journals china

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e t Following in m o the footsteps of China’s ancient p u roving royalty, TOM O’MALLEY e r discovers how the inspection r tours of old helped establish a o o template for travel in the Middle R’ f Kingdom today. s c h i n

A a pedestrian bridge over West Lake cuts a a fine silhouette against a backdrop of stormy skies and undulating mountains in Hangzhou.

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nlookers in scroll painting. Qianlong sacrifices and generally fine robes line was the sixth emperor of remind the provinces the edge of the the Qing Dynasty, ruling who’s boss. water as the from 1735 to 1796 in what Strictly speaking, a tourist magnificent was considered a golden is defined as one who travels Obarge cuts through the canal. age, where he beefed up for pleasure, but Qianlong In the background I spy grand China’s economy, expanded clearly had plenty of business pagodas and walled gardens its borders, and enhanced to take care of on route. And overhung by native ornamental cultural and intellectual life. yet, both Kangxi and Qianlong scholar trees. Elaborate He’s also, to my mind, China’s commissioned a set of 12 theatrical performances unfold greatest tourist. humongous scrolls – surely on stages along the shore, Qianlong and his the 18th century equivalent and the great Chang Gate in grandfather Kangxi revived of travel photography – to Suzhou, the Venice of the East, an Imperial tradition that recount the story of this stands ready to receive its most had fallen out of favour with ultimate pleasure cruise. In B The ancient Chang honoured guest. previous dynasties: the grand his 1751 inspection tour of Gate in Suzhou. Alas, it’s not me. I’m at the inspection tour. Every few the south, Qianlong was even C a bullet train at National Museum of China’s years the emperor would inspired to compose over 500 Beijing South Railway (en.chnmuseum.cn) new digital journey south from Beijing poems. Most of all, on my Station. gallery in Beijing, and the VIP via the Grand Canal, calling own wanderings in the south, D Historic buildings line is none other than Emperor at around a dozen cities to practically everywhere I went Pingjiang Lu, which appears on Suzhou Qianlong, brought to life in an levy taxes, inspect troops and Qianlong had been there, maps as far back as animated rework of a classical flood projects, make religious done that. the Song Dynasty.

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a In 1751, weeks after departing Chinese city: big, neon- Wooden homesteads line the t Beijing, Qianlong entered festooned and no stranger water, evoking Qianlong’s Suzhou to great fanfare. He to fast food franchises. Yet animated scroll, though the had travelled over 1,000km Suzhou was once a byword souvenir shops within are a S along the Grand Canal, built a for high society living, newer edition. Diverting into thousand years earlier to ship famous for its fine gardens a quiet side alley I exchange u grain northwards to feed the and network of narrow smiles with a lady in a bobble z soldiers standing guard along waterways crossed by hat, hanging underwear to dry h China’s northern frontier. arched bridges. in the bare branches of a tree. Five hours after boarding I’m directed towards Qianlong wouldn’t have been o the bullet train at Beijing Pingjiang Lu in the centre subjected to such blushes, u South Railway Station, I of town, and eventually the of course – officials went to arrive, wondering where the road gives way to a lane that great lengths and expense to famous canals and gardens follows a waterway no wider present a polished facade to are. Suzhou, at first glance, is than a car. Finally, I encounter woo the emperor. B much like any other modern what remains of the old city. Behind grey stone walls

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regardless of what the experience may be today, an imperial endorsement is just about the best plug a place could hope for. T h e G

1 E sweet and sour local at the north end of Pingjiang stands in stark contrast to as “squirrelfish”, but I discover 0 Hangzhou was the penultimate Qianlong before me, I find to another level by ranking dish songshu guiyu is V a must-try. Lu is Lion Grove Garden (23 the delicate landscaping a boneless mandarin fish in stop on Qianlong’s tour, and myself standing on West the top 10 of these and Yuanlin Road), one of the most surrounding it. Qianlong a tempura batter, bathed in i the terminus of the Grand Lake’s famous Su Causeway, commissioning carved F Black stratified rocks famous gardens in Suzhou loved it so much he ordered sweet and sour sauce. I also Canal. Like Suzhou the canal a 3km promenade across stele (tall stone slabs) are a hallmark of S e Suzhou’s famous Lion and recognised as a UNESCO a replica to be built in his discover that Qianlong raved gave Hangzhou its prosperity, the water, in the chilly pre- inscribed with their own Grove Garden. World Heritage site. Chinese summer hunting resort, north about the squirrelfish here, c w but another expanse of water dawn. I’m awaiting a glimpse calligraphy to mark the G Women practise garden design attempts to of the Great Wall, in Chengde. a plaque by the entrance sealed the city’s fame eternal. of “Spring Dawn at Su precise viewing position. tai chi in front of a portray an idealised natural Classical gardens are proudly reporting the royal e s Crossed by causeways and Causeway”, one of a collection As dawn breaks, I watch pavilion on West Lake. landscape, with glassy pools hungry work, so I make a link. After a lengthy queue n framed by willow-lined banks of 10 must-see sights known the glassy lake unveil itself representing oceans, rocks for few tentative enquiries I’m squeezed onto a table in a and gentle green hills, West as Xihu Shijing (10 Scenes of through a line of willow trees, H Hangzhou is famous mountains and ornamental among fellow sightseers. private room, but regardless i O Lake (Xihu) has been the West Lake). as the peaks of pagodas for its Longjing tea leaves. trees for forests. What makes “Songhelou (72 Taijian Nong, of what the experience C f muse of poets and retreat of Poets and writers have crown misty hills in the Lion Grove unique, though, Tel: 86 512 6770 0688),” they may be today, an imperial emperors for millennia. been compiling lists of their distance. Kangxi decided that is its dark heart – a maze of say, unanimously. “Order the endorsement is just about Six hours by bullet train favourite beauty spots in this dreamlike vista, to be black stratified rocks, hauled songshu guiyu”. Worryingly, the best plug a place could can’t compare to months Hangzhou for centuries, but savoured from a particular from nearby Lake Tai, which my dictionary translates this hope for. H by royal barge, but just like Kangxi and Qianlong took it spot, at a particular time of a day, in a particular season, deserved top spot on the n 10 Scenes of West Lake list. Judging by the number F g H of early-risers snapping z photos alongside me, it’s a sightseeing guide that most h tourists to Hangzhou still o follow today. But that wasn’t enough u for Qianlong. Keen to add to the pantheon, he effectively opened up a brand new tourist area by establishing the “Eight Scenic Spots of Dragon Well” and once again, “signing” each in stone. Longjing (Dragon Well) is an hour by bicycle from West Lake, a rambling hilly region of green tea cultivation. Its For the interactive popularity today, and the version of this sky-high price of Longjing tea, story, download SilverKris on is partly due to the unending tablet enthusiasm of Qianlong.

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HANGZHOU HIGHLIGHTS

cai tianxin, Chinese poet, mathematician and professor at Zhejiang University, shares his

favourite local haunts. s)

bi READING CORNER c or The Xiaofeng Bookstore (529 Tiyuchang Lu, Tel: 86 et ( 571 8511 6671) is much

loved in Hangzhou, with c ourr s English and Chinese e language books on e l everything from art to rr economics. There are pie

pleasant reading areas an- e and a lecture space where I leafy green surrounds a pagoda they stage talks on a na, j in Shangri-La variety of subjects. Hangzhou’s hotel echi

n garden.

HIGHER LEARNING gi a Zhejiang University (www. J art Deco buildings are a hallmark of zju.edu.cn) is one of the r, im Shanghai’s famous most beautiful campus be

o Bund. universities in China, it’s

a relaxing place to come an k ti s and explore away from the i T crowd. An old statue of r

Mao Zedong overlooks a , ch h park where students relax FAST

in the summer. Look for the gwei n e FACTS path that winds up the hill for some of the best views g xi CURRENCY of Hangzhou. an Chinese Yuan , h

t T E Qianlong, it should be noted, his name into the annals of US$1 = 6.25 CNY a HISTORIC HOTEL w was a Manchu from northern Chinese history. On the north edge of o m China. In 1644 his people Admittedly, today’s China VISA West Lake, the Shangri- Requirements vary. ew ro found a way through the Great bears little resemblance to La Hangzhou ( r u p Visit en.cnta.gov.cn for shangri-la. d Wall and conquered Beijing, Qianlong’s time. He would details. com/hangzhou) was the

first hotel licenced to r e overthrowing the vastly more surely marvel at the Art Deco populous Han Chinese and waterfront Bund in Shanghai BEST TIME TO VISIT take foreign guests back son, an

p i r Hangzhou and Suzhou in the 1980s. Richard establishing the Qing Dynasty. with its European swagger, are at their most Nixon, Henry Kissinger s o His grandfather Kangxi was the or the hyperkinetic buzz of beautiful in spring and Nelson Mandela all first of his line to be born there. skyscraper-strewn Guangzhou. (April and May) or

stayed here. Even if you s, alan c o t r Which, I feel, puts Qianlong’s And what would he make of autumn (September don’t have a room here, the and October). Avoid architecture and decor is tour of the south in a certain Beijing, its warren of traditional Chinese New Year, worth a look. perspective. In a sense he was courtyard lanes the haunt of as many restaurants a foreigner in an exotic and hipsters sipping lattes and close and the sights LOCAL LIBATIONS m / jon hick ancient land. He wished to rocking out to China’s thriving are swamped with c o . domestic tourists.

Maya Bar (94 Baishaquan, f explore, to learn and to carve alternative music scene? ■ Tel: 86 571 8799 7628) is a friendly place in a quiet HOW TO GET THERE

street away from the s / 123r Singapore Airlines flies

ge 21 times weekly from

lake that attracts a mix of a Singapore to Beijing, foreigners and locals, and He would surely marvel at the Art from where you can serves good Mexican food. catch connecting It gets lively, but never Deco waterfront Bund in Shanghai

getty im flights to Suzhou and

too loud to have a good S with its European swagger, or the Hangzhou. conversation. OTO MORE PH hyperkinetic buzz of skyscraper- INFORMATION strewn Guangzhou. cnto.org

I

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