Ancient Gaobeidian Now a Tourist Lure

If you seek traditional Chinese furniture, a taste of hospitable

countryside life and spectacular stilt-walkers, look no further

than this village. Lynn Woods reports. 

Historically, Chaoyang District’s Gaobeidian is one of Beijing’s oldest and wealthiest villages, initially taking shape when a few people settled in the area between today’s Tongzhou District and Beijing City during the Liao Dynasty (AD916-1125). At first the village was called Jiaoting, its current name being adopted much later.

Now Gaobeidian is enjoying a new kind of fame as a tourist destination as part of a one- or two-day district tour organized by Chaoyang Tourism Bureau, the highlight being promoted as Gaobeidian Classical Furniture Tourism Culture Village (see separate panel). This new guise emerged after Beijing won the right to host the 2008 Olympic Games. Chaoyang District, which embraces the city’s Central Business District, marked the victory by promoting Gaobeidian as a cultural village specializing in classical Chinese furniture.

This came to fruition with an official opening ceremony last month, attended by 25 visitors from the United States who also visited 10 specially chosen village families who will also entertain future foreign tourists. Selected by Chaoyang government, these villagers have been trained in courteous behaviour and enough everyday English to converse with their guests.

“We will select and train 40 more families to accommodate visitors,” said tourism bureau director Yang Weiping. “We will first give them a physical check-up and then a series of training courses. Many families in Gaobeidian meet the hygienic requirements of visitors, and are willing to receive them in their homes.”

Chaoyang’s government is also setting aside funds to help the host families improve the condition of their houses. “We want to offer the best to our guests,” enthused one villager.

The first 25 visitors had dinner with villagers at their homes. Although a few of the hosts had difficulty speaking English, the problem was overcome when organizers brought in local English-speaking middle-school students to act as interpreters. When themselves unable to cope with parts of English, these smart young students resorted to “body language” to ensure that everything intended by villagers and guests was understood. Often humorous, these attempts were enjoyed by hosts and visitors alike.

“We had invited some professional interpreters to help us, but the laowai [foreigners] preferred the children’s attempts. Combined with the villagers’ body language, it was funny but effective,” said Zhang Yuelan, head of the village committee. “It was also a good opportunity for children to practice their oral English. One boy said he found his English vocabulary too limited when chatting with the foreigners, and that he will work harder on it in the future.”

The American visitors took to dishes prepared by villagers at their homes in a big way. Among their favourites were gongbao jiding (stir-fried chicken with chili sauce and peanuts); and yuxiang rousi (stir-fried shredded pork with chili). Another plus for the tourists was the high level of hospitality accorded them.

Said one villager: “We were never concerned about money when hosting them. We wanted to make them happy in China. Some of our people even treated them to Moutai and Wuliangye,” (the best Chinese wines).

As a post-dinner special treat, the visitors were taken to the village’s playground to watch a gaoqiao (stilt-walking) performance. Gaobeidian’s gaoqiao team did, in fact, display its skills and win high praise during a tour of Britain during this year’s Spring Festival. Heavy rain in Gaobeidian during the team’s display for the American tourists proved no obstacle to the stilt-walkers, leaving the visitors amazed that there were no slips or other accidents.

Explained tourism bureau director Yang Weiping: “Visitors on the Gaobeidian tour can stay for one or two days. If they want to stay overnight with a villager, they can also enjoy local shopping, cooking and eating with them – a real experience of local life.”

Two of the visitors, Betty Karulla and Joyce Howard agreed: “It was a wonderful experience during our first visit to China, and we were deeply impressed by the warm-hearted people and the history here. China is undergoing great changes, and the middle-class seems to be the main force of society, so we wanted to know about their real lives. We think the Olympic Games will be just great for China.” Commented a spokesman for Grand Circle Travel, a partner of Chaoyang Tourism Bureau: “These visitors wanted to experience real life in Beijing. They loved it!”

Of the future, Yang Weiping said: “We will choose a downtown residential area to develop these Chaoyang tours. This is a sunrise industry, so we will invest more in order to improve conditions for these folk tours. We will rearrange guest rooms, install night lamps, lay anti-skid mats and pay attention to all the small items and try to provide the best services possible to our customers.”

Man-made Canal Route to Prosperity

After Kublai Khan, Mongol emperor of China and founder of the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368), chose Yanjing as his capital, he had to find a solution to the problem of transporting foods collected in Tongzhou to Dadu (now central Beijing). He opted for water transport, and made hydraulics expert Guo Shoujing responsible for the project.

Guo diverted water into Jishuitan to create a water-accumulating pool, then funneled it south-eastward to the Bai River in Tongzhou along the east side of the Imperial City, Wenming Men (now Chongwen Men) and Gaobeidian. Kublai Khan named the man-made canal Tonghui River. Gaobeidian thus became a prosperous dock serving the Chinese capital.

Gaobeidian has an area of 2.7 sq.km. Supported by the local governments of Gaobeidian Village and Chaoyang District, the village has invested more than one million yuan (US$120,772) in rebuilding its Classical Furniture Street, where it sells precious old items collected by experts from provinces that include Hebei, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia.

Damaged items are repaired by experts. Also on sale is imitation furniture in Ming and Qing style, made from high-quality traditional Chinese timber.