Beijing 2008:Awakening the Dragon
By David Noyes
At the north end of Beihai park in Beijing, the massive Nine Dragon Wall stands as a testament to a time when superstition determined the course of daily life in the heart of one of the world’s oldest civilizations. The center of the 250-year-old wall is dominated by a large dragon flanged and intertwined with eight other giant beasts in a tile mosaic representing the nine legendary sons of the Chinese dragon.
The Chinese dragon is the bringer of rain, wealth and good luck. It has long been a potent symbol of imperial power, wisdom and strength. In ancient times, the sighting of a dragon was a sign from heaven confirming the achievements of a benevolent ruler. Emperors embraced the myth and paid handsomely for accounts of dragon sightings in their dominion. It is the dragon that watches over the people of China and the walls that protect them.
Within walking distance of the Forbidden City, Beihai Park is predominately consumed by an artificial lake excavated on the grounds of the winter palace of Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) Emperor Kublai Khan. Perched near the middle of the lake is Jade Island, the site of the White Dagoba, a Tibetan-style stupa built to honor the 1651 visit of the fifth Dalai Lama.
In vivid contrast to the artful tranquility displayed in the park, the imposing Chinese Communist Party headquarters borders the southern end of the lake. It is this complicated blend of centuries-old mythology, religion, conquest, invasion, oppression and transcendence that combine to make Beijing a fascinating and often bewildering capital city as it emerges from 40 centuries of isolation behind the imperial walls of antiquity and the revolutionary constraints of the People’s Republic.
A New Era
For years, Beijing has prepared for one particular day in 2008. Consistent with Chinese mythology, the eighth day of the eighth month of the eighth year of the new millennium is an auspicious day for the world to be introduced to a new China: A China of prosperity and confidence, with a resurgent pride in being the inheritors of a rich and important civilization.
As modern Chinese distance themselves from the era of Mao Zedong and the Cultural Revolution, there is a renewed enthusiasm to embrace the remnants of their ancient past. A growing urban middle class with the means to travel is replacing the ubiquitous bicycle traffic of bygone days with automobiles and the visible trappings of wealth. This growth and prosperity, however, also has put enormous pressure on both the growing city populations throughout China and the ethnic minorities of the autonomous regions.
Pollution, overcrowding and the increasing dislocation of indigenous populations are all part of the emerging China, but the exotic attractions that have lured travelers from around the world to the Middle Kingdom for centuries are also an increasing source of pride for young Chinese. Touring Beijing, it is impossible to miss the excited crowds of domestic tourists sharing their cultural icons with foreigners as they seek a connection to the great civilizations of their ancestors.
Inside the Fortress
Stretching almost 4,000 miles across northern China—from scattered ruins near the Chinese border with North Korea in the east, to the important Silk Road outpost of Jiayuguan in the Gobi Desert—is another enduring icon of myth and legend: The Great Wall of China.
Construction of the wall began over two thousand years ago by the rulers of independent kingdoms who linked their earthen barricades together in a largely unsuccessful attempt to keep out marauding nomadic warriors. The wall is not a continuous structure, but a patchwork of separate sections built in a nearly continuous 1,800-year construction project. Many of the more accessible sections of the Great Wall near Beijing were first built during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), whose rulers lived and governed from the growing city following the era of Genghis Khan.
Khan, the infamous Mongolian warrior, invaded Beijing in 1215 and reduced the small isolated city to rubble. By 1279, Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis, reigned over the largest empire the world has ever known from his imperial palace on the spot where the Forbidden City currently sits. During the Yuan Dynasty, the Silk Road flourished, carrying foods, music, dance and the emerging religions of Buddhism and Islam across trade routes connecting east and west in an exchange of ideas and culture reminiscent of today’s globalization.
Nowhere is the energy and optimism of the Chinese people more visible than within the formally cloistered imperial palace of the Forbidden City. Once off limits to the masses, Chinese families join tourists from around the world joyfully snapping souvenir photographs in front of the sweeping cluster of intricately adorned buildings.
Constructed in accordance with Confucian principles of Yin and Yang by the third emperor of the Ming dynasty, the Forbidden City was concealed behind a 170-foot-wide moat and 32-foot-high wall. Behind the walls, 24 emperors ruled China for nearly 500 years until the Chinese Republic was founded in 1911.
A Glimpse at the Past
In a city protected by walls within walls remain some of the oldest neighborhoods in Beijing, called hutongs. Many of the narrow residential alleyways have been demolished in the name of modernization, but in isolated pockets around the city, the sounds and smells of old Beijing are alive with authenticity. Flanked by modern skyscrapers and futuristic architecture, Beijing’s hutongs are a disappearing cultural treasure and a remnant of the city’s 14th-century design.
Although they’ve been freshly painted and spruced up awaiting the inevitable influx of tourists and television cameras surrounding the Summer Games, these charming alleyways provide travelers a fleeting glimpse at a simple and ancient way of life.
Within and around Beijing lie many of China’s most stunning attractions: the Forbidden City, the Lama Temple, the Summer Palace and, of course, the Great Wall. But the historic icons of Beijing tell only a small part of what is a long and human story. Displayed quietly amidst daily life in hutongs and night markets, or on full display in a performance of Beijing Opera, the enduring culture of China is visible in the portraits of her people.
Modern Beijing
Increasingly, American travelers have the opportunity to visit distant and exotic lands without straying too far from the familiar. Even in remote areas of China, English is a common language, and the neon symbols of home scream McDonalds and KFC to weary travelers in need of a predictable culinary oasis. It is, however, the expectation of a unique cultural experience that inspires an exploration of the unfamiliar and draws tourists and travelers to Beijing.
As the curious descend upon China, China is also looking outward as never before, engaging the global community and inviting the world to visit—albeit in a very controlled and limited way. Ever so slowly, the physical and intellectual walls of protection and isolation are turning into windows of opportunity and understanding.
Long after the last athlete has left the city and memories of the 2008 Olympic Games have been relegated to Chinese mythology, the country will be left with a complex and fascinating capital, and one-and-a-half billion people struggling to define their new identity while retaining their ancient culture in the shadow of a modern dragon designed with glass and steel.
