More Great Wall Pictures

Day 8: The Great Wall

On Monday, April 20 I had two songs running through my head; Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall” and Simon & Garfunkle’s “Scarborough Fair”.

Larry and I had our buffet breakfast. At 7:30 we were catching a ride to Badaling, about an hour northeast of Beijing to see The Great Wall. Our tour guide, Magic, was a young man in his 20s, originally from the southern part of China. He moved to Beijing to attend college, and he also works as a tour guide. He speaks several dialects of Chinese in addition to English.

Our driver, Mr. Wu, didn’t say much. But his cell phone rang constantly. His ring tone? “Scarborough Fair”. We didn’t know if he had another business that he was running on the side as he drove us around, was talking to his bookie, or maybe he was just a very popular guy.

Our first stop was the Ming Tombs, which aren’t very far out of Beijing. Magic, well versed in Chinese history, explained the displays and who was buried where. Next stop, a “shopping stop” at a jade workshop and the sales room.

It was very windy and chilly when we arrived at the part of The Great Wall we were going to see. There are several places in the Badaling area that give access to The Great Wall. Wyatt and Larry walked all the way to the top of wall as far as it was permitted. I went about 1/3 of the way up. The steps were very steep and big!

After we finished walking The Wall, we had lunch and were also treated to “shopping stops” at a cloisonné factory, and a silk processing workshop on the way home.

We discussed going to a part of The Great Wall that isn’t as popular with the tourists, and not rebuilt. That’s always an option (although not encouraged by the Chinese government), but it required a 2-3 hour ride.

It was our last day in Beijing, so after we got back to our hotel, we had one last walk through the hutongs. And I stopped to say “see you next time” to Alice in her Tea House.

Day 7: A Day in the Hutongs

After our day walking through the Forbidden City, we were ready for a day at a relaxed pace. Larry and I had the breakfast buffet again in our hotel. Part of me thought I should at least try a traditional Chinese breakfast (although I’m not sure what that would be). But I knew I needed a good breakfast with the amount of walking we were doing. When I’m hungry I still think about that breakfast buffet.

We walked down the street our hotel was on to an area that had also been occupied by hutongs when Wyatt was in Beijing in 2007. Now the hutongs were gone, and stores reminiscent of outlet stores in the U.S. were in their place. These shops were full of tourists. (Most of the tourists we saw in Beijing were Asian, not many Westerners.) As we walked further, we found more outlet-store-looking new construction that wasn't yet complete. It was depressing to see that this is what is replacing the hutongs. We eventually found our way back hotel and made our arrangements to see The Great Wall the next day.

I wanted to go back to Alice’s Tea House. Wyatt went off to do his own thing, so Larry went with me to Alice’s. When we arrived, Alice asked if we’d like to have tea with her. We sat at the table in her shop, and Alice served us many kinds of tea, explaining what each one was made of and the benefits of each. Each of the teas had a unique taste. My favorite also had pieces of fruit in it.

For me, Alice’s Tea House is one of the highlights of our trip. I enjoyed talking to her; she is wonderfully warm and hospitable.

The rest of the day we spent (surprise!) walking through more hutongs and finding new places to eat. The best meals we had on this entire trip were in small, probably family-owned cafes. My favorite dish was the dumplings and any of the vegetable dishes.

We did go out for one meal that was not at a small restaurant - Peking Duck at the Bei Jing Quan Ju De He Ping Men Roast Duck Restaurant. It was our one splurge on this trip, and it was delicious!

Our adventure for the next day -- The Great Wall!

Day 6: The Forbidden City & Alice’s Tea House

Tea House Alice and me.

It was Saturday morning, our first full day in Beijing. The first thing we needed was coffee, so Larry and I went to check out the restaurant at the Far East Hotel.

At the entrance of the restaurant was an aquarium of large goldfish – the kind with the fat cheeks. And just past the aquarium we found an honest-to-goodness Western-style breakfast buffet for $50 Chinese Yuan, or just over $7 U.S. dollars. I’d had a hard time finding any kind of milk in China that wasn’t thickened and sweetened. This buffet had real milk, and espresso! We were quite happy with all of that.

Our plan that day was to see Mao Tse-Tung's Tomb and the Forbidden City. The line to Mao’s Tomb was incredibly long. We decided to skip it even after one official (we think) was telling us that for a little cash, we could budge the line. I won’t write about the Forbidden City, except to say that the one thing I found very interesting was the Hall of Clocks and Watches that contained ornate clocks that were gifts to the emperors. The Forbidden City is huge and takes a long time to see.

It was a day of much walking, so we stopped for refreshments at the Sakura Bar/Restaurant/Hostel that was down the street from our hotel. A few beers and a small pizza later, we decided it was time for real food and found another small restaurant for our evening meal. As we sauntered back to our hotel we decided to check out a tea house that was still open. Inside, we were greeted with a “hello” and a smile from Alice, the proprietor of Alice’s Tea House. Her shop contains many kinds of tea, tea cups, handmade tea pots, and other items. In Beijing some of the shopkeepers know a little English, but Alice was very fluent. She was such a delight to talk with, and was so warm and welcoming that we stayed quite a while and chatted.

If you go to Beijing: Alice’s Tea House, or Tea House Alice, is 50 meters east of the Far East Hotel. Her address is: 93 Tie Shu Xie Jie Xuan Wu District.

Wyatt was working on scheduling a trip to the Great Wall, but we were exhausted from our day at the Forbidden City. Tomorrow: A play day in the hutongs!

https://www.facebook.com/TeaHouseAlice

Day 5: A flight to Beijing - or - How I Fell in Love with the Hutongs

There was one part of our trip that Larry had not been told about until the train ride from Hong Kong to Shenzhen. That’s when he learned that we were flying to Beijing the next day, the fifth day of our trip. We had another wild taxi ride to the Shenzhen airport. The documents Wyatt got from the currier who delivered our plane tickets said that we should catch our flight on Shenzhen Airlines in Terminal 1 of the Shenzhen airport. When we got to the airport, we were told we needed to go to Terminal 2 to catch our flight.

The good news is that Terminal 2 was within easy walking distance, but lack of sleep and general disorientation set my mind to producing anxiety about catching this flight. It was in this mindset that we got our boarding passes, went through security and were walking to our gate when a man ran past us, obviously late for his flight. (In China you must check in at least 45 minutes before your flight leaves, and be ready to board at the gate 15 minutes before your flight leaves. If you are late, you very well might not get on the plane.) Wyatt lives much more on the edge of life than I do, and is a much bigger risk-taker. When the man ran past us, Wyatt said, “I hate feeling like that guy.” I said, “When I travel with you, I always feel like that guy!”

The plane ride on Shenzhen Airlines was the most pleasant one I’ve had in many, many years. There’s enough legroom for legs. A real honest-to-goodness meal was served on the 3.5 hour flight. The flight attendants were engaged with the passengers, and even conducted a stretching exercise session for us to participate in before we landed in Beijing. And we all got a breath mint just before we landed. We suspect that the employees aren’t paid very well, and that’s why the airline can afford to make flying a pleasure.

We got our luggage and found a cab. Wyatt discovered the cab had no meter, not an uncommon thing. The problem with that is, there’s no way to verify that we’re not getting ripped off. So Wyatt and the cabbie haggled over the price. They decided on 100 Chinese Yuan. Then as we started to drive away, the price went up to 150 Yuan. More haggling. The price agreed on was 110 Yuan.

It was another wild cab ride. Do you see a theme with our cab rides? After passing by many blocks of the largest and most unattractive hotels I’ve ever seen (we called it Hotel Alley) that were built for the 2008 Olympics, I was surprised to see we were on the street between Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. We took a left on the street that runs west of Tiananmen Square, and shortly we were at our hotel. Wyatt had booked us at the Far East Hotel, which is in the historical district of Beijing.

If you ever go to Beijing, I would recommend this hotel. It’s within walking distance to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. They take credit cards. It’s very affordable. It’s also has a hostel if you want to go that route. What I loved the most about it is that’s in the heart of an accumulation of hutongs.

The hutongs are narrow alleys that wind and weave throughout a neighborhood. They contain dwellings, restaurants, retail stores, laundries, barbershops, and any other establishment that make up a community. I was struck by the intimacy of the hutongs. They are so narrow and the buildings all touch each other.

We went for a walk after we got settled in. We walked to Tiananmen Square where the two groups of young people were quite taken with Larry’s beard; they wanted their picture with Larry. He, of course, cheerfully obliged.

After we left Tiananmen Square, we headed down one of the hutongs. The smells of the hutongs were the first impression I had of them. First, the public toilet. And there were a lot of them. Not such a good smell. Then a laundry. A better smell. And someone cooking on an outdoor grill. A much better smell.

We wandered the hutongs for a long time before we realized that we really weren’t sure where we were. We knew we hadn’t crossed the narrow street where our hotel was located. But the hutongs turn and weave. We weren’t sure what direction we were heading.

So we kept walking. It was getting dark. Suddenly we were on our street, in front of a restaurant about 100 yards from our hotel. Wyatt said, “Let’s eat here.”

I think that’s when I fell in love with the hutongs.

Wikipedia on hutongs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hutong

The best web site I can find that references the Far East Hotel:
http://www.sinohotelguide.com/detail_index.php?Hotel_ID=BJAH0094&City_ID=BJA&City_Cname=Bei%20Jing&City_Lname=beijing

Day 4: Shenzhen...and Restaurant Adventures

Our fourth day of vacation began like most of the others – a quick trip to Pacific Coffee for espresso and check our email. My brother, Wyatt, was set to arrive at our hotel at 11 a.m. to help us through the bureaucracy while we crossed the border into the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

We waited.

At about 11:25 -- a knock at the door. I opened it, and Wyatt flew into our hotel room. (Those of you who know Wyatt can picture it.) “It took a little longer to get to Hong Kong than I expected. I want to get a cab to Admiralty [subway] Station, while you get checked out. We’d better go!”

The trip to Shenzhen was a flurry of taxi, subway, transfer to second subway, and the half-hour train ride to the border. Shenzhen is just within the PRC, at the border of Hong Kong. Thirty years ago Shenzhen barely existed, now it’s a city of 8 to 9 million residents. Its phenomenal growth was the result of Hong Kong’s imminent transfer back to China in 1997. It’s a new city, devoid of old architecture, but with many trees and parks.

When we arrived at the Hong Kong/PRC border we had to go through Hong Kong’s immigration, then the PRC’s immigration, then the PRC’s Customs. It took a lot less time than one would think. We hopped into another taxi, and had a wild ride to Wyatt’s apartment, took the elevator to the 26th floor and dropped our luggage. Wyatt had to be to work in 15 minutes, but fortunately, he only has a 10 minute walk to work. He said, “You probably want lunch, and there’s nothing in the apartment.” He threw some Chinese dollars in our direction and pointed out a building just down the block, “The restaurant over there has pictures on its menu. Maybe you want to go there to grab some lunch.”

As we walked up the stairs to the restaurant on the second story, the young employees said, “Good morning.” (That seemed to be the general greeting in Shenzhen no matter what time of day.) The place was empty. We were given a table.

The first thing I learned about China is that more often than not, the wait staff at a restaurant will stand at the table as the decision of what to eat is made. Perhaps it was because we were obviously not Chinese and might have questions about the menu. The young waiter tried to get us to order a certain thing – I think he was trying to tell us it was chicken. But we picked another thing, from the pictures on the menu, which, of course, was in Chinese.

What we ordered finally arrived. This is what I sent to in an email to family and some friends about an hour later:

We arrived at Wyatt's place just in time for him to leave for work, so Larry and I went to a restaurant by ourselves. The menu had pictures of the dishes they served, so that's how we decided what to order. We have no idea what we ate, but the veggie dish was wonderful. The other dish might have been oxtail, but we really don't know. I took one of the meat pieces home to ask Wyatt if he can identify it. I think the piece is part of a whole critter, myself -- not a part of an ox tail. I only ate a half a piece.

After the mystery meal we went back to Wyatt’s apartment to relax. After the past three days, we were ready for a day off. We had TV, internet and Wyatt’s black kitty, Carl, to keep us happy. When Wyatt got home from work at 7 p.m. we went to a Muslim restaurant. Wyatt took care of the ordering. We were grateful.

Before we went to the Muslim restaurant, we asked Wyatt about the piece of meat we brought home from our lunch. The moment Wyatt looked at it and responded, it occurred to me what it was.

It was a turtle foot.

Day 3: Kowloon

Larry and I started out Day 3 at Pacific Coffee for espresso and a quick email to our moms. We decided that this was the day to explore Hong Kong’s subway system.

Once we got the process of ticket purchases figured out (it’s an automated touch-screen!) we were on our way to Kowloon, the area just north of Hong Kong Island that is actually on the Asian continent. We disembarked the subway at the Prince Edward station, which was north beyond our map. We used our compass to find out which way was south, and began walking south back toward Hong Kong along Nathan Road.

You know how in movies about Hong Kong there are street scenes with signs all over the middle of the road? Kowloon is like that. The streets are full of signs in Chinese and English for products, services, hotels, and restaurants. My favorite sign was for a hotel that rented room by the night, or for two hours.

The best parts of this vast city’s street life are its markets. There are street markets everywhere. I don’t know if they move daily, or stay in the same place for a few days. The ones we saw took up the entire street, and sold anything you can imagine. Many of them sell silk items, but there’s also clothing, knock-off designer purses, chopsticks, jewelry. In Kowloon we walked through the Ladies Market and the Jade Market, where we were given a brief tutorial on the quality of jade by one of the vendors. She clanged one jade bracelet of an inferior quality with another piece of jade. Then she clanged on jade bracelet made of a better quality jade. There was quite a difference in the sound. As we perused the jade market, we could hear the jade quality demonstration all the way to the far side of the market.

The wet markets are what gave us a bit of culture shock. They sell every kind of meat imaginable; much of it is still alive. We knew we were getting close to a wet market from the smell. The variety of seafood at the wet markets is what we found the most interesting – shrimp, octopus, and fish we’d never seen before, all still alive.

By the afternoon we’d walked all the way to the southern tip of Kowloon, still on Nathan Road (with a long diversion through Kowloon Park). This part of Nathan Road, called The Golden Mile, looks like the Champs-Élysées in Paris, with a wide boulevard and upscale shops.

We eventually ended up on the Sea Walk at the very southern tip of Kowloon. In movies when you see the shot of Hong Kong’s skyline with Victoria Harbour in the foreground, those shots are taken from Kowloon looking south toward Hong Kong Island. I’ve always had the image in my head that those shots are looking north.

The joke of the day: Larry said he must be terribly dressed – he had so many offers to get a tailored suit!

This was a long day that ended up with us getting lost in the rain very close to our hotel. (We would have been fine if we’d consulted our compass, but we were tired and had forgotten we had it along!) The streets were very crowded with umbrellas carried by people all shorter than us, so the umbrellas were hitting us in the face. When we finally found our hotel, we immediately went to the lounge for a beer and another beer. It was our last night in Hong Kong for a week. The next day, we were off to the People’s Republic of China.