Advertisement
Day 7
With two days left in China, I was in no mood to waste time. Even more determined to see Mao's mausuleum, I woke up early on Saturday morning to avoid the crowds. Today was the first time I was going to venture out in Beijing completely alone...I contemplated this over breakfast and my enthusiasm didn't diminish. I took a taxi to Tienanmen Sq., walked through the security checkpoint for the thousandth time, and made my way over to the Mao memorial. I was confused as to why, despite reading the sign that clearly stated that the memorial was opened, no one was standing in line and the gates were closed. I didn't want to miss Mao so I chose to suck it up and approach one of the intimidating gaurds in the long, bulky coats. They could see that I was struggling for words and one of them told me, in fair English, that the museum was closed and that it would be opened tomorrow. No problem. I had also wanted to see the China National Museum which was conveniently located right across the street. Luck was not on my side, because not only could I not find the
Standing Guard
Baiyun Templeentrance, but when I approached another gaurd (they are all over this city!) he told me the place was closed for renovation and would be closed until 2:10. Seeing my baffled expression, he tried again, this time with finger gestures and I finally realized that he was telling me the museum was under contruction until 2010. Hmmm...disappointed that I was going to miss two big ticket items on my list, I wandered into a gift shop to buy batteries for my camera and asked the woman at the counter how to get to White Cloud Temple. It felt like the morning was taking a turn for the better when she told me that I could take the bus right around the corner for only 1 yuan! She wrote me a note that said, in Mandarin, "I want to go to White Cloud Temple," which I showed to the bus driver and then a couple of old ladies when I got off the bus. The old women laughed a little and then smiled and excitedly escorted me down a narrow street with a few vendors selling incense by the bundle and when we came to a cross street, they pointed to
the left and I could see lots of people waiting to get in to the temple, buying tickets, and carrying bundles of incense. I gestured a thank you to the smiling women, and within minutes I found myself within the walls of one of Beijing's most famous Taoist temples.
Baiyun Guan, as it is called in Chinese, is not only one of the oldest temples (rebuilt by order of Genghis Khan in the 13th century,) it has also served as a Taoist school and the headquarters for Taoism in China. More than that though, it is one of the most beautiful places I saw in Beijing. There were stone lions at the entrance gate, and I found out that people were waiting in line not merely to enter the Temple, but to rub the lucky monkeys images carved into the stone at the entrance. On the inside the place was bustling with people because of the lunar new year. They had faux-coins that you could throw for luck, and they had monks accepting incense donations, which they would then toss into the huge, firey, ovens. The whole place smelled earthy, good, and the faithful were bowing and praying to
vaious figures in different areas of the Temple. The biggest attraction seemed to be the stone carvings of the Chinese zodiac symbols. Followers would walk down the line of figures, rubbing each one, and sometimes leaving incense gifts before them. This was quite a fascinating sight as you can imagine. There were trees with hundreds of red ribbons hung upon them; each ribbon had a prayer or a wish written on it. I even walked past my favoite mural of all time: the surfing Taoists. I'm quite sure if that's what they were going for, probably more likely a depiction of a flood scene or something, but there's no denying that those Taoists appear to be riding the waves! I meandered through the rock garden and the monk quarters and soaked up the spirit of the new year at a place that turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip!
After the visit to the temple, I walked around a bit before hopping on a bus back towards Tienanmen Square. What I found, was that if you can't speak the language, read the signs, or find your way around, then it's easier to have a jumping
off point. Especially as a solo, female traveler in a bustling, communist nation with practically no way of communicating, I felt cmofortable knowing that I could always hop in a taxi back to Tienanmen, and get my bearings again. Once I was back in familiar territory, I decided to wander down a street crowded with people but with no cars. It felt more like a movie set because many of the buildings had signs on them but no occupants and many of them looked brand new. People would stop and read the signs and take pictures and as I followed the masses, I tried to look like I was understanding, but I was simply not. I remember turning right and seeing the throngs of people, street vendors, and shops unfold before my eyes. What I thought was a movie set (and yes, that was the conclusion I had finally settled on) was in fact just the entrance to a well known market place. They call the alleys, "hutongs" and some of them are really just marketplaces. There were families out in full force, buying meat on sticks, and fruit kebabs that had been dipped in an amber colored syrup that
had solidified, and throwing their leftovers on the ground. There was a man whose sole job was to walk around with a wheelbarrow and pick up the discarded skewers or ears of corn that were litering the street. Everyone was practically shoulder to shoulder and I joined them, when I began my "stroll" down the alley.
Within a few blocks, I came across (and stopped in, I'll admit) one of the oldest silk shops in Beijing, a famous dumpling restaurant (I should have stopped but it was packed!), a restaurant for expats where I picked up a hot cocoa and Bailey's for the cab ride home, and tons of Beijing charm! This felt like a side of the city that I wanted to get to know. The squeaky clean new buses, the widened avenues, and the Olympic tours may be what they city is touting but what really sold me on the place was this marketplace. I stopped to watch a street vendor making kebabs. He worked like a machine, there was a system, he flipped them over, three at a time, and then shuffled them down a position. He'd remove three off the end and add three more
to the rotation. I wondered how many hours a day he spent turning and rotating kebabs...probably too many to count. Anyway, all the kebab watching made me remember I hadn't had lunch and this man did have quite a line of hungry patrons. I guess it's never a bad thing if the locals are lined up, with drool practically hanging from their lips, waiting for their meal, so I carefully watched how much people were ordering and paying and then I made my way up to the counter. "Three," I said as I held up three fingers. I don't know why I always say things in English even though I know they can't understand my words, only my gestures, but I do it anyway. Everyone around me watched in disbelief as he motioned to the spices, asking me if I wanted them on mine. More surprise spread through the group when I nodded, "yes," and even after I paid and walked away with my tasty (super spicy) lunch, people were still watching me for my reaction. One thing Korea has taught me, is a love of spicy foods. No longer do I fear the orange and red spices of Mexican
and Indian cuisine! Afterwards, I popped into a little shop to ask for a tissue, which was an ordeal because they kept trying to give me samples of their candy...that I eventually bought, though not until after finally getting a tissue for my spice-covered fingers. This was one of the best days in China so far. It was an amazing feeling to navigate a place so completely foreign, entirely on your own. I was proud that I had figured out the buses, eaten as the locals do, and had a great day in spite of things not going according to plan. That night, we all reconvened at the hotel and spent a quiet evening having dinner, getting manicures, and window shopping in what I'm assuming was a foreigner district. Not usually my cup of tea, but after criss-crossing the city all day, I was completely wiped out and our pizza dinner hit the spot!
Day 8
My final day in Beijing turned out to be one of my most memorable. I headed out early to make my final attempt at seeing Mao but it turned out it was not to be. I'm still a little baffled as to why
the mausoleum was closed but without the use of Mandarin, it had to remain a mystery. Standing in Tienanmen Square, as I was looking at what remained on my list of things to see in Beijing, I heard a small and quiet voice say "hello?" When I turned, I was greeted by a brother and sister who had come to Beijing from their hometown of Xi'an (also, you may recall, home to the Terra-Cotta Warriors) at the urging of their father. We introduced ourselves and they told me they were on their way to see the President's house. When they asked if I wanted to join them, my day was planned. I talked to the sister about what she was studying in school (graphic design) and answered some of her questions about finding a job in America. Her brother continued to lay on the compliments, insisting that he'd visit me in Korea and that if I visited his family in Xi'an he'd buy me a ring nicer than the one I was wearing. He told me all about his family's accomplishments, his father was a wealthy fisherman who went to Australia to sell his fish and also apparently drives a
BMW, he himself was an engineering student who was to graduate shortly. It was all very amusing but I think I did an outstanding job keeping my smiles on the inside, and instead put on a very serious face when listening to them talk about their family.
I guess we walked by the President's house, though I did not see it nor was it pointed out to me. In fact, we never even paused but instead continued on in search of a tea house where we could all talk and I could be properly introduced to Chinese tea. When we walked in, the hostess took us straight to a small, private little room with a table that had 3 stools on one side and 1 on the other. I was not sure what to expect, when they said we were going for tea I honestly thought it'd be similar to a coffee house but with tea instead. The hostess sat opposite the three of us at the table and showed us (well, me really) how she washed the cups and then how we were supposed to roll them on our faces and place them over our eyes. She brought
us plates of sliced oranges and afterwards, the brother decided we should drink 8 different teas because it was a lucky number. When I pointed out that earlier he'd said 9 was a lucky number, they quickly decided 9 to be the number of teas to sample. I guess they just have a lot of lucky symbols in China, the color red, numbers 3, 8, and 9 (and a few others that I can't remember,) and dragons. Who needs fortune cookies when there is this much luck floating around? The server would make a tea and then pour it, boiling hot, into our little tea cups which were about the size of a shot glass. I was taught the proper way to hold my cup and instructed to drink each serving in 3 sips because...it's lucky. The next type of tea would not be prepared until we'd all finished our little cups and that was more difficult than it might sound because they drink it so piping hot that at times it was painful! No time to let anything cool down, though admittedly I was warmer when I left. Not a terribly huge fan of tea in general, I discovered
that the jasmine was pretty o.k. and I really liked the one that was a closed up flower blossoms that sprung open once it soaked in the hot water a bit. It was quite pretty and I had so much fun swapping stories and learning about the traditional Chinese tea ceremony that I hardly even remembered that I don't like tea! I must say that having a chance to talk with the brother and sister while learning the tea ceremony protocol was a highlight and I was a little sad as I climbed into the taxi.
China was easily the most challenging place I've traveled to thus far, and it could be the language barrier or the 6 flights in 7 days, but it was an experience I would never have wanted to miss. I learned how independent I can be as a traveler, riding the buses all over the city alone and wandering the hutongs and markets. There is so much potential in China and it will be interesting to see if they put it all to good use or if they collapse under their own weight before they even get the chance. I, for one, am pulling
for them.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.042s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 9; qc: 23; dbt: 0.02s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Yong geun
non-member comment
Fabulous experiences!! Wow!!
So great~ thank you for see your pictures, writting. You have lots of great time in China. I envy you 'cause I don't have any chances to travel other countries so far... I wish you get to good experience so much~~