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In the land of national holidays, i.e. Japan, there are three days off in the first week of May. These days make up Golden Week. With a few extra days of holiday leave, I had a week to enjoy yet another Asian adventure. I spent my Golden Week on a whirlwind tour of Beijing and Shanghai with my friends Jennifer, Julie and Ellie.
It took a day of travel to get from Hiroshima to Beijing. We flew first to Shanghai, and transferred planes to Beijing. When we got to the airport, there was a nice man (Martin) waiting for us to take us to our hostel…great door to door service! From the beginning, Beijing by far exceeded my expectations. I highly recommend a visit! I think the fact that it wasn’t an overly modern or fast-paced city surprised me. It was extremely busy, because China had national holidays as well. The crowds were unbelievably huge. But when we were away from tourist destinations, Beijing seemed very relaxed and quaint….err, well as quaint as a bit city can be.
We stayed at the
Beijing Downtown Backpackers (a fantastic place!), which was cheap, clean, and had extremely nice and helpful staff.
I can honestly say that it is probably the best hostel that I’ve ever stayed in. It is located in a traditional Chinese neighborhood, tucked away from the major streets and crowds.
Hutongs are examples of traditional Beijing neighbourhoods. They are lanes and alleys of residences made of small gates and low-rise buildings. In our time spent walking around the little streets, we found many interesting things.
First off, food! Every meal we had was fantastic. In Japan (at least where we are all located), it’s difficult to get authentic international cuisine. For this reason, we didn’t always eat Chinese food. There were just so many great and tiny restaurants that served everything and anything that we missed from home, we couldn’t resist! Mediterranean, Italian, French, Chinese....yum, yum, yum.
One of my most prominent memories of our stay in this Beijing neighbourhood is the "local entertainment". Beside the hostel there is a tea house, run by a family. A couple of nights in a row, the father was joined by his his wife and baby son. This little boy and I had a lot of fun play fighting and chasing each other around the street. He had a
lot of sass for such a little guy! In my photos I call him the "slobbery little bugger"...he constantly had drool everywhere! Another source of entertainment were the alleyway gyms. Randomly throughout the city, in between small shops and homes, there are groups of exercise equipment. It seems a little strange, however they were always being used, and it really is a great way to promote physical fitness. (a little dangerous at night though when there are no lights .....lesson learned!)
The Olympics are set to come to Beijing in 2008. The countdown is very prominent in the city. There are clocks counting down the time, and paraphernalia being sold everywhere. The large countdown clock is in Tianamen Square. I can't say for sure because I haven't been to Beijing before, but I think the Olympics are probably the cause for construction everywhere. There is a lot of work being done on the city and surrounding areas.
Our hostel offered a night out at the Red Theatre for a
Kung Fu show. Our theme song of the day (and the rest of the trip...it is annoyingly addictive) was "Everybody was Kung Fu fighting. Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do....." The show was amazing.
Try to picture this: boys and men doing back flips, but landing on their heads on the way over instead of their hands! I had a hard time following the story because I was on edge the entire time thinking someone was going to snap their neck! The pamphlet gives this description for the storyline:
In an ancient temple we encounter a little boy. Through practicing KungFu and Zen he becomes a master and finally reaches the sacred goal of enlightenment. It was fantastic! Other night life was cool too...including a bar called "Shut Up and Drink", and roof top patios with riverside views.
I LOVE shopping, and since it is so expensive to buy anything in Japan, I was really looking forward to some bargains in China. Unfortunately, I didn't leave myself enough time to get all that I wanted. Or, maybe it's better that I didn't! Our time alotted for the Silk Market was an afternoon. A major walk, and subway ride got us there with a few hours to practice our bargaining skills. It took me a while to warm up; however I got my game face on, and walked away with great deals. My favourite
purchase is a small, colourful painting of Buddha.
In days to come.... The Forbidden City! The Great Wall of China! The Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace! ....and then off to Shanghai....
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Stayshi
Stacey Osterman
Ni Hao!
Unfortunately this is one of the only Chinese phrases I know! So happy to see your pics and read your comments! I'm glad that you had a great time in China. I love those exercise machines...craziness:) Xie xie for the sharing...keep it coming!