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Published: February 10th 2007
Welcome
to the Forbidden CityAggh! Night two in Beijing I roll my ankle resulting in a broken metatarsil. So close. I was so close to making it home without any major accident or illness. And then I stupidly roll my ankle on the cold sidewalks of Beijing. So much for running to warm up. It's time to go buy a big parka. And buy big parkas I did. I hit the black market and found North Face jackets, Mountain Hardware jackets, ArcTeryx, etc at DIRT cheap prices. $300 US parka in the States cost about $20 here. And you could probably do better if you tried. A wind proof fleece style jacket, $15 US. Amazing. I'm sure I'll find out ooner or later what exactly they skimped on, but these things look like the real deal. Hell, they're probably made in the same factory as the real deal, but on overtime. And I'm proud to report, 2 months later as I write this, I've had no problems. China does things like this to you. It makes you wonder why we pay so much for the things we do. Brand names, reputation, we pay a premium. A big one. Imagine if these knock offs didn't have
Inside the Network
The Forbidden City is surrounded by pathways, temples, and numerous passageways like these. a brand name...they'd probably cost $5 US. But China isn't immune to brand name and luxury. If anything, it's more ridiculous here as the newly rich are going all out with their money. The disparity is much bigger here than back home too so everything is in contrast. Let's take a simple thing like lunch as an example. I can go to Pizza Hut, a cheap American pizza chain (in America). But here, Pizza Hut is a respectable sit down restaurant that even garners lines out the front door. But the crazy thing isn't that people here love Pizza Hut pizza. I mean, come on, who doesn't like pizza? No, the crazy thing is the prices. A large pizza could cost you $30 US dollars here. Now let's compare that to something local and traditional. Outside my hostel I stopped for Chinese Dumplings every day. I ordered the ones with pork on the inside of a thick soft bready exterior. Four dumplings would cost me less than $1 US dollar. I could go get a feast of udon noodles, tea, meat skewers, and plenty of tasty items for about $5 US a person. All better than pizza hut pizza. Madness!
Melting Stones
Granted these carvings are hundreds of years old, but it looks as if recent history (and acid rain) has done some serious damage to the detail. Other than my report on food, I don't have too much to share. I didn't make it to the great wall. I did make it to the Forbidden City (my only pictures in Beijing.) Beijing's getting ready for the 2008 Olympics so half the ancient city is repainted, a quarter still untouched, and a quarter under scaffolding. I actually liked the repainted parts best. They haven't cheapend it in any way and it is very impressive. You can imagine how truly luxurious and impressive that city was back in the day. Another part of the city I really liked was the art gallery community in the NE part of the city. I can never get enough of artists turning old industrial space into galleries, studios, etc. The place was huge, atleast 4 square blocks, with cafes, bookshops, galleries, etc...all unique and boutique. I would have liked to have spent more time there if it weren't so cold, and I weren't so broken.
Oh, I can comment on my visit to the Beijing hospital. It was very clean. I walked in (with my hostel owner as interpreter), registered myself, saw a doctor, got an x-ray, and diagnoses,
Old dude, old city
This guy was classic old Chinese dude with grey stringy confuscious-like beard. Too bad he wasn't looking my way when I snapped this one. The background is kinda perty too. all in under 40 minutes, and for less than $30 US dollars. Sweet! Unfortunately finding crutches tall enough were a bit of a problem and mine were about 2 inches too short. Not a big deal, but certainly 5 weeks later I was rather sick of it😞 I would definitely like to go back when I'm mobile and take advantage of all the things I missed out on. There's even talk of banning spitting for the olympics, so that might be a nice time to come back. Oh, the spitting. More on that in my Shanghai blog coming up.
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Caroline
non-member comment
Black market
Hi, I loved your photos. I'm going to Beijing in May and wanted to buy some hiking gear like Northface. Can you tell me where the markets are that you went to? Hope your ankle is better - and thanks for the warning about the foot paths! Cheers.