I was worrying about getting our luggage into
the hotel and I didn’t even notice my step-son Clark standing there in the
lobby waiting to greet us. He called out
and startled, I gave him a man hug while MK smothered him with motherly kisses,
having last seen him 7 months ago.
With very little sleep on the plane, the loss
of a day, and internal clocks all mixed up, that didn’t deter us from heading
out to the subway to see Clark’s apartment and friends, waiting for us to have
dinner at one of their favorite restaurants. It was truly a local, off the
tourist trail type of place - very authentic and very delicious.
By this point it was nearing 11:00 p.m., the
time the subway stops running. Clark suggested
we take a cab home. But being the brave,
adventurous souls that we are, we scrambled and got to the subway in time and
safely back to our hotel. Once there, we
climbed into bed and slept like dead men.
The next morning, we gathered with the others
in our tour group and loaded a bus for our trip to Tiananmen Square and the
Forbidden City. This is supposed to be the largest public square in the
world. It is indeed immense. It is said that it could hold one million
people. Looking the place over, I had no
doubt that statistic was correct.
Tourists of all kinds joined us amongst the
throngs of people. Some Chinese, not
used to seeing Caucasians and westerners, would gawk at us and our strange
facial features. Some would grab members
from our group, position them amongst their relatives, and snap pictures to
share with others later. “Look mom, a
Caucasian!”
We entered the Forbidden City under a very
large portrait of the former Chairman Mao.
The architecture and color of the buildings were impressive. The immense space transitioned into more
intimate space where the former emperor lived, slept, and walked amongst the
garden areas.
We headed to the Hutong area, the relic of
old China, consisting of narrow and winding alleyways, where the locals eat,
shop, and live. We traveled through the area by rickshaws. Blankets were draped on our laps to ward off
the cold 40 degree temperatures of late November. We stopped at a house to have lunch prepared
by a local family. Dish after dish of
delicious Chinese food made for a very filling meal.
We were later off to see Clark for dinner. The
subway was absolutely packed. Thousands
would cram onto the train. We were
amongst them cheek to jowl. As our stop drew near, we would squeeze our way to
the spot near the door. Once they
opened, it was a mass of humanity pushing us out and onto the platform.
The first part of our next day was long and
somewhat unproductive. The traffic here is just horrible with a lot of time
spent on the bus in traffic jams. We finally arrived at the Olympic Stadium
area. Because of the traffic, we only
had 30 minutes to linger and take pictures of the “Bird’s Nest” and the “Water
Cube” where many of the 2008 sporting events took place three years earlier.
Heading north we stopped at the Ming Tombs
area where the past emperors were buried.
We didn’t see the tombs themselves; instead we walked down a long tree
lined promenade with statues of animals and warriors on either side of the
broad path. While it was good to get
some exercise, the stop itself was not worth the time.
Nor was the next stop at a jade shop where
many in our group got caught up in the hard sale to buy jade and other
trinkets. We spent way too much time there. The afternoon was getting away from
us and any remaining valuable time we had left to visit the Great Wall, one of
the main reasons for taking this trip.
But once there….well….wow! That one word describes accurately the Great
Wall. We got there in the late
afternoon, the soft light making for good picture taking. Though hazy, we were able to see the wall
snake its way over hills and mountain peaks.
Off to the right was the “easy” way to walk
the wall. So we went to the left, the
“hard” way. Parts are much steeper than
you would think. We made it to the end
where the wall is blocked off from visitors wanting to proceed further.
We got great pictures and video in the fading
light. Greater still was that the cold
and the late hour made for very few people.
So, many of our pictures were just of us and the empty wall; postcard
worthy. Getting dark, we hurried our way
back down and to the bus. Wow, a really
great experience!
We didn’t get back to the hotel until 7:30
due to the horrendous traffic. We
immediately called Clark. Instead of
meeting him at his apartment, we agreed to meet him at the bar we were at last
night. Our subway trip there was an
adventure in itself. We were disoriented
as to which direction was which when we exited.
Asking for directions from several English speaking people gave us mixed
results. Finally the correct directions
were found and we met Clark at the doorway.
With no time to linger, we were immediately off
to a restaurant where we met a dozen or so of Clark’s friends for his big
birthday dinner. Then we went to the bar
for drinks and fun. At one the band sang
happy birthday. Clark then got up on
stage with the band and did his Michael Jackson impersonation while singing
“Billie Jean”.
Scam taxi drivers tried to get us into their
cabs (only take taxis with “B” license plates).
Finally a “B” plate arrived. We
negotiated a 20 Yuan fare and got back to the hotel at 2:00 a.m. Not much sleep tonight! But man the fun we had made it worth it!
Throngs of people were dancing, singing,
stretching out, playing games, and otherwise being active in the cold air of
the following morning. We were at the Temple of Heaven, a collection of
beautiful temples along with park space where many of the locals go to
exercise. It was a fascinating look into Chinese culture and how they interact
with each other in a social setting.
Another hard sell, commissioned shopping stop
at a silk store was our next place on the itinerary. Like the other day, the press was made to buy
authentic Chinese goods. MK and I stayed
only briefly and then went to the bus for reading and writing while we waited
for the others to do their thing. Lunch
was at a normal looking restaurant, nothing remarkable about it, but tasty
non-the-less. The drive north took us to
the Summer Palace, a beautiful lake side collection of structures and edifices
where the emperors would stay and enjoy the outdoors.
After freshening up at the hotel (and again,
after enduring the horrible traffic), we were back in the subway, heading to
Clark’s where his western friends put on a big Thanksgiving feast. Since the apartments are so small, tables
were set up in the hallway where 20 or so of us sat down to chow down on all
sorts of food. Joining us were people
from all over the world; U.S., Canada, Australia, Scotland, Indian, as well as
from China itself. Dinner was perhaps
the most interesting part of our whole day.
We spent our last two days away from our tour
group and instead enjoyed Clark’s company at a nice, leisurely pace. Nanlouga,
a narrow lane lined with shops, bars and restaurants, offered many great picture
taking opportunities of people and their faces.
We walked from there to Hou Hai, a hutong area we were at with the
rickshaw drivers the other day, only this time, we walked around the lake and
visited that areas shops and restaurants.
At one park, toddlers played and with permission from the parents,
became subjects in our growing collection of photos and videos. We later learned that this lake was man-made
by Kublai Khan.
After a very high priced, touristy lunch on
an open roof top deck, we taxied over to Wang Fu Jung, a high end shopping
district stretched along a blocked off pedestrian only street. Off of this was a side alley where you could
buy bugs to eat. This is where Clark shot
his “he almost barfed” video for his news paper’s website. We turned down the chance to eat some fried
scorpions after we learned of the high price they were trying to rip us off
with.
We took a cab to the 798 Arts District. Being a Monday, many of the galleries were
closed. However, there were plenty of
sculptures and pieces of art lining the streets and sidewalks. It was fascinating picture taking.
Dinner was at a traditional courtyard home
turned restaurant with Clark’s friend Jeff and his wife Song Mei, their toddler
son, and the family’s two nannies. We
had interesting stories about Chinese lifestyles and culture over a delicious
Peking duck dinner, all compliments of Jeff and family.
It was open mic night at a popular bar near
the university area, where we proudly watched and listened while Clark and Jeff
played guitars and sang songs. The
younger crowd was in full swing, but it was now getting late for us older folk
and we had an early flight out the next morning.
Our cabbie kept nodding off while driving us
back to the hotel. I would loudly clear
my throat and he would awaken in time to avoid another vehicle. I “accidentally”
bumped the back of his seat with my knee and he would startle awake to make a
critical exit or turn onto the next road. What a death ride. Luckily, we
escaped with our lives and were in bed by 1:00am.
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