Advertisement
Published: April 19th 2009
Edit Blog Post
Forbidden City
front entrance to the Forbidden City BEIJING - ENTRY 1
Arrival
....Landed on thursday at 4pm, 12 hours ahead of EST....
We got off of the airport exhausted, obtained our bags, and exited with ease. We were told that the best way to get from the airport to the hostel was by public bus. After a 30 minute bus ride, we were dropped off in the middle of nowhere in downtown Beijing. Very quickly after departing the bus, we were approached by this man who spoke very fluent English and offered us a taxi ride.
" Taxi! TAXI! I give you ride for 50 Yuan!"
We were told to barter, so we haggled our way down to approximately 30 Yuan ($6 Cdn). We agreed to cab since it was the first night and we were very tired. He walked towards his "taxi" which turned out to be nothing more than a bicycle with a wagon attached to the rear end. There was absolutely no way we were getting in the back of that, nor would we fit even if we had wanted. He started to follow us and he persued us more than a block in attempt to
get us on his bike. Eventually, he gave up, so we continued. Since we were green to the public transportation system and had a hard time understanding how it really worked, we were forced to walk and ask for directions. After two hours and countless talks with broken english, we had arrived at our destination. The first night was very relaxed, and was spent in and around the hostel. There were other travellers there as well who were very friendly, and it was easy to strike up conversation. We met a man from Brazil named Guiherme or 'Gui' who was in Beijing on business. We met a few American boys from Michigan, then went to sleep around 9:30pm.
First day in Beijing
The next day we woke at 4:30 am which is definintely not the most pleasant time to get up. We actually both woke at the same time and were not sure what to do. After two hours of trying to get back to sleep, we got ready and left for the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. When we arrived at the Square, it was 7:30am and the crowds had already started to disperse. People were
Zhong Shan Park
Tulip park located in Beijing already there in the thousands, and by 10am the Square was an absolute zoo. The lineups were something that is unheard of anywhere else, and I wouldnt be surprised in the least if they were between 5000-10,000. We did our own tour of the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. We didn't actually enter the Forbidden City as the line's were too long by the time we had returned to the spot.
Also went to a garden which was called 'Zhong Shan Park'. It was a flower garden that cost us 10 Yuan each, close to $3 Cdn. This was probably the most peaceful and relaxing place that I have ever been. As we walked in, everythinhg was green. The tulips were in full bloom throughout the garden, and the walking paths were accompanied by large weeping willows the entire way. One activity that sort of caught our eye was a group of women, between the ages of 35 - 60 and roughly 25 of them in a small square. All of them were performing a sort of tai chi and I captured a short and not-so-great video with them for a few seconds. There was also a stream that
Beijing Olympic Stadium
Olympic Stadium for opening and closing ceremonies. flowed through the garden and under the temples and bridges. The serenity of this park made it hard to leave. At this point in our day, it was roughly 11am. We had been out for four hours, awake for seven hours, and we still hadn't eaten yet since our delicious meal of beef on our Air Canada flight. Our quest for food did not last too long however. We had seen a Subway on our way to the Forbidden City, so our goal was to return and get a sandwich. We decided against it when we saw the bacon and meats behind the counter. Very unappealing. The bacon looked like it had been sitting there for a week or more, and the meat looked quite suspicious. We found an authentic Chinese restaurant and got a chicken fried rice, along with a salted beef with vegetables. We used the chopsticks (like we had a choice) and made out fairly well. Dave could use some practice! The meal overall ended up being 100 Yuan, or $20 Cdn. After our meal we doubled back to the hostel to attempt at a quick nap. As we get back, we saw Gui on the front
Water Cube
This is where the water sports were held for the 2008 Olympics stoop. He suggested we go to the market, so we turned around and were back out.
Olympic Park
After that, we decided to see the Olympic Park. We went to the Olympic Stadium where the 2008 Beijing Olympics were held. We payed 50 RMB for entry to the stadium, but since we had gone that far we were going to go in. The structure from the outside was unbelievable. Naming it 'the Bird's Nest' was very appropriate. There were a multitude of metal beams that crossed within each other to portray the name perfectly. We walked inside and met another American couple who had been teaching in southern Asia and who's contact had just expired so they were doing a little travelling themselves. We snapped a few pictures with them, chatted, and went on our way. We walked down on the field and took a few more pictures from an athletes perspective and realized how amazing it must have been to have had the chance to compete in such a place. There was an exhibition where you could stand as an Olympic Winner and have your picture taken with the Chinese National Flag around your shoulders
Meat Market
from 7pm - 10pm, hundreds of street vendors selling squid, scorpion, shark, snake...and all on a stick! Mmmmm.... and a gold medal on your chest. The cost was 200 RMB, so we decided to pass. We left and walked by the water cube, whihc is where the water sports were held during the olympics, and again, the name of the building certainly fit. A perfect cube, and blue in colour. The walls were just a mass of bubbles.
After this, we decided to head back to the hostel. We wanted to get some food, but decided agianst it because we were offered some beer. We had a couple beer with Gui and another couple from Holland. We sat out for a few hours and drank Chinese Beer, which cost us 3.5 RMB, so close to 75 cents CDN for a 600ml beer. Not bad at all I must say, and the taste was definitely enjoyable. After 3 or 4 of those, we decided to venture back out into the city as we heard there was a night market with a variety of vendors. The meat vendors stretched for nearly a kilometre, and sold everything. We saw cockroaches on a stick, frogs, squid, scorpions, shark meat, turtles and the ever so popular, testicles on a stick.
DEEEEE-licious!! I was hesitant to try any of this food merely for health reasons, but saw that it was all very clean, and everything was deep fried prior to serving. I started out with a stick of deep fried prawns, which were cooked shell and all. The prawns were decent, but I felt adventerous that night and decided to take Gui up on his dare and ate some deep fried snake with him. The first bite was chewy, salty, and sort of tasted like turkey. The second bite was the most awful thing I had ever placed in my mouth. My mind had quickly realized that I was in fact eating a snake, and therefore rejected any further efforts to finish my delicacy. We took a quick walk around the block and went back to the hostel. The night was through, and I decided to retire.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.102s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 7; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0492s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Sheena
non-member comment
Have Fun!
Hey Jeremy.....your trip sounds awesome so far! I hope that you have a great time. Take lots of pictures and keep updating :)