Beijing is rich in historical sites while still very much the Communist totalitarian capital city of the most populous country in the world. Traveling with a friend, Judy O'Dea, I spent five days based in Beijing, including side trips to hike the Great Wall of China on my 50th birthday and to visit the Terra Cotta Warriors archeological excavation in Xian, 600 miles southwest.

A foggy Summer Palace on Kunming Lake

The 15th century Forbidden City, so called because it was off-limits to commoners for 500 years during the Ming and Qing dynasties, is the largest imperial palace in China. Located at the center of Beijing just north of Tiananmen Square, it contains 800 buildings spread over 180 acres and is completely surrounded by a moat. The ceremonial buildings proceed south to north beginning just inside the Gate of Heavenly Peace (large picture top of page left and first picture above). After passing through the Meridian Gate and crossing the Golden River on one of five marble bridges, we entered the first of three buildings which make up the Outer Court. A large stone courtyard stands in front of the Hall of Great Harmony atop its three-tiered marble terrace (first picture below). Behind it are the smaller Hall of Middle Harmony and the Hall of Preserving Harmony (second picture below).

We spent most of Thursday hiking the Great Wall of China from Jinshanling to Simatai, returning to our hotel around 7pm. We cleaned up, changed and were on our way to an excellent dinner (five course chef's selection miniatures paired with a great 2003 Scotchman's Hill Shiraz) at Aria Restaurant on the second floor of the China World Hotel by 8pm.

After the Lama Temple, we were dropped off just north of the Forbidden City for a rickshaw tour of some of the oldest remaining hutongs in Beijing. Hutongs are a collection of thin alleyways, courtyards and neighborhoods which used to make up most of Beijing's residential areas. To a western eye they look like terrible slums (first picture below), but there's more to them here. They are close-knit communities where people know all their neighbors and generations have come and gone in the same houses. There's a pattern to the doorways and inner courts indicating family status and relative wealth. The hutongs are rapidly disappearing as more modern construction takes over. Along our tour we went through a food marketplace and saw some local restaurants before crossing the 12th century Marco Polo Bridge (second picture below) to stroll along the Back Lakes region. We ended up at the Drum and Bell Towers northwest of the Forbidden City. We climbed to the top of the Drum Tower to get an overhead view of one of the hutongs we had ridden through (third picture below) and witness the drum ceremony that announces each half hour to the city below (fourth picture below). After a quick wine stop at the hotel we headed out for an extraordinary dinner at the Courtyard Restaurant, rated one of the best in the world, located along the eastern moat of the Forbidden City. Before returning to our hotel, we stopped downstairs to view the exhibition at the Courtyard Gallery.

We headed out from our hotel at 5am to Beijing airport for an all-day trip to China's ancient capital, Xian, 600 miles to the southwest in Shaanxi province. Xian is most famous for the 2300 year old Qin Shi Huang burial ground excavation, with its Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses army, one of the most significant archeological finds of modern times.