2 well-preserved hostelries offer Beijing relaxation

0 Comments | Asian Political News, April 23, 2001

BEIJING, April 18 Kyodo

(EDS: BAMBOO GARDEN HOTEL: 24, XIAOSHIQIAO, JIUGULOU STREET, WEST CITY DISTRICT, BEIJING 10009, CHINA. TEL. 86-10-64032229, FAX. 86-10-64012633. SALES DEPT. 86-10-84026851. LUSONGYUAN HOTEL: 22, BANCHANG LANE, KUANJIE, BEIJING, TEL. 86-10-64040436 FAX. 86-10-64030418)

Until fairly recently, foreign visitors to China were expected to stay in a few designated hotels, where prices were high and ''the security of guests'' could be guaranteed -- along with careful monitoring of their movements.

Now, you can virtually stay anywhere, and today's tourists are finding there are some delightful experiences away from the five-star towers of downtown Beijing.

In a quiet lane west of the Drum Tower, in the northern part of the city, the very heart of ''old'' Beijing, there is a unique Chinese garden of classic beauty.

This is the famous Bamboo Garden of Beijing, once the residence of Sheng Xuanhuai, the minister of posts in the 19th century Qing Dynasty, and also said to have once belonged to Li Lianying, a well-known eunuch in the same dynasty.

Today, it is the Bamboo Garden Hotel, the only Chinese courtyard-style hotel with a three-star rating in Beijing, where guests can shut themselves away from the frenetic pace of the capital.

The courtyard is densely planted with bamboo while rockeries and fountains are embellished with varieties of exotic flowers and rare plants. In summer and autumn, tables and chairs shaded by parasols are laid in pavilions and on terraces decorated with colorful lanterns, with green bamboo stems swaying gently beside them.

Apart from twin and standard rooms, there are two deluxe suites, one of which is decorated in the style of the Ming Dynasty, with wall plaques carrying inscriptions by famous calligraphers.

And who could resist dining in the hotel's Chinese restaurant with the exotic name ''Veranda of the Drunken Concubine,'' a historical figure immortalized in Peking Opera.

Another establishment evoking Beijing's glorious past is the Lusongyuan Hotel, which lies in a traditional ''Hutong,'' which is Mongolian for water well and used to refer to the narrow alleyways flanked by the high walls of courtyard homes in the old city.

It is a traditional compound quadrangle composed of five yards, surrounded by historic buildings built since Kublai Khan's Yuan Dynasty in the 12th century.

Many of the buildings in the immediate vicinity were built in the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties and have been carefully preserved despite the post-liberation passion of Chinese officialdom to raze old quarters in the capital.

Both hotels have decent rooms at rates from $40 to $90 a night.

They also offer good starting points for walking tours of the few remaining vestiges of the old walled city of Beijing.

The adventurous can plunge into the narrow, winding hutongs where the incessant din of the modern capital fades away and life is pursued at a perceptibly slower pace.

Old Beijing was comprised of walled-in building complexes called ''Siheyuan'' (quadrangles) where extended families lived around the sides of a labyrinth of courtyards, each separated from the other by a gate, and filled with flowering shrubs and trees and their own well.

Many hutongs have fallen prey to wrecker's balls to make way for high-rise office and residential towers, but north of Ping'an Avenue an oasis of charm and tranquillity has been preserved.

The hutongs can be explored on foot, or rickshaw, available for hire from Beihai Park on the northern edge of the Forbidden City. Some of the courtyard homes are also open to organized tours.

The Beijing Hutong Tourist Agency's ''To the Hutong'' tour is an introduction, and a springboard. Armed with what you learn from the tour, you can return to the twisted mazes and explore on your own.

Three-hour tours costing 180 yuan ($22) per person are offered daily at 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.

Other attractions are easily reachable from the two hotels, including the Guanghua Temple, a Buddhist temple built nearly 700 years ago that now houses 20 monks and welcomes practitioners. Tourists entering the temple courtyard are instantly struck by its ancient beauty, enhanced by echoes of singing and the soft, heartbeat of drums and gongs.

Drum Tower, a short rickshaw ride from Guanghua, was first constructed in 1272 and was once used in conjunction with the neighboring Bell Tower to tell time. After climbing exactly 69 stairs arranged at a heart-thumping 45 degree angle one gets a panoramic view of the Old City.

Prince Gong's Home, built in 1777, is the largest quadrangle and best-preserved prince's residence in Beijing. After strolling about the gardens, one can participate in a tea ceremony at the Hanmu Chali traditional teahouse. This creates a rich ancient aroma by keeping the original interior setting.

The house offers many types of ''Kongfu Tea'' and is known for its elegant musical performances of ancient Chinese instruments.

Not far from Prince Gong's Home away is the Dreamy House, shaped like a farmhouse with stone benches and tables. Surrounded by bamboo fences, the teahouse doubles as a barbecue spot seating parties tucking into beef, mutton, fish, mushrooms, onions and sweet potatoes.