Saturday, May 03, 2008

Beijing 4/16-20

Airport
On our way, I read that direct flights are scheduled to start July 4 (between Taiwan and Mainland China, of course). So of course, we stopped in Hong Kong before landing in Beijing. The public bus outside was cheap and easy to find and figure out. Routes are explained in Chinese and English, with one going to DongSiShiTiao.

Accommodation
Beijing East Gate Plaza Service Apartment
Reserved online through sinohotel.com We were willing to go fancy but not so much as paying 4 star prices. This turned out to be remarkably good, especially for 3 young kids. Very spacious apartment with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a huge common room with comfortable sofas and a tv. There was a big fridge, dining table, fluffy (but strangely non-absorbent) towels, washer/dryer, high speed ethernet and A/C.

It was in a decent location as well, with a big mall next door with a supermarket, squash court, bowling alley, and restaurants. It was walking distance to DongSiShiTiao and DongZhiMen subway stations, as well as to Da Dong Roast Duck and Ghost Street (with lots of restaurant choices).

Sites
Summer Palace
A strikingly large grounds area. What was more striking was watching the Chinese reaction to seeing a Chinese woman holding a blond, blue-eyed 5 year old's hand walking around. People would not stop to gawk, take pictures, touch, and other mildly-to-extremely uncomfortable things. People usually wanted to talk to me, and I was happy to get in some Chinese speaking-listening practice in. However, after a while, it just became plain annoying. Mostly because it was freaking the kids out - having people stand 2 feet from them, staring into their faces while trying to eat lunch. No one appreciated being stroked and then picked up suddenly by a complete stranger and hugged close for a picture. I can understand the novelty of the situation, but I also think some lines of respect were crossed.

The Great Wall
Against all advice, we went to Badaling, since it was the shortest distance to the wall and 3 kids in a van for longer than necessary just puts more pain on everyone than bearable. So we braved the crowds instead. The wall, of course, is extremely impressive in person. It was fun walking the open sections, flowing with the crowds and discussing prices. There was one vendor selling shirts with your picture on it. For the number of people wanting a picture of the kids, I think we could have charged them for taking our picture instead of paying for a shirt.

On our way home, the makeshift van carrying 7 of us, was stopped by police. Apparently the van was not licensed for cabbing, nor was the driver. My Chinese still isn't so hot, especially combined with listening to the Beijing accent (after all this time hearing the Taiwan accent). However, I do understand that a driver doing something illegal and being taken away from us, leaving us stranded in the middle of nowhere would not be a good situation (especially with 3 tired kids in the car). And after the policeman asked me if the driver was a friend and watching the driver vehemently shake his head up and down behind him, I decided to say yes. "So you didn't pay him any money?" And this I was happy to answer truthfully with a no.

I think they must have seen through the lies, but luckily, he was only slapped with a 100 RMB fine and we were on our way again.

Tiananmen
The largest city center in the world - coming out from the underground stairs, we saw a Chinese woman seriously peeved off at a police officer. She was well into her tirade, chastising him for wronging her. She even went so far as to poke him a few times, and I was surprised to see he just stood and took it. Half an hour later, she was still going strong - him not budging to the apology she may have been waiting for, and her not relenting to stop the shouting in his face that she was doing seemingly without breathing.

Forbidden City
My images of the Imperial Palace all come from the movie, The Last Emperor. Walking through the grounds, I realized how much bigger it is than I imagined. Yet even for its size, imagining being confined within its walls as a child still seemed suffocating.

Other
We took a stroll through Beihai Park, bartered our way through Silk Market and then again through the much more reasonable YaShou Market. On the first night, we also spotted a garbage can in full flame. On the last night we meandered all along Ghost Street. After so many days of relentless staring, touching, commenting and general rudeness from many Chinese people, I was happy to end the night on something good. The pollution was striking as soon as we got into the city. Even on sunny days, with no clouds in the sky, it was impossible to see any blue. The haze seems to forever laze over the city. With so much sand in the air, I had a bit of trouble with my contacts. I stopped at one point to take it out, but instead of landing in my hand, it fell on the sidewalk. And this was well into the night. I stood my ground so as not to step on it, but couldn't spot it anywhere. People walking by noticed us looking for something on the ground, and they all eventually slowed and started to help. Some people were looking without even knowing what they were looking for! When I looked up there was easily a group of 15 people around me, with one particular person pulling out a flashlight (which really did the trick). We finally spotted it, I picked it up and someone asked "What is it?!" We said it was my contact, and they peered closer to look at the tiny curved lens. "Ohhh" I rinsed it off, put it back in my eye, and thanked everyone for their help.

Food
I really enjoyed the mango opportunities - we had some 'normal' sized ones, but the best ones were the kidney mangoes - shaped like a kidney, incredibly small, but with a seed that is razor thin, and a peelable skin, leaving plenty of meat to be eaten. Yum.

On the other hand, I had some of the worst Chinese food I've ever eaten. I didn't have a single good dan-ta (egg custard tart) nor any good jiao zi (dumplings). The former was mushy and gross, and the latter was poorly made (the filling was just awful - strange ingredient combinations and overly salted). I guess it's best to just get your dan-ta in Hong Kong.

We did end on a lovely traditional breakfast opportunity, walking distance from the apartment - consisting of a bowl of noodles, a tasty bing, and a bowl of a tofu-soup mixture.

No comments: