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Published: April 24th 2007
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"How hard could it be? I bike all the time in Amsterdam. Why didn't I think of this before?" were my thoughts this morning when I decided that my feet and, particularly my ankle, would appreciate a bit of a rest. So, intrepid (or stupid, some might say) soul that I am, I found a bike rental place (about 6 Euro for the day) and rented a Beijing bike. Beijing bikes (at least the one I had) are actually better than your normal, everyday Amsterdam bike. Handbrakes, nice bell, basket on the front and clamps on the back, and no rust. I started out at 10.00 with the goal of getting to Silk City, a 6-story market in the southeast of the city.
I love maps, so I had carefully studied my Beijing map to determine the best route. Took about 20 minutes of rather slow (for me) cycling as I was gawking at everything and knew better than to bomb through as I normally do in Amsterdam. I passed mega-hotels and small hutongs (more about them later), stores and more stores and even more stores. The bike path is about as wide as a three lane highway in
Europe. No kidding! On big streets at least. In the alleys you're on your own to battle it out with the pedal-rickshaws, taxis, cars, and pedestrians.
I found te store with no problem and located the bike parking (about 10 cents to park your bike in a protected area) and set off to do some haggling.
The name Silk Market is a bit of a misnomer. There is silk, yes, but there's also everything else you can think of. I didn't go to all 6 floors because each floor had literally hundreds of stalls. I'll spare you the details of the haggling, but will say that I got some great deals on things that I wanted and managed to shrug off those vendors who grabbed my arm and tried to forceably pull me into their stall. I definitely do not buy from hard-sales types like that. There were clothes of every style, shape and brand (knock-offs, of course), fabrics of all types, jewelry, household items, luggage, bags, scarves, tablecloths, bed linens and covers, toys, handicrafts, coats, shoes and much, much more.
Famished after all my hard negotiating, I headed upstairs to have a bite. I was surprised
The road north of Tienanmen Square
I took this photo from the bike path. This gives you an idea how WIDE the road is. Notice that you can't even SEE the cars going in the other direction! to find that the restaurant was the same chain in which I had eaten the night before. The woman was putting the accoutrements for Peking Duck on the table when I told her that was not what I wanted. Dumplings would do just fine, with a Tsingtao, of course. The restaurant was spacious, the service good, and the dumplings delicious. The bathroom was spotless with western toilets. They even gave me a comment card to fill out on my dining experience. Definitely recommend it, even though it's a bit pricey for China. My lunch cost about 3 euro.
Refreshed, I headed back downstairs and browsed a bit more, but I was about shopped out at this point. I decided to head back to the hotel and drop off my goodies before embarking on a cycle trip around the Forbidden City along the moat. The hotel staff got a kick out of the old lady (that's me) riding around on a bike and we all shared a laugh.
The Forbidden City is very close (in Beijing terms) to the hotel so I arrived quickly and enjoyed the trip around. You can't entirely circle it, the road only is open
about 3/4 of the way around. The day was bright and hot, and people were sitting along the banks of the moat in the shade. Fisherman were bringing in their catch and couples were picknicking. On exiting the road around the city, I decided to go straight across the street and look at some hutongs there. The maps showed clearly how to go. I crossed the street and got a few feet along before a policeman stopped me. Not allowed. I waved my apologies, got out of there fast and headed south toward Tienanmen Square. The road at the north end of the square must be 12 lanes wide and the bike path at least another 4 lanes. Again, not kidding. I didn't get off and go onto the square because I could take in all the sights from the bike lane (and take photos from there). Besides, it's really just a HUGE slab of concrete and it was a hot day. The breeze from the bike kept me cool and I decided to head south to find a neighborhood tourist market I had read about.
This is in the area west of the Temple of Heaven where they
A classic, I think
This is the kind of sight you see quite often in Beijing. I liked his traditional look. It's hard taking photos like this though because a foreigner is often stared at and I think it's impolite to take someone's picture without their permission. I waited until he couldn't crane his neck any further to look at me before I took this one. are demolishing everything to put up new buildings, but there was a very short, small market with a few customers right next to the northernmost demolition area. The prices were stunning. I was glad that I hadn't bought too much at the Silk Market because these prices were easily 50% less! I filled my bike basket again and set off to look at the hutongs across the road.
Hutongs are the traditional Beijing style of housing . . . the old style. One story courtyard houses where, once upon a time, grandparents would live with their children and grandchildren. Some hutongs have been rennovated. These had not. The word hutong actually means the alley in between the walled courtyards. The size was human, about the size of a small Amsterdam street like the Nieuwe Leliestraat or the Tuinstraat. People were sitting outside in the shade, eating fruit. A group of old men sat at a corner playing mah jong, with the onlookers providing exclamations with every move. There were small stores, barber shops, produce stands, caged birds hanging outside some hutongs (sorry, James), and people walking about taking care of their daily busiess. I guess most of us would
Chairman Mao
This is the famous Tienanmen ("men" means gate, so I guess it's actually Tienan Gate)with the Chairman's photo. call them slums but, in a strange way, it was much more human than anything else I've seen in Beijing. I guess because it had the feel of a real neighborhood.
At this point it was 17.00 and I was beginning to think that it would be a good idea to head home. I took a different route and in no time at all I was back at the bike stand, having cycled/shopped/walked for about 6 hours. My ankle hardly bothered me, thank goodness, although it's still sore to touch (so I try not to touch it!). I highly recommend biking here, especially for my Dutch friends who are so used to biking in Holland.
A "student" convinced me to look at his calligraphy on the way back to the hotel (he even knew how to say "How are you?" in Dutch so I figured that was worth a visit. His teacher was there and after haggling I bought a small watercolor of an orchid. Very simple style. Very reasonable price. It's hard for me to haggle about art, easier about non-creative products!
I discovered a supermarket right next to the hotel and stocked up on "strange Chinese food" for Tammie and my other colleagues as well as buying a small cooked chicken and some bread for my dinner. Sat on the bed and chowed down as if I hadn't eaten in days. Really, really good and I was ready for some peace and quiet.
I don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow. It's my last day here. I want to go to the Summer Palace but that's a way away (though I do know the public bus number . . the Dutch-speaking "student" provided it to me). I know it is supposed to be a must-see but I guess it is a we-will-see as I'm still not sure.
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Corinne
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fietskoningin
en fietsen maar!!! hoe doe je dat allemaal? Het moet een prachtige ervaring zijn geweest. Die straten zijn halve dorpen. Zie je buiten de fietsers ook rollerskaters? Ik weet zo gauw niet wat te vragen ben onder de indruk van je reisverhalen. Hier is alles o.k. heb nog met Rob gegeten gisteravond bij de Blauwe Pot in de Westerstraat, ik had een afspraak en had nog tijd voor een snelle bite, gezellie met Rob erbij en Rusty natuurlijk, lieve hond is dat. Nou schatteschoet tot gauw!!! dikke zoen, Corinne.