Weekend in Beijing

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Three weekends before I left on a month break to the US East Coast, I took a lovely few days in Beijing with Cassie *Newfoundland* and Diane *Ottawa*
I had a feeling that I'd be ordering tickets for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, so I didn't worry that this trip was too rushed, since it was a quick introduction.
After running an early 5Km race near the Kama River *or river-river in Daegu, since Kama means river in Hangul* the three of us taxied over to the Daegu airport and arrived near our hostel in Beijing in the early afternoon. Diane and I sang quietly on the plane to her iPod selections. We were giddy to say the least. Cassie, with the window seat, rolled her eyes and focused on her own iPod soundtrack - although she would occasionally jump in and sing along. A bus took us from the airport to downtown Beijing - right near our hostel and the forbidden city - within an hour and a half. I love bus rides through cities, quick glances give a nice visual summary and a lot to digest quickly.
We stayed at the Jade International Youth Hostel, which was lovely, but a bit unnecessary since we barely slept four hours both saturday and sunday night. The staff was very helpful and spoke English well. The bikes we rented from the hostel were a bit frightening - pieces falling off, peddles in the wrong places, but we managed to bike all afternoon around the Forbidden City, parking them while walking around in Tienanmen Square, and then saddling up again.
A hysterical moment at the periphery of the square - I bought water from an old woman carrying a large cooler. Moments later a police van swings around the corner - driving slowly on a pedestrian walkway. The woman and her other makeshift vendors scatter! They run in all different directions, many with big grins on their faces. Some vendors simply cover their goods with blankets and lean against their display, feigning innocence. The police vans leave after a good three minutes of patrolling and the vendors pour out from the woodwork. Cass, Diane and I pause and observe the scene.
While biking just beyond the square, we came across a thirty year old man advertising private car service to areas of The Great Wall - which is just what we need. I was concerned at first, but then saw the travel service office behind him, and figured he was somewhat legit. We reserved a car for Sunday morning - 5 AM - to arrive at the newer *sniff* section of the Great Wall by 8 AM. No down payment necessary. Still mildly nervous about a promise from a man on the street. However, he spoke broken, though understandable English, and gave us his cell phone number. We later had a woman at the desk confirm the morning trip.
.....We bike away and bike until dusk, then head home...shower? possibly, maybe not. Then head out by taxi to a dust-covered, construction site which appears to have been a neighborhood. Wandering through alleyways, internet map-in-hand, we find a famous little restaurant that serves Peking Duck. There are several foreigners, German - we think - in the restaurant when we arrive. Absolutely delicious, although the side dishes disappointed me. Perhaps they were too similar to US Chinese food. Perhaps I'm spoiled by flavorful Korean cuisine. We ordered many dishes to try to sample as much as we could - and the meal came to about 20$ US/person, which startled me.

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Photos

Madam, your chariot awaits
...I never get used to boarding from the ground in Korea. It makes the travel more tangible(?)...visceral (?thought to word failure), I think. You are no longer going from a room, to a hallway, to a floating room.
Now, if only we could exit the plane by shimmying down an inflated slide.

Home is where the heart is.
Bits of laughter left in each new cramped space. And still enough to fill the strip malls of Jersey.

One of the many moats
Surrounding the Forbidden City.

It's all about perspective
Mao: One of the most romantic corrupt leaders in history.

Many angles

Comments

[Rachel]

I <3 Brielle
The water/vendors etc, that is exactly what happens in italy!!! :) esp in florence, I remember :) miss you already