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Published: September 4th 2008
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We're sad. We're right at the end of our eight days in Beijing. Part of us is a little disappointed, also, that we didn't have the time to get over to Tibet or some of the other areas of China. This, however, will probably make us eager to make another trip here sometime in the future. We'll have plenty of time to explore Japan by train over the next two weeks anyway, so we don't want to tire of train travel before we can cash in our Japan Rail pass.
Our few days since the last blog entry have been fairly peaceful and pretty hot. I would say we've had an average daytime temperature of 80-85 degrees Fahrenheit. We've also been interviewed twice in the last couple of days. The first time was while we were strolling the Summer Palace yesterday and were approached by DJ Mark from crienglish.com and they interviewed us for their english-language radio program (and web video clip) asking us about what we've been up to in Beijing and how we liked the Summer Palace. We weren't able to find the clip yet on crienglish.com, but if anyone has luck, please let us know. The
Palace Museum
Located in Forbidden City second interview was by SABC in South Africa who was actually interested in our opinions on the weather in Beijing (we said it was pretty hot and sunny). Altogether, we don't expect a Daytime Emmy for either performance but at least they thought we were newsworthy enough (if we made the final cut, that is). They never did ask us for an address to send the royalty checks, though...
So the day after the Lama Temple, we were kind of tired and it was raining, so we had what we call a "Day Off". My buddy John, who hiked the entire Applachian Trail last year would call it a "Zero Day". We were going to rent a bike and ride around very leisurely-like, but the rain zapped all our motivation. We spent the day reading, playing pool, catching up on a little e-mail, and watching TV. Hey, you can't run around sightseeing everyday! For dinner, we tried a restaurant we'd passed by before, where the meat is grilled right at your table. The table has a ventilation hood over it to catch the smoke, they bring coals for the little pit in your table, and then they place a
Cauldrons at Forbidden City
These were used for extra water storage in case of fires. Aaron was looking for any extra food in them. grill over it and bring whatever meat you ordered to you. We actually, for the first time in China, saw dog meat on the menu (dog meat soup and cold dog meat salad). So the rumors are true. We thought of our two little dogs, Mooshy and Tor, and refused to try it. We stuck to the beef and hoped that the dog didn't get mixed in. Everything turned out pretty good, though overpriced by Beijing standards.
The next day we got our motivation back and tackled the Forbidden City, which is a complex of ancient buildings comprising the palace of the emperor during the Ming and Qing dynasties built during the early 15th century. It is just north of Tiananmen Square in the heart of Beijing, but entering it really brings you back in time. Some of the buildings have recently been renovated and the outsides repainted, so some of the buildings really look brand new. There were a couple of side buildings with exhibits, and we took a recommendation to see the Hall of Clocks exhibit which displayed a bunch of antique clocks ranging from mildly ornate to the downright gaudy. Some were over the top, but
Carved Dragons
At Forbidden City others were really inventive. One of our favorites is a clock with a mannequin that actually uses a calligraphy brush to write real chinese characters. This is long before robots. We both knew that our moms would both love the clocks here.
We grabbed a quick dumpling dinner and went back to the hotel to catch our transport to a Beijing Opera performance. We met a couple who were attending the opera with us. They are both of German descent living in Chile, South America, and were a lot of fun to hang out with. We got to the performance hall where the opera was to be performed. We went on an off night, apparently, because the hall was only about 1/3 full. Now this form of opera is very different from what we call opera. First, they use a variety of traditional chinese instruments to create a very distinct and beautiful sound. The singing is the biggest surprise. We'd seen some Chinese opera on TV the night before, so we were prepared. To the Western ear, the singing is very nasal, high-pitched, and seemingly off-key. It is strange, and we suppose that it is an "acquired taste". The
Interior Room
An example of one of the rooms at Forbidden City. music was subtitled, and the story was pretty funny, revolving around eight immortals, one of whom is always drunk. Half of the songs were about how drunk the one immortal was. The last part of the performance was an elaborate acrobatics and juggling routine that was really impressive. The whole thing only lasted about an hour. You could tell that it was a westernized version and was more for tourists (it was the first time we've ever entered a theater through a souvenir shop, for example). But it was an experience and pretty fun.
The following day we took the long subway ride to the Summer Palace, which was a summer home for the emperors of the dynastic period of China. Once we took the train to the end of the line, we still had a five-minute cab ride. The grounds of the Palace are about 3 square kilometers, 4/5 of which is the beautiful Kunming Lake. There is a hillside with pagodas and classic architecture, beautiful bridges, and peacefully shaded walkways. We walked for a while, had some popsicles (it was very hot that day) and rented a paddle boat to putter around the lake for an hour
Summer Palace Decorations
Pagodas have neat carved animals on the side of the roof. We loved them because it reminded us of Mushy and Tor and a half. It was really pretty, relaxed and enjoyable. If we knew someone going to Beijing, we'd probably recommend seeing the Summer Palace and skipping the Forbidden City, because the architecture was very similar in both, but we found the atmosphere at the Summer Palace to be much more serene with less crowds.
We were also very impressed with the locals who helped us when we were lost trying to find the subway station on our way out of the Palace. We stopped to try to ask a security guard (trying our best attempt at chinese), when he had trouble explaining it to us, he took the time to find a chinese passerby who spoke english to explain to us. Then that man, and two of his friends told us, in english, how to find our way. We've felt so comfortable asking directions in China, because people are very quick to help and really do go out of their way. Some of the other countries we've visited, we won't mention which ones, you are afraid to ask for directions because you will almost always be asked (actually demanded sometimes) for money. Not so in China. They've been very
helpful. As long as you can keep people from cutting in front of you in line, you'll find the chinese to be a very courteous people.
That was yesterday ... today, after another couple days of sightseeing in the sweltering sun, we took our time waking up and went straight to lunch, took a couple hours to find a post office to mail a package home, got lost for an hour, went shopping at a nearby mall (where there is actually a Papa John's pizza place ... they even do the garlic sauce and pepperoncini!), and took it easy. Tomorrow morning we leave for Tokyo!
Happy birthday to my brother, Dave, who turns 30 today (Sept 2)!
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Enjoying your blog
Hi aaron and Cosmina....Happy Anniversary!!! I'm really enjoying reading your blogs. Some really great stuff. Be Safe