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Published: February 11th 2009
So I have just a really quick funny story to tell you before I tell you about our trip to Beijing... We have noticed that doing laundry in Korea has been different. Our clothes seemed crunchy, and for a while I have wondered about the type of soap we are using. I had bought a Korean English dictionary recently, and so I decided to investigate further... I brought out the soap bag and started looking up characters I saw on the bag in the dictionary. I thought the dictionary would be easy to use, but I usually can’t find the word... so out of the whole bag of soap, I found 2 words in my dictionary... lifetime and silverwear. Uh oh. Yup, you guessed it. For the past 4 months we have been using dish washing soap to wash our clothes.
Beijing was absolutely amazing. Probably one of our favourite trips. We did all you could possible do in a span of 5 days. You name it, we did it. We came away with phenomenal pictures, incredible memories and many, many fake, cheap goods The plane flight on the way to Beijing was by far the worst I’ve been
Inside Pearl Market
our first Beijing shopping experienceon so far. It was only 2 hours long, but we experienced mega turbulence during the last hour of landing. The plane was only like 400 degrees overheated, and I was starting to feel that rice and beef plane food wanting to resurface... Luckily it was not me that puked, but the lady beside me.... I saw it coming, the lady reaching for the hidden, hard to find airplane bags, and I had to turn, plug my ears, and sing a song to myself so I wouldn’t hear here. Fortunately, I made it through the whole affair without losing my lunch, and we landed safe and sound for my first step into Beijing, China.
I have only been to the United States, Mexico, and now Korea. So, going to China was a huge adventure. We absolutely loved it. There were 2 Chinese men waiting at the airport with a sign with our name on it (I’m really starting to get used to that), who took us not even 30 minutes in a car to our hostel. It was about noon by the time we got there, so we checked into our private room and came down for a bite
to eat. I haven’t stayed in many hostels in my life, and I wasn’t really sure what to expect. But let me tell you, there is only one place to stay in Beijing, and it is at this Jade Youth Hostel. For $40 a night, we got our own room, own bathroom, towels, blankets, and even those little hotel shampoos and soaps. It was very clean, very comfortable, and they were so hospitable. The lounge was convenient, offering lots of cheap drinks and incredible food. Mike and I realized we like Chinese food way better than Korean food. Probably because it is more deep fried and less healthy for you...
So, day one we decided to go straight to the silk market and see what all this shopping is about. We tried the pearl market first, but it was smaller and we weren’t really into it. We headed over to the silk market. Just imagine... like 6 floors of cheap, knock off stuff... It was very overwhelming at first. You walk down an aisle and there are small, maybe 5 by 6 foot stalls lining it with all kinds of things - polo shirts, north face jackets, Abercrombie and Fitch
At Temple of Heaven
It sure was cold out! hoodies, silk, scarves, ties, shoes, watches, gold clubs, souvenirs, you name it, they had it. And as you’re walking all you hear is “pretty lady, do you need a jacket? Pretty lady, you need a shirt! Pretty lady, come look at jeans. Or, to Mike they’d say “Do you need shirt for your girlfriend?” in which case he’d almost always yell back, “She’s my wife!”. Finally, when you decided you’d like to look at something in their “closet”, you stop and get bombarded. Once you touch something or show interest in something, you are absolutely hooped. Then the real game begins. It’s something called bartering. I’ve never experienced anything like this in my life. They name a price, and you are supposed to go 10% of that, not paying anything more than 20% of what they originally quote you. So, as soon as you say 10%, it’s like listening to a broken record, they almost all say the same thing “You’re killing me”, or “Is that joking price?” They claim things of how you are getting a good quality, real item, and that they can’t even cover cost. So you name your final price and then start walking away. This
Temple of Heaven
This was a local hangout, people everywhere singing in choirs and playing cards. It was really neat. is when things get really interesting. They either let you go and start yelling after you “Okay, 500. 300! 100!!!!” until they finally go down to your price. Or, they may not even let you leave their store, they grab onto your arm and try to say there is no need to go, we are just talking. The first time I tried this bartering thing I walked away knowing I had paid too much, and absolutely exhausted by the effort. But by the end of the trip, I had gotten the hang of it. It’s true what they say about your back being your best bargaining tool. It was incredible how we got some prices from 7000 RMB starting down to 290RMB, a difference of $1300 down to $50. It felt pretty good. So I walked away with some pretty nice shirts, jeans and accessories, and Mike got some work shirts, shoes, and golf clubs!
The second day we had booked a trip to the great wall of China. We were dreading it a bit since Saturday we had to wake up at 4 to make our flight, and then Sunday we had to wake up at 5:30 to
be ready for the tour leaving at 6. There were 2 different tours we could do. We could do the “touristy” one, where we were on the wall for about an hour, seeing renovated parts of the great wall, and shop for a bit, or we could do the “not so touristy” one, where we took a 4 hour bus ride each way and hiked 10 km on the great wall. After some thought, we finally decided to take the ‘less touristy’ one. So I’m thinking, okay I’m not in that bad of shape, walking 10 km can’t be that bad... Most people could walk 10 km... But I guess I wasn’t really thinking about the fact that the great wall is in the mountains. So I would like to change its name to the great mountain.
The bus ride wasn’t that bad, we slept most of the way and arrived in good time. The pee stops along the way were interesting to say the least, let’s just say the squatters in China reached a whole new low... I ended up at one point using a men’s washroom with no lock on the door, trying to hold the door
Mike's big purchase
buying cheap, fake golf clubs at the Silk Market shut while at the same time trying not to fall over.... it’s not an easy task. Another time I actually used a washroom that was 3 squatters in a row, no dividers, hoping and praying that no one would come in.
Once we got to our area of the wall and started climbing, it was the most incredible feeling and view. Our tour was not that big, and we were the only tour in that area. Mike and I could be walking for minutes without anyone else in sight. They dropped us off on one side of the wall and we had 4 hours to complete the 10 kms. The tour guide was supposed to be English, but I’m not really sure that’s what he was speaking. He was very hard to understand and on the bus ride there he was explaining what we needed to do. All I heard was, “Go to the wall, turn left, turn right, turn left and if you exit off the wall turn right, and you will see a tower, and turn left and ...” uh oh. Then “once you reach the tower you will need to give them your ticket to get through
my weakness...
Shopping at the Silk Market and pay to get across the bridge. Once you cross the bridge you may find the blue building with a blue sign. There will be a blue minibus to take you to the restaurant. The driver is a small man with a big belly.” By this time I was so confused I thought for sure I was going to get lost on the great wall, I couldn’t even remember if I was supposed to go left or right... But, it turns out his instructions were much less complicated than they sounded. We toured and viewed 30 tours, walking 10 km of untouched wall. It was incredible. The history behind it all added to the magnificence of the scenery. It was a beautiful, sunny (but VERY cold) day, and the mountainous ranges were spectacular. We took many pictures, and took our time enjoying the view. Every once in a while you’d turn around and see the winding wall stretch into the mountains behind you. It was by far one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen or done in my life. And I’d just like to say, the 10 km on the wall was not near as easy as I thought.
Great Wall
Getting reading to start the walk The hiking was so steep and treacherous at times, I did not think I was going to make it. By the end of the hike my legs felt like jello, and I was sore for three days after. But, it was all worth it.
That night was the official Chinese New Years Eve. We were so exhausted from the day we relaxed in the hostel and went to bed fairly early. But, I had every intention of waking up at midnight to see the wonderful display of fireworks. You see, from the moment we had gotten off the airplane, we had heard none stop fireworks and firecrackers. They sell them on every street corner. Literally. The Chinese believe in an old traditional story of a spirit coming on a village and getting scared by the sound of the cracking leaves beneath their feet. (Or something like that, sorry if I’m butchering the story). So now they all set off firecrackers at the door of their home or store every new years to scare away the bad spirits for the year, and to give good luck. So come about 11:30 that night, I got woken up by an enormous amount of
fireworks. I went to the window to witness probably the second coolest thing I had seen on the trip. From our hostel window, Mike and I watched a complete 180 degree view of fireworks lighting up the sky. You know the sad small town fireworks that I grew up with, where one little man is running around lighting all the fireworks and then there’s that 30 second finale that is really pretty? Well, we witnessed about an hour of an entire sky of those amazing finale style fireworks where there is firework after firework lighting up the sky. It took my breath away.
Okay, I really hope I’m not boring you, this is by far the longest blog I’ve written. Please, stand up and stretch, take a break, go get a coffee....
By day three we were sore and tired, but ready to make the most of all that Beijing has to offer. We decided to conquer the bus system which was actually very easy (only 20 cents to ride), to go to Tiananmen square and the forbidden city. These were displays of amazing architecture and lots of interesting history. We spent the day there with millions of other Chinese
people, walking around and taking pictures. That night we managed to see Wafujiing street, a famous street of shopping, another really cool street lit up with lights where a trolley travelled through, and the traditional Beijing night market with all types of different food. We saw deep fried starfish, grasshoppers, seahorses, and all the likes, although we weren’t quite feeling brave enough to try any. We did however try kabobs of fruit covered in syrupy sugar, very hard to eat. We enjoyed McDonalds (a must do in every country you visit), and walked a huge, gigantic mall in Wafujiing street. That day we tried to find a spot with dragon dances and traditional Chinese New Years celebrations, but the cabbi took us to this random street with no parties to be in sight. So we got out, walked a bit, and got into another cab, discouraged. This cab driver was younger so we tried explaining what we wanted, and all he said was “Shopping Party?” Two words that definitely should go together. We were all like “YEAH!”, and then we laughed and he dropped us off somewhere near Tiananmen square. There just seemed to be millions of people gathered in
squares everywhere, but I wasn’t able to find the traditional celebrations I wanted to.
The next day was pretty low key in the morning, relaxing and reading in the hostel. That afternoon we went to the summer palace and stayed until sunset. It was beautiful. Many Chinese people all walking on what looked to me like thin ice, a beautiful big bridge that brought you out to an island, and big Buddhist temples built into the hills. It was great.
We also found a wonderful Chinese restaurant while we were there. It was cheap, clean, and the food was incredible. We had dry fried beans, which quickly became a favourite of ours, this succulent shrimp, noodles, and kung pao chicken. Wow. I could definitely live in China.
On the last day, we decided to make one last trip to the Silk Market. We spent the wad, and I walked away having done enough shopping to last me a while!
One thing that I noticed was the difference between Korean and Chinese people. Chinese people are so friendly! They stare like Korean people, but they smile at you, and I got asked 3 times for a picture with them! The Chinese
people are very real, and seem so happy. They were so helpful, and we were able to learn the bus system so easily!
Okay I just have to tell you, while I am writing this blog, Mike is surfing the channels on TV and found a Korean thumb wrestling show... man I love the hilariousness of this culture...
Until next time. Mike and Amy.
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Julie
non-member comment
Love your update and pictures! I'm glad to see you guys having an incredible time on this adventure!