Beijing, August 13-18, 2013

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We arrived in Beijing on the high speed train from Qingdao on August 13. We navigated the metro system easily enough to Dongzhimen station, which was closest to our hotel, the Holiday Inn Express Beijing Dongzhimen. Although it looks relatively close on a map, the walk from the station to our hotel was around 15 minutes. I found the subway stations in Beijing to be pretty far apart from each other, and we wanted to avoid trying to figure out the bus system so we did lots of walkiing.

Our hotel was in a pretty good location, close to Sanlitun, a strip of bars, clubs, and shopping; and Nan Xin Cang International Plaza, where you'll find lots of good restaurants, particularly Beijing Dadong Kaoya Dian serving some of the best Beijing duck. We didn't have reservations, but we got to help ourselves to free juice while we waited the 25 minutes it took to get a table. The menu is huge, but the best thing to do is just order the half/whole duck with all the condiments. The servers bring the duck over to your table, cut it all up for you, then plate it and show you the proper way of eating it (put a few pieces inside the pancake with other condiments, then fold it up and enjoy - and the skin is especialy delicious dipped in sugar.)

For the next three days, the smog in Beijing slowly began to accumulate, becoming more and more oppressive until the Friday, when I started to wonder how much more I could take. But the next day, the smog had completely blown out, and it was beautiful sunny blue skies for our last two days in Beijing. I felt very lucky this happened, as if a shrowd had unveiled all the beauty of Beijing that continuous pollution might not have allowed me to appreciate.

Our first full day we went to Qianmen Dajie Pedestrian Street, Tian'anmen Square and the Forbidden City. Wow. So many people and so much to see in Forbidden City, it almost requires a whole day by itself. But after about 4 hours we had had enough, everything started to look the same, it was really hot, and we left without seeing everything. Being asked to pay extra to get into certain parts is a bit annoying too. We paid to see the Nine-Dragon Screen and Gallery of Treasures, and were tempted to pay to see the Gallery of Clocks and Watches but resisted. We really would have been there all day if we paid to enter all the extra cost areas, so avoiding this was one way we cut down our time spent there.

At one point we were asked if we wanted to see some chinese student art. Sure, why not? The woman led us away from the crowds, into a building with a closed door that we never would have been able to find again on our own. And she tried to convince us to buy the art of these poor students, which was quite good, but still I would have preferred to just look and leave without buying. But that's really not the idea. We did buy one small winter setting painting, and left with her disappointed we didn't buy more - particularly a woven piece of the Great Wall. I was attracted to this, but later saw it being sold at many other places for much less than she was trying to make me pay, so I'm glad I didn't fall for it.

After leaving the Forbidden City, we wanted to go up the hill of Jing Shan Park for a view from the Pavillion of Everlasting Spring. This is probably the best view of Beijing, so of course we had to return later in the week when the opportunity for a clearer view arose. Watch out for scammers offering to take you up Jing Shan's Prospect Hill on their pedicab. We walked up that hill, and there's no way in hell there's a route that could possibly be taken by a pedicab. Sorry, but you're just gonna have to walk it, don't let yourself get scammed for being lazy.

That evening we had dinner at Saveurs de Corée in the Xiang'er Hutong, followed by some excellent live music at MAO Livehouse (111 Gulou East.) We returned to Gulou East the following night for some vintage shopping at Mega Mega Vintage and Goods Goods Commune. We also expolored the Nanluoguxiang Hutong Shopping District (don't miss Plastered T-Shirts) and had a lovely dinner at Café Sambal (43 Doufuchi Hutong.) Earlier that day, we quickly tired ourselves out at Wangfujing Dajie Pedestrian Shopping Street, Oriental Plaza, and lunch at Muslim Restaurant. We returned to our hotel for an afternoon nap so we could be refreshed for the evening. Our way home that night waiting for the subway, we saw a full grown woman in high hells drinking milk from a bottle. That was wierd.

Friday was our Bo Trip excursion to the Great Wall, and I was very disappointed to look outside that morning to a smog covered city. I was hoping for a clear day to see the Wall, but it was not to be. We considered trying to get out to the Wall without going the organized tour route, but it seemed a little too complicated and far for us so organized tour it was. This meant we also had to spend time at the Dragon Land Superior Jade Gallery and the Dizhen Silk Factory between the Great Wall and Ming Tombs stops. At the Jade Gallery, I learned that I've been wearing my fake jade bracelet purchased in Kuala Lumpur on the wrong hand (it's supposed to be on the left arm), and apparantly that every woman deserves a real piece of jade jewelry. Bullshit. I was rather disgusted at the extravagance of all the jade carved dragons and sailboats. Is it really necessary to keep pulling this stuff out of the ground when there are already warehouses full of stupid stuff, the only purpose being so rich people can show off? Besides, I think my fake jade looks better than the real stuff anyway.

We went to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall, which is great because not only is it less busy than the tourist trap Badaling, but it has cable cars that will take you up and a luge slide to take you down! Try not to get stuck behind someone more interested in taking pictures on the way down the slide than enjoying the fun of it. These people slow down and ruin it for those behind them. Our tour guide insisted we all had to pay the extra fee for the cable car, because the day before she had to call an ambulance for a young German tourist who passed out trying to hike up. Dehydration - it was just too hot and smoggy to hike up that day (actually, she used the word fog instead of smog, which I don't think is accurate. Fog does not make it hard to breath.) There was a guy on our tour with asthma, and he had to stay back and rest a bit before even getting on the cable car because the air was affecting him so much. He eventually did make it up. The steps along the wall are so steep that I don't think I would have wanted to hike up even on a clean air day - you'd be so exhausted by the time you reached the wall that hiking the wall itself would be even more difficult.

Even with the smog, the Wall was incredible. There was one section where people had written in each brick all the different countries they had come from. And Bo Tours set us up with a very lovely lunch at a restaurant at the foot of the hill. We were told that on clear days, you can see the Wall from the restaurant. The silk factory we visited was kind of neat, and they offered us an amazing deal no one took them up on. Real silk sheets with pillow cases, they showed how they would shrink wrap it down so it'd fit in our luggage. I was tempted, but it wouldn't have fit in our luggage and I wasn't keen on carrying it around. I also thought about how our cat would quickly scratch or puke on our silk sheets, so it's just better not to have nice things. They claimed it was scratch proof and easy to clean, but I don't know.

That evening we did some shopping at Ya Xiu Market in Sanlitun and walked along the Bar Street, eventually eating at The Book Worm. Chinese food is amazing, but they don't do western food very well so don't even try ordering it anywhere. I was very disappointed with our meal at The Book Worm, where we tried ordering lasagna and risotto. It was bland and awful. Later we went to Beer Mania at 16 Sanlitun Nanlu, specializing in belgian beers.

Saturday was when the skies cleared. There were still a lot of indoor things I wanted to do in Beijing, such as the Mao Mausoleum, the National Museum of China and the National Art Museum. But the weather was just too nice to be indoors, so we returned to Jing Shan for that view again, then wandered around Bei Hai Park, which includes a man-made lake, lots of pavilions and gardens. Just north of Bei Hai is the Back Lakes hutong area and Hou Hai Bar Street. We strolled along Tobacco Alley Pedestrian Street, where I found a cute purse with a cat eating a fish on it for only $2, and had a lovely lunch overlooking the lake full of paddle boats. We took advantage of a couple happy hour drink specials, one of which was on an empty rooftop bar we had all to ourselves. Unfortunately the music sucked. They were playing country for some reason! We enjoyed dinner and drinks on another terrace, this one at No Name Restaurant, from where we saw the Beijing sun set over the hutong rooftops - so beautiful. In the evening, there were lots of people bathing and swimming in the lake, it was a great atmosphere to soak up. I noticed a lot of babies and toddlers around Beijing didn't wear diapers. Which is great for environmental and cost saving reasons, but I wondered while on a subway next to a bare bum baby being held by his father how gross it would be if the baby chose to empty his bowels right then. Maybe Chinese babies are really smart and potty train super early, so hopefully that doesn't happen often.

Our last day we met up with a local friend I had met in my Hong Kong Summer Abroad program a few weeks earlier. His mom picked us up and they drove us to a really nice restaurant in the house of some former member of the imperial family or something. We ate in the courtyard and the food they ordered for us was incredible. We didn't even have to pay for it - his dad worked for the government and they were able to write the cost off as entertaining foreigners. After lunch they dropped us off at the Temple of Heaven, an amazing place to end our time in Beijing. Our very last stop before taking the cab to the train station was Great Leap Brewery, right around the corner from our hotel.

It took much longer to get to the train station via taxi from our hotel than it took to get to our hotel from the station on the metro. I think it's good how the government restricts car ownership given the pollution problem. Our tour guide told us her brother had applied for a license permitting him to drive in Beijing two years ago and was still waiting. A more fair system would take licenses away from bad drivers, or those who get in accidents or collect a certain amount of traffic tickets, freeing up more licenses for distribution to reduce wait times.

Beijing is such a grand, beautiful city filled with so much history. Such an incredible place to visit! As our overnight train departed Beijing en route to Shanghai, where we would catch a flight back to Hong Kong before returning back to Toronto August 21, I bid farewell to one of the world's most amazing cities and hoped they would get their pollution under control so the city can continue to thrive in all its rightful glory.

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