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Last Thursday, May 14, we left for Beijing, China. We're still digging... just kidding.
Fortunately neither of us had a fever and we were allowed out of the airport after filling out consent forms and waiting on long lines as various officials made sure we were H1N1-free.
Sorry, this is a long one... We arrived at our hotel, The Regent, in the afternoon and ate lunch at the cafe there as it was an odd hour and we didn't see anything else appealing after a quick wander around outside. They served surprisingly good sandwiches. Our only plan for the evening was dinner at a place called Made in China nearby at the Grand Hyatt. We actually made the reservation about a week prior because I had been told by a couple of people that they had trouble getting into some popular places for dinner. And they start firing up the duck about 45 minutes before your arrival.
You see, when in Beijing the must-try thing is Peking Duck. We pre-ordered a half duck, which is not very big, so we could try other dishes. Everything we ordered was very tasty and the duck did not disappoint. It is carved in front of you and then they present it to eat three ways: in a thin pancake with onions, cucumber and plum sauce; sliced plain; and the crispy skin is to be dipped in sugar. It is pure heart disease on a plate. And tasty too. The place had a good atmosphere also, though we were tucked into an uninteresting corner. I used the ladies' room and was amused to find an ashtray attached to the wall right next to the toilet paper. At least there was toilet paper, but more later on the challenging rest stops of China.
Also in the Hyatt was a bar called Red Moon. A friend of mine mentioned it otherwise I probably wouldn't have known it was there. It was a pretty cool bar. It is hidden by a mirrored door which slides open as you enter. The front part was a large bar and the back room was cozy, smoke-filled and music-filled. The music came in the form of a live female quartet, a singer, keyboardist and two traditional Chinese instrument players. The singer showed some verve, but the other three wore comically bored expressions. I imagined their Chinese parents' disappointment that all those music lessons landed their daughters playing in a smoky hotel bar. They were definitely campy and a little corny but totally fun to listen to and played some surprising covers.
The next morning we were out the door around 7 a.m. to see The Great Wall. You may have heard of it. There are different sections you can access and I was advised by friends and travel books to skip the one closest to Beijing as it it is where all the tour buses go. I was also advised to go early to beat the crowds. There's no need for a tour, but we needed a ride there. I read many references online to a guy named John, so I looked him up and he was available, and he was waiting for us at 7 outside the hotel. He drove faster than you would believe, honked at everything and passed anything on legs or wheels. But we made it there.
Obligatory description of the guide: he was a very hospitable young man who spoke English well. He has a daughter and he's glad she's learning English in primary school because he didn't start until middle school and it was harder to learn later. He didn't go to university but he has hopes for his daughter (then it dawned on me that he's only allowed one child). He's lived in Beijing his whole life as have his parents and grandparents. His wife is from a far-away town along the Yangtze River and her hometown is the farthest he's traveled. He drove a cab for nine years and has been driving tourists with his own car for four years. He learns things from tourists from around the world, like the word 'tchotchkes' for describing what's sold at most markets. He threw in some unsolicited praise for the government, and even for good old Mao. And he pointed out how Buicks are very popular in Beijing and how Americans have told him they're not so popular in America. One of the last things he pointed out was a Haagen Daz store near our hotel. He said he only had it once because it's very expensive; he knew the price - I don't remember what it was - but he exclaimed, "But if you want ice cream, there it is, no problem!"
We went to a section of the Wall called Mutianyu, about 90 minutes outside Beijing. We did beat the crowds at first. There is a cable car that takes you up to the the hilltops to reach the Wall and we were the only souls on it. Within an hour, the place grew more populated, but it wasn't too bad. It was colder than we thought it would be but after climbing up and down steps along the wall we warmed up pretty quickly. I just kept thinking to myself, "I'm on The Great Wall of China." More than once I said out loud, "No thanks, no bananas," to the few vendors who each tried to push bananas. Why bananas?
Our only disappointment was that it was a very gray day. It had rained the night before, so at least we were lucky enough to miss the rain, but visibility was rather low. I would have loved to see the Wall trailing along the vast green mountains in the distance, but we could mostly only see the section or two in front of us. What can you do? You can toboggan down The Great Wall, that's what!
Alright, it's not really down the Wall itself, but there is a toboggan running down the hills along the Wall. I had trouble envisioning this proposition and wondered if it breached some sort of World Heritage site etiquette, but if it appears tacky, then they shouldn't make it so much fun! I have never actually tobogganed but I wonder what other great, ancient stone fortifications might boast them, because I'll visit. Paul went first and for some reason a worker followed closely behind me. Maybe I looked inexperienced. Since Paul finished first, he caught a picture of me coming around the final bend.
After the Wall adventure, we headed over to the Summer Palace, which didn't feel so summery on such a hazy day. We certainly didn't beat any crowds there. We strolled around for a couple of hours and battled the streams of red hatted tour groups. What's the point of the red hats if nine out of ten groups are wearing them?
I don't want to scare anyone off from visiting this side of the world (who am I kidding?) but it's a good thing the aches from climbing along the Wall hadn't set into my legs yet. To visit China, you need to be flexible, have good balance, carry your own Kleenex at all times, and a dulled sense of smell wouldn't hurt. In modern, comfortable establishments there are modern, comfortable facilities but in rural or older places, like the Summer Palace for example, there are more rustic devices. I didn't get my own shot but
here's one for you of a typical squatter toilet. If you find yourself in that situation, another tip is to roll up the hems of your pants first.
John drove us home after the Summer Palace and along the way he drove past the Olympic Stadium and pulled over for a minute so we could take a picture - the perfect amount of time to spend on that activity. Then he gave us some recommendations for our next day. He told us our hotel, in a fairly posh area, was just around the corner from "shopping street" and "snack street" but the snack vendors didn't open till 5 p.m. so we never timed it right to have a snack or even a visit at that time. I might have seen some starfish-on-a-stick or something else worth detailing or photographing (but not eating).
We did have Peking Duck again that night - what, don't you expect us to perform appropriate comparison tests? I would say that both Made in China and Da Dong Roast Duck restaurant lived up to expectations. Da Dong was lower on atmosphere but the duck might have been just slightly better. We went to a bar called Face after dinner. Not bad.
We slept a little later the next day, had a very good breakfast at the hotel, then headed out towards Tianenman Square and the Forbidden City. Again, my guidebook provided accurate warnings on typical scenarios, and we were befriended by two art students who walked along with us and chatted the whole way. They were visibly disappointed when we didn't stop at their art studio to $look$ at their art. At least they put in the time and the talk. We were hit up by about 30 more art this-or-that solicitors around the Forbidden City later on.
The day started out very gray once again, which is why I took our sunglasses out of my bag when we were leaving the hotel. Do I need to tell you how brightly the sun started shining once we were around the corner? FYI, We're not trying to look quizzical in all the pictures from that afternoon.
Once we figured out that you had to cross the street underground, we made it to Tienenman Square. Paul will correct me if I'm wrong, but it might have been he who said, "You see, the thing about squares is, there's not a lot going on." A square is just that.
Personally, I tried to not imagine hundreds of students being gunned down by tanks (20 years ago next week) but it's hard to un-imagine.
Next we entered the Forbidden City. We rented audioguides and headphones which were pretty cool. The recording started playing automatically when you walked past each area. It was impressive, but many things looked the same to me. Sorry I didn't label the photos more specifically, but most of the buildings have names that have to do with harmony and tranquility. Oh, and of course there were countless red hats. We tried to walk to find a tea house for a refresher after that but we only earned blisters instead and hopped in a cab and had tea at the hotel.
That night, we ate at a noodle place I found in my guidebook. Had I known it was out in the middle of who-knows-where and that getting a cab back would be a challenge, I might have passed, but I'm glad we didn't. Noodles were the specialty but in our fashion of ordering too much, we got to taste other dishes and everything was good. I had noodles "in the shape of cat's ears." I surveyed; they were too small to be actual cat's ears. They were delicious even if they were. We hopped to a few different bars later with drastically differing atmospheres without locating one with the charm that Red Moon had.
Our flight was in the late afternoon on Sunday, so after breakfast we went over to an area called Hou Hai to check out one of many old hutongs. They're neighborhoods of "old Beijing" without the modern embellishments. It was interesting to see, though one stretch we walked along was totally existent for tourists, with men offering tours and "rickshaw" rides which are actually just bicycle drawn carts. Paul said he might have taken one if they were real rickshaws. Other surrounding parts that looked more authentic seemed as if you would be intruding if you entered the gates. After lunch we tried to find a park that appeared as if we must be just outside the walls on the map, but we surrendered to a cab and eventually realized on the way back to the hotel that the park was still quite a distance.
Beijing is huge and very sprawling, nothing like Hong Kong, and maps hardly helped. We were able to walk to one of the restaurants and to the Forbidden City, but everything else was a fare for a cab driver. We had no real trouble with cabs since we planned ahead and the hotel staff would write down locations in Chinese for the drivers. Hardly anyone outside of hotels and restaurants speaks English so it could have been troublesome. The traffic is heaving and pedestrians DO NOT have the right of way. You have to rotate your head in every direction and say a little prayer when crossing streets. No wonder John was such an aggressive driver.
We enjoyed Beijing. Hope you enjoy the pictures. Wish we could share some of the food we tasted.
I also hope everyone had a nice long weekend, and remember to recognize what Memorial Day is for. There's a holiday here this Thursday, but Paul will work as usual. Then off to the jungle!
P.S. I prefer the more well known version of "Revolution" but I could barely locate this one. It'll work.
P.P.S... And two days later I lost it. How does The Beatles' music manage to remain untouchable? I know about Apple's iTunes situation but playlist.com too?
