Before we begin our next blog, Gill and I (Lisa) would like to retract our ignorance at making fun of “the person” on our flight. Thanks, Dad, for informing me that the woman with the RuPaul-esque man voice was saying purser which, according to Wikipedia and the very intelligent Don Kendrick, is:
“On modern airliners, the Cabin Manager (chief flight attendant) is often called the purser.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purser). Travelling is a learning experience, right?!
Looks like we have two very full days of Beijing activity to catch you up on so let's get started!
After a very eventful night with our Ivey friends, we allowed ourselves to sleep in until 10am on Sunday, June 28 and had a lazy couple of hours getting organized and ready for the day. Around 1pm we set out to see the Forbidden City (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_city) and Tiananmen Square (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_square). Both locations were bustling with tourists and we were joined by one of Cat's friends, Miriam, from Switzerland. We spent about a half hour checking out the square, snapping photos, and being harassed to buy “Cold wata! Bee-ah! Cola!” before heading over to the Forbidden City.
The Forbidden City was, in a word, magnificent. The painting and architecture was enough to send shivers down Justine's spine. As a College Pro Painters franchise manager for a summer, she insisted on giving us off-the-cuff quotes on how much it would cost to paint “that pillar” or “those edges” or “that detail” which definitely added some humour as well as appreciation for the sheer intricacies of the city. We walked through the city for about an hour and a half (it is absolutely massive) and took photos of our group... as well as with the Asian people when they requested – which was by no means infrequent!
Next we were off to Snack Street (http://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/beijing/dinning/snackstreet.htm) but not before bargaining with the local cab drivers to take us from the Forbidden City over to the Snack Street area. We had to pretend to walk away about 4 times before we got the price we wanted - $2/each for a 15 minute cab ride. We feel the massive discount was deserved as these drivers are insane. We weren't in traditional cabs, either. The vehicle is basically a motorcycle with some form of cabin stuck on top. Moms at home – do not worry. We are okay and finished the journey without a mark on our bodies!
Snack Street was another incredible experience. Basically, hundreds of vendors line the street and you can buy anything from beef on a stick to caramelized fruit to scorpions and frog. Justine and I were brave enough to try the scorpion and surprisingly found the little suckers to taste like over-salted potato chips. We think we'd be pretty good candidates for Fear Factor now... is the show still airing? Joe Rogan, are you out there?
At this point we had done quite a bit of walking so Cat decided that we were all due for some pampering. We went to “Lily Spa” where we each got pedicures and Cat and I managed to fall asleep in the chairs and Justine managed to snap a couple of beautiful (read: awkward) photos of us. Insignificant detail: the four of us picked the same colour nail polish without even knowing it. Were we meant to travel together or what?! Okay, so maybe that's a bit of a stretch but the pedicure was very relaxing and only cost each of us about $8. China is awesome.
Refreshed from our pedicures, we were ready to take on the Silk Market (http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Asia/China/Beijing_Shi/Beijing-1024960/Shopping-Beijing-Silk_Market-BR-1.html) which is a 6-storey building full of bartering opportunity, rip-off products and a lot of laughs. “I give you best price. I do not give this price to anyone else because you are so nice and beautiful.” were common selling tactics. I should keep these phrases in mind for when I start work in August. I think they'd be extremely effective. Don't you? We are not going into detail about what we bought because that would ruin the surprise for you when we return home. ;)
Post Silk Market we grabbed Justine's favourite dish for dinner – Kung Pow Chicken – along with some dumplings and rice at a cafe near the Silk Market. From there we headed back to Cat's apartment and met up with two other friends from Western who were in Beijing and were staying at Cat's as well for the night. After a full but very satisfying day, we were pretty exhausted and went to bed shortly after arriving back at the apartment.
On Monday, June 29 we woke up quite early in preparation for our 10km trek on the Great Wall! After taking the subway over to a part of Beijing where buses frequently depart to take you on the 2 hour journey to where you can get on the wall, we met Mr. Ye – one of the happiest Chinese people I have encountered thus far. For 125 Yuan (approx. $25 Canadian) each, he would drive us there and back. He had a business card as well as a pamphlet and Cat used her very impressive Mandarin to ensure that this option was safe. For the next two hours, we taught Mr. Ye some English words and he taught us some Mandarin. Mr. Ye was particularly into singing along to the radio and so, Justine thought it would be appropriate to learn how to say, “This is my jam!” in Mandarin. Mr. Ye loved it.
Once we arrived at the Great Wall we stocked up on water, bought our tickets and jumped into cable cars for the ascent up the mountain. Stepping out of the cable cars, the scenery was absolutely breathtaking. Words do not do it justice. Soon after we began our 10km trek on the extremely hilly wall, we were joined by 3 local Chinese ladies who spoke relatively good English. They shared some interesting facts about the wall and walked with us for 5km often offering to take our photo and encouraging us by saying, “Oh this one only 150 steps uphill!” whenever we would come to what seemed like a 90 degree staircase. At the 5km mark, they told us that they had to turn back to go home but that they did have some souvenirs if we were interested in taking a look. Talk about patience without knowing if you're going to make a sale or not! We did some more bargaining (we were quite good at it by this point after our experience in the Silk Market) and Justine and I came away with the oh-so-touristy “I climbed the Great Wall” t-shirts, postcards and Catalina gave the ladies 20 Yuan just to leave her alone and not sell her anything as this was her third trip to the wall. The last 5km of the trek were harder as the clouds had cleared and the sun was beating down on all of us. About 3.5 hours and many, many bottles of water later, we reached the end of the 10km hike and arrived at Simatai – another part of the wall. There was a zip line available to be used and Justine and I both took the plunge. The Chinese lady helped us into the harnesses, attached the belay clip, and then said, “Sit down. Ok. Go!” and we were off – flying over a river and descending back to ground level where Mr. Ye was waiting for us. The experience was exhilarating to say the least!
Once we were back in Wudaokou and at Cat's apartment, we showered and met up with the boys for dinner. We let Cat pick as it was her last official night in Beijing. We went to a cute restaurant about a 15 minute walk away and fed 6 people for under $20 Canadian. Post dinner we grabbed some passion fruit shaved ice, checked out the street vendors (pedlars of merchandise!) and laughed at the attempts at English translations on the t-shirts. An example: “Save space and talk to internationals.” I'm sure there is a rather nice meaning about the world being a small place but that mean just got so, so lost in the translation that we had to laugh.
Finally back at Cat's apartment for the night we all relaxed and chatted about our next portion of the journey. The boys were off to Ulan Bator, Mongolia in the morning with one of their friends from England (who went to high school with Prince William and Harry actually). We all passed out pretty early considering the strenuous day's events.
Today is our last day in Beijing. We plan on taking a peek at Summer Palace, Olympic Village and potentially the water cube. After that we fly out to Guilin (southern China) to see the sugar topped mountains, etc. for a few days before heading down to Singapore/Malaysia. I think we are all looking forward to leaving the hustle and bustle of the city behind for a couple of days and really taking in the stunning Chinese scenery.
We'd also like to take this opportunity to wish Mr. Ankur 'Jimmy' Bansal a very happy belated birthday! Hope you had a great day. :)
Talk to you again soon!
Love,
L, J, C & G
