China Trip Day 2
Monday the 6th - Beijing
Breakfast in the hotel's buffet consisted of mostly normal Chinese fare - rice and noodle dishes. I stuck to corn flakes, weird tasting milk, and fruit. Better safe then sorry, and god knows I was in no rush to use the "squatter" style restrooms. Ugh.
Daniel scooped us up early and attempted to entertain us with, jeeze, I dunno what the heck he was rambling about, the city grid I suppose. It didn't seem very gridlike. First place on the agenda was Tiananmen Square, which is much more expansive then the pictures would lead you to believe.
We were one group of tourists amid thousands, snapping pictures of the Great Hall of the People, the Monument to the People's Heroes, and the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall. In a cruel fit of irony (given my recent proximity to the Dalai Lama), there is a large scale representation of the Potala Palace in Tibet directly outside the Great Hall and across from a giant Olympics 2008 statue. Le sigh.
Daniel lectured us with several gems as we stood in the Square. For example, China does not conduct public relations with any nation unless they answer the following question in the positive: Do you consider Tibet and Taiwan to be a part of China? He also explained that while a lot of Westerners come over with stories about the atrocities committed in Tiananmen, he does not remember them. Most people his age are in the dark as there is no available public information. Oh, and in case we were wondering, yes, they DO think socialism works.
Anywho, as we were getting our learn on, we started to realize that the Western concept of personal space is nonexistent in China. People wandered into our group, listened to our guide, and bodily dragged the black guys away for pictures. Really, you have not seen strange until a group of little old ladies manhandles a 6'+ member of Islam into a photo op. The guys were highly amused.
But, the person who garnered the most attention was Kyler, Kin and Jenn's 8 month old baby. Now I'll be the first to tell you that is one genetically blessed baby, but DAMN, people would just walk right up and climb into the stroller to poke his cheeks and coo over his general adorable-ness. Chick. Magnet.
After Tiananmen, we went through the Gate of Heaven, into the Forbidden City. The FC is enormous, one courtyard leading to the next, the buildings were expansive and covered in handsome detail. All of which we viewed from outside. Frantic renovations for 2008 and an even more hectic tourist schedule prohibited us from actually going inside any of the buildings. For 3 hours, Daniel sheparded us around the grounds where we were at least able to gain a new respect for ancient Chinese architecture and stonework.
Once we left the FC, we were chased back to the bus by a pack of ravenous street hawkers who were surprisingly adept in English. And oh my what a lovely array of Fo-lex's and Mao watches they had for sale. We lunched in the grotto styled basement of a nearby restaurant and were treated to a folk dance by a young lady in elegant costume. Dave made the poor girl nervous with his leering, although he certainly had every sales girl from Beijing to Hong Kong giggling.
After lunch, we were driven to a pearl factory/shop where they explained the ins and outs of fresh water pearl cultivation. The sales ladies were like fuzzy little piranha and I lost my shirt buying an overpriced pair of earrings and an irregular, lavender hued bracelet for Boss Lady. The Puppy ended up buying me a matching necklace and bracelet of irregular, violently pink pearls. Very kicky, which I am wearing today.
Then we rushed off to the Temple of Heaven, which featured lovely gardens and beautiful pagodas. After the ToH, we were shuttled to the Beijing Zoo just in time to see the pandas munching bamboo shoots 20 minutes before closing. First time I'd seen a panda and honestly it was pretty anticlimactic, considering.
Dinner was Peking Duck at a famous Beijing restaurant that has a history of hosting world leaders. Tasted delicious - just like the Peking Duck at San Yee on 9th and Vine in Philly. Tee hee, we were all amused at just how much our food was like what we eat in Chinatown at home!
After dinner, our group limped home and revived - somewhat. Some of us ran off to party, the rest of us walked around the commercial district. We went off the beaten path and checked out merchant stalls, chopstick specialty shops, and food vendors. The noodle shacks all looked highly suspect to my delicate bowels, and I was shocked to see just how much food was sold on a stick. Like corn, or meat, or candied fruit (which Ernie tried to convince us was candied crab meat, wtf??). We wanted to peak inside the 4 story Beijing Books store, but it was closing and the escalators were roped off - and guarded by army men. Uh .... okay, we REALLY won't go up there. Eeee. I guess rent-a-cops don't get good business here.