Travel and Transport Real Chinese

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The real adventure of exploring China is going it alone

and travelling the way the locals do.

In this programme, getting around by taxi, coach and train

and how to do it in Chinese.

Plus, a trip out to the Great Wall... and beyond,

to the mountains, palaces and temples of Chengde.

China is revolutionising its transport infrastructure,

but despite a massive road building programme,

Beijing still suffers traffic gridlock at peak times.

"Car."

Buses are frequent, but often crowded.

"Public bus."

There are some 50,000 taxis in Beijing.

They're cheap and easy to find.

"Taxi."

The underground system is tiny for such a large city,

but it is being expanded.

"Underground."

Many Beijingers still travel by bike,

some 8.5 million of them.

"Bicycle."

Once, they were kings of the road.

Now, they risk their lives daily in a system that seems little short of chaos.

If you want to flee the congestion and get away from the city,

coaches like this are a good way to visit key sites.

"Bus" or "coach".

"Does this coach go to the Great Wall?"

"Great Wall."

"I'll buy two tickets."

"Ticket."

"A return ticket."

-Nimen hao.

-Ni hao. Zhe ge che qu Changcheng ma?

Shi.

Wo mai liang zhang piao. Duo shao qian yi zhang?

Yi ge ren wangfan wushi.

"A return is 50 yuan."

"50."

To check departure time, you can ask...

"When does it leave?"

"When?"

"Seven o'clock."

"7.30."

Zhe ge che shenme shihou kai?

Qi dian ban kai.

Xiexie.

The most enduring symbol of Chinese civilisation.

"The Great Wall."

The wall dates back over 2,000 years,

but sections of it existed even before this.

Linking them up into a single wall

required the efforts of hundreds of thousands of forced labourers.

The wall never really kept out attackers from the north,

but it worked well as an elevated highway,

stretching over 6,000km across the north of China.

Its beacon towers were also a clever warning device,

transmitting smoke signals back to Beijing when there were enemy movements.

If the Great Wall symbolises China's past,

Beijing's Central Station is all about the present.

For 50 years, it's been the hub of the nation's gigantic railway network.

"Train."

"Train station."

Times of trains and the train number are indicated on a board.

It helps to know your destination in Chinese, of course!

You can travel hard or soft class.

"Hard seats."

"Soft seats."

To be sure of getting tickets, buy them in advance.

"I want to go to Chengde."

"I want two tickets."

"I want soft class. How much is it each?"

-Ni hao.

-Ni hao.

Wo yao qu Chengde. Yao liang zhang piao.

Yao mai ying zuo haishi ruan zuo?

-Wo yao ruan zuo. Qing wen duo shao qian yi zhang?

-Liang zhang yibai ershi kuai qian.

"120."

They want to check the train's departure time.

Huoche shenme shihou kai?

-Zaochen qi dian ban.

-Xiexie.

"When does the train leave?"

"7.30 in the morning."

"In the morning."

Most of today's travellers from Beijing to Chengde are going there to work.

Or as a tourist.

THEY SPEAK CHINESE

Travelling by train is a great way to observe life in China's countryside.

In northern China, villages have always grown corn and sorghum.

Now agriculture is improving and as well as having a more varied diet,

farmers can sell their produce to the city.

The train winds at a leisurely pace to reach its destination 250km from Beijing.

A provincial town now fast developing as a tourist resort.

The local government spent vast sums reviving the area's imperial history.

In 1703, the Qing emperor, Kangxi,

began building a summer palace and hunting ground away from the heat of Beijing.

The whole court would move in here for several months.

The Qing dynasty were from Manchuria.

The early rulers, Emperor Kangxi and his grandson, Qianlong,

created a period of great stability and prosperity.

In the grounds of their palace, they designed lakes

and architecture to imitate the delicate forms of southern Chinese landscapes.

Hills and grassland were painstakingly transformed

into pleasure gardens for the royal elite.

The Imperial resort performed a useful diplomatic role.

Leaders from nearby Mongolia and from Tibet

were invited to join in splendid hunting parties in the hills.

To further impress their neighbours,

the Qing emperors built a number of magnificent Lama Buddhist temples in the nearby foothills,

several of them modelled on Tibetan originals.

The largest of the temples was designed to resemble the Potala Palace in Lhasa.

Built to mark Emperor Qianlong's 60th birthday, it's adorned by the six Buddhas of infinite longevity.

Like all the temples in Chengde, it's undergone costly renovation

since the damage caused during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and '70s.

The Qing emperors built a new temple whenever there was cause for celebration.

This one was built in honour of the sixth Panchen Lama,

when he first came to Chengde.

The gilded dragons are masterpieces of decoration

and weigh a tonne each.

All the temples are a little way out of town,

but an easy ride by taxi.

This visitor wants to know how much it is to go to Puning Temple.

To address the driver, say...

Shifu, qu Puning Si duo shao qian?

-Shi kuai qian.

-Hao.

Most taxis have a meter, so make sure it's on.

Driver, how much is it to go to Puning Temple?

Ten yuan.

Puning Si is a working temple

with a community of 70 Lama Buddhist monks.

The temple draws believers and non-believers

from all corners of China.

Though Buddhism is now tolerated in China,

places of worship are heavily controlled by the state

and valued largely for their tourist revenue.

Puning Temple boasts the largest wooden Buddha in the world,

towering some 22 metres high

and weighing 120 tonnes.

In Chinese, she is called Guanyin - a motherly goddess of mercy

and a central deity for ordinary people.

Buddhism originated in India in the 6th century BC

and despite periods of persecution,

it gradually took hold in China, merging with existing beliefs

to the extent that it now has a distinctly Chinese face.

Most of the monks at Puning

come from devout Buddhist families in Inner Mongolia.

They join the order when they are teenagers.

Being a monk here is a world apart from anything they might have imagined

and that includes performing for tourists.

Every day, the monks re-enact a Buddhist celebration.

The ritual portrays man's quest for peace and tranquillity

in the face of life's perpetual struggle.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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