A city like Beijing can be quite beautiful. With a convenient
lifestyle, and a skyline with shinning lights at night. But with
the fast-paced lifestyle and big crowds everywhere, I found myself
yearning for more natural beauty. Or rather, just take a two hour bus to
escape the urban life for a whole weekend with less people and clean
air in an ancient town.
It’s the off-season for Gubei Water Town right now, so it’s
definitely perfect for families and couples who want a quiet time on the
weekend. In addition, the winter time will give you a chance to see a
different view with snow covering the whole town, and you will have the
choice to skate around or have a snowball fight.
Things You Might Not Know About Gubei Water Town
Located in ancient Simatai Village of Miyun District, Gubei Water
Town is one of the must-see sights in Beijing. One thing shocked me was,
It is actually a reconstruction based on the original three natural
villages, which was signed and built in 2010 and officially opened to
the public in October 2014. But undoubtedly it is a successful and
unique small town in the north to attract tourists through in-depth
excavation of local history and folk customs. Unlike Wuzhen, the
southern water town in Zhejiang, Gubei Water Town has more than just
canal and river to offer, people can hike Simatai Great Wall not only in
day time, but also at night through the lights!
As the only reservation of the Great
Wall of Ming dynasty, Gubeikou Simatai Great Wall was included in the
world heritage list in 1987. This part of Great Wall is well known for
its strange and risky road with a full set of 20 watchtowers, especially
on the Wangjing Tower, you can have a whole view of Beijing.
What to do there
Eat a lot of street foodOne of the major perks of walking around the quaint town are it’s
narrow streets filled with street food vendors crowded along each side
of the road. You can enjoy a warm bowl of wonton soup that goes along
incredibly well with a Baobing (薄饼, crispy crepe) or a Rou jia mo (肉夹馍,
Chinese hamburger) to fill up your belly.
If that’s not enough to satisfy your street food cravings, head
towards the town square where you’ll be greeted with steaming piles of
fried tofu, roasted honey sweet potatoes, Beijinger’s favorite
assortment of hearty guts, finger-lickin chicken wings, and more! There
will never be a shortage of things to munch on as you graze through
Gubei Watertown so be sure to go there on an empty stomach!
Here is a list of some of the street food you can expect at Gubei Watertown:
– Jianbing 煎饼
– Baobing 薄饼
– Wonton soup 馄饨
– Roujiamo 肉夹馍
– Candied hawthorn 糖葫芦
– Beef shaobing 牛肉烧饼
– Corn on a cob 玉米棒
– Honey roasted sweet potatoes 烤红薯
– Fried tofu with spicy sauce 辣炒豆腐
– Sausages on a stick 烤肠
– Chicken wings on skewers 鸡翅串
– Guts soup 卤煮
– Beef bone soup 牛肉骨汤
– Dumplings 饺子
Watch two light showsNight view is definitely the most beautiful part of Gubei Water Town,
you don’t want to miss it! There are two main light shows they have
everyday, where are in Sun and Moon Island Square and the music fountain
on Wangjing Street.
Around 6pm in the Sun and Moon Island Square, hundreds of night
flying drones were dancing in a choreographed display with the Great
Wall background, creating a classic new year atmosphere, such as an
image of a rat, a “Fú” and “2020”.
Afterwards, we walked to the music fountain in Wangjing street to enjoy
the dance of water and fire (It displays every 20 minutes from
6.40-9pm). The music fountain featured a diverse range of music that
would play traditional Chinese music at one point and then play EDM
right after. As the music played, the fountain danced and lit up with
different lights and was quite a spectacle to see. What we didn’t expect
was the additional light show that displayed over the temple that was
right behind the fountain. The light show played out a story of a little
girl traveling through history like an Eastern version of Dora the
Explorer and was both a marvel and entertaining.
Enjoy the view from the church on the top of the hillIn order to get an absolutely beautiful overlook of the town, be sure
to head towards the town’s hilltop church. Situated on the highest hill
in the town, the hilltop church is a small catholic chapel that
provides the most serene sense of calm as you’re greeted with soothing
choir music the minute you walk through the doors. Along with the
church, the the courtyard on the hilltop provides plenty of photo
opportunities and if that’s not enough, you can take in the beautiful
sights of the town from the hilltop that is especially beautiful at
night.
Take your kids to enjoy the play zone If you ever need a break from walking around with the kids but
they’re still a bundle of energy, then head on down to the play zone.
The play zone features a large bike track for small children and also
has an assortment of arcade games and claw machines.
Skate around and dig up the snowFor a fun winter experience for the kids that doesn’t involve walking
around and eating all day, take your kids to ice skate on the frozen
river where children can channel their inner Michelle Kwon or can even
have some fun controlling a miniature Excavator.
Go to a temple fair for CNYGubei Water Town will have a temple fair for this Chinese New Year
from Jan 2 to Feb 8. You will enjoy a great variety of local snacks,
handcrafts making, and traditional Chinese performances such as lion
dance and lantern show. Check here to get more information.How to get there
Option 1: Take a tourist bus called 古北水镇旅游专线 (Gubei Water Town travel
bus) from Dongzhimen bus station at 9am, 12pm, or 3.30pm. It charges
RMB 48 for one way and takes about 2 hours to get there.RMB 140 above. Winter (Nov – April next year) 9am-9pm, Summer (May –
Oct)
9am-10pm. Gubeikou Town, County Miyun, Beijing. 北京市密云区古北口镇司马台村(8100
8009, 8100 8010)
Photos: Wendy Xu, naic.org.cn