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Published: June 27th 2011
Pictures updated 7/7--these are a lot from around the city, both driving and walking. since it takes a good 45 minutes to an hour to get anywhere, there was plenty of opportunity for pics from the bus. Lots of neat designs on the buildngs.
Friday 6/24
Last night’s storm really cleared the air (big difference in pictures from the hotel window).
We headed out for a partial day, as our flight leaves early Saturday and we’ll have to leave the hotel by 5:30 a.m. tomorrow. We were all captivated by the fact that the rain had cleared up the skyline so much—we could see blue sky, clouds, and a lot farther than earlier in the week. Initially, we tried to go to the antique market but it didn’t open till 10 and we got there about 9. Since everything in Beijing is at least 30 minutes apart, we headed to the art complex, Art 798, a series of blocks with art museums, coffee houses, some shops.
Notes from the trip: 4 subway lines; 2 are run by a local company, 2 by a Shanghai company and they have different ‘rules’ (e.g., can eat in one, not
in the other), very confusing for folks. Four inventions the Chinese gave the world: paper (Han dynasty), gunpowder, compass, movable printing (Song dynasty). “We invented the compass so the British found China, used gunpowder to conquer us, made us sign on the paper, and then printed it to tell everyone.” Chinese dream: earn American wages, live in a British castle, marry a Japanese, eat Chinese, drive a German car. Nightmare: live in a Japanese tatami, eat British, marry a German, earn Chinese, drive American car. In the ‘70s, to marry, you needed a bike, a watch, and a sewing machine. Now, girls want a lot more to marry. Must be 18 to drive. Peking is 100 miles across (DC to Baltimore, including both cities; Staunton to Winchester). He recommends for future visits: Changdo to Shangri-la; Yangtze River Cruise; Tibet.
We wandered the streets of the Art area for an hour or so—some gorgeous pieces. Nell bought a beautiful framed and matted print but was unable to arrange to have it shipped home (for a reasonable price, anyway).
So then we returned to Panjiayuan Jiuhuo Shichang, the “Chinese shopping experience of dreams”. The market features row upon crowded row
of calligraphy, jewelry, ceramics, teapots, ethnic clothing, Buddha statues, paper lanterns, Cultural Revolution memorabilia, PLA belts, little wooden boxes, Ming- and Qing-style furniture, old pipes, opium scales, and painted human skulls, and was definitely designed for people with monied dreams. We did manage to pick up a few items, at the couple of stalls that were bargaining. Wandered around and saw numberous beautiful pieces of porcelain, calligraphy, weaving, stitching (almost caved at one of them; they were quite intricate and lovely).
Had one last lunch together, took the chance to thank Willy for all his time with us; he was a great guide—humorous, knowledgeable, and willing to share life stories. He changed the schedule around to make things more convenient for us and gave us some honest warnings about where to be careful of what.
We returned to our rooms and packed up so we’d be ready to go Saturday morning. Then, we took a walk locally, checked out the Mini-Mart (I finally bought a fan and found a magnet). Mitch (one of the others in the group, went to school with Nell and saw the trip on Facebook and he and his wife, Debbie, joined us—great addition
to the group!) and I noticed that some of the cans of beer had the “old” style pop tabs on them—the one that comes completely loose. The students had never seen such a thing! The Budweiser can felt as if it was “corrugated”—that’s how Debbie and I described it. A single beer was about 5 yuan ($.80) and they had Bud and several local/Chinese brews. Folks bought a bunch of snacks. We kept walking for a while, stopping in clothing stores, other little shops, checked out the 7-11. Stopped at a bank for Debbie & Mitch to change $$ into yuan. Took pictures, people watched, enjoyed the clear air and sky. Later, walked another direction for dinner at Pizza Hut! Had a Hawaiian personal pan pizza. Was pretty good!
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Jennifer Whitmore
non-member comment
Beijing last day
Love the Chinese dream and nightmare! Sounds like you are thoroughly enjoying your trip - can't wait to hear all about it. When do you return? Hugs -