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North Gate of Forbidden City
Don't let appearances deceive you...the number of visitors the day we visited the Forbidden City was as vast as the imperial grounds themselves. After months of Chinese lessons, practicing phrases such as “To the Airport please” (Qing chu ji jiang…Ching chew gee gee-ang), finally having the opportunity to say this was first on my list to begin our May day holiday in Beijing! But as it turned out, I'd been practicing the wrong language…
In any case, this concern over language paled over our worries of even getting a cab to come to our place at 5:30 a.m. for an 8:30 a.m. airplane departure to Beijing. Venturing out onto the streets the day before, to see if any taxis were to be had at such an ungodly hour, had us nervously debating whether or not to arrange a pick-up. But since this procedure was fraught with difficulties, we decided to just wing it and after our 4:00 a.m. alarm, a quick breakfast…and last minute checks…passports, tickets, camera, etc. we set out only to discover a taxi waiting at our gate! But as I was just about to ask the million-dollar question, the driver asked us in perfect English…"Airport?"
So we were whisked off through the empty highways -- a sight in itself, well worth the painfully early flight time -- but with
...and this is still an entrance
...just inside the gate. All the better to keep out the hordes....who today are revelling at being allowed in. As were we! only four days off for the May Holiday, we wanted to make every second count. After all, this being our second time in China with the first time the capital being literally closed due to SARS....well, we were more than a little excited to finally get to explore China's capital.
When we arrived at the airport, the only person ahead of us in the check-in line asked as where we were heading after Beijing, and looked astonished to hear, "nowhere." She was flying through Beijing only to get her connecting flight back to Boston, after a whirlwind two-week tour that had included Hong Kong, Xian, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Guilin...and we were in turn amazed to discover that we had been to all of these places...with one exception: Chengdu, home of the Woland Panda Reserve. Her jet-lagged eyes lit up at the recounting of getting to hold a baby panda for $150.00 US, and she said she would have paid any price as it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. After reading many articles recently about this exact experience of seeing the pandas up close and personal, we added Chengdu to our must-see list. We were also disappointed last time to leave China
Pavillon
Just inside the Imperial Garden...an icon of the Forbidden City, and a spot for a cup of tea --but once intended only for the royals and their concubines of the Ming and Qing dynasties. without one Panda spotting...so finally checking them off our list was definitely the plan for this trip to Beijing, too. We wished the Bostonian well, and proceeded through check-in and security (where our toothpaste and expensive sunscreen were confiscated...oops!) and then into our boarding area, where a sign with the most comfortable seats read "for the old, weak and pregnant". Figuring that two out of three was not good enough, we sat in a lovely open-air lounge where the planes were clearly visible, waiting on the tarmac and taxiing for take-off. Two excrucitatingly strong coffees took the final edge off of our sleepiness, to the extent that afterwards we figured we wouldn't sleep for days...but all the better to see more of Beijing, we figured...or "Peking", as our tickdet stubs still rather quaintly referred to it.
Our relaxing wait ended with a leisurely stroll aboard and the Shanghainese penchant for being late-risers was really paying off when we are seated in business class in a half-empty plane. Apparently we'd been upgraded!! The stewardess asked us if we'd like the "Shanghai Daily", and starting to feel like Seinfeld in the episode where he got first class, while Elaine suffered in
Is it a work of art, or a sidewalk?
Actually, both! And we couldn't help wondering, how many artisits did it take to lay each of these pebbles? Economy (our usual state) we stretched our legs in the endless leg room, and sat back to enjoy the paper -- almost not noticing that we'd been delayed.
As usual, the front page sported a picture of Jackie Chan, this time bringing in the 4th Annual music awards for the Olympics (?) and inside an interesting article about a Frenchman, Jean-Marc, caught our eye...and as it turned out, set the tone for a weekend of experiencing French "tout le monde". The article went on to explain how Jean-Marc, who has apparently been travelling the world sampling wines (!) sometimes as many as 250 bottles a week (!!) has now brought his expertise to a new five-star hotel about to open in Shanghai, which promises to be the highest in the world, and Jean-Marc will offer 40 wines in the bars on the 87, 92 and 93rd floors -- by the glass!! If I can brave the trip maybe I will check these out, as wine by the glass is hard to come by in Shanghai -- and as Jean-Marc said, "sharing wine with friends is the essence of life." Another article in the paper detailed how Shanghai is bringing
Our English Guide
Helen popped out of nowhere, and thank goodness we had her to explain, for one thing, that these pots, laden with water, were meant to fight fires in the all-wooden city... in iniatives to be more transparent, with information available to people on health, security and transit. It occured to us that reading the paper has become enjoyable...and an experience we needed to escape to Hong Kong in order to enjoy during our previous stay in China...just five years ago.
Many articles later and a one-hour delay, our plane finally began its taxi and we were soon air-born. Shortly after we reached altitude, a morning snack arrived, and despite being a packaging nightmare, included an interesting assortment of nibblies, such as walnuts, sweet meats (a local favorite and surprisingly tasty...though not necessarily at 9:30 a.m.) tomatoes and canteloupe slices (the former being a favorite dessert) along with a package of cough drops (!). Hot and sweet coffee arrived shortly after and soon a barely perceptible English announcement proclaimed that we were one-half hour away from Beijing. Kicking myself for not asking the stewardess with the drinks, "ni yao, mei yao cafe"? (you have, don't have coffee?) I realize that the excellent English around me is thwarting my attempts to speak Chinese.
Soon our popping ears tell us that the announcement had meant that we were landing, and we seem
...and that lions
...were the gatekeepers...of the halls, pavilions, marble railings, steps, red walls and yellow tiles. to do so instantly! No long landings in Beijing...perhaps it is the fog that delayed us, and now has demanded a quick -- and rather terrifyingly bumpy -- exit from the skies.
At first glance the $3 billion dollar brand new airport, built for the Olympics, is as shiny and clean as expected...but also nearly empty. As are the multi-tiered, brand new highways that we're sped over on the way to our hotel. Where is everyone? We'd been warmed off travelling on this holiday due to the crowds...but it appears that they're still asleep in Beijing, too! After all, it's only 11:30 a.m...
And rather than practicing Chinese, it turns out that I should have been boning up on my French, because for the next few days we are surrounded by les francais! Even though we've become accustomed to a sizeable French influence in Asia, enjoying their imprint with crusty fresh baguettes and strong, delectable coffee in Vietnam, what was astonishing about our Beijing visit -- along with the sights of the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, and the Summer Palace...and oh yes, our first pandas!! -- was how pervasive was French in China's capital. Sometimes listening to
And the number of animals
on the roofs indicated the level of importance of the inhabitants. Nine means the Emperor was the resident....the lowly number means only the concubines lived here. all the French around us made us feel that were in a French movie, as it seemed that wherever we turned we were confronted with restaurants and signs reading "Oui! On parle francais ici". Not that I'm complaining...because our holiday was thus infused with wonderful wines and food which complemented the incredible sights that we'd only heard of all our lives...and now got to experience, firsthand. In fact, all the French made us think of home...after all, Quebec is our neighbour, n' est-ce pas? And another surprise was that the landscape of Beijing! All the evergreen trees and birch and poplars in full bloom made us think of home. Maybe that's what we should have told the Bostonian, when she asked us why we are living in China...its'the surprises that keep delighting us.
Another article in the "Shanghai Daily" ended with the words, "this city's hot and getting hotter, and there certainly ain't no place we'd rather be." That we concur with, except, right now we'd rather be home for the summer, and we're counting down the days to CD Day...when we arrive.
So thank you Beijing for surprising us with a Canadian forest to greet us, and
Another of the three...
...great halls included in the movie, "The Last Emperor", filmed on sight, recounts the story of the last of 24 emperors who occupied the fortress. giving us a sneak preview of what awaits.
Can't wait for that Molsons and barbequed steak in the backyard!
Here's to CD Day!
A la prochaine,
Amy & Roel
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Carly
non-member comment
Me want Panda
Soooo CUUUUTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Seriously. Too cute. I've bought my ticket and I'm on the next plane over.