We left Shanghai Thursday morning and landed early afternoon in Beijing. Beijing is about 900 miles north of Shanghai. We had a driver pick us up from the airport and bring us to our hotel. The driver then took us to the Forbidden City. He dropped us off and (we thought) agreed to pick us up there when we called him. Unfortunately, the Palace Museum ticket booth was closed (they have summer hours and winter hours -- we are still on winter hours) and we weren't able to go inside the Forbidden City. We instead walked down to Tian'Anmen Square. We walked a circuit around the square. We couldn't see Mao's tomb as it was closed
for renovations. When we returned to the drop-off point, we called our driver, who, for some unknown reason, couldn't or wouldn't return to pick us up. Between the two of us, we remembered enough landmarks to walk back to the hotel. The walk was short and enjoyable.When I was a child, I would drop pebbles into a pond and watch the water radiating outward in a series of concentric circles. Beijing is organized like that, with the Forbidden City the pebble at the heart of the city. There are now (I think) 7 ring roads extending out from the Forbidden City. Our hotel is located within the inner ring and is quite close to the Forbidden City. Walking back to the hotel was actually a blessing as it helped me orient myself on the streets for the walks I was planning on taking the next day.
Friday, Eric needed to work, so I spent the day wandering Beijing. I walked to back to the Forbidden City, planning on visiting the Palace Museum. I took a circuitous way there, though not on purpose. I saw a beautiful Catholic church I would have otherwise missed.
Once at the Palace Museum, I could understand why their ticket office closed so early. The place is enormous and you could easily spend a good 2-3 hours wandering the place. I took a ton of pictures, too many to post here, but I put them on my Flickr. Not surprisingly, the place was full of tourists. There were parts of the Forbidden City that were under renovation, also not surprising, since Beijing is getting ready for the 2008 Olympics. Despite that, I really enjoyed walking around. There wasn't a map available (aside from the one you could buy in the gift shop) so I got lost a bit. Nothing unusual there for me. As I was wandering through, I thought about all the people who built the place, the artisans who painted the roof arches, the craftsmen who carved the rail posts, and the people who lived there. All
around Beijing you see similar curved and painted rooflines. Even the toll booth roof has it.Once I was finished walking through the Forbidden City, I walked back to the hotel and took a brief break. I then headed back to the streets and walked down to the Hong Qiao Pearl Market. Walking through Beijing makes me appreciate Shanghai all the more. Beijing is a gritty, working class city. A sort of Chicago to Shanghai's Los Angeles. Every few yards (or meters -- China is metric), I would hear someone hawking up phlegm and then spit on the ground. Every Few Yards. I see / hear less of that in Shanghai. Do I need to say how nasty that is? Same thing when we visited the Great Wall. I actually caught some spit on my coat collar on the Great Wall. I didn't notice it until Eric told me and then he tried to ease my disgust by trying to convince me that he was the one who spit on me (this is why I love him so much). I'm glad I had my head and face wrapped in a scarf. I have no idea how Beijing will be ready for the Olympics next year. Everyone spits, the subway stations I saw were poorly lit and small, and the street vendors are hyper-aggressive to foreigners.
The Hong Qiao Market is 5 floors of all sorts of crap. Electronics, clothes, shoes, purses, tchotchkes, and pearls. I enjoy browsing. After walking through the market, I took a taxi back to the hotel, ready for a rest.
The next day, we went to the Great Wall of China. We went to the Badaling section, which is well-preserved and a popular drop-off spot for tourists (read: crowded). It was extremely windy. We fought the wind and walked up and down the Great Wall. We took the 'sliding cars' down, which dumped us near a small
bazaar, where people were selling snacks and souvenirs. Further down was a man with a camel that you could have your picture taken with. Then we were in the bear park. There were a few enclosures with black bears, who were obviously accustomed to tourists. You could buy a dish of cut up apples or tofu for 5 RMB and feed the bears. We were scheduled to see the Ming Tombs after the Great Wall, but we decided to skip that and go on to the airport. We were tired and ready to go. After walking all over Beijing, I had had my fill of Chinese antique architecture. I'm sure I could spend days around the Beijing area looking at museums and tombs and other points of interest. I would like to see the Great Wall at some of the other, more remote, access points. Perhaps when it is warmer. I hear that further in the spring, the Great Wall is beautiful. One part is known for the profusion of yellow flowers that bloom on the mountain. Now, it is still winter and the place looks barren and forbidding. I can't imagine what life must have been like for the soldiers who had to patrol the wall when it was an active border.
What struck us the most about this trip were not the things we had seen, though they were remarkable, but the fact that it didn't seem odd or unusual that we were going to the Great Wall or that we were going to the Forbidden City. It seemed as normal of a thing to do as visiting the Lincoln Memorial on a trip to Washington, D.C. It's probably all part of the expat experience.
Today is coming to a close and I am ready for bed. We had thunder showers today. I wasn't sure at first whether we had thunder or fireworks. We saw fireworks going off as we were landing in Shanghai last night. I think I am coming down with a cold. I'm going to hunt for some Zicam in the medicine chest and head for bed.
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