Just One of the Crowd in Beijing! - Part 4

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The Temple of Heaven

Monday morning and an early rise for me. 5.30am and I'm walking to the great park of the Temple of Heaven. I pass Tian'anmen Square where bus loads of chinese tourists are already wandering around in an orderly fashion following the yellow flag of their guide. This city is alive and kicking at this time of day. It took almost an hour for me to walk the distance. I enter the park and see many people enjoying their exercise. See pics. I'm asked to join in. So I play a game that is like badminton and pingpong combined. There are 2 bats each and you hit the shuttlecock on the full. It can also bounce. The next group of people are throwing rings of sand filled material like the door snakes that stop the breeze from coming in the house but joined at the ends. I play this with a man. We take pictures together and he shows me a scrap book of all the people he has played with. He gives me a label with his name and address for me to send him a copy of the pic. Same as the fellow in Hue Vietnam with the home made bottle openers.

I continue on around the walls. The temple doesn't open until 8am but I'm not here to see that. I wanted to be amongst the people and watch them in their yoga, tai chi, sword dancing and other early morning rituals in the park. I head back to the hotel to join David for brekky. We meet a Taiwanese woman and her son who are visiting Beijing. They have been living in Johannesburg for 22years. We have a great conversation and find out that there is a great 'genuine fake' market. The Silk Street Market is only 4 train stops away. We decided to go, too. This is a must see visit for anyone coming to Beijing. We spend many hours here and unbelievably run into 2 of our colleagues who work in the Jinan branch. We have lunch together. Catch up on things since we met them almost 3 months ago.

The Acrobats

Back to the hotel for a quick change then head to the Tiandi Theatre to buy tickets for the acrobatic show. This show is made up of the young acrobats. One act was 3 12 year old boys who were incredible with their strength and balance. The entire show was very professional. We only bought the cheap tickets (180 each) but when we arrived there was a group sitting in our seats. The usher then upgraded us to the VIP seats (680 each). Who's complaining? But we didn't feel comfortable until others were seated near us. Out of the three main shows in town each night, this show has been recommended as the best. We agree without even seeing the Kung Fu Show or the Beijing Opera. But I think we'll see them next time anyway.

Last day/morning and we decide to head back to the market for some last minute purchases. There was no time for the Forbidden City this trip. We will be back again.

Some useful information...

Beijing is surprisingly clean and very easy to get around. The taxis are cheap if you stick with the official cabs. Flagfall is 10 yuan which will take you 3kms and then clocks over 2yuan for every km after. They are notoriously bad map readers so have phone numbers on hand for your hotel or plan the way yourself and use sign language.

The trains are quick and comfortable. 2 yuan per trip. You can purchase a card if you are staying for a week. This will set you back 50 yuan up front with possibly a deposit, returned when you cash in unused credit, and is more convenient for multi trips. Very much like the Octopus card in Hong Kong.

Crossing the main roads are easy. There are many underpasses for pedestrians. At the lights though, keep a look out for cars, even though you have a green walk signal. There are flagmen leftover from the Olympics to whistle at you if you cross against the lights. Oh, and if you are travelling the country by train there is no underpass to cross the road at the Beijing Train Station, you must haul your luggage on the overpass, no escalator.

Our friends told us a story about a food vendor saying that 3 sticks of meat was 15 yuan. He ordered 3 and handed over a 50 yuan note. The food vendor then said that they were 15 yuan each. This happens a lot but stand your ground. Our friend found the police and returned to the vendor who then returned the correct change.

Always have small notes. It is very handy for bargaining at the markets if you are able to hold the correct money and wave it under the vendors nose. Once they see the cash it's very difficult for them to refuse your offer.

Advice given by the Taiwanese South African that morning. Whatever price they ask for... offer 10%!o(MISSING)f their first price and stick to it. I did this with all my transactions at Silk Street and I stuck to my price, holding the correct change or walking slowly away. They never let me go. I'm sure they still made at least 300%!o(MISSING)n their sales.

If you are planning to visit Beijing and know that it will be the only time you will ever be here, plan for at least a week. There is so much to see and do that is unique. Still left on my list is the Forbidden City, The Zoo, The Museums and Art Galleries, wandering through the hutongs away from the centre, the opera, kung fu show, inside the Temple of Heaven buildings. The list goes on...

Final word

We stayed at Days Inn Forbidden City Hotel just off Nanheyan Street, Nanwanzi Hutong. We located them on the agoda.com website and found that they were far cheaper than any other in the inner circle. We opted for breakfast included and were very happy with the buffet. Obviously there are cheaper places further from the centre but for our first trip we paid 370 per night with a free night in the package (equal to US$58 per night)

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Photos

Now do it like this.
She's the boss. You do as she says.

Now to balance on one leg then raise your arm like this.
You do the hokey pokey and you turn around.....