Beijing
We had a great time in Beijing. There just wasn’t enough time in
three days to see everything we wanted. I was glad to get home but we
would have like to experience more of China. Maybe another trip?
Here’s a trip recap.
Day 0–Friday night March 26
Went to dinner (and drinks) to Boat Quay with friends visiting
from St. Louis. Since we hadn’t had a chance to pack yet we had to
scramble home from dinner to pack (20 min isn’t bad) and get a taxi
to the airport. Keith and I both slept the whole ride to the airport,
and slept in the departure lounge, and were asleep again before the
plane took off. Our flight left Singapore Saturday morning at 1 am
and arrived in Beijing at 7 am. We slept almost the entire 6 hour
flight except breakfast!
Day 1
Arrived in Beijing at 7 am. Rise and Shine! The airport is pretty
dingy looking and feeling. Immigration and Customs were uneventful.
We had visa’s stamped in our passports the week before we left
Singapore. After customs we hit the row of drivers with name cards
and independents that asked us if we needed a taxi. Gee, are we
obvious tourists? We ignored all those guys and wandered around the
airport a bit until we found a Bank of China to exchange money.
Unfortunately ATM machines in China are not hooked into the same
network as the rest of the world so we had to rely on finding money
changers. We found a taxi queue and handed the driver a sheet from
the hotel and thankfully he understood with no problem.
We checked into the hotel at about 8 am but the room wasn’t ready.
We only had to wait 30 minutes so we had a cup of strong coffee in
the coffee shop. Once we got to our room we showered and hit the
town. The bell boys spoke a little English and they were very helpful
by writing down our destination in Chinese on the back of a hotel
business card. We got him to write one to Tianamen Square and then
hopped in a taxi.
Tianamen Square / Mao’s Tomb
It was a short taxi ride to the largest public square in the
world. On the road in front of the square we immediately recognized
where the famous picture of the tanks was taken in 1989. It felt to
powerful being there. It was not hard to image parades of soldiers in
the square waving Mao’s little red book. Unfortunately the square is
under renovation so it was fenced off and we didn’t get the whole
impact. Just South of Tiamanen Square is Mao’s Tomb and it was open
so we took a walk through.
Mao’s tomb
That was an experience that is hard to describe. To the side of
the entrance there are booths where you check all bags and camera’s
(for a fee of course). It took us a while to figure out we had to
push and shove to ever get forward in line. If you don’t shove back
you never get closer to the front. We had to go to one booth to pay
and get a claim ticket, then another book to hand in the camera. We
walked to the section where people gather to enter and the strict
looking guards line people up in two single files lines.
Lining up in double file before entering Mao’s tomb
From there you march to the entrance of the tomb grounds and pass
another set of guards who look you over for bags and cameras. You
continue marching around until you get to the front of the building
(about 100 meters total). Another set of guards let you know when you
can go in (we are still moving in two single file lines).
Marching under surveillance
We went through two rooms, the first was a statue type thing
commemorating Mao. There were small pine tree things all around so it
smelled like pine. People who bought roses outside are allowed to
walk up to the alter and place the flowers in from of the statue.
Then we walked to the second room… There was frozen Mao, the real
thing!!! I was shocked that it was the real dead dude. It looked like
a wax museum statue to me. The lights were dim but there was a bright
light on Mao. He was enclosed in a crystal case. Guards were
everywhere watching. It took all of about 90 seconds to file through
that second room. Then we found ourselves at the souvenir counters
shoving again with the other people to look at all the goodies with
Mao on them. I guess we were caught up in the moment and we felt like
we needed to bring something home with Mao on it so we went for irony
and bought a Mao money clip. Nothing like a money clip to remind us
of the communist icon!
Forbidden City
Just across the main street is the Forbidden City. You can’t miss
it, there’s a huge portrait of Mao hanging over the entrance. It is
where China was ruled for a few hundred years during the Qing and
Ming dynasties. It covers over 200 acres. It would have been more
enjoyable had the temperature been over 40 degrees and if the wind
and dust had not been so bad. We had to stop several times to dig
dirt out of our contacts. That aside it was an awesome sight and
huge! It’s not hard to imagine emperor and empresses indulging here.
There were quite a few English signs that explained which hall and
house we were in. It took us a few hours to get through the Forbidden
City.
The Forbidden City from across Tianamen Square
Jill in front of the moat
Keith at the same place
A local snack (little red apples with orange slices in them dipped in liquid sugar)
Crossing over to the first hall
In front of the male lion (the male is standing on a ball symbolizing power over the world, while the female is standing on a small lion which is power over family)
The stairs up to one of the halls. The emperor was carried over the center portion, which is carved with
dragons
A torch or something
Inside one of the halls
Jill in front of the wall of seven dragons
The really big picture of Mao
Outside Forbidden City
Lunch
We used Fodors guide : “What to do in Beijing if you don’t have
long” to search for a place to eat. We walked about 25 minutes back
South of Tianamen Square looking for a dumpling house that was
referenced in the book. The streets we walked through were
entertaining with all sorts of knock off clothing, silk etc to sell
and all sorts of interesting food stalls. We found the dumpling house
just down the street from the Chinese Kentucky Fried Chicken! We
entering the dumpling house and I felt a little intimidated. We were
obviously out of place. The book said it large community tables but
we were hesitant to just plunk down at any table with two chairs
open. We headed to the upstairs area but were told it was closed. The
downstairs waiter pointed for us to go upstairs again. I thought they
were trying to get rid of us but I think it was honest confusion
among the staff. Finally a large portion of a big round table opened
up and the three people remaining at the table gave us a signal that
it was okay to sit. Of course that’s because they wanted to stare at
us during the entire meal. The waitress came over and we tried some
of our Singapore Dim Sum lingo but it didn’t work. Another waitress
came over with a worn card that had a few English words and we
managed to point out pork dumplings. We were so relieved that beer
was printed on the card although I think we could have managed to
communicate with without an English translation. The dumplings were
delicious, the beer was warm but we were glad to have it. Total we
paid RMB38 which is about $4.75
We were worn out from the flight and walking acres and acres so we
went to the hotel for a nap and ended up sleeping until almost 8 pm.
We ate dinner in the hotel and watched Absolute Power on Asia HBO and
got lots of rest for the wall.
Day 2–Our anniversary March 28
THE WALL!!!
We arranged for a driver and an English speaking guide to take us
to The Great Wall. It was about a 40 minute ride to a spot called
Bedaling which is the most popular spot to visit the wall from
Beijing. There are two other spots called Mutianyu and Simitae. They
are supposed to be more spectacular looking but we couldn’t make it
out to those places and still visit the summer palace later in the
afternoon. The wall is very impressive. It’s built right on top of
the mountains. Starting out at Bedaling the wall looks almost like it
goes straight up. It is quite steep and because of that a lot of the
stairs are three bricks high which was over a foot per step. A lot
for short legs. It is pretty rigorous climbing. Every so often there
is a watch tower type thing. We climbed up to 4 watch towers, taking
pictures all the way up, until we could see over the mountain then we
called it quits. We rested and enjoyed the view of the mountains and
the wall then we started down. It was then that we realized just how
far up we had climbed. We were a little sore and coming down was
tough. Our legs were like jelly. All together we climbed and then
descended in about two hours. (It’s now three days later and Keith’s
legs are finally recovered)
The Wall
Sure looks like fun, right?
It says : He is not a hero who has not climbed the wall – Mao
Just getting started
Still smiling
Some pretty steep steps
Just a short break
Still climbing
One of the rebuilt guard towers
Looking back down to the fort
In desperate need of a break
Top of the world
Looking back up the wall (we made it to the fourth tower up – center of the picture at the top)
Our guide suggested a place for lunch where he and the driver
could eat their “company” lunch for free (they were associated with
CITS, the Chinese Tourism association). It was a tourist trap with
scrolls and jewelry and tea for sale. The food was fine but high
priced and catered to tourists. We stayed there as minimum time as
possible.
Summer Palace
The Summer Palace was a place for the emperors to go and chill
out. There is a huge man-made lake and of course all sorts of Temples
and halls etc. It was very pretty with the lake and then mountains in
the background. It seems that a lot of Chinese go there to picnic or
stroll around or rent paddleboats. This is also the home of the
Guiness Book of World Records largest painted corridor. It’s
basically a covered walkway over 700 meters long with a decoratively
painted ceiling. It was pretty cool. We had a nice stroll through the
Summer Palace and took a few photos, then we escaped the barrage of
people selling cheesy “tourist mementos” and headed back to Beijing.
The lake at the summer palace
The Long Corridor
A couple of locals on the lake
A bridge over the river
Really scenic trees and open areas throughout the palace
Anniversary Dinner
Another nap at the hotel and then off to dinner. Our guide told us
there are three things you must to in Beijing. 1. Climb the wall 2.
Have Peking Duck 3. Chinese Opera. Well 2 out of three ain’t bad huh?
Yes we chose the duck over the Opera. There is a legendary (over 100
yr old) restaurant that has roasted Peking Duck. The guide told us
about it and it was highly rated in our book so it was an easy
choice. We had asked the guide if we needed reservations and he
looked at us funny. We knew why immediately after entering the place.
We were expecting a sit down formal type Chinese place. Instead it
was a more like a Dairy Queen with beer and waitresses. This place
was a lot easier because there was a picture menu. It wasn’t totally
a piece of cake though because we picked a mystery green vegetable
that was crunchy and cold. The duck was great. It’s served cut into
chunks. There are flour tortilla type pancakes, scallions, and
fermented black bean sauce. We ate our “duck tacos” and had a couple
Tsing Tao beers. I teased Keith what a big spender he is to spring
for $15 for our first anniversary dinner. I’m hoping that is not
symbolic!
The menu (upside-down) at the duck place
After dinner we wandered the streets around the restaurant. We
toured through a grocery store which is always a good indicator of
where you are visiting. Then we walked through more booths of fake
stuff. I bought a large grey polar fleece jacket with a very real
looking North Face logo on it for $9. I was glad to have it in that
cold weather. We also bought some loose tea in a tea shop.
Day 3
Temple of Heaven
We took a taxi to the Temple of Heaven which is the largest temple
in Beijing. The entrance lines were confusing and I wanted to shop
for pearls which was across the street so we bailed without going
inside the grounds. Hey, we saw it from the outside.
Pearl Market
The pearl market is in a building that also houses a fish market
in the basement. After a while you get used to it but there is a
persistent smell of fish all over. The 3rd floor is mostly devoted to
pearls. There were about 70 booths that were like card tables with a
nice tablecloth and makeshift short walls. It’s quite overwhelming at
first to see all those pearls and not have a clue how to begin. We
were there at 9:30 as soon as they opened so there weren’t many
people wandering around with us and we were very visible. I had a
reference to a lady name Ling Ling at one of the booths but she had
another customer so I perused the merchandise at other booths. All
colors like white, ivory, pink, grey, blue etc. Some natural color,
some dyed, some sea pearls (more round a perfect looking) some
freshwater pearls and some even made from shells. While I looked at
one booth, Keith would wander to another one and we got a better feel
for what we were looking for, what the difference in all of them are
etc. Sea pearls are a lot more expensive than freshwater. I had
originally intended on buying a nice strand of sea pearls but we
learned that any real pearl is only going to have a lifespan of 10-15
years because they will discolor and wear. I also discovered that the
freshwater were very pretty and some very close in quality to the sea
pearls. After 2 1/2 hours I ended up with a necklace made of three
strands of small ivory pearls twisted together and a pair of small
earing to match for about $5. Then I bought an two ivory necklaces
(one short and one long), a bracelet, and two pairs of earing all in
the same shiny ivory for about $16. My last purchase was a short
necklace and matching earing of really pretty grey pearls for another
$16. I am wearing the grey ones as I type! All except the twisted
strand are 6 – 7 mm. I think Keith was relieved that I came out of
the market happy and only down $35. Now in retrospect I wish I had
bought more.
Silk Alley
Since we spent all morning in the pearl market we only had a
little time left before picking up our luggage at the hotel. We went
to silk alley which was another row of rip off clothing. There was a
lot more North Face, Nike, Columbia, and other brands there. There
were two booths with really pretty and soft cashmere sweaters. I had
my eye on a twin set but I couldn’t decide on a color, wasn’t sure
about the size, and didn’t feel like changing more money. It would
have been about $60.
We tried to find another lunch spot out of the book but we think
it’s closed because it wasn’t where the book pointed out. We were
running low on time, didn’t feel as adventurous as with the dumpling
house so we settled for the shame of McDonalds. It had a picture menu
to so that was easy. Rest assured a burger, fries and coke taste the
same at any McDonalds across the world!
