Beijing, It Was a Pleasure.

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I had been in Korea a mere month when adventure came knocking on my doorstep. It arrived in the form of two great friends – living in South Korea - who were dying to check out China. And wanted me to come along for the ride. It wasn’t a difficult decision, and despite having little money left after settling into my new home in the R.O.K, it was hardly an offer I was going to pass up. In what felt like the very next minute, we found ourselves ‘all aboard’ a cheap plane bound for Beijing, China.

Now to say I was a tad skeptical about Beijing is an understatement. Of course, I was absolutely beyond excitement about the prospect of checking out the Greatness of the infamous Great Wall, but… in the past few weeks I had heard a few less-than-ideal reviews of Beijing – ranging from the absolutely absurd, to damn right hilarious. Personal favorites have to be being told to be careful because “I might get eaten”, to a good friend of mine giving me an honest and correct heads-up about certain taxi drivers refusing to pick-up foreigners (this happened far too much for my liking), as well as spitting.everywhere.in the street. But I am not one to let other people’s opinions get in the way of a good time, and what observations I can make with my own eyes, so I took them with a grain of salt and set about exploring the damn place!

We arrived in Beijing and seemed to be instantly surrounded by the name ‘Peking’. Really? I mean of course advertisement, after advertisement, about the infamous ‘Peking Duck’ delicacy of Beijing. Although it turns out there is also Peking University…and that’s just the beginning. Turns out ‘Peking’ Is the Romanized version of Beijing, hence its extreme over usage where ever you go.



Our first great feat was to find our hotel. The Beijing Meiyuan Hotel to be exact, located in Gaoliangqiao Street, Beijing. When I booked this hotel I was cautious, as the price was super cheap for three people for three nights. Oh god, did I have visions, perhaps ‘nightmares’ is a better word of us barreling up to this decrepit old hotel, with cockroaches running in and out and a scary looking person at reception. And as I had booked the damn thing, that would have fallen under my balls up. But thank god, that was not to eventuate. And after much deliberation, failed taxi attempts (in boiling hot afternoon sun) we finally got on a bus, and we made it to our hotel. Note here: it is not actually called the Meiyuan Hotel anymore! So just brace yourself, and don’t worry when you don’t see the name on the sign. It’s changed. But not by Internet standards. But the people were friendly, so I would still recommend. We never did find out the wall name!

Our room was number 368…the most bizarre number as the room beside us was about 30 numbers down. As in the floor was numbered 300, 301, 302, 310 etc. etc. Then suddenly stops at about 330. And then there was out room. Hmm! We settled in, slept, chatted, and debated who should sleep on the rather uncomfortable trundle bed (there were two real beds, one trundle) but let’s be honest, when you’re tired, and your accommodation cost you little over $10 a night, you deal with it. Quite easily.

Our first meal was well…..everything you could think of that even closely resembles the stereotypical “I’m in China, so I’m going to order Chinese”, said the westerner. We ordered spring rolls (perhaps more Vietnamese, but no less a staple), beef noodles, pork fried rice, and something else I can’t quite put my finger on. It was a good start to the night. This was in an area called Sanlitun (the village) we visited on recommendation from a friend. Let’s put it this way – tacky bars, even tackier music, EVEN tackier people, and Chinese exotic dancers around. But lord, it’s a good night, and I think every holiday you should have one big night where things cost far too much. There’s two huge, famous night clubs in Sanlitun – side by side – and they seem to be the mecca for Chinese and tourists alike to get their drink on. Much like Korea, you walk in to see plate after plate of staggeringly high towers of fruit and food platters that look completely out of place between drunk men and women getting their drunk on, as well as people dancing their ass off. None the less - and unlike the binge drinking nature of the west – Oriental cultures put a lot more emphasis on eating while you drink, and it seems to be a custom that continues today. For us however, there was no ridiculously overpriced fruit platter, there was just all out war on the dance floor. Followed much later on by a 4 a.m. McDonalds stop which the taxi driver wasn’t so keen on. So ‘not keen’ he was to stop, that our rather tipsy friend actually ripped the keys out of his ignition (so to speak!) so he wouldn’t drive away while we were ordering our food!



It was a ‘coffee’ kind of morning the next day, and after a late start. It was heloooooooooooooooo Forbidden City. Now, there is no escaping the fact that this place is bloody huge – ridiculously so. I mean, come on! When they say ‘city’ they mean an entire city. You could spend a whole day walking around here and still feel like you missed something. Located at Tiananmen Square, walk down the road after you hop off the subway and ask a friendly security guard if you get lost. You’ll eventually come to Mao’s photo besides a decent looking building with Chinese flags. This is the entrance to the Forbidden City. It’s worth it for the architecture, which fyi is phenomenal. The signs are pretty decent too – I had to chuckle to myself as I entered the ‘Hall of Mental Cultivation’. Another personal favorite was the ‘Relic protected. No scratch’ – I was hardly about to scratch a six hundred year old’ ancient imperial city now was I?

What happened next can only be described as one of the most hilarious, yet embarrassing, things I’ve ever done in my life. Let’s just say. Take three girls – one who is always up for anything – walk past a place offering “Flying Tours of the Forbidden City” and next minute – upon my friend’s insistence you find yourself… (Which can I just say, if she wasn’t such a good friend, would not have been accepted) getting dressed in traditional Chinese dress, and ‘pretending’ to fly around the city. *gulp* It made me cringe, hell it still makes me cringe. But you know what, there is something slightly satisfying about doing something so ridiculous that you know it will be a talking point for years to come. The costume however, is something I would rather forget.

There was a beautiful wishing well at the Forbidden City where people of all shapes and sizes, cultures’ and colors’ threw a buck or two into the pond and made a wish. The irony for me was throwing a dollar away to wish for more dollars. We walked, and walked, and walked. And by the time the sun was setting, we had seen ancient oriental architecture so different from the west, and even seen what it was like to live in the city. Even the vegetation and trees in the Forbidden City are something else, as one huge tree had actually grown its vines around a temple – looking like something from a Tomb Raider Movie.


That night it was PEKING DUCK time, so after a rather long, drawn-out “where the hell is this guy going” in a strange, black taxi we made it to a rather famous (according to ANOTHER taxi driver) Peking Duck restaurant for what can only be described as duck, duck and more bloody duck.



The duck was purchased, and served with lashings of spring onion, hoisin sauce, and plenty of light, fluffy pancakes. Throw in some duck fried rice, and duck spring rolls, and you’ve got yourself a pretty decent dinner. The duck was brought over to the table, and I couldn’t help but notice its burnt, orangey head staring our way. Of course, when he hacked that off and placed it on the table, it was hard to look away. It’s funny like that with meat - It’s all fun and games and deliciousness until you see the head, and the eyes, facing your direction. Making a duck pancake is not rocket science, but trust me when I say you need the right amount of flavors to make it work. You must take just a thread or two of spring onion, a dollop (don’t go overboard!) of hoisin sauce, followed by two or three threads of moist, delicious duck. Include some skin, go on. Once that’s ready, wrap it in a pancake, and shovel it (literally) into your mouth. It should burst open in there. Of course, for the sake of it, you must repeat this about 1000 times. And by then you should leave with your belly full.

As we left the restaurant we were accosted by Chinese men desperate to take photos of us. And I discovered for a brief moment, how fabulous it must be to be a celebrity. There were families, women, children, and grown men all vying for a photo with us. We were practically running down the road by the end of it.

Ming Tombs was the next morning’s adventure. So we took the subway, then the bus to avoid the long lines and overpriced tours. I would thoroughly recommend doing this. And instructions to do this are as follows:
Take bus 345 (branch line,; zhīxiàn from Deshengmen (500m east of Jishuitan subway station)to Chāngpíng; Y6, one hour). Get off at the Chāngpíng Dōngguān stop and change to bus 314 for the tombs. Alternatively, take the standard bus 345 to Chāngpíng and then take a taxi (Y20, 10 minutes) to the tombs.


And now to the afternoon, and let’s be honest folks what we are all here in Beijing to do. And it’s the very reason Beijing cemented itself as one of my best holidays yet, and it’s all to do with a thing called The Great Wall of China.


We chose to hit the Badaling part of the wall. We arrived mid-afternoon and from the moment I arrived I felt this feeling wash over me. It was a feeling that something truly magnificent was laid out in front of me. And I felt this feeling in the pit of my stomach that I really was about to see, taste, and experience something truly spectacular.


We began our walk on the wall – and it was just incredible. As you looked out meters and meters into the distance you could see the wall stretches for miles. Hell, it even disappears into the distance. And you just can’t believe your eyes as you wander in amazement and scream in your head “HOW DID THEY BUILD IT!” It is literally built on the top of mountains, made brick by brick by thousands of people over 2,000 years ago!!! The guard houses look out for miles, and your view stretches beyond the horizon. Breath-taking is an understatement.



And it was here, on top of one of the guard houses, that a moment, that moment, that is so damn rare in life I swear it will only happen to a person a few times in their life, happened. So there we are, on top of one of the guard houses, with a cool beer in one hand, our lives resting in the palm of our hand in the other. My favorite time of day dusk was beginning to descend on Beijing and I looked out to the delicious, striking orangey, pink color that was dancing across the sky, and took in the crisp, cool, autumn air and just thanked god I was alive. Truly, deeply alive in the world, on this planet, as part of this Universe. The sunset, stretching out over the mountains, and the wall disappeared behind the hills– and it just made me happy. So genuinely happy. And made me wonder how anybody could not want to be alive in this life – present in this existence, at this present time. It very nearly brought me to tears. And I just felt life sweep over me... Like when you get a sudden tooth ache, or pain in the side, or cramp in your leg, it was as if life itself had attacked me. And unlike pain, I loved the feeling.



Those moments in life are rare, and they are so beautiful that it actually makes me sick to my stomach that some people are so caught up in life they may never experience them. I would trade all the money in the world for that moment. And the beauty is, that moment, even now on a cool, slightly sad, Sunday evening, can, and will, come back over me. And I will find myself there, on that damn Great, Big, Huge wall, once again thanking everyone, and everything in the world, that I’m alive.


You will, if you’re lucky, have a few moments like that in your life. And Beijing, and particularly The Great Wall, I would like to personally thank you for providing me with a moment that time, nor age, nor money, nor love, nor sadness, nor death will ever take away from me.

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Comments

[K McAdam]

Beijing
You were quite transported by it all werent you. Love Gran xxx