China (Part I - Beijing)

I'm back from my trip to China! (Let's pretend I posted this right after I returned to Japan.) I can't believe two weeks went by just like that! I had an awesome time in China, I'm SO glad we went. I have never been more proud to say that I'm Chinese after spending 13 days in this amazing country. Seriously. China is magnificient. If you ever have the time and money, I'd definitely recommend booking a private tour, even if it does cost a million dollars. =)

DAY 1 - BEIJING 北京
Tour Guide: Lynn (aka Cheeky Panda)
Driver: Mr. Du

After a full day of traveling, we arrived in Beijing late in the evening. Our tour guide, Lynn, spoke amazing English. I was so surprised when she told us that she's never been abroad. We referred to Lynn as "Cheeky Panda" b/c of how Chinese she is, in a sneaky, but transparent way. This is all meant in a good way, b/c we really liked her! It was funny, b/c when she asked us where we were from, I said, "California," to which she responded, "But you look Asian..." In the car ride to our hotel, she asked if Jeff and I were a couple. She also asked if I spoke Chinese and I told her that I only speak Cantonese, which is a pretty useless language, to which she agreed. Then, while helping us check-in at the hotel, she said, "Two rooms, right?" seeing that Jeff and I were just friends. Oh, how the Chinese way of thinking amuses me. She also told us something very interesting. They have a saying in Chinese that if you want to see China from 5,000 years ago, go to Xi'an. If you want to see China from 500 years ago, go to Beijing. And if you want to see China from 50 years ago, visit Shanghai. We went to all of these places, plus Guilin! Woot!

Jeff and I noticed right away how HOT Beijing men are. The security guard at our hotel was HOT and so was the worker at the sketchy hole-in-the-wall conbini across from our hotel. Just an hour after arriving we were seeing HOT Chinese men! Things were looking good.

Anyway, we stayed in Tiantan Hotel, a 4-star hotel. Tours are great b/c you get to travel in comfort!

DAY 2 - BEIJING 北京 (Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Hutong, Temple of Heaven, Wangfujing)

We woke up bright and early the second day, which just so happened to fall on winter solstice. Our first stop was Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. We were lucky b/c Beijing wasn't as cold as we had anticipated. That didn't stop us from using our 30 hokkairos (heat pads) though! Lynn was an excellent tour guide; she told us a lot about the history of these places w/o it being overwhelming. I do have to admit that I did zone out at some parts tho. =P She also kept us on our toes by quizzing us about Chinese history/facts every 5 seconds! Sadly, our answer almost all of the time was, "I don't know." Haha. It was a good thing that she asked us questions tho, as it helped us remember facts for the latter part of our trip.

Here is some info for ya. Tiananmen Square is the largest public square in the world and it can hold up to 500,000 people. Mao's mausoleum is also located w/i the square. The Forbidden City is located north of Tiananmen Square and it was the Chinese imperial palace during the Ming and the Qing Dynasties (I can't even remember how many times Lynn said "Ming" and "Qing" throughout our tour). It was built between 1406 and 1420, years before Columbus discovered America! It is the world's largest palace complex and it is surrounded by a moat and a 10 meter high wall. The original complex was said to contain 9,999 rooms (9 is a lucky number to the Chinese...don't cha know? =)) If the emperor were to stay in a different room for every day of his life, it would've taken him over 20 years to have slept in each room. He was also entitled to numerous concubines, some findings list as many as 3,000! Um, gross! Also, they've built a Starbucks w/i the Forbidden City...I kid you not. It's unfortunate, but sadly, we sort of wanted a drink while we were nearby! I guess it's a good thing Lynn didn't take us in that direction, or else we would've really been tempted. Sadness.

After visiting Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, we agreed to an optional tour to the Hutong area. Hutongs are narrow streets/alleys formed by traditional courtyard residences. We rode in rickshaws to tour the area, then visited a local family who lived w/i the Hutong. Because of the rarity of Hutongs in modern day Beijing, the owner of these residences can get up to 1/2 million dollars for it! That's a LOT of money, especially in China! However, the head of the household we visited wasn't about to sell his share, as his family has lived there for generations.

We had our first lunch thru the tour after the Hutongs. Little did we know that we'd be served 10 dishes for every meal from there on out. Seriously. The amount of food they serve on tours is ridiculous. I mean, if Jeff and I think it's too much food, then there's a problem! Haha.

After lunch we stopped by the tour agency to pay what looked like $1 million for our tour. We were also very Japanese in that we brought omiyage (souvenirs) for our sales agent, Crystal, and Lynn.

Our next stop was the Temple of Heaven, the place where the emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties worshipped heaven and prayed for peace and harvest. It's a very nice and peaceful area. On this one path, we saw many senior citizens playing cards, Chinese chess, and even Chinese hacky sack! It was cool to watch as they were skilled!

During our car ride around the various sites, we asked Lynn about her opinions on Americans and the Japanese. She said that Chinese people think that Americans are good people, but that we just have a bad government. However, she really really dislikes Japanese people. Seriously. I knew that the two sides didn't get along, but it wasn't until China that I realized just how deep the animosity runs, since Japanese people are still very Japanese when talking about the Chinese, although it's obvious they don't like them either! Lynn said that Japanese people are in fact Chinese, or of Chinese decent, so I guess it doesn't seem right in her mind for Japanese people to think they're better than the Chinese?? I dunno. But yeah, apparently, her cousin does everything in his power to boycott Japanese products.

Lynn asked us what our zodiac signs were, a very transparent way of attempting to figure out our age. Also, she said that there's a joke they have in Chinese where they say Cantonese people will eat anything with four legs with the exception of a table and a chair. Hahahaha. Sort of true, I guess.

We had a free night so Jeff and I decided to go to the Wangfujing shopping area by ourselves. Taxis in China are cheap cheap. The base fare starts at a little over $1. We took taxis whenever we were on our own. We were trying to help the Chinese economy...at least that's what we told ourselves. Anyway, the city of Beijing really feels bigger than life. The streets are wide, the buildings are big, and the people are giants! We walked by so many people who were taller than Jeff, and that's not common in Asia! So yeah, the men in Beijing are tall and cute. Let's moving to Beijing right now!

At Wangfujing, we hit a DVD store and just decided to buy everything that caught our eye as CDs/DVDs are cheap cheap cheap in China! There's no real need to even find pirated stuff as originals are soooo inexpensive. We just walked around and explored the area. We even found a street vendor area. Unfortunately, the restaurant Lynn recommended was under rennovation, so we decided to eat at what looked liked a busy Chinese dumpling restaurant. Since the menu was in Chinese, we had a bit of an issue. I was just going to ask the waitress to recommend some dishes, but that didn't seem likely either as the waitresses there reminded me of ones at Sam Woo back in San Diego. Luckily, we sat across from a Chinese lady who spoke English! She asked if we needed help and offered to order for us in Chinese. Score! She then asked the waitress why our table wasn't clean and ordered her to clean it immediately. She said this in the MOST proper, yet bitchy way EVER. It was sooooooo funny watching her speak to the waitress at how things at our table were unacceptable. She ROCKED. Jeff and I did everything in our power to not burst out laughing at her proper/bitchy looks and remarks to the staff. Our meal was of course, yummy! (We later found out that Chinese people traditionally eat dumplings on Winter Solstice....so yaay to us for being all about Chinese customs! Hehe.) During our dinner, a transient came in and out of the restaurant for reasons unknown. One of the waitresses ordered him to leave, to which he responded by punching her in the chest and then running out of the restaurant! Chinese dramarama! Oh yeah, and how could I forget the Asian male escort we saw with his older-than-the-Great-Wall whitey "friend" on the street. Ah hem. Grossness.

DAY 3 - BEIJING 北京 (The Great Wall of China, The Ming Tombs, China's #1 Silk Factory, Furniture Shop, Peking Duck Dinner, Chinese Peking Opera Show)

Day 3 was a very active day. I say this b/c we woke up early again, this time to go to the Great Wall! The Great Wall of China is the longest man-made structure in the world, stretching over 6,700km. During the construction of the Wall, countless human lives were lost, many of which were buried inside the Great Wall. The Great Wall of China is a place you must visit at least once in your lifetime! It is truly amazing to see what mankind is able to achieve. I sound like a sales agent for a Chinese tour company. Haha.

Although this was my second time up the Wall, it was still amazing to see. We were given 2 hours to climb up to the highest point (in that section) and down. I am soo out of shape as I was huffing and puffing throughout the vertical ascent. I was happy to see that I was not the only one though, as all the other tourists there seemed to be gasping for air as well. We saw many people from various countries on our climb. It was cool to hear all the different languages/accents from people all over the world at this world-famous attraction. We made it to the top and got down w/i 1.5 hours. Woot! It wasn't as bad as I had remembered as it was snowing when I visited 5 years ago, which made everything a lot more slippery. However, there were still many people that couldn't make it to the top, so I was happy that we were able to.

We ate lunch at the Friendship store, a place that obviously caters to the many foreign tourists who visit the Wall. We were told that when China first opened up to foreign tourists, this was the only place where they could shop. Sad, as there was nothing we wanted to buy there!

Our next stop was the Ming Tombs. The Ming Tombs is the burial site of 13 emperors of the Ming Dynasty. You would've never guessed, right? =) We went thru the tour of the Ming Tombs w/o seeming very engrossed, up until the point when Lynn told us about the mysterious incident when all the the skilled artisans of the famous Ming blue-and-white porcelain were poisoned! Tum tum tummmm! The mystery was never solved, and up to this day, the skill in how to make the Ming blue-and-white porcelain has yet to be rediscovered. Sad!

We had extra time after the Ming Tombs, so we headed to China's #1 Silk Factory. This wasn't the first factory we visited. When you go on tours in China, you also go on factory tours, ie) pearl factories, jade factories, cloissone factories, etc., where you are encouraged to buy things. Jeff and I didn't buy anything from these factories b/c we didn't want to spend money on pointless clutter. We must've seemed like the cheapest people ever to our tour guide. Hehe. Oh well, we're smart for not being persuaded to buy things just b/c we are taken there.

Lynn had recommended that we go to the silk factory b/c she said we'd at least learn something by going. She was right. Jeff and I had trouble imagining how silk rugs (oriental rugs made of silk) were made when we saw them in the Forbidden City, as we've always thought of silk as...well, silk. When we arrived at the silk factory, we saw one lady who was hand-weaving a rug. That particular rug was custom-ordered, and there was a rush on it, so she was working after hours. A silk rug can take 2 to 3 workers up to 6 months to complete!! Isn't that insane?! Also, they only hire women workers, not b/c they have delicate hands for weaving, but b/c only they have the patience for such intricate and time-consuming work! I'm serious! Also, pure silk rugs reflect light, so when you turn them from one side to another, they change colors! Awesome! Lynn boasted about Chinese silk rugs and how they are of the finest quality in the world, b/c only China can provide the labor required to make these silk rugs and still sell them at affordable prices. That is so true. I'm not sure how much the workers at the factories get paid, but it's truly amazing that each rug represents a significant chunk of these workers' lives. Fascinating.

Our next stop was to a furniture shop. In this shop, we saw various pieces of furniture and were taught about how they are made. We also learned about the simplicity and comfortable design of Ming furniture, whereas Qing furniture emphasized detail and extravagance. This may sound boring to you, but it was actually a good bit of knowledge as we saw samples of the actual furniture during those periods in our stop at the Shanghai Museum later on our trip. We saw some interesting pieces of furniture that caught our eyes, but how would one ever transport it back home?! Not that we were even remotely serious about ever purchasing furniture in China. Who does that, anyway??

We found out from Lynn that it costs $10 to watch a movie in China. That is just ridiculous, considering the average annual salary in Beijing is just over $2000. Lynn said that she just downloads movies, which I would too considering the ridiculous prices they charge at movie theaters! Jeff and I never seemed too too giddy outwardly when Lynn guided us on the tour (not b/c we weren't interested, but b/c we weren't sure how to react other than by nodding and saying, "Wow" and "Interesting" every so often. How else should one respond while on a tour?) Anyway, we tried our best so hopefully our tour guides didn't think we were too ADD. Anyhoo, when it came to the topic of movies, we lit up. While in the car, we even made a list of movies we recommended for Lynn to download! Haha.

Mr. Du took us around the Olympic village area where we saw buildings under construction for the Beijing 2008 Olympic games. We saw the National Aquatics Center, aka Water Cube, and it looks like something from the X-Files movie, in a cool way. Also, we passed by the National Stadium, which is designed to look like a bird's nest; it's very creative and cool-looking! (Yes, cool-looking....see how living in Japan has improved my English?) Anyway, we were distracted on the ride b/c of an eye-catching ethnic park on our left, so Lynn had to yell, "Attention, please!" to get our attention so we could see the structures. Um, perhaps we CAN be ADD at times. Haha.

That night we had a Peking Duck dinner. It was yummy, but very greasy, as is Chinese food for the most part. I guess that it's a good thing Chinese people usually only have fruit for dessert, as it would've been near impossible, even for us, to eat REAL dessert after each of our Chinese meals. After dinner, we watched a Peking Opera show, not by choice really, as it was on our tour itinerary. My mom loves Peking Opera and I've never understood why. Sad to say that after watching a live performance, I still don't. At least now I can say that I've watched Peking Opera before. I suppose that's a check off the top ten things I most want to try in my life. ;-)

OK, that's it for day 3. I know that this may be the longest blog entry in the history of blog entries, so don't feel a need to read all of it. These posts will be VERY detailed because I didn't keep a journal while I was in China, so I am writing for you AND me, as I know I won't be able to remember anything that happened a month from now. So yeah, sorry for all the rambling, but there'll be more to come for sure! Muahaha.