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Between June 21st and July 3rd, nothing that memorable happened. I had a few tests, visited MORE new restaurants in Shanghai, relaxed and read in both the French Cafe and the 24 hour one right outside SJTU, exercised around the SJTU track, and got to bboy a little bit more. I guess I did miss the trip to the Confucius Temple, but ff anything else important did happen...I can't really remember it, ha.
On July 2nd, we took a night plane ride to Beijing and arrived late. However, we didn't have too much trouble finding our hostel as it was just outside the Railway Station. It was also one of the nicer hostels I've been in while still remaining in a decent price range - The Beijing City Central International Youth Hostel. It even had a bar and billiards table in it! I took a quick look around the hostel and noticed a convenience store and McDonalds right next to us and a bank right down the street where I could pull some cash out.
As a group, the 6-10 of us decided to at least leave the hotel and see Mao's Masoleum and the Forbidden City together. It
was the only day I forgot my friggin' camera! So all the pictures I've posted on this entry are stolen from my friends, ha. Good thing I went with them! A big thank you to them for taking pictures. We made a wrong turn on our way off the Tienanmen Square Rail Station and ended up outside it, but luckily that's how we noticed the baggage/personal belongings drop-off storage building for Mao's Mausoleum West of the square. Though we didn't think we'd have to use it...until we crossed the street and saw the sign and guards explicitly stating how you can't bring a damned thing in there with you. So we stored everything, including our cameras 😞 and forced our way into the line.
If there's one thing you learn in China, it's that there's no such thing as an actual line! Maybe if there had been theater ropes on either side of the line, it would not have been so terrible. However, with ropes only on the inside, the six of us had to form a barrier to prevent people from pushing between, around, and under us to get in front. Short, elderly visitors were the worst!! Oh
Only 1/4 or less of the line for Mao's Mausoleum
So Many Umbrellas! Everyone wants to stay pretty and pale or just poke foreigners in the eye "on accident" hahahmy goodness and everyone and their brother had an umbrella, which just happened to be directly at eye level due to the majority of the crowds' statures; hence, me getting poked in the face and eyes with umbrellas more times than I can count. But it was fun and we even conversed in English and Mandarin with a few groups/families near us. The line took about 40 minutes, but only 25 minutes for our other group who bribed a guard to move closer to the front!
Inside Mao's Mausoleum, there is not anything too impressive - some pretty flowers, decorations, and paintings, a somewhat memorable statue, and Mao's "supposed" body which looked more like a wax model (though with all the chemicals they'd have to put in his body, it might end up like that). I may be remembering incorrectly, but I think the Mausoleum and the preservation were done contrary to Mao's wishes to show the new dictator's power, with the building destroying the square's feng shui structure. The statues around Mao's Masoleum for the Working People's Republic struggle and the stark Tienanmen Square Monument (lacking any adornments, flowers, and/or wreaths of course) alone in the concrete square
The GT SSP Group
In front of the Forbidden City and One of the Few Large Publicly Displayed Pictures of Mao Zedong were quite remarkable though.
We hurried over to the Forbidden City, bought our tickets, and went inside stopping in front of the actual Tienanmen Gate (which was under a little construction) for a bite to eat at a small cafeteria-like shop that served decent noodles but rather bland Rou Bao. We did not visit the East or West gardens and ruins inside the Forbidden City, but just passed through the main halls - viewing the Emperor's throne, servant quarters, and other important imperial buildings. All male servants were eunuchs to prevent any heritage or jealousy issues due to the hundreds of concubines hosted within the grounds for the Emperor.
The glimmering, golden roofing with animal adornments, the five/nine dragon marble bridges, the intricate stone/slate railings, and the impressive interiors of the Forbidden City's Palace buildings are worth seeing. Much time can be wasted trying to read up on the history and dates for each buildings along with following a guide book, but this could eat up nearly half a day. I decided to keep my visit to 2.5 hours max, feeling only slightly rushed (then again I had no camera). At the North end of the Forbidden City
is a small but lovely garden with a Moon Palace of sorts and beautifully, gnarled cypress trees.
After seeing, I believe, my friend Ted for a second I waited to see if I could find the rest of the group, but ended up losing even Ted. After 10-20 minutes, I left and headed Northeast to visit Jiangsu Park for its view of the Forbidden City. The park is large enough for a good running paths yet easily navigable. I played volleyball-hackey-sack with a group of older women who insisted I try it with them briefly and got owned. The park hosts a variety of displays including a group of manicured-miniature cypress trees and some pretty pink flowers around. There is a large gate at the North End that might be worth seeing that's slightly historic, but the main highlight and only real reason to purchase a ticket to enter Jiangsu park is to climb up the hill and gain a beautiful view of the Forbidden City. See Ethan's picture below.
I moseyed on East to find Behai Park, a former imperial park, interested in the lake, paddleboats, and Yong'an Temple host to the historic White Pagoda. The pagoda
was initially built in 1651 with a distinct architecture at the time for Beijing. The view from outside the pagoda is an okay view of the city but not as good as Jiangsu Park and is not really worth paying the temple visitation fee to get to the pagoda. Though, if you can find the walkway on the left (which I missed!) you may be able to visit the pagoda for free. However the ruins, historic tiny palace buildings, graceful weeping willow trees, and open lake all add to some of the best nature scenery in Beijing. The lakeside walk was very peaceful, despite the few, fun glances I received for being tall, white, and without a tourist group. Halfway around the lake I spotted two of my friends floating along in an electric boat - so naturally, I called them over, hopped the fence and jumped in the boat with them! I would recommend visiting both parks if you have time - the tickets do not cost much at all too!
Apart from everyone else, Matt and I did not want to head back to the hostel just yet - it's that Cross Country stamina baby! Hahaha, therefore
we tried to pick an interesting place to grab a snack and decided upon the famous Beijing Wangfujing Night Market. It was host to a plethora of snacks that looked either dangerous or extremely delectable. Chinese lanterns lit the vendor lined streets with all the worker having to wear red uniforms. All are of course loud and trying to convince you to only eat at their tiny shop. Oh and you're out of luck if you want a drink, cause non-official sales are not allowed during the night market and there are no drink vendors. But if you just peer along the outskirts for a sketchy-looking person with a large bag, they'll most likely have some drinks you can buy "secretly"...or you can just head up another street to find a convenience store to buy it for cheaper. I tried fried silkworms, caramelized fruit/vegetables on a stick, and a few more traditional options like dumplings and rou bao.
South of the night market are alleys filled with hundreds more restaurants, shops, and interesting delectables technically still a part of the Wanfujing area but not in the "official market". This is where we met up with the group. The color
The Emperor's Throne
....If I remember right. Gilded, but not as impressive as I had expected changing, fizzy tea drinks were really tasty (though a bit overloaded with sugar). Most of us even found some fried scorpions and starfish to try! No snake though 😞
I was about to head home for the night, when we met up with a quite drunken Brendan & Brandon and a slightly more sober Ethan. Apart from being loud, they were not being that much of a nuisance but might get into trouble with Brendan wanting to throw his empty bottles everywhere. Additionally and surprisingly, Helen and Cherry, who came to Beijing separately, also appeared. We all enjoyed a few more scorpions on video and since I was assured Brendan would not get arrested for some drunken shenanigans now, I finally left and caught some great sleep in the real mattresses back at the hostel!
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