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Published: July 19th 2007
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NOTE: I HAVE FINALLY BEEN ABLE TO POST PICTURES!!!!! THERE ARE STILL MORE I'M GOING TO POST ON THIS ENTRY AND ON THE ONE THAT FOLLOWS, BUT HERE ARE SOME OF THE SUMMER PALACE AND THE BEACH.
Greetings from Shanghai.
Our week and a half staying in Tianjin are over, and now we're on the road again. I didn't anticipate the time there being as enjoyable as it was, but as travels almost always do, it suprised us. In all, we spent 9 nights at the apartment James shares with 2 other teachers in true comfort, not having to pack bags or use Chinese toilets once (I'll write on that one later), just nice warm showers and lots of space to lounge about at will.
The best part about it was all of the people we met and hung-out with as we became integrated into our host's local social network. We joined a group for an excursion to a beach on the Yellow Sea on Saturday and Sunday, one of the highlights so far. Joining us were Raymond from the Phillipines and his sister Joey, Blair and Petro from British Colombia, Canada, as well as another group
of Fillipino girls and a dozen-plus Chinese, kids and adults alike. What a relief to get out of the city for a few days!
THE BEACH
Don't imagine Cancun or Thai beaches. If you're familiar with Texas, think more like Port Aransas and Mustang Island: not paradise, but nice enough and a great break. You can tell that most urban-dwelling Chinese don't get enough opportunities to commune with nature, and that it is a real treat for them to escape the noise and the smog.
We camped on the beach, all gear, transportation, and food provided. Plenty of Ramen-style (but better) noodles were boiled, random snacks were available, and dinner on Saturday night were the ever-so-popular-in-China kebob, most of them beef with some chicken to boot. Sunday morning, the trip organizers bought fresh crabs and fish from fishermen just coming in from their early morning catches, once again grilled over hot coals. We soon became friends with all of our fellow travelers on the bus ride there, and all of the extra food everyone brought was shared communally as well.
The water was refreshing if not less-than-pristine (is that an air conditioning filter floating next to me?)
and the sand was white-ish and dotted with seaweed that washed in with the tide, discarded fishing nets, and a bit of trash, some of it left by unconciencious beachgoers and some probably coming in from the ocean. I can only hope that kids who've never know clean beaches will one day realize that it doesn't have to be that way. The beach also had some great sand dunes for climbing, practicing yoga on (which members of the group did), and flying down on bamboo sand sleds, a real blast. Coming back Sunday night, we said our last goodbyes to our friends, headed back to the apartment, and prepared for our 3-hour exodus on the following day.
BACK TO BEIJING
Beijing is a massive city, hovering somewhere over 15 million people, chaotic, sprawling, very smoggy, and probably as steeped in history as any city, anywhere. As you may recall, we buzzed-in for a day last week to fight the masses at the Forbidden City, chow on Peking Roasted Duck, and do some crazy shopping. This time we had a little over a day and we took advantage of it by seeing a little more of this great world city.
Our hotel was in one of the remaining hutongs, rambling low-rise traditional neighborhoods with few cars navigating the narrow streets and alley-ways but plenty of pedestrians, bikes (both the motorized and pedal kind), rickshaws, street vendors, and some backpacker hotels and hostels mixed-in. When you think of a traditional Chinese 'hood, this is likely what comes to mind. Most Chinese city folks live in stale, uniform high-rise apartments, and only the very wealthy can afford a stand-alone home, the exception being the tin-pan alley-meets-Chinatown hutong residents who inhabit these last vestiges of the old urban China. For me, it's the place to be.
Right around the corner from the hutong is the (in?)famous Tiananmen Square, the world's largest public plaza that's flanked by the Forbidden City, traditional gates to the city, the Great Hall of the People, and some central building of the CCP. In the middle is the Monument to the People's Heros and the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall where the imbalmed Great Helmsman resides and can be viewed when the hall is open to the public (it's currently under renovation, as are many sites in preparation for next summer's Olympics). Wandering the square is an enjoyable
workout, watching kids and kites and mobs of mostly-Chinese tourists snapping photos in what is and traditionally has been the center of the Chinese universe. Curiously absent are the bikes that over-run Beijing's streets, which are prohibited although--as the Lonely Planet guidebook points out--evidently tanks are not.
Finally, before taking our night train to Shanghai, we spent almost all of Tuesday in a sweat-a-thon excursion to the Summer Palace, the spot where emperors would 'chill-out' during Beijings brutal summer months. Much more than just a single palace, it's an enormous park with a lake, hills, lots of trees, and countless top-notch temples, halls, pagodas, and palaces that were, for me, infinitely more enjoyable to take-in than the mosh pit-like Forbidden City (which sees 6 million-plus visitors per year, and that's before the Olympics come to town). We loved it, and I hope that the pictures I post here will provide a certain sence of this must-see spot.
After taking a quick shower in the hostel and grabbing our bags, it was on to the train station, where fighting the crowds means, almost literally, fighting the crowds just to get through the line to get into the building. Once
we got to the train platform, however, it was all good. The trains were great and practically new, and it was the first time I'd ever taken an over-night one with a sleeping compartment, four bunks to a room. We shared ours with a seemingly nice Chinese gentleman, and Pachi remarked that the trains were even nicer that the ones she took in Europe. I crashed-out for 9 or 10 hours straight, and after just under a dozen riding the tracks to Shanghai we pulled-into what used to be known as 'The Whore of the Orient'. It's much more now, and the story will continue there.....
Saludos desde Shanghai,
Shaun Hopkins
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