All the planning and waiting was finally over. Getting up at 8am Saturday morning I grabbed the last of my things and headed for the subway around 9 to get to the airport for my flight. I opted to take the subway since it takes about the same amount of time as the bus, but is half the cost. Since I left early enough to ensure I had lots of time to check in, I stopped and got McDonald's breakfast at the airport before checking my bag. After I ate I mistakenly went and stood in the wrong line for 30 minutes before making it to the front and being told that I was on a shared flight and had to sign in with Korean Air instead of Southeast China Air. A minor setback, I headed over to the other check in line and waited another 30 minutes before I was checked in and good to go. My flight, originally scheduled to take off at 1:10pm, didn't actually leave until 1:40. The hour flight to Dalian, China where I would transfer to my flight to Beijing was good, and we got a small lunch to boot.
Once in Dalian, I grabbed my bags and headed for the next check in counter where I ended up in line with a girl from South Africa, named Candice. I seem to be meeting lots of South Africans lately. Anyways, we got to talking and the lady behind the desk sat us beside each other for the flight to Beijing. turned out, like most foreigners travelling to Beijing, she also teaches in Seoul, so we shared some stories and laughs during the flight. After landing she headed out to met up with some friends who were waiting for her at the airport already, and I went on my way to find the train into town. Before heading to the train however, I made a stop at the washroom where I thought my trip was going to go sour before it started. After using the urinal I went to wash my hands and that's when it got strange. There was a guy mopping the floor, and as soon as I got to the sinks he decided he needed to mop right around my feet. O.K. that I can deal with, but then another Chinese guy who had also finished using a urinal came and stood right behind me to use the sink instead of using one of the other 3 that were there. So, when i was finished I backed up to try and go around the moper and bumped into the other Chinese guy with my huge bag. Right away I spun around, hitting him again with it, to say sorry and was given a death stare and some words. Not knowing what he was saying and not feeling in the wrong, I looked back at him and told him to kindly get bent and that if he didn't want to get bumped then he shouldn't stand directly behind me. He proceeded to follow me out of the washroom and down the airport corridor. Maybe he was going that way, or maybe he wanted to give me shit. Either way I headed for the train and never saw him again.
Once on the train for the city, I got out my Beijing book and map to where I was supposed to go for a Kung-fu show at 7. It was already 530 by the time I left the airport and figured I had lots of time to make it into town. Getting into town and switching to the subway was a bit of a task, because the English aspect that I have grown accustomed to in Korea just doesn't exist in China. Which I might add is very weird given they hosted the Olympics only 2 years ago. Eventually finding my way to the right subway stop, I got out and walked for a few blocks to the theatre, picked up my ticket and went in to see the show with plenty of time to spare. The show was more acrobatic and story based than I had anticipated, but was still a pretty cool thing to see and learn about. After the show, I grabbed my bag from the back of the theatre and headed outside to track down my hostel. By now I was getting pretty tired and it was only 930, so I wanted to get to my hostel with as little trouble as possible. I found myself being bothered by motorized bike taxis who wanted to charge a ridiculous amount to take me not that far. In the end I thought I had figured out a fair price with one and had him take me to my hostel. When I got there he insisted that we agreed on a different price and got super angry when I would only meet him half way, though in retrospect I should have gave him nothing and just walked inside. Once inside, I found out that my hostel, The Tian An Men Sunrise Hostel, had over booked the dorm room I was supposed to be in and moved my up to a two bed private room for the same price. Not one to make a fuss or care where I rest my head, I went along with it and threw my bags down. Then to my surprise, a girl also teaching in Seoul form Ottawa came in with the same situation and was going to be my roommate for the night. We talked for a bit before she went to bed because it was her birthday the day before and she was still tired from partying. I headed to the lounge to grab a beer and sandwich while talking to a traveller from Norway until 1am before calling it a night.
With my alarm set, I tried to get up around 8am Sunday, but still feeling tired from the night before I ended up laying around in bed until almost 9. Finally deciding to get up and going, i was dressed and out of the hostel on my way to the Summer Palace by 1030. I made it there on the subway by 11 and headed in at the North Gate for 60RMB (Chinese Yuan). I started out with a walk around Suzhou St., where I had an artist paint Braunwyn and Parker's names on some paper. Unfortunately the lady at the stand was very pushy about getting them laminated for an extra fee, but gave me a deal after 5 minutes of saying no. After Suzhou St. I headed into the palace grounds and headed up the way to the temples and other sights on Longevity Hill. I saw the Buddhist Tenants Hall, Buddhist Temple of the Sea of Wisdom, Buddhist Fragrance Pavilion, and then the Cloud Dispelling Hall. It was all super nice, and since it was a sunny day the colours were great. After coming down from the hill I walked we
st to the West Causeway, which is a walkway around the west side of the lake that the Summer Palace is at. Along the way there were several very nice bridges and pavilions that I stopped to take pictures at before eventually reaching the south tip of the lake and heading up the east side to see the 17-Arch Bridge that took me out to the Dragon King Temple on a small island. After the island I continued back up the east side of the lake to the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity, then to the Theatre Stage, Harmonious Interest Garden, and then back to the place I came in. By now my feet were tired from all the walking and it was 530 in the afternoon, so I jumped on the subway and headed back to my hostel. On the subway I had a moment with a young girl who was in complete awe when she saw me get on. She was less than 6 years old and immediately began staring at me and whispering to her mother about how different I looked I'm sure, but I am used to it and I gave her and her mother a smile and went on with my business. After getting back to my subway stop I had my first run in with the money trap schemes that women here like to run on English speaking men. They come up claiming to be English students and ask you if you would like to go have a coffee or beer with them so they can practice, but what it actually is, is a way to get you to a place to buy $15 beers and rip you off (and possibly whore themselves out to you). Knowing what it was, I talked with them for a few minutes and then told them I was on to them and that I didn't have time for it. the conversation ended quickly after that and I was back to the hostel by 630, where I grabbed a beer and read on the front steps until dark. Once again I had a small child, who was walking with his dad, come over and stare at me in awe until his dad told him to say hello in response to my hello. Very cute.After my beer was gone, I was feeling a bit hungry since I hadn't eaten all day, and decided to pop over to the near by Wangfujin St. Snack Street, famous for its weird food selection, and see what I could get in me. I started by taking a pass down the street to see what was there and found out quickly that one end was very typical Chinese
food, and the other end was more critter based. I started with some scorpions on a stick (10Y) to warm up and then had a noodle dish (30Y) and beer (5Y) to wash it down. After that I walked around to see what the souvenir stalls were selling before heading back out to the main Wangfujin St. towards the Donghuamen Night Market, where they also have a cornucopia of weird food for people to eat. On the way, once again I was approached by several "English Students", to one I asked why there were no male students which made her quickly retreat. I also had one, after refusing her advances tell me I was poor, to which I replied "Not to poor to travel around the world and have hookers like you bother me." By then I was at the end of the street and at the end of my rope with the girls so it worked out well. I did a couple passes of the night market and promised myself I would get back to try some food there before I left. From there I went and walked around the outside of Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City to try and get some shots at night. I was back at the hostel by 11pm where I sat down and had a couple beers with a girl from Australia and a guy from Montreal until 1230.Monday morning since being switched from the two bed room to the dorm I had signed up for, I was awoken at 6am when one of the other travellers got up and went out for a bit. She wasn't gone long and I was still awake when she got back, trying to get the last 20 minutes of sleep in before my own alarm went off at 7. I understand that when you are sleeping in a dorm situation you can't control everything and that some people have things to do that might wake you up, but this girl decided it would be OK to take a phone call and talk for like 15 minutes in the room, the whole time telling her mom on the other end that she felt bad because people were trying to sleep. Normally I wold have told her to take that shit in the hall and stop being so retarded, but I was in a pretty good mood knowing I was heading to the Great Wall and I let it slide. Finally my alarm went of at 7 and I got out of bed and took my bags to check out since I was going to be gone to the wall over night. It was overcast and drizzling, which was how the weather would be for the entire two day trip. I had a quick shower, some porridge with bananas form the hostel then left my large bag in the store room for when I came back. I was supposed to be picked up between 8-9am but to my surprise I wasn't picked up until almost 930 because a few last minute people joined the group and the guide had to pick them up on her way to get me. More surprising was that one of them was Candice, the South African girl from the plane ride over and one of her friends. They had considered doing a solo sleep on the wall like I was thinking about last week, but also had no gear for it and looked into the tour company that I had told her about on the plane The China Guide). With the new people in the group it brought the total to 8, which dropped the cost from $245 to $200 per person.
On the road by 1030am we headed out of the main city towards The Secret Way, which is the entrance road to the Ming Tombs, the resting place of most of the emperors during the Ming Dynasty. We were luck enough that the rain would hold of every time we were out of the van, but it was still pretty chilly and without sun. The Ming Tombs were pretty neat, with lots of nice architecture and history. We finished up and headed to a Chinese restaurant for lunch around 130 and had our fill of delicious food and beer. After lunch we continued the 2 hour drive to the Jinshanling section of the wall and since it was still raining we were given the option of not sleeping on the wall as planned, but sleeping in a hotel near the wall for the night. Unanimously we all decided to go ahead with the wall idea, though a father and son later chose to sleep indoors at the hotel during dinner. We arrived at the bottom of the wall at 5pm, went through the security check and then on to the house where we would be having dinner. Since we were early, we walked up to the lower section of the wall and got to walk around until 6 before heading back to have dinner with the family. The food, all traditional Chinese dishes, was delicious and bountiful, and between that and the beer provided we had a great dinner and great time chatting with each other and sharing stories. Eventually it got super dark and we packed up our things and headed for the watch tower that we were to sleep in. The family gave us all lights, and we bought some rain coats from them to keep dry during the walk, then we packed some extra beers and headed up. Once at the tower the rain stopped and we were able to sit outside after making out beds (laying down mats and sleeping bags) and have some more laughs and beers. Around 1230 everyone started to head to bed, so Jay and I hung out and finished the last of our beers while the weather picked up again, making us call it a night by 130.
Waking up at 6am to the sound of the hotel goers, we crawled out of our sleeping bags and went outside hoping to see sunlight. What we got was more wind and drizzle (sad face), but it seemed to be letting up which was nice. The guides brought us up some breakfast, including muesli, bananas, and coffee and tea. I was able to locate a left over beer that hadn't been opened and started my day with a bowl of muesli, a banana, and a beer. After we were rushed through our breakfast we made for the side of the wall we would be hiking, the Jinshanling section heading towards Simatai. Along the way the weather let up and it turned out to be a good hike with plenty of great photo opportunities. We reached the end of our hike by 8am, as Simatai has been closed for repairs, and headed down towards
the road though not until after jumping the do not cross sign to take pictures on the Simatai side. I'm just a rebel without a cause, what can I say. We reached the van by 845 where an elderly couple was selling t-shirts for 60Y ($8.50), but I haggled them down to 20Y and then hopped in the van so we could head back towards Beijing. A side not, during our hike of the wall our tour guide really wanted us to keep up and get it over with, but since I was taking my time because the views were so beautiful and I wanted to get lots of photos I was always last, and she joked about how she always knew it was OK to move on when she saw me approach. Nice to know I'm good for something.Back in the van the rain picked up again during the two hour ride back to Beijing, where we stopped at the Olympic Stadium, before heading for lunch at noon. The Olympic Stadium was pretty neat looking but since it was raining we decided against going in and having to stand in the rain longer. Our lunch, at a Chinese restaurant was really good, and we ordered as many different dishes as we could without getting wasteful. Lunch was finished by 1pm and we got back in the van and jumped into the mid-day traffic of Beijing as we tried to get back into town. the one good thing was that the sun had come out and we could open the van windows to get some air and take pictures. jay, Candice, Yaara, and myself decided not to go back to our hostels, but instead to get dropped of at the Llama Temple. Why not make the most of the day right! We made it to the temple by 4pm, bought our tickets and got in for the last hour that it was open.
Chaoyang Theatre at 7. After a quick shower, I ran out of my hostel to grab a cab, but my ever present whiteness made it impossible to get one and the time was ticking. Eventually I hopped on the subway and subwayed across town, showing up almost 30 minutes late and missing the first 15 minutes of the show. Luckily Jay had had taxi trouble as well and had only gone in moments before I arrived, so I quickly got a ticket from our guide who had met us there to get the special priced tickets and popped into the theatre to find him. We enjoyed what was left of an amazing show. We saw bike tricks, plate spinning, stacked chair handstands, and plenty of other things that I wouldn't dare trying. After the show Jay and I went our separate ways because we were both still tired from the Great Wall adventure. On the way back to my hostel i took a detour to Ghost Street, a famous restaurant street, where I thought I wold get some food, but after waling the strip I realized how tired I was and jumped on the subway to go home. Back at the hostel by 11, I grabbed a sandwich and beer from the lounge and chatted with some other travelers for a bit before considering heading to bed. Unfortunately, when I went to my room my other roommates (3 Americans and 1 Canadian) were just about at each others throats due to one of the American girl's need to be loud and heard about how crappy Canada is. Wanting to break her neck, not because of what she was saying because it was all in all harmless, but because she was just being so loud so I went back to the lounge for another beer where I got roped into playing no money poker until 4am.Waking up exhausted at 8am on the 22nd, I had to get a move on to meet Jay, and Candice and friends at the far end of Tiananman Square for 830. We had made the plans after parting at the Llama Temple the day before because we all wanted to make a full morning/afternoon of the square and Forbidden City. I arrived fashionably late as usual at 840, but then was left waiting until 920 before I realized the rest of the group must have been out late and slept in. I headed in by myself which was no big deal, and the crowds were huge because it was the first day of the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival to celebrate the harvest and there were dozens upon dozens of Chinese tour groups flocking to Beijing. I spent less than an hour walking around the square taking pictures and being complimented again on my use of the tripod for self photos. I was even stopped by a couple of Chinese girls for a photo, which seems fairly standard around Asian countries. By 11 I was crossing the street to head for the Forbidden City. I started at the
front gate but was stopped by another scammer trying to get me to go and check out his calligraphy collection beside the palace promising it to be a better entrance to the Forbidden City from his gallery. He was quickly told how much I don't care about calligraphy, or the fact that he was trying to mess with me, and then decided to move on to someone else. I went into the city via the front Meridian Gate, then passed through the Gate of Supreme Harmony to actually enter the city grounds where you start to see the buildings. From there I walked through/past the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Hall of Middle Harmony, and Hall of Preserving Harmony, all of which were nice to look at and get pictures around, but in all honesty after seeing so many temples and halls in Asia they all begin to look similar. After the ceremonial halls came the actual part of the Forbidden City that I think was for the Emperor only, well him and his numerous concubines. First I walked through the Heavenly Purity Gate, and since I didn't burst into flames, I moved on to the Palace of Heavenly Purity, the Hall of Union, and finally the Imperial Garden that included the Thousand Autumns Pavilion and Bronze Elephants. All of a sudden after a mere 1.5 hours I was at the back of the Forbidden City Shenwu Gate exit. Not wanting to leave I turned around and headed to the east side of the city where a miniature city within the city had been built during the times of occupancy and has since been turned into a museum wing of sorts. There were halls fills with artifacts such as jade-ware, jewelry, art, sculptures, and ceremonial wardrobes, as well as a stone carving nine dragons long, called the Nine Dragon Screen which was my favourite thing in the whole place I think. Having exhausted my time in the city I exited out the back and climbed the hill in Jingshan Park to get an aerial view of the Forbidden City.
Leaving the park I weaved my way back to my hostel by 2pm where I just sat around until 4 before having a 2 hour nap to make up for the sleep I missed the night before.After my nap I thought it would be wise to head back to the night market and try some food that I might not normally eat. Between 630 and 9 I ate several species of beetle, a centipede, and some lamb skewers; and stayed clear of things like sheep testicles and dog meat. There were several other things I could have tried but I was tiring of the walking and decided to head back to the hostel to check out the Mid-Autumn Festivities they were having. When I got there, the hostel was serving a hot pot dinner with moon cakes and fruit for dessert. I got in on the dessert part while talking with some other travellers from Seoul and a couple from Shanghai who were on vacation before their wedding. By 130 I was completely wiped and went to bed in a quiet non confrontational room tis time.
My last day in Beijing started at 830am and me packing up my large bag so that I could take it and go after my days activities. I checked out of the hostel but left my bag so I didn't have to carry it all day, and headed for the Temple of Heaven Park. It was a nice place to start the day with some more temples and green space, but what the day was really about was finding some Peking Duck. having been turned away the night before from a restaurant, I was determined to have Peking Duck (Beijing's former name) while in the city it was founded in. I left the park and tracked down one of the more famous duck places that is well hidden among a small neighbour, also called a Hutong, called Liqun Roast Duck Restaurant. It was rather expensive for me to eat there alone since I had to buy an entire duck to myself at 190Y ($27) a piece, but it was well worth it. the ducks are basted and basted then cooked over a fruit wood fire until crispy golden brown on the outside, and mouth wateringly tender on the inside. Then the chef shaves the duck meat off for you and you wrap it up in mini crepes, add some veggies and sauce and
you are good to go. It was a great meal and took me until 130 to finish it. After satisfying my need for duck I went ack to the hostel to get my bag and head out to the airport. Since I still had some time to kill I bought some postcards and wrote them up to be sent to some family back home. At 3 I left forthe airport and was checked in for my flight by 430, which left at 610. Once on the plane I realized I had randomly been moved up to business class and that I had so much more leg room than the people riding coach. totally awesome. For the flight I watched Happy Gilmore on my mp3 player, and before I knew it we were landing in Seoul at 845. I quickly grabbed up my bag and headed for the subway to get home and cal it a day. Home by 11 I shot off a couple phone calls to let everyone know I was still alive, then spent some quality time with Goah who was all over me for attention.
Well there you have it. A trip to Beijing that I would recommend to anyone.
front gate but was stopped by another scammer trying to get me to go and check out his calligraphy collection beside the palace promising it to be a better entrance to the Forbidden City from his gallery. He was quickly told how much I don't care about calligraphy, or the fact that he was trying to mess with me, and then decided to move on to someone else. I went into the city via the front Meridian Gate, then passed through the Gate of Supreme Harmony to actually enter the city grounds where you start to see the buildings. From there I walked through/past the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Hall of Middle Harmony, and Hall of Preserving Harmony, all of which were nice to look at and get pictures around, but in all honesty after seeing so many temples and halls in Asia they all begin to look similar. After the ceremonial halls came the actual part of the Forbidden City that I think was for the Emperor only, well him and his numerous concubines. First I walked through the Heavenly Purity Gate, and since I didn't burst into flames, I moved on to the Palace of Heavenly Purity, the Hall of Union, and finally the Imperial Garden that included the Thousand Autumns Pavilion and Bronze Elephants. All of a sudden after a mere 1.5 hours I was at the back of the Forbidden City Shenwu Gate exit. Not wanting to leave I turned around and headed to the east side of the city where a miniature city within the city had been built during the times of occupancy and has since been turned into a museum wing of sorts. There were halls fills with artifacts such as jade-ware, jewelry, art, sculptures, and ceremonial wardrobes, as well as a stone carving nine dragons long, called the Nine Dragon Screen which was my favourite thing in the whole place I think. Having exhausted my time in the city I exited out the back and climbed the hill in Jingshan Park to get an aerial view of the Forbidden City.Leaving the park I weaved my way back to my hostel by 2pm where I just sat around until 4 before having a 2 hour nap to make up for the sleep I missed the night before.After my nap I thought it would be wise to head back to the night market and try some food that I might not normally eat. Between 630 and 9 I ate several species of beetle, a centipede, and some lamb skewers; and stayed clear of things like sheep testicles and dog meat. There were several other things I could have tried but I was tiring of the walking and decided to head back to the hostel to check out the Mid-Autumn Festivities they were having. When I got there, the hostel was serving a hot pot dinner with moon cakes and fruit for dessert. I got in on the dessert part while talking with some other travellers from Seoul and a couple from Shanghai who were on vacation before their wedding. By 130 I was completely wiped and went to bed in a quiet non confrontational room tis time.
My last day in Beijing started at 830am and me packing up my large bag so that I could take it and go after my days activities. I checked out of the hostel but left my bag so I didn't have to carry it all day, and headed for the Temple of Heaven Park. It was a nice place to start the day with some more temples and green space, but what the day was really about was finding some Peking Duck. having been turned away the night before from a restaurant, I was determined to have Peking Duck (Beijing's former name) while in the city it was founded in. I left the park and tracked down one of the more famous duck places that is well hidden among a small neighbour, also called a Hutong, called Liqun Roast Duck Restaurant. It was rather expensive for me to eat there alone since I had to buy an entire duck to myself at 190Y ($27) a piece, but it was well worth it. the ducks are basted and basted then cooked over a fruit wood fire until crispy golden brown on the outside, and mouth wateringly tender on the inside. Then the chef shaves the duck meat off for you and you wrap it up in mini crepes, add some veggies and sauce and
you are good to go. It was a great meal and took me until 130 to finish it. After satisfying my need for duck I went ack to the hostel to get my bag and head out to the airport. Since I still had some time to kill I bought some postcards and wrote them up to be sent to some family back home. At 3 I left forthe airport and was checked in for my flight by 430, which left at 610. Once on the plane I realized I had randomly been moved up to business class and that I had so much more leg room than the people riding coach. totally awesome. For the flight I watched Happy Gilmore on my mp3 player, and before I knew it we were landing in Seoul at 845. I quickly grabbed up my bag and headed for the subway to get home and cal it a day. Home by 11 I shot off a couple phone calls to let everyone know I was still alive, then spent some quality time with Goah who was all over me for attention.Well there you have it. A trip to Beijing that I would recommend to anyone.
No comments:
Post a Comment