After a short hop from Seoul and train ride into Beijing, I followed the hostel-provided directions to the Dongsi metro stop in the ChongDeng district of the city. The directions proceeded to guide me down what I perceived to be a particularly dodgy alley, or hutong as they are known in Beijing. I would find out throughout my time in Beijing that these hutongs are the lifeblood of the city. Upon arrival at my hostel, I dropped my gear and decided to take a wander through the city and get some grub after a day of traveling. I started in the Dongsi area, and wound up at what appeared to be a Chinese fast food joint. Good enough, I thought, I was famished. After miming to the waitress my selection from the picture menu, I found myself with a plate of rice and some mysterious variety of meat. I would get used to this during my stay in China. And, pleasantly enough, it turned out to be a fanstastic meal. Energized, I continued to wander the streets. After declining the offer of two "students" who wanted to "practice their English" at what would just-so-happen to be an overpriced cafe nearby (or so I was warned by the hostel), I decided that a metro ride would be worth my time. At 2 Yuan ($0.30) to anywhere in Beijing, I decided to check out the center of the city. Where to go, I wondered, and checked the subway map. The first stop to catch my eye was "Tianenman Square West" and I thought, that looks like my stop. After negotiating the metro and hopping off, I was greeted with a nice wide avenue in the heart of Beijing. While heading in the direction of The Square, I was crossing a street as indicated by the green light ahead of me shaped like a person in mid-stride, and to my suprise, I heard a loud horn and turned to see a city bus bearing down on me at full speed. It slowed--and I sprinted--which allowed me to just dodge it and make it to the safety of the opposing sidewalk. Four hours in China and I was almost roadkill. Ahh, back into the chaos. Another country with no (consistently) obsevrved rules regarding traffic. Yes! No more orderliness, no more rule-following. That's for suckers. So sums up my time in the cities of China. I made it to the square, which was complete with motionless military guards and swarms of policemen, and quite a site it was. The big portrait of Chairman Mao in the midst of the large red gateway leading to the Forbidden City and flanked by rows of bleachers for the elite to view the parades in the square. All lights and glamor, quite a sight. Some more venturing and I was spent, and decided to turn in for the evening.
Day 2 in Beijing was a flurry. After heading back to Tianenman to get a glimpse during the day, I cruised through the Forbidden City before grabbing a bite to eat down the street. Another restaurant, another meal of questionable ingredient, though this one I am sure was chicken... maybe. Post-meal, I bundled up and headed to the Temple of Heaven, which according to the map was just south of Tianenman. I must have misread the map, because it was quite the walk! After stumbling my way there, I hustled through the park checking the main sights. As the sun, and with it the temperature, dropped, I decided a quick look was all I needed. So, I bundled up and headed back to the hostel, preparing for an exciting next day.
On Wednesday, I embarked on a journey to the Great Wall at Mutianyu. This is supposed to be a less-frequented area of the wall, while maintaining the beauty. And it did not disappoint. After hopping a metro, hour-long bus and negotiating a cab to get me the last thirty minutes, I arrived at the Wall mid-morning. It was spectacular. A light snow began to fall, and clouds were ever-present, but the sight was majestic no less. The weather brought a different element to the scene, almost a mystery. Who lies waiting in the foggy hills to the north? Invaders? Mongols? Protect the Empire! Luckily, no attackers on my watch. As I mosied along the top of the wall, I took in the sight of the different towers and long-meandering wall fading into the misty fog. And then, just for a moment, the clouds parted just enough to see the wall snake across the hills into the distance. And then, as quick as it came, the view was gone and replaced with the dense fog of winter. After a few hours on the wall, I trekked back down the hillside to my waiting taxi to get back to Huairou, and then onward to Beijing by bus. By then, it was dinner time, and I scouted the hutong for some good looking fare. At this point, I had come to accept the fact that I would be bound by picture menus in my time in China, at least for the most part. I found my joint, and as with previous meals, entered the establishment, greeted the proprietor with "Neehao" and proceeded to point at the picture of the food I wanted and smile. Worked like a charm. The lady who ran the restaurant was very kind, and quickly placed the order with the kitchen--which was located in a closet in the back of the small room--and I was all set. I proceeded to chow down on the amazing bowl of rice, chicken (again, I think), cooked vegetables, spicy chili sauce and a fried egg in no time flat and was more than delighted with the meal. And all for $2USD. I dig that.
Thursday was a good day. After chatting with a lovely Aussie gal named Alice who was staying in the same dorm room as myself, I was determined to make it to the Summer Palace. This was across Beijing and on a confusing metro stop. So confusing that I completely forgot it when I transferred lines and, being the over-confident navigator, did not write it down beforehand. I got off on what I thought to be the right stop, but I swung and missed. Badly. I was assured there would be signs, but there were none. So, instead I found myself on the north side of Beijing perusing the largest electroincs market I had ever seen. Seven floors, each with a different set of products (i.e. cameras, mobile phones, computers, electronics components) all of which were undoubtedly of exceptional quality and legitmacy (cue sarcasm), and with a retail footprint the size of a football fied. It was enermous, and a great sight. From the sheer volume of merchandise to the pushy salesmen, whom you learn to ignore and laugh at, the place was quite a show. But, with abject failure comes wound-licking. So, I headed back to the hostel and to a Skype session with my family. After some Skyping and internet research, I found the appropriate metro stop, headed out and made it to the Summer Palace in the afternoon. This was probably the sight in Beijing that I connected with most. It is a grand palace situated on the slope of a hill overlooking an incredible lake. Since Beijing has been undergoing sub-zero (Celsius) temperatures for months now, the lake was well-frozen. And so there were plenty of people out for a walk-on-water. I partook in the fun, and ventured out a few hundred yards onto the lake before my poor planning in the wardrobe department led me to retreat out of the biting winds. I only stayed at the Summer Palace for two hours, but could have admired the beauty of the place for many hours more. In the evening, I met up with a friend of a friend in the foreigner district on the east side of Beijing. The area was pretty cool, if a bit quiet ahead of the New Year festivities, but had loads of cool bars all around.
Friday was a lazy day, filled with reading, writing, skyping and chatting through the day. And that suited me just fine, just fine indeed. For dinner, my new Aussie friend Alice and I headed to another restaurant down the hutong to try something new. I went with the duck. Yes, I had duck in Beijing. No, I did not have Beijing Duck. But it was grand nonetheless.
On my final day in Beijing, I started by heading back to the electronics market to procure an unlocked mobile phone as a backup to use in some of my longer-term, and more remote, destinations. I haggled my way to a cheap Nokia phone. For lunch, I headed back to the same nice lady from a few days prior who roused her napping cook to rummage up the same rice bowl. And it was just as good as before. Finding myself with a few hours before my train to Shanghai, I took the opportunity to check out the otherside of the hutong where my hostel was located. Previously, I had only visited the west side nearest the metro stop as I was coming and going, but the east side proved just as interesting, if not more so. I found many more street food vendors selling the delicacies of Beijing, and even a cafe. Unlike Seoul, the cafes are not part of the culture in Beijing, and China for that matter. Budo Cafe, with its overpriced and subpar cappuccinos, was a welcomed sight in Beijing. I killed an hour there, then headed back to the hostel to collect my things and head off to catch my train to Shanghai. The station had military soldiers on hand during boarding to make sure no one was unruly. And they were needed. The citizens of Beijing, and China as a whole, do not bother with queuing. Everyone mobs forward at the same time, and somehow everyone gets through. It does make transiting on the metro very interesting, because although the lines on the ground suggest you should wait on the outside and allow passengers to disembark before getting on the metro, the rules are rarely followed making it every man for himself as you push and squirm your way free. But, back to the train. I had a soft sleeper, which is typically a four-bed compartment with a closed door. To my delightful surprise, there were only two beds and a private bathroom. Score! To my further delight, no one had reserved the bottom bunk, so the compartment was all mine. Score again! But then, on a bumpy and restless ride, I caught a cold. A parting shot from Beijing, I suppose.
I left the drab, utilitarian and ultimately uninteresting metropolis of Beijing for the bright, burning lights, and reasonable temperatures of Shanghai. Shanghai felt like a relief. It was significantly warmer with temps in the high-40's to 50's and you could feel the culture of the people oozing throughout the streets. Maybe it was the weather in Beijing, but even the people seemed cold. Shanghai breathed with life. My first day, I wandered the city. Hard. I started near my hostel and the famous Nanjing Road shopping street, and, after catching a glimpse of the Pearl Tower, followed it to the river bank boardwalk called the Bund. I walked the boardwalk and chatted briefly with an elderly Chinese fellow who had only good things to say about America to my delight, and took in the skyline view of Shanghai. I then took the metro across to the Pearl Tower side of the city. After walking around the financial district, which was remarkably quiet for a Monday, likely for the national two-week holiday for Chinese New Year, I headed to the Pearl Tower and admired the architecture of this bustling city. My favorite building was one of the taller, but not tallest, and reminded me of a mix between the krypton structure in the remade Superman movie of a few years ago, and Megatron, from Transformers. It has jagged edges and sharp angles, and a large point at the top. Quite a building, and located in the heart of the financial district, across the street from the Four Seasons containing a two-story Ferrari/Maserati dealership. Communism, eh?
My second day in Shanghai was quite interesting. I decided I had seen the touristy stuff, as there are not too many landmarks in Shangha and I wasn't in the museum mood, and headed for the north side of the city. I followed the riverside boardwalk north and continued on after it ran out of breath. I ended up in a large residential area with lots of apartment buildings airing their freshly washed laundries out of every window. And I stopped for a wonderful lunch! I went to a shop and went through the routine of a quick "Neehao," smiling, pointing at the picture and waiting. Only this time she laughed. I didn't know what to say. Luckily, two young Chinese gentlemen spoke some English and helped us bridge the gap. I'm not sure what the issue was, so I just told them I was interested in ordering some food, and the dish pictured just there to be precise, and they helped sort the matter. After that, smooth sailing. I ended up sitting with the two gentlemen, and discussing where I was from and what they were doing. They work in international business selling things to African countries. They wanted to know what I was doing, and they proceeded to tell me about their hometown and how long they have been in Shanghai working. Quite amiable fellows, I would say. After lunch, I paid my bill and offered a thank you, or "xie xie," to which I received another well-intentioned laughing at. Time to move on. I walked for the rest of the day through this fascinating north side admiring the culture and receiving a fair amount of stares. In the evening, I headed back to the riverside boardwalk to admire the skyline by night. Truly awe-inspiring. Entire sides of skyscrapers are transformed into advertisements with the most common being "I <3 S H" much in the same style as the iconic NY t-shirt. After more walking and eating, I packed it in for the evening, trying to recover from the enduring cold I developed on the train.
The third day brought more walking to a new part of the city, this time to the southwest. At the recommendation of a Chinese student staying in the same room, I headed to a park pretty deep in SW Shanghai. After a bit of perousing the park, I found there was a statue of two gentlemen who did not appear to be of Chinese origin. Lo and behold, it was the good ol' boys Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, immortalized in stone in the park. After another bit of browsing around the park, I hit the streets some more to investigate this part of the city. More culture, and fascinating alley ways. Shanghai has the most intriguing alleys. I was snapping photos of all I could until I realized these are people's homes and I would find it odd and potentially discomforting if someone went around taking pictures of every house in my neighborhood, so I decided to be more discreet. The furrow-browed old lady mumbling to herself as she stared me down outside of one of the alleys helped me reach this conclusion.
After a full day of wandering, I am beat. Tomorrow brings another day of exploring and then a flight to Zhangjiajie--which I am completely unable to pronounce to a Chinese person--to see the mountains that supposedly inspired Avatar's floating mountains including a very famous one called Tianmen Shan, or Heaven's Gate Mountain. And on that note, good night!
I'm so sorry you were sick for part of your journey in China. Doesn't sound like it slowed you down much though! Love hearing about the adventure.
ReplyDeleteO! And we got our Great Wall postcard last week! Thank you!