering that the Forbidden City is the south side of the Noon Gate to enter, the north side of the Shenwu Gate to exit, is the exact opposite direction, so down the city hall we retrieved the backpack, did not store it again. Beforehand in the Forbidden City official website to buy tickets, so do not need to wait in a long queue to buy tickets, online ticket window queue is just a few minutes, and soon picked up the tickets, very convenient.

The Forbidden City

　　The restored Tang three-color horse in the documentary film of the Forbidden City.

　　There are many places in the Forbidden City that are not open to the public, and when I pass by these places, I wonder if the masters are restoring artifacts in one of the halls. In the exhibition halls, there are also some displays with notices saying that the exhibits are under maintenance, and I can picture in my mind these masters discussing how to restore the artifacts, and my heart is full of gratitude and warmth - they are restoring the artifacts near me, and we are in close proximity to each other in the same complex, and I am viewing the masterpieces they have restored so successfully near me. Nearby, I was watching the masterpiece of their successful restoration.

　　The Forbidden City good feelings after I come from the door to start talking about, the guide said to avoid the central axis can avoid most of the crowd, probably because we enter the noon gate when it is already 11 o'clock over the bar, in short, look around wherever people, a variety of tours, give up the idea of an alternative way to go along the central axis of the road, the morning of the thick clouds, gray light, my photo technology crumbs in the - - Cloudy days do not know how to shoot, all broken cans, along the axis, visit a few important palaces.

The Forbidden City

　　The Forbidden City, which is near the main hall of the Noon Gate, the left door in the picture through the past to see the blue picture, is a thousand miles of Jiangshan - generations of green landscape paintings special exhibition, need to buy additional tickets to enter, if we can have two days time to stroll in the Forbidden City, I also went in to savor the time in a hurry ah, the Forbidden City and Jiuzhaigou, as worthy of many times, anytime to go.

　　The Forbidden City in the middle of the display of cultural relics on the picture is not po, I do not remember the name of each piece of cultural relics and the origin, just look at the photo does not make sense, or first-hand experience, with the text and explain carefully appreciate the more flavor.

　　Road encountered this beast, think it grimaces expression is very funny.

　　Forbidden City about two o'clock like, it began to rain, the raindrops are quite large, so we walked into the Palace of a souvenir store to hide from the rain, the Palace's WeChat public number has pushed the introduction of these cultural and creative products and purchase links, I very much appreciate the Museum of the Forbidden City to keep pace with the times to swim in the ease of the mode of operation. Bought a corner of the refrigerator stickers, sit down for a nap to restore energy. About an hour later, the rain cleared and the entire Forbidden City was golden, we immediately rushed out of the rain shelter and began to marvel at a quick browse (because there is another dinner party in the evening hehehe).

　　Here is already Ning Shou Palace Nine Dragons Wall behind.

　　There are fewer tourists in this area, and the pine needles still have water droplets hanging on them.

　　Before leaving the gate, I met a government group in leading African friends to visit and introduction, there are handsome plainclothes low-profile maintenance of order, and the plainclothes on the citadel, like black pants and white shirt, sleeves pulled up to the arm, revealing solid muscle lines (focus on bias).

　　This is the Shenwu Gate, did not take a distant view because the square is full of people haha.

　　About 100 meters away from the picture above, two old men are quietly fishing and chatting in low voices, and behind the noisy tourists and vendors to form a real stay away.

　　Qianmen & Dashilar

　　Qianmen is located on the north-south axis of Beijing, at the southern edge of Tiananmen Square, the northern end of Qianmen Street, was built in the 17th year of the Ming Yongle, originally known as Lizhengmen, later renamed Zhengyangmen. It was originally named Lizhengmen and later renamed Zhengyangmen. It is also known as the "Front Gate" because it is located directly in front of the Forbidden City.

　　Zhengyangmen is one of the "Nine Gates of the Capital" in old Beijing. It is a complete system of ancient defensive buildings, integrating Zhengyangmen Citadel, Zhengyangmen Arrow Tower and Zhengyangmen Urn. According to the local records, the scale of the city tower and the archery tower were magnificent and tall; the urn city was majestic and representative of the old Beijing city wall architecture.

This railroad museum is not big, direct photo away!

There are still people lining up at the entrance of Quanjude, but I heard that Beijingers don't eat Quanjude.

　　I've been walking around all day today without having a proper meal. In fact, the main reason I came to Qianmen Street this time was to try Xiyuanju Old Beijing Shabu Shabu. The owner of the B&B recommended this place to me, saying that it's an old favorite, and that the locals recognize it. It is said to be authentic Old Beijing Shabu Shabu.

　　Because I've always had a soft spot for hot pots, I always thought that the copper pot shabu-shabu I ate in a small hutong was good enough, and that it was just boiled beef and mutton in white water, so the flavors shouldn't be too far off. After eating at Xiyuanju, I realized that authentic copper pot shabu-shabu is different!

　　We had to wait for 3 tables to arrive at Xiyuanju's Old Beijing Shabu Shabu, the dining tables are all wooden, the décor of the restaurant is very sophisticated, and the lamps are all wooden carving lamps, which is a nice touch!

　　The tableware is all bright yellow and the names of each box are very distinctive, such as Yanxi Palace, Jingyang Palace, Cining Palace, haha, we just came out from the Forbidden City and felt quite amused by these names. Each table has a delicate copper hot pot dish. The hot pots are made like handicrafts and are a delight to the eyes.

　　We ordered the traditional clear soup pot, the house 100 days lamb, the house fresh upper brain, and fresh beef, handmade shrimp sliders and some vegetables and snacks~

　　Xi Yuan Ju Old Beijing Shabu Shabu gets its fresh lamb from its own cooperative farm in Inner Mongolia. The house Baitian Sheep is very popular.

　　Xiyuanju Old Beijing Shabu Shabu can't be eaten without sesame sauce and sweet garlic. A slice of meat is shabu-shabu in a pot and then dipped in sesame sauce to bring out the rich flavor. Eat a clove of sweet garlic, it's sour, crunchy, sweet and addictive,

Xiyuanju Old Beijing Shabu Shabu

　　This cuttlefish was delicious, cooked for half a minute and fished out quickly, very crispy and flavorful.

　　It was really satisfying after a full meal. It was a refreshing change from the previous copper pot shabu-shabu, a little copper pot shabu-shabu can be so memorable, this may be the flavor of the old Beijing that has settled down from one generation to the next.

　　Walking back after dinner, the night view from the street was superb.

Day 3

　　Summer Palace - The beauty of unknowing nobility

　　On the Summer Palace's famous 17-hole bridge, some of the lions' faces have been smoothed out, and it is not clear whether it is time or the hands of tourists that are caressing them.

Summer Palace

　　Despite the constant stream of tourists, the Summer Palace has always had a dignified and quiet atmosphere that made me feel offended to raise my voice any further, so I was willing to lighten my pace and view the place with respect and quietness.

　　In a corner of the garden, I met an old man leaning against the fence, playing music on the radio, enjoying his time alone.

　　In front of the old man is a large lotus pond, the end of summer has seldom seen lotus, full of luxuriant lotus and willow leaves, and the green paint on the promenade complement each other.

　　The Summer Palace and Yihe Aman are separated by a wall, and at the intersection of Mount Wanshoushan and Aman, I chose the latter.

　　Wudaoying Hutong

　　After a few stops on the subway, I walked into a hutong with not many people, and along the way, the Vintage clothing, vintage collectibles, strings, and specially decorated weird restaurants ...... felt like a very special hutong. Walking past a small door, if not for the light box with the name "School" written on it, and the wooden boards covered in stickers seen through the door frame, I would have almost ignored the door.

　　The bar is on the left hand side of the door, but it's very quiet except for the staff talking to each other, and there's not even any music. When I asked, I realized that the show was closed for the day, ahahaha...... Well, I left with regrets, and I'll come back to Beijing in the future with a better idea. As compensation, I found a slide from the "Li Lei Han Mei Mei" period in one of the vintage stores in the hutongs and collected it as a postcard.

　　To get back from Wudaoying Hutong to my place, I need to take the subway line 2, which is so old that the subway station has a different flavor.

Day 4

　　Central Academy of Fine Arts

　　The Central Academy of Fine Arts - Overlooking the world through the eyes of art

　　Every city's travel strategy, if there is any day do not know where to go, I suggest that it may be worthwhile to go to the city's universities to see. The atmosphere of the university is quiet, simple, youthful, surrounded by many cheap and delicious stores, and there is a lot of gardening in the area, and the buildings have a long history and are worth appreciating. I went to Yunnan University twice in three days when I was in Kunming, and I tried to go to Fudan University in Shanghai, but I was repulsed by the bitter wind and rain that poured into my pants and depressed me for a whole afternoon. Beijing is full of institutions of higher learning, and the one I most wanted to visit was the Central Academy of Fine Arts.

Central Academy of Fine Arts

　　For the Central Academy of Fine Arts visit route, I also made notes in advance, according to this route really should be able to tour all the teaching buildings and art museums, galleries, without repeating the route, but the reality is that, after entering the Academy, according to the map to find the building will take more time, so I once again temporarily adjusted the plan, wandering around everywhere, wherever you go, see enough to continue to walk.

Central Academy of Fine Arts

　　Sculpture building a floor height of at least 10 meters, like a workshop warehouse stacked with a variety of steel, roots, wood tools, etc., a 28-year-old woman is standing on a ladder to a visual estimate of four or five meters of ancient soldiers and generals look like clay sculpture to create, next to a middle-aged man may be a professor, the voice is very thick, I stood far away from them to see them adjusting the paint, the man instructed to say a little bit more of what material (I forget), the armor in the The color of the shadow side of the color can be revealed, before that light and shadow is too flat. Art is really profound, there are specialties, Central America teachers should be experts. In the polite, I did not take a picture of them, for fear that the clicking sound of the shutter disturbed their creation.

　　Ceramics, the performance of the green house women are greeting pedestrians, some people look up to see, some people reach into the window to look.

　　Oil painting, before a war (I forget the exact name of the war).

　　11:00 a.m. out of a breath stroll to 4:00 p.m., the poor boyfriend has been quietly enduring hunger to accompany me to walk around the West to see, at his urging we finally left the Central America!

Day 5

　　Red Brick Museum of Art - Digging Deeper into Niche Literary Places

　　The most important aspect of traveling is different for everyone, some people look for a comfortable place to stay, some people look for good food, and I, on the other hand, dedicate myself to finding attractions/locations that look good in photos.

　　The Red Brick Museum of Art is a place that my Beijing friends are unfamiliar with, and the only people who can dig it up are foreigners like me who don't like to pile up. I found photos of the Red Brick Museum of Art on Lofter, and all the buildings are made of red bricks, which are ventilated and permeable to light, and show the beauty of light and shadow. Local friends heard that in Cuigezhuang feel so remote, a face of "okay ...... you happy" expression, in fact, the subway to turn a few lines feel not too far away, we went to the inside of a number of exhibitions, slowly walk slowly look slowly shoot, relaxing day.

　　In addition to photography exhibitions, the Red Brick Museum itself is also extremely beautiful architectural complex, I collected two brochures in the museum, as a souvenir. The circle as a netroots photo place, in fact, we waited for about 10 minutes, are like-minded to come to the netroots photo spot to hit the card of the same kind of hee hee hee hee.

　　The good thing about being away from the commercial area is that it is quiet, people who come to watch the exhibition and take photos quietly talk in silence, find a place where the sunlight can shine and read books and listen to songs, or wander around to take photos like us. The weather was clear, although there were no cotton candy clouds. The afternoon is warm and tender in my memory.

　　I saw a fat orange sunbathing in front of the staff's duty room in the museum, calmly looking at the passers-by, probably TA looks at it many times a day.

Day 6

　　Leaving Beijing