Day 10: Back to Hong Kong

My brother and I have a little tradition when we part ways and won’t see each other for a long time. Actually, it’s my tradition – I cry. The morning Larry and I were to leave Shenzhen and go back to Hong Kong, I prepared by tearing up as soon as I got out of bed. Some traditions are too good to break.

Wyatt accompanied us to the border, which isn’t far from his apartment in Shenzhen. It took one bus ride, and two subways to get there. One curious thing about the bus -- instead of a meter into which the riders insert their fare, there’s a real, live person inside the door of the bus who takes the riders’ money. After we paid her our fare, she gave us a small ticket, I suppose, to show that we paid to ride. During our stay in China we noticed that humans do the kinds of jobs that in the U.S. are automated, such as the workmen in Beijing digging up the street instead of using a backhoe. Some of it is back-breaking, but it does provide jobs.

We arrived at the border. Crossing the border between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Hong Kong is done inside a large building that spans the Shenzhen River. The river runs between the PRC and Hong Kong territory with immigration desks to pass through on each side of the river. We started our ‘thank yous’ and ‘good-byes’ and right on cue, I cried. I’ve never failed at this. My record is perfect.

We managed the immigration desks, and the drug-sniffing dogs as we entered Hong Kong customs. I left the PRC with silk scarves, Sichuan pepper, tea, teacups, a silk duvet, chopsticks and a week’s worth of time with my brother. A half hour train ride brought us back to the bustle of Hong Kong for our last day and a half on the other side of the world.

Day 9: Back to Shenzhen

On Tuesday we left for the Beijing airport to fly back to Shenzhen. Since we left so early we didn’t have time for breakfast at the hotel, but had espresso and pastries at the “Kiss & Bake” snack counter at the airport. We didn’t see any kisses being sold, but perhaps we just weren’t there at the right time.

Our flight was booked with China Southern Airlines. As we boarded the plane, we were each given a newspaper in Chinese or English, I suppose depending on what we looked like. After reading several English newspapers in China and watching the news on CCTV, the major Chinese television station, I realized that all I was getting was good news. Sure, it was nice to hear only good news – but not very realistic. (We saw the Three Stooges on TV one night in Beijing – they were speaking Chinese, but their voices sounded exactly as they do in English!)

We had plenty of legroom on our China Southern airplane, plus a footrest. And a real meal on the 3.5 hour flight.

Once we got back to Shenzhen, Wyatt walked to work and we tagged along so we could see his office. He’s an editor for the Shenzhen Daily, one of the few English newspapers in China. Wyatt suggested several restaurants for Larry and I to find for lunch (without turtle). We found the Bruce Lee fast food restaurant and were greeted with “Good Morning” as we walked in that afternoon. The meal was less than spectacular, especially compared to the meals we had in the hutongs of Beijing, but the cheerful and helpful young people behind the counter made it a memorable meal.

Back at Wyatt’s apartment, his friend and neighbor Lin Yan Jia stopped by to drop off the key she had to Wyatt’s apartment. She had been cat-sitting Carl while we were in Beijing. We had a very pleasant chat with her.

After Wyatt got home from work, we walked to the Nine Sisters Northern Dumpling Restaurant for our evening meal. The menus didn’t have any English, so several young people tried to help us order. We had a lot of good food on this trip, and the dumplings were my favorite.

It was our last day with Wyatt. On Wednesday Larry and I went back to Hong Kong for the last day two days of our vacation.

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