Snapshot of Beijing

The Great Wall

For a major trek, you can head west and do a 10km walk along the ramparts to Jinshanling, where you can spend the night. I was on a day trip, so I hiked 2km east, taking in six watchtowers. There are towers all along the wall at regular intervals, providing natural rest or photo points. The wall is one of those experiences like Venice or Iguazu Falls. You can see photographs, watch documentaries and be told a thousand times that it’s visible from space, and you are still unprepared for it. The weather was crisp and the sky clear, and the sight of the wall rising and falling as it followed the natural contours of the parched mountains was stunning. There were only a handful of tourists and, at certain sections, I could hear only birdsong. Beijing’s bustle and building boom seems a blip in history when seen from this lofty bulwark that has been here, in some shape or form, for 25 centuries.

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I kicked off my last day with a swim in the huge pool at the new Westin hotel, followed by a huge breakfast. I then took a cab to Ritan Park – created by the Ming emperors in 1530 as a centre of sun-worship – and went for a constitutional. A cold wind gusted and leaves flapped everywhere. In every quiet corner – Chinese parks are characterised by natural nooks formed by sculpted rocks and pine trees – were people doing t’ai chi, dance moves with a kind of tassled sash or with fans, or juggling with a spinning top. Old couples walked around stretching, while others simply held out their arms and stared into the intense sunlight. Several walked backwards, to ensure those muscles got flexed.

It was strangely exhilarating, and I climbed the park’s central hill to take in a sweeping view of all this gentle but committed activity. Beyond the tree tops were skyscraper office blocks and monolithic hotels, urging in a Western, cosmopolitan city, but from beside the artificial lakes below me rose the plangent strains of two violins and, faintly, an old gent intoning some ritualistic folk song.

Getting there BA flies from Heathrow to Beijing International six times a week from £543.80 return including taxes, fees and charges (0870 850 9 850/www.ba.com).
Staying at The new Westin Hotel offers a ‘Westin workout’. Your room comes equipped with a yoga DVD and Pilates regime or an indoor cycle or treadmill, as well as dumbbells, wipes and water. A concierge leads groups on a run three days a week. 3150RMB (£206) per night, plus 15 per cent service charge (0086 10 6606 8866/www.westin.com/beijing).

Chris Moss is editor of the ‘Time Out Beijing Guide’, out in July. For features and listings, Time Out Beijing is published monthly in English and Mandarin

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Chris Moss