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Published: April 5th 2012
The 104th day after the winter solstice here in China marks the beginning of Qingming Festival, or Tomb Sweeping Day. This is a time for the Chinese people to visit the graves of their ancestors, so the students had an opportunity to go home to visit their families on a long weekend. This allowed Nick and I to spend a few days in Beijing.
Among the several ways to travel the 700+ miles from Changzhou to Beijing is the over night train, which takes about 10 hours. We left late Saturday evening and arrived just before 8 Sunday morning. It was quite the experience... We were put in a compartment with four other people like luggage and Nick and I were confined to a top bunk where we had about two feet of head room. We made the best of it however, and thankfully we planned ahead and brought some snacks and wine. There comes a point living here where all you can do is laugh at how ridiculous some situations can get. This was one of those situations.
Sunday morning in Beijing was an unusually sunny and clear day. We spent the first half of the day exploring
Tiananmen Square and The Forbidden City. Before our trip, we had the opportunity to watch a few documentaries on Beijing, specifically Tiananmen Square, so it was very moving to be there in the city center where so much history has taken place. In the center of Tiananmen Square, Mao Zedong's body is actually on display for the people of China to view.
It was lunch time after that and since Nick had a mission of trying the best Beijing roast duck in the city, we took advice from Anthony Bourdain. We found our way through a maze of ancient neighborhoods called Hutongs, until we came across the unsuspecting Li Qun Roast Duck Restaurant. This is a restaurant Anthony Bourdain goes to in his show, "No Reservations" and we decided we must try it. We were not disappointed and I think we can both agree that it was one of the best meals, if not the best meal we have had in China yet.
The next morning was a rough start, as I finally learned my lesson about shady street food vendors. Apparently I had made a poor decision the day before and spent most of my morning recovering
from food poisoning. Not letting that deter me TOO much, we spent the afternoon visiting the Summer Palace in the outskirts of Beijing. To say it is just a palace would be an understatement as it was more of a community in centuries past. The grounds are beautiful and built up onto a hill, complete with stunning views of the lake below. The Silk Market was next on our agenda. This is 7 floor market where you can get everything from pearls to cashmere to DVDs to teapots. It is an excellent place to practice negotiating skills and an even more excellent place to practice paying close attention to the quality of goods you are buying 😊
Tuesday was dedicated to getting to the Great Wall. Like most tourist destinations (not to mention on a national holiday,) we knew it could get a bit crazy so we took off as the sun was rising. It took an hour bus ride and a half hour, less than credible looking taxi ride to get us there but we arrived at the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall around 10. The bus dropped us at the base of the hill and we
took a tram up to the wall. I have always heard the Great Wall is something to see, but I had no idea exactly how breathtaking the experience would be. I know the photos we took can't do the Wall justice but hopefully you can get an idea of exactly how magnificent it is.
We are now back in Changzhou, safe and exhausted. We have to teach Saturday to make up for the long holiday weekend, but the short work week will be nice for catching up on things. Of course, we will be missing our families this coming Sunday for Easter, but we will have to make up our own special "Chinese Easter". I'm not sure if we have access to dying Easter eggs, but we will figure something out 😊
Wishing everyone a Happy Easter from China!!
--Lauren
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ElyseandPete
Wanderlusting Winter
Overnight Train Travel
Love that you got to experience the overnight train travel, it is a great experience yet not luxurious. Such great insight into the local culture. Beijing is quite amazing including the Great Wall. I have been there 2 times to 2 different sections and Pete has done it 3 times to 3 different sections. It never gets old seeing the Wall.