Poking about in Peking

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I’ll begin this blog as we freeze in the waiting room at Harbin rail station. We’d tried following the electronic signs for each train as they were called, but with little success. As the time of our departure drew near, a crowd began to queue politely at the gates to the platform. Around 10mins before the train was due to leave an announcement boomed over the tannoy in Chinese. This was quickly followed by those not in the queue piling towards the gates to form one massive throng at the gateway. We figured this was our train and began collecting our things together and getting our bags on. A set of attendants appeared for each of the gates and, as one, opened them all and began checking tickets as people jostled their way though. As the crowd began to dwindle, we headed over and through the gate to the even colder platform outside. Following the stream of people being ushered into the subway under the platforms, we soon found ourselves in the gaggle trying to get into the carriage.

Once inside the comfortable warmth on the train we found we were on a Chinese version of the sleeper trains we’d experienced so far. These had a few key differences from the Russian ones, the first was that the lower bunks were fixed and a little lower to the ground and the second was the roof inside the cabin was a little lower. Although these don’t sound like much, the result for us was that our bags were now too large to fit into either storage area. Luckily for us we’d been assigned the two lower bunks so we filled the void under the small table with our bags. Not long after the train had set off the carriage attendant came round to check our tickets. She swapped our tickets for a small plastic credit card with our bunk number on and headed off down the train doing the same for everyone else. A little confused by this we sat back to enjoy the modern surroundings of the carriage. A while later, before getting some sleep, I headed off for a call of nature to discover another difference with these trains, they’re fitted with squat toilets. Being a boy travelling in France and Spain, I knew of their existence but had never had to use one before. Needless to say, having a wee on a moving train is never the easiest task and this latest find didn’t make it any easier. With my knowledge expanded and bladder emptied I headed back to the cabin and got some sleep before our arrival in Beijing.

Approaching the city, all the lights on the train were turned on, waking all those still hoping for a few more minutes sleep. The attendant made her way back down the train swapping back all the cards for your tickets. Again a little confused by this process, we gathered our bags and got ready to leave the train. Shortly before arriving in the station all the lights on the train went out and couldn’t be turned back on, leaving us to use the light through the windows from the platform to get off the train.

With the sun yet to rise, we decided to find somewhere to grab some breakfast by the station. On our way out through the tunnel under the platforms we found a news vendor who was selling tourist maps of the city. As we completed the deal for a map with our rough Chinese "thankyou" we spotted a pair of golden arches next to the exit to the outside world. We wandered in, found somewhere big enough to hide us and our luggage, before I set about attempting to get two bacon muffins and coffee. A little rough Chinese pronunciation of numbers and some pointing at pictures behind the servers and I parted with some money thinking I’d been successful. Back at the table we unwrapped our food to find I had coffee, albeit the overpriced McCafe versions, along with one sausage muffin and a grilled chicken sandwich. China’s golden arches 1, Dave 0. Having said that the grilled chicken thing was quite nice, it had a thigh fillet grilled, well we all know they hotplate fry in these chains, with some kind of soy marinade served with a shredded Chinese cabbage garnish. While eating, we looked over the map and found our hotel was within easy walking distance so, having plenty of time to get there, with our hunger a little tamed and the caffeine beginning to take effect, we headed off towards the Hutong area of the city to find our hotel.

We found it nestled in one end of one of the wider streets in the area that had almost enough room to drive a car past one of the parked ones. Once inside we were greeted by the friendly English speaking staff and we apologised for being a little early for our 2pm check-in. They told us we’d have to wait as no-one had checked out yet, hardly surprising as it only a little before 8-30. They set us up in their covered courtyard cafe with the password to the wifi, so we grabbed a couple of juices and settled in. Around 11am we were told we could check-in and found they’d given us a free upgrade to a room with our own bathroom. With our heavy bags in the room we headed out to get the visa’s we’d need later in our trip from the Vietnamese embassy. The quickest way from the hotel to the embassy was through Yuxin park, and within a few steps we could barely believe we were in the centre of a major city. There were tree lined paths winding about an ornate, although frozen, pond and round a small hill with the Qinghui pavilion at the peak, giving views across most of the park. With our task still in hand we didn’t dwell too long, promising ourselves we’d take time to explore on our way back. We soon found ourselves at the tradesman’s entrance of the embassy only to find it had closed for lunch. Figuring this wasn’t a bad idea we found a cheap noodle place about a block away before returning to see what hoops we’d have to jump through for our visas. Having done a some research we’d come a little prepared but not completely for the chaotic waiting room. When we asked what we needed to fill out we were directed to a pile of application forms in the far corner from the assistants. There was little organisation as we sifted through the scattered paper on the bench, that had only the strings left from all the pens on strings. With luck still on our side we managed to find a pair of forms in English and two pens that worked hidden under the bench. With all the paperwork completed we headed back to the assistants with the passport photo’s we brought with us, only to be pointed towards a stapler chained to the desk to attach the photo’s to the form. With everything passed over with a heap of money we took our receipt and headed back to the park to finish exploring.

At the far side of the park we found a recreation area with groups of an older generation playing cards and making use of the simple gym equipment. Next to this was a large climbing wall with a pair of security guards to dissuade any overenthusiastic visitors. Once back at the hotel we grabbed a coffee and went through all the things we wanted to see and do, deciding on booking a tour through the hotel to see the Great Wall at Badaling. Going through the costs it worked out the same to do the trip by public transport as it would to use the hotels trip, but with the added bonus that we’d get to see one of the Ming dynasty tombs as well. With sightseeing booked in for the next few days we headed out to have a look at the famous night markets we’d read so much about in our research. These were split into two main areas, the first we found was at the north end of the pedestrian area of Donghuamen Street. This was essentially a collection of market stalls closing off one side of the road. All the stalls repeated themselves every half a dozen or so with dumplings, noodles, stuff with rice, sweets and fruit and a pair of stalls deep frying things on sticks. One of the frying stalls went with mostly seafood, beef and pork while the other would go for the more unusual animals. We found everything from crickets, small white scorpions and snakes to large black scorpions and tarantulas. After sampling some fried dumplings we headed further down to Wanfujing street to find the snack street (aka maze) down the side of a big department store. The entranceway had a large ornate gateway, beyond which is a collection of more permanent stalls selling much the same as we’d found earlier. Around halfway down is a side street leading past a collection of small restaurants to a side entrance, decorated with a similarly ornate gateway to the first entrance. Having only snacked on our way round we found ourselves still a little hungry, so we headed into the basement of the nearby Oriental Plaza to discover a labyrinth of passageways lined with a wide variety of restaurants. Deciding on a one we grabbed some sticky ribs, steamed dumplings and a couple of local beers before heading back to our hotel to be ready for early starting tour the next day.

With the early alarm still ringing in our ears we arrived in reception to meet our tour guide for the day. Once all the guests from our hotel were together we were given a choice. We’d all booked the cheapest trip out to the closest point of the great wall, however due to bad weather that area had been closed for the day, we had to choose to either go on the tour we’d booked another day or on the tour to the further area for no extra charge. Seeing as we were up already, we figured we may as well still do the tour that day as the price was the same, as did all the others. With all that settled we were ushered out onto the main street to wait for our transport, a few minutes later and we were being bundled into a minivan. On the trip out of town our guide introduced herself as Betty and gave us a brief history of Beijing before our first stop at a tourist trap disguised as a jade factory. While the tour through the factory was informative and interesting, the hard sell in the furthest room from the entrance put us off buying anything. With everyone loaded back into the minivan we headed off to the Ming Tomb, where Betty ran us through the sight explaining on the way the basics of how and why the layout worked and what each of the buildings significance was. In a little under 30 minutes we were all back in the bus and on our way to the main stop of the day, the Great Wall at Mutianyu.

On our approach we were told we’d meet back up at the restaurant called Mr Yangs, which was pointed out as we sped past and up the hill to the drop off area. We hiked up the trail to the entrance area past the stalls eager to sell you almost anything, where we had our transport options laid out. Due to the time constraints of the tour we’d have to choose and pay for one of the lift options to get us up the rest of the way. After a bit of group discussions we all agreed on taking the chair lift up and the toboggan back down, so we were all ushered into a queue to pay 80yuan each for the privilege. We jumped aboard the small two person chair lift and headed at a steady pace up the hillside. During the trip we were able to see the toboggan weaving its way back down past rocky outcrops and through the mountainous terrain. Arriving at the top you are faced with a small landing in which to disembark the chair, so we both quickly jumped off and over to the side while the chair, not slowing, flew on between us and round the pulley at its peak. From the chair it was a short hike up to the wall which gave impressive views over the surrounding area. Avoiding the many sellers we wandered a short way along the wall before we found a very steep section. Deciding against the near vertical climb we re-traced our steps and headed off along the other side of the wall, exploring the towers that were close by. Having taken lots of photos and our time, we headed back to the chairlift where the toboggan run began and, as we arrived, watched another pair of tourists slide out of sight. While reading the signs on operating the sleds I attached our camera to the front of my bag and put it on so the camera faced forward from my chest. Getting into the small sleds was interesting, so, with my knees almost level with my ears and hoping I’d managed to hit the record button on the camera, I set off round the gentle bends at the top, soon losing sight of Anna and the chair lift station. No sooner had I got that far, I found the tourists that had left as we arrived stopped together getting their cameras out of their bags. I slowed and made a few motivational hand gestures that convinced them now would be a good time to resume their decent, they took the hint and began moving on, albeit very slowly so they could take photos. Gradually gathering speed we wound on round the hillside and sped over a rickety wooden bridge guided by the polished slideway. In a little under 5 minutes we’d made it to the bottom of the run and headed off down the rest of the hill to the restaurant for lunch. We were greeted by our tour guide and ushered upstairs to the balcony area where we found the rest of our group waiting. As we sat down the rest of the tour group were talking about how cold it was outside, a brief story of where we’d been through before arriving here helped explain our chuckling at their comments.

Lunch was a tame selection of Chinese dishes with little explanation of what each one was. This caused a bit of concern for an Israeli couple who wanted to avoid anything pork based. After lunch we piled back into the minivan and headed back towards Beijing. After passing the Olympic stadium complex we stopped off at a large tea house where we were taken through how to make and taste the various types of tea before the hard sell in the gift shop began. Leaving, having managed to avoid buying anything, we were offered a choice for our next stop, either a silk or pearl factory. The girls on the bus took the lead in the decision and before long we were at the pearl centre tucked into the outside of the Olympic archery centre. After a short introduction to where pearls come from our group was asked to select one oyster from the pool by the entrance. With the staff telling us how to discern the age of oysters she had us all guess how many pearls would be inside the one year old in her hand. There were a few guesses in the low sub 10s and a few over 20. A young American girl on the tour asked how the tour guide would find out, to which I replied ‘You see that really large knife over there on the metal tray?’, followed by the guide saying she would now open the oyster and the closest guess would win a prize. The American asked if this would kill the oyster, the reply of ‘Yes, but it’s ok, these are not for eating, only for the pearls.’ had me chuckling. With the oyster split and the pearls counted in at 24, the surprise winner was Anna. Her reward was a small box of pearl powder that is meant to have some medicinal properties when mixed into a paste with moisturiser. When I casually dropped into conversation with the store staff that today was Anna’s birthday, along with a quip about her present being cheap this year, the assistant disappeared and returned with a pearl ring as a birthday gift. All this generosity made us lose our resistance to parting with our money and we soon found ourselves with a few gifts for friends back home before getting on the bus one last time to return to the hotel.

With it being Anna’s birthday she wanted to try Peking duck while we were in Beijing, and after a bit of research and asking the hotel staff, the best place in town is a restaurant called Da Dong. Not knowing what to expect we dressed warm, but as formally as we could, being jeans and polo shirts, and headed out for dinner. The restaurant is on the 5^th floor of a shopping mall, following the signs round the ground floor to the elevator took us past most of the shops. As we exited the elevator we found the restaurant occupied the entire 5^th floor and stood in awe in the opulent reception area with cocktail bar and koi carp pond with fountain. After the waiting staff asked if they could help, we closed our mouths and gingerly asked for a table for two. Handing us a slip of card with a number on the staff ushered us to one end of the cocktail bar and took our coats. Here we were surrounded by men in business suits and ladies in evening dresses, milling round waiting for tables. We grabbed a couple of G&T’s and settled in at the end of the bar, but before long we were joined by one of the staff and asked to follow them to our table. They took us though one of the huge dining area, that had every table packed with Chinese in formal attire, past the entrance to the kitchen and into a large board room styled area where we were seated amongst couples in similarly informal clothing. Looking through the extensive menu we found not only the duck we were looking for but quite a few dishes we’d like to try. Alongside the main menu were a couple of set menu options offering most of the dishes we wanted try along with a few we hadn’t thought of. With a nice bottle of red and one of the set menus ordered we sat back and took in our surroundings. The long table was made of a two polished slices of a tree around 15cm thick, surrounded by cream leather armchairs. This room was separated from the dining area we’d passed through by an ornate wood and frosted glass screen and had a netting chandelier arrangement along the length of the ceiling. Over the next hour we were treated to the most ornately presented and flavoursome Chinese dishes I’ve ever tasted, we even had the specially trained chef carve the duck with the utmost precision by our table. At the end of the meal we were given a platter of mini oranges complete with dry ice decoration.

The following day was quieter with us gathering our souvenirs and paperwork together and posting them onto Australia, as well as shopping for a new pair of jeans for Anna. With most shops only stocking Asian sizes we dropped into a western brand of shop and found a pair that fitted hiding at the back of a large shelf. The only slight problem was the leg length being about right for me. Attached to the side of the shopping mall was a small department store that had a booth with a pair of sewing machines and a few assistants for clothing alterations. 20yuan and 30 minutes later and Anna had a pair of custom modified jeans that fitted perfectly. Following the advice from some other travellers, after dinner we headed over to the Olympic park after the sun had set. There we found the gigantic park with all the buildings flood lit with ever changing colours of light. After taking a collection of photos of the impressive spectacle we headed off for an early night, with another visit to the outside of an Olympic stadium under our belts.

We got up early the next morning and rushed across the city’s subway in an attempt to catch the dawn changing of the guard in Tiananmen Square. After exiting the subway at the far side of Mao’s mausoleum we headed as fast as we could across the frozen pavements to the square. As we entered we were mobbed by crowds leaving the square, so we figured we’d missed that one, instead, after checking our bag in the cloak room over the road, we joined the ever growing queue to visit Mao's mausoleum. Even with the queue a quarter of the way round the building it only took a little over 5 minutes before we were passed through airport body scanners and ushered into the impressive building. Once inside you’re gently persuaded to continue moving forward by armed guards who also actively encourage silence and respect during your visit. When you reach the central chamber you find a fairly understated looking glass case with Mao preserved so well it appears as though he is just sleeping. All the time you’re alongside him you are encouraged with silent hand gestures to keep moving along. With our visit complete we found ourselves on the south side of the building, the furthest point from the next place we wanted to visit. By now the dawn fog had turned into drizzle, coupled with the near freezing air temperatures, settled as ice on the stone pavements. We skated our way back to collect our bag and headed on to the entrance of the Forbidden City.

After getting tickets and a pair of audio guides, with the drizzle now falling as snow, we headed inside. As we walked through the imposing first gateway the audio guide came to life giving an informative, if a little lengthy, explanation of the city complex as well as the recommended routes through the sights. The first and shortest takes you straight through the middle, the second and third options take you off the first to visit some of the living quarters and special exhibitions they have housed within them. Figuring we had more time in hand than the short route, we headed off in our own direction and every now and then the audio guide would burst out with an explanation of our surroundings. A little over an hour and a half later, figuring we’d had enough of skating about on the very uneven cobble laneways and squares of the citadel we exited. As we passed through the penultimate gateway the audio guide began screeching loudly to be given to the collection staff before leaving. On our way through the last gateway a pair of young Chinese guys approached us and asked if we could take a photo. Assuming they wanted them with the gate I moved to take the camera, however one of them joined Anna and I while the other took the photo. Needless to say we still weren’t used to getting papped by Chinese tourists. With the exit being at the northernmost end of the citadel we planned on walking back south and finding somewhere on the way to grab a drink and warm up. As we passed a bus stop, a rickshaw driver had other ideas and pestered us with ever increasing contact with Anna’s arm, telling us everything he could think of to get a fare. After a good 100m of this the only action we found to dissuade him was a loud ‘NO!!’ several times from me down to the diminutive chap while stood within a foot of him. With the hint taken, he scurried off back the way we’d come offering us a few rude hand gestures as he went. Once back in town we found a branch of Malan and grabbed some soup to warm our hands on and noodles to eat. Figuring we were still too cold to do much else we headed back to the hotel to properly thaw out.

After a lazy start the following morning to let the commuters get to work, we headed out on the metro to the summer palace in the northwest corner of Beijing. Navigating our way round the large houses and along the streets with no pavements we soon found the entrance, next to which was a small cafe where we grabbed some dumplings for brunch. Once inside the palace, with the morning fog burning off, the welcome bright sunshine illuminated the huge, if completely frozen, lake and palace nestled into the hillside beyond. We wandered round the palace grounds using a guide on Anna’s phone to feed us information about the things we found. We walked across the frozen lake, which helped to reduce the distances between sights around the grounds, before ending up at the ornate seventeen arch bridge a little before sunset. On our way round we were constantly awed by the scale of the place compared to the comparatively compact Forbidden City in the centre of Beijing. At the far side we found a group of elderly Chinese who had cut a hole through the ice so they could take a swim in the icy waters.

The following day was a relaxed affair with only a visit to the nearby Lama Temple and a little shopping. The visit to the temple was humbling as it made us realise we had very little knowledge of Buddhist practices. All the time you wander round the impressive temple admiring the huge and ornate buildings and sculptures of Buddha, you’re surrounded by people and families coming to worship. Getting to see the 25m high Buddha in the last building was worth the small entry fee alone.

Having left our bags with the hotel we returned mid afternoon to collect them and head out to a hotel we'd booked close to the airport to make the early start a little easier. We grabbed the two subway lines out to the airport finding we had to buy the 2yuan ticket for the inner city then grab a 25yuan ticket in the transition onto the airport express subway line. Once inside the impressive terminal building we were trying to figure the best way to the hotel, and after asking at the information desk about bus routes, our hotel appeared to be on their list for supplying a free transfer. The kind staff gave the hotel a call and a little over 15 minutes later we were in a minibus heading to the hotel. It was about half way between the two terminals in the middle of an industrial area. Once checked in, we headed down to the restaurant to grab some dinner and found a menu with absolutely no english translations. One of the members of staff came and helped us pick our way through the selection of food on offer, commenting on some dishes as 'Chinese food, you won't like', by this we assumed they were made from internal parts rather than more recognisable limbs. We enjoyed the food, even if we weren't entirely sure what some of the dishes were. With breakfast included, we headed down a little before 7am and sampled the Chinese version of breakfast, consisting of a few varieties of congee and a selection of steamed buns. Having had our fill we checked out and took the transfer back the airport arriving in comfortable time for our 10am flight we checked our luggage in and headed through security to wait to board our flight.

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Photos

Dinner At Da Dong
Ornate parrots made from Bok Choi

Comments

[RENanDREW]

Enjoyed reading your blog! The night markets sounded very interesting, as did Yuxin Park.