So this is going to be long as I have not updated in a while. Last we left off Justin and I were cowering in our rooms scared to death. By the next morning we had adjusted a little and realized our hostel is pretty damn nice. The hostel is located in an old hutong which is an alleyway with courtyards. All the rooms are situated around 2 courtyards, one open air with tables to lounge at and the other covered, where they serve meals, have computers and have the reception desk. It is all family run and the family lives on the property also so you constantly see people around, with kids and everything. Makes it much for comfortable because they are all friendly and most speak some English. It is also located in what must be the music district. The street outside the hostel is lined with musical instrument shops. There are about 2 dozen guitar shops, violin shops, flutes, and almost every instrument around, both western and eastern. Most days the owners are sitting outside practicing so we constantly see young guys wailing on the guitar, old guys playing violin and other instruments. We also very well located, one street over from Forbidden City and right next to a bus stop that takes us to almost every major attraction. And for any cat lovers out there, in the entry way to the alley lives a family of cats, 4-5 kittens and mom. See the pictures for one of them all sleeping on top of each other.
So after realizing our place is pretty cool, the first morning we got up and out in a hurry, planning to do Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. Being public transportation masters and after seeing how taxi drivers drive in this city, we jumped on a bus to Tiananmen Square. We definitely get a lot more stares here than in Japan but more on that later. Riding public transportation gets us even more as almost every other white person is with a guide or tour group. But that is cheating. After getting off at the Square we walked from the bottom to the entrance to the Forbidden City. The Square is rather hard to describe because it is so massive and until you are standing in the middle of it I don't think you can grasp its size. The mausoleum to Mao is equally as big as are the gates to the Forbidden City. As soon as we entered the Forbidden City some random guy asked me if he could take a picture with me. No idea why, I assume it is because I am ridiculously good looking. The Forbidden City is again impossible to do justice without seeing it in person. The scale is immense and the amount of detail on some the carvings is crazy. We walked around it for a good hour or 2 and still did not touch the east or west corridors. After Forbidden City we had lunch at a forgettable restaurant then decided since we like walking so much we'd head to the Temple of Heavenly peace. I don't think a lot of white people walk that stretch between the two as we got a lot of stares, a lot of people looking then telling their friends to look and at least one guy who tried to talk to us in Chinese. We enjoyed the Temple of Heaven since there are no people trying to hawk souvenirs to you and no but asking if you want to go to the Great Wall. It was also where we got our first taste of rainy season in Asia. Feeling the wind pick up we sat on the side of the temple as the skies opened up and released a flood. It was a good hour of rain but gave us a much needed break. Once the rain tapered off we walked to the east exit towards the Pearl Market. On the way we walked past the rest of the people at the temple who were killing time by playing games, cooking, eating and playing hacky sack. It is pretty cool to see a 60 year old group of women playing hacky sack and being pretty damn good at it. Now the Pearl Market is like nothing I have ever seen before. Japan had its huge shopping arcades but the Pearl Market is a 4 story building jammed pack with different stalls selling everything from luggage, clothes, jewelry and electronics. And as you pass every stall the people working it yell at you to come buy something. I think I ever heard one lady yell "I'll kill you" trying to get a guys attention. Making eye contact is a big no no as they will hound you even more. We tried to pretend we did not speak English but I don't think it helped much. After about 5 minutes we had of share and ran out. Being so far south from our hotel we decided to find a cab but the first cab driver we showed the address to shook his head no. So we walked back to Tiananmen Square (we love our walking) and jumped back on the bus again overshooting our stop since we realized we had no idea where we got on. After that it was a mental note to always see where we got on so we could get back.
Once back in the hostel we decided to try out their food. They have a varied menu, with everything from American breakfast all day to asian cuisine, pizza, sandwiches, pasta and traditional Chinese. All of it is very well priced (26RMB for most, so like $4) which makes this hostel even better. After all the walking we went to the rooms to sleep, knowing we had to get up at 7am for our trip to the Great Wall the next day. End day 1.
Day 2. Up at 630 for the 2 hour drive out to the Great Wall at Mutianyu. On the way we passed the Bird's Nest, Olympic Stadium and the Water Cube, the swimming park. We did not get close as the roads around it are still under construction. But it was cool to see in person and once again the Chinese do everything large. The stadium is gigantic and without being close to it for a photo people would not understand how big it is. The next 2 hours were spent driving to the outside of the city through some of the rural areas to get to the Great Wall. We got there around 9 in the morning which was great because it was relatively deserted and the vendors had not opened yet to harass us. We took the ski lift to the top since I did not want a repeat of the Grand Canyon trying to hike to the top (it was far). The Great Wall is pretty great, extending into the distance as far as you can see, along the ridge of a mountain. Being there early the clouds were still lingering around and it looked like the wall continued into the clouds at spots. We walked probably a good mile of it with my legs finally giving out as we ascended a very steep section. I had to sit, then lay down to keep from throwing up, but on the plus side I took in the Great Wall from all angles. Justin skipped like a little elf to the top of the last section before turning around and coming back down to me. We then walked the mile back to where we started, trying to kill the 4 hours we had on the wall before lunch. After 2 hours or so we decided we had taken in enough and loaded up for the ride down. Now the ride down is a 3 minute luge ride on a little cart. Probably not the safest thing in the world but it was pretty fun and I videotaped the whole trip down, although parts of it are obscured by my leg as I hid the camera from the staff on the way down. At the bottom I got to try out my bargaining skills buying my first China souvenir, a t-shirt. At the first the lady wanted 185RMB($25) but I got her down to 35RMB($5) so I felt proud. After the wall our driver took us down to a restaurant for lunch. Only 5 of us were on the trip but the lunch was about 15 dishes of food which gave us the chance to sample lots of different cuisine. It was very good and worth the price. The whole trip was 260RMB($40) but covered 2 hours out, 4 hours at the wall, lunch and 2 hours back. Not a bad price and all arranged through the hostel, so another big plus for them. Its called Red Lantern house by the way in case anyone was wondering.
On the trip to the Great Wall we met a couple from California who were doing a round the world trip similar to ours. We talked to them a lot and decided to take in the acrobatics show with them when we got back. We arrived to the show a little late which worked out in our favor. We paid for the cheap seats but for some reason they sat us in the VIP section. Again I am going with the ridiculously good looking reason. The show was kind of like a kids circus, except the kids were really good. They had everything from gymnast, magicians, balancing acts, strength acts and contortionist. I should probably feel bad for the kids as it is a grueling training regime they are put through but at least they are doing something. Better than the kids peeing in the street we keep seeing. After the show we came back to the hostel, ordered some 22 oz beers for 4RMB($.75) and sat around with John and Laura and talked. Turns out they will be in Thailand around the same time we will so we exchanged emails and planned to take in the kickboxing match together. So that is a big fu to anyone that thought we are not social people. We also met 3 people from France and a girl from Britain. We are quite the social butterflies.
The next day we decided to check out the summer palace, via a boat trip up the canal from the zoo. The zoo is actually pretty far away and the palace even further, so we took the bus to the zoo, planning to take the boat up the canal and then cab all the way back. The boat ticket actually gave us free entry to the zoo, so we walked around and saw the animals. Lots of pandas doing what pandas seem to do best; nothing. One panda was sitting in the water and looked like a fat kid relaxing. See the pictures. Picked up my second souvenir by buying a small stuffed panda doll, with the proceeds going to a charity to rebuild the Panda Conservation Center in Chengdu. Apparently it got wrecked in the earthquake. I felt like a good person. The boat ride up the canal was a little boring, with the announcer talking in Chinese the whole time. Luckily for us the lady behind was spoke English and filled us in that we had to switch boats to go to the palace and how to buy tickets for the palace. She seemed pretty shocked that we did not speak any Chinese are were not here with a tour group. I guess most foreigners don't risk it, but its made for some interesting adventures. The Summer Palace was a pretty nice, set on a huge man made lake. From a beauty standpoint it surpasses the Forbidden City. We climbed to the top of the palace temple which was a good distance but gave a great view of the palace and the lake. Justin got asked to pose for a picture with some random girl and a group of school kids passing us all gasped as they walked by. Again, us = better looking than most white people.
When we had our fill of the palace we decided to head home. The palace has 4 gates, one in each direction and at the advice of our English speaking friend we headed out the north gate to catch a cab. Unfortunately it let out into an alleyway and we did not see any cabs. We walked a little bit to see if we could find one but all we found was a guy in a black car (non official taxi) who asked if we wanted a ride. Knowing better we said no. He immediately got out of his car and took the taxi sign off the top which shows just how sketchy it was. We went back into the palace and walked to the east gate where the real adventure began. A cab there said the zoo was to far and we should take the boat back. So he drove us to the boat loading area, a distance of about 300 yards. Once there we bought a boat ticket, but the zoo was closed the lady said and they would have to take us to the Exhibition Center. Having no other option we said OK. Now the tickets said the boats stopped running at 4 and it was 4:30. But she said one more was coming at 5. I don't think they were really supposed to take us but the ticket lady said something to the boat and they let us on. Being the only ones on the boat we figured they were doing us a favor, even more so when they started cleaning and the boat and closing all the windows. At the changing point the lady had us follow her to a waiting speed boat. Again we were the only 2 people on the boat and it seemed like these guys were delivering food up and down the canal. The zoo was definitely closed but the canal runs right through it to the Exhibition Center so the guy gunned the engine and we took off. At times they had lines in the water meant to stop boats from going passed. No problem for our guy who would gun the engine, lift the prop and glide over the lines. Everything seems to be negotiable here, even closed canals. At the Exhibition Center the guys unloaded the food and dropped us off. We thanked them then walked towards the main street hoping to catch some sort of bus home. Our 111 bus showed up a little down the road and we hopped on and headed home. It was quite the adventure home and I think we have now used every form of transportation possible.
After we raced home we dropped our day bags and headed out for the duck restaurant. After walking in a circle we eventually found it in the Western District. It was one of the best meals I have ever had for about $20 each. The duck was delicious and the restaurant had a stage with entertainers constantly performing. It was like a grown up version of the acrobat show. After stuffing ourselves with duck we headed back on the bus to the hostel, where we ran into John and Laura again. Apparently they missed their train down Hong Kong and were here for 2 more nights. We had some more beers and decided to head to a market with them today before our train leaves. So now I am sitting in the hostel getting ready to eat scorpions, sea horses, centipedes and whatever weird shit they have down there. Not sure I will actually eat it all, we'll see. Tonight is the first overnight train to Xi'an. Hopefully the updates wont come so few and far between so the post are not this long each time. Lots and lots of new pictures and a few videos.
