China recap

Tuesday – got to Ohare to find out there was a delay with our plane and got a free lunch and upgrade to ‘premium economy’ courtesy of United. The flight was long, but both of us slept a decent amount, and it was a good flight.

 

We got to BJ later than expected, but quickly got our luggage and tried to get sorted out. Our first adventure was making the trek into the city at 7 at night. My instructions said ‘take the brown line (there is no brown line) to Dongzhiemen and transfer to purple line 5 and get off at dongsi (but then what?).’ Little did I know that these WERE decent directions for China, but at the time, in the dark, with no map, it was not going to cut it. So we got off the airport transfer bus at what seemed like a taxi rest stop – Seb found an expat who spoke Dutch, English, and Mandarin, and took pity on our plight of not knowing where the heck we were and convinced a taxi to take us to our hotel.

 

We set out to walk to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen square where I made our first mistake – peering down an alley to see a fabulous morning market. Ended up going considerably out of our way but did get to see some interesting sights. After getting directions from a friendly guide trying to sell us a tour ;) we found our way to the north side of the forbidden city, but decided to take a look at the park across the street first. 

 

In it, we found a host of temples, and Chinese doing their morning exercises. It was one of those stumbleupon things that make you truly feel you’re observing the culture. 

 

We made our way through the Forbidden City, seeing some incredibly old relics and feeling the luxury of what that was for its time. Tiananmen Square didn’t do much for me. There is of course the portrait of Mao which everyone has to emulate.

 

It was after this that we found our map was out of scale. Needing to get to BJ west train station, we started walking west. And walking… and walking. A couple miles into it, we decided to jump on the Metro, which we found sped things up considerably. The train station was probably one of the most overwhelming places I’d ever been – busy, crowded, and no English! Fortunately because of www.seat61.com I was able to have the exact train letter/number we wanted.

 

We ate near our hotel, both exhausted and overwhelmed with our day. I remember it was insanely cheap, well under $10 USD for some lamb and noodles.

 

Braced for adventure, we wanted to go to Simatai Great Wall. The ‘Rough Guide to China’ states that there are buses directly to the wall (great!) but it turns out we weren’t in season for them. So we tried to get a state-ran bus to Maiun. That was fun. Basically, wandering around the bus stop, saying Maiun, Maiun, Maiun to anyone who would listen to us, having a bus driver yell at us, having a bus ticket girl point at this bus and basically shove us on. 

 

An hour or so later, we were shoved out in the town of Maiun. It’s a beautiful place – it seems like it’s the Naperville of Beijing. There’s a park filled with ping pong tables. So anyway, literally shoved off the bus – and into some sort of taxi queue. The guy in his little van knew we were going to Simatai – perfect! The ‘Rough Guide to China’ said not to pay more than Y20/each. So when he offered Y300, and Seb countered with Y60, he was greatly amused. Seb ended up settling on him with Y250. In retrospect, we realized that this guy takes only us there, and waits for us to be done, then drops us off at the bus depot to go back to BJ. So a good deal.

 

But first he had to run an errand. He drove through town, to this open air meat market – literally piles of meat just sitting out on tables. He gets about 4 pounds of beef, and excitedly gets back in the car and shakes it at us with a grin. We were afraid he bought it for us, but it turns out that he was just darned happy to be able to buy a big ol beef to grill.

 

Simatai was really breathtaking. You see it snaking along, and it’s just amazing. We were there on an incredible day – great temperature and visibility. Also, being early in the season, we didn’t meet with too many tourists, so it felt like we were walking it ourselves. It was an arduous climb and Seb ended up tearing up his knee. But I have to say the views were well worth it. We walked as far as it could go before the wall crumbled in disrepair.

 

We got back to BJ earlier than expected – if you can understand it, the state-owned bus system is pretty efficient, and travels fairly frequently. 

 

Not being able to afford Peking Duck in the US, we headed off to the legendary Li Qun Roast Duck Restaurant, as featured on ‘No Reservations’. And of course another walking adventure. We walked for quite awhile, getting some advice at a nearby hostel – ended up heading north on the wrong street, and decided to turn around. As always, you’re pestered by those pedicabs. Well we met one with Li Qun on his sign, I bartered him for Y10, and he set off into the hutong with a promise to pick us up an hour later.

 

Seb says Li Qun was delicious, so delicious that he ODed on duck and ended up sick awhile later. I enjoyed a big bowl of noodles, but my one bite of duck with accoutrements was pretty good. We agree that part of the legend of Li Qun is it’s location – out of the way, it feels like you’re going somewhere you shouldn’t. The building is old and in disrepair, and yes there are stacks of duck crackling on a fruitwood fire. 

 

Saturday – we headed south to the Temple of Heaven and again I found walking through the park more enthralling than the attraction itself. I admit, our Eurocentric history books show their bias because unless you’re a Sinophile, it’s kind of hard to give everything the appreciation it deserves.

 

While we were on the south end of town, we head off for Payuan weekend market and again ended up walking considerably further than we really should have. Also, it seemed to end fairly early and so we really just enjoyed a hearty walk.

 

Headed back to our hotel where we ate at a Korean BBQ place. It was very, very good, although our server was not amused by my lack of chopstick skills and therefore insisted on cooking everything for us. It was very, very good. If you go to BJ, I insist that you eat there.

 

The train to Xian was wonderful. Initially, we were going to get beds in a shared 6-sleeper, but the train was full so we had to spring for a private car ($US 250). It was heavenly and probably the best nights’ sleep that we got on the trip.  

 

Sunday we woke up in Xian and got checked into the City Hotel sooner than expected. Since we had nearly a full day, we decided to head off to the Terracotta Warriors –understanding the history of the site makes it truly amazing. It is one of those things you have to see, and was our primary purpose in going to Xian.

 

Having again taken the city bus, we [purposely] stopped off before we reached the city center. Hard to explain, but we initially saw these shoe shops lining the street. Following our eyes, we went into this wholesale warehouse sort of place that was pretty incredible - selling all those goodies that come at bargain basement prices in China. It turns out that Xian is a major consolidation center, and there are all kinds of buildings like this. Again, something you don’t find in the guidebook or on a tour, but incredibly interesting. 

 

We ate at a sushi restaurant (complete with conveyor belt) and it was very good. We met a nice Dutch guy who was traveling by himself and I think the three of us greatly enjoyed some outside English conversation. We walked through the famed ‘muslim quarter’ of Xian, which was interesting once you started walking where the people weren’t.

 

Monday we went to HuaShan. Based on this review, it seemed like one of those crazy things you can only do when you’re, er, 20-ish. Since the tourist bus wasn’t running, we got on a private bus that was running in lieu of the tourist bus. It was very confusing. We stopped at a canteen, and were trying to get to the mountain on our own. Then the bus left and we realized we had no clue where we were going. So we got a cab to take us a few blocks to the mountain entrance. Where you had to pay for the ticket to the mountain. And the ticket for a bus to take you up to the entrance. And unfortunately in the interests of time and not wanting Seb to undergo open-knee surgery overseas, we added the ticket of the cablecar going up. 

 

Was it beautiful? Yes, once you got past the view of the throngs of tourists and the commercialism of it all. Was it a quiet, Chinese mountain-climbing experience? No. Is it dangerous? Geographically, no. I would not climb it in the winter however, and any other time of year, beware of pushy tourists. Those are probably the most dangerous. I was using chained ladder when a fellow traveler used the handle of my backpack as leverage.

 

On the bus back to the town, we met a really nice guy – we were talking and he was going to go to lunch with us when the bus stopped. We heard shouting and maybe a mumble of ‘Xian’ and asked if we needed to get off. He said that if we wanted to go to Xian, we should go. So thank you kind stranger! 

 

We were rewarded when we got back to Xian because we found – Islamic Chinese food. Oh my goodness, it was good. I don’t know what made it any different than other Chinese food, except to say the dishes weren’t really on any other menus that we saw. Beef with peanuts and a really delicious lamb stew with crumbled biscuit. The place was packed with locals and one Anglo, who coincidentally was clutching the same guidebook I was. 

 

Tuesday – we had this day ‘off’ and ended up searching for an antique market on the east side of the city wall. The wall contains a lovely park. Seb was invited to get his behind whooped in a round of badminton, and I enjoyed the amusing site of little ones wearing their kaidangku as they hung out with their grandparents. Somehow we ended up walking a considerable distance through the antique market as well as a neighborhood. 

 

Wednesday – we took the airport shuttle to Chengdu. Oh Chengdu. The flight was fine. We were amused when they stopped doing any announcements in English as we were the only ones on the plane, and clearly could manage ourselves. 

 

Our whole reason to go to Chengdu was to head out to Taoping for a day or two, which is an ancient Tibetan village about 4 hours away. It’s nestled in the mountains, steeped in history, and as close to Lhasa as we were willing to get, given the politics while we were there. Being one step ahead of the transportation system, the only thing we wanted to do that day was secure our bus tickets to either the town of Maerkang, to get off partway, or taking a bus to Wenchuan and bargain for a bus the rest of the way. Because I have great Google-Fu, I knew what bus station we needed to go to. This was not an easy feat because there are no less than 10 bus depots in Chengdu.

 

Seb got us to Chadanazi on the bus - Chengdu has an advanced bus system, and it is actually fairly sensible, and the worst that happens is you’re out 33 US cents if you go to far or the wrong way. Anyway, yay, we’re at the bus station, and we stride up to the ticket counter and say Maerkang, Maerkang, Maerkang – after all it worked in Beijing. The girl pointed to the information desk and we went over there to be met with a horrified “NO!” No, no, no. She took our guidebook and pointed at all the places that were a ‘No’, which seemed to be most of them. We were so confused, so we strided back to the ticket desk, where two frustrated employees were shuffling through their cellphone and finally showed us this on the screen:

 

Landslide

 

Then everything became clear! We were stuck in Chengdu and needed to come up with a backup plan. At the time we were very frustrated that our vacation plans were foiled. But coming home to the English internet, I realize that the landslide was indeed a serious situation in Wenchuan, considering it happened almost a month before we got there (and was not cleared), cost nearly $US 700k, and killed several people. 

 

Thursday – we wanted to make the best of our time in Chengdu, so we set out for the Panda Reserve in town. We were pretty impressed with the habitat they had, if no pandas, it was a beautiful park. We got to the pandas (taking the city bus proved to be easy and cheap) at about 11 before they fell into their sleepy stupor. They were adorable and for a fee (which I’m still trying to find out is tax deductible ;) we could hold a red panda. So we did. It was like holding a cat who was very interested in eating his food. 

 

There were many school groups there who reveled in saying ‘HELLLOOO!’ and “HOW ARE YOU!” and we got a chance to get out our phrasebook to test out “what’s your name” and the children appraised the other phrases that were printed. Their enthusiasm was contagious.

 

That afternoon, we set out to find the area where they are recreating old Chengdu. Somehow we managed to get in a construction site (this is not the first time we got behind a barrier) and I have to say, when the area is finished, it will be very beautiful. I assume it will be mixed residential/commercial space, so it is worth checking out if you go.

 

 

Friday – we set out for Huanglongxi, which is the town where they filmed ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.’ Again, I was impressed with Seb’s ability to get us a bus to where we needed to go. We enjoyed the drive to the town because there were all sorts of amusing things to see along the way. The town, like anything is kind of touristy, but we found some quiet spots as well as some really beautiful architecture. We sat down by the river at a restaurant, and I poked at whatever cost Y10. By dumb luck, it was the characters for Chamomile Tea – which was what I wanted.

 

We tried to find another Muslim restaurant mentioned in the book, attached to the mosque, but somehow, could not find the mosque, only a pile of rubble, and as a back up plan tried to find another duck place (we were afraid of Sichuan cooking) but didn’t get served. So, we were feeling incredibly defeated, and wound up at Pizza Hut for our most expensive dinner yet – Y200 for two large pizzas, salad bar, and drinks. We really tried, however, the food boosted our morale considerably.

 

That night we found out that there is another recreation of old Chengdu, just steps from our hotel at Wen Shu Fang – the temple is pretty and the area seems to have a lot to offer. Unfortunately we found it too late, but again, worth wandering around in.

 

Saturday we headed back to Beijing via flight which was easy enough. This time, being more aware of our budget and sanity, we took a taxi into our hotel. We had the Chinese directions as to where it was, but the driver had no clue. Within a matter of minutes, we had pinpointed our address on a map and were giving high fives at FINALLY being able to beat the system that had been working against us for so long.

 

Despite having an awkward location, our hotel really capped off our stay. It was an 800 year old traditional courtyard style home and the staff was incredibly helpful. It was a very unique experience.

 

I wanted to explore the Qianmen area just south of Tiananmen Square. I knew there were little old shops amongst the maze of streets.  You know, like the pickle shop and the silk factory, etc… Unfortunately the way that I took us we ended up finding a much different selection of stores.  But it was worth the laugh.

 

We went to the Bell Tower/Drum tower area to find another Islamic restaurant, and not surprisingly, it was also gone. (Okay, okay, it’s WELL worth it to buy an up-to-date version of your guidebook.  A lot has changed since 2003) But we luckily found something nearby that seemed to fit that description and ate really well for $11 USD.

 

Sunday was our last day in Beijing, and we had a really lovely time finding our way to the drum tower to see the drums despite it pouring rain.  I tried to go see Mao, but the whole area was blocked off, presumably because they didn’t want rain to get in the maosoleum.   (Yes, we made lots of mao jokes, and panda jokes, and things like calling Chengdu Cheng-don’t) 

 

And for our last meal in CN, we went back to that BBQ place – it was addictive you see, and Seb was determined to cook his own food.  But they gave us the same waitress, who insisted on serving us, and I ordered way too many dishes, and we had a great time, and tipped her heartily for serving us twice. 

 

And that capped off our trip. We won’t discuss the flight home, as it was absolutely horrific – a nightmare and United customer service is already well aware.