Beijing!
Not 24 hours ago I was standing on the Great Wall of China, and now I'm back at my desk at work. Usually on trips I write up long journal entries in a notebook, but this time I'm typing it out and printing it out, lol. And since I'm typing it out anyway, I'm going to share it on lj, so it's definitely much more personal than the stuff I usually post, and way longer. But,
On Friday night I grabbed a taxi straight after school and took off for Incheon Airport. A big group of beautiful Germans were on my flight: they fit the stereotype, with rosy cheeks, blonde hair plaited in braids and those cute little white girl noses. I didn't think real Germans could look like that!
We sat on the tarmac forever but finally took off. Damn people on this plane wouldn't do what the nice stewardesses asked them too. When we had landed, they politely asked everyone to turn off their phones. The two Chinese women next to me continued to yammer away, and when they approached a middle-aged Korean woman about it, she shooed the stewardess away with an "알았어요" ("I know") and didn't bother to comply. Who the hell raised these people? =/
Anyway. Landed, changed money, and my car was waiting for me. Driver asked me, "Miss, do you speak Chinese?" to which I regretfully answered "No, sorry." It was a long and silent ride for about 45 minutes until he pointed and said, "Shangri-La Hotel." Once inside, an interminable line seemed to wait between me and the front desk; or rather, the few people who were in line were taking forever. I finally got to call Daddy upstairs and he let me know their room number.
I was happy to see my parents, but they definitely looked older. I just saw them not six months ago, so I don't know how they could look so different, but at least that night they did, or my mom did, at least. Maybe it's just 'cos they were tired. I got lots of goodies from back home: Starbucks VIA, some jewelry from LA Chinatown (ha!), and See's Candies! We hit the hay and my dad insisted on sleeping on the couch while I slept in the bed.
It was up early the next morning (my parents were up before 4, I slept 'til 7), and then I got to hear my dad's speech for the conference. My mom and I went to meet Wei, a 26-year-old who's going to be teaching Chinese at SMU in the fall. Together we went to the Summer Palace, which had been highly recommended to me. There were a ton of people there, but it was huge so mercifully the crowds were well-dispersed. I don't know why I was surprised, but it seemed like almost all the tourists were Chinese. I guess it doesn't make sense but I expected a lot more foreigners. It was hot, but it was a surprisingly dry heat, and there was a lot of shade, and really the whole area was impressive, or at least what we could manage to see of it. There was a really long outdoor hallway which provided continuous shade for walking along the lake. Maybe the most impressive area surrounded a temple: you entered several layers of building before you could get to the temple, with all sorts of precarious staircases running under ornately decorated ceilings. The views were just great, the palace complex seemed to go on forever from up there. The top-most area you could enter housed a large statue of a Bodhisattva but the interior was rather sparse otherwise, as I recall.
We took a boat out on the lake and then spent the rest of the time mostly wandering the park-like areas spread out between the buildings. There were some really gorgeous shaded clearings ideal for picnic-ing if it were allowed. We also ran across a group of women singing patriotic military songs.
I got hungry so we went back to the hotel and met my dad, then took off for lunch. We had duck and some kind of sausage, dumplings, sweet-and-sour... something (pork I think), and these really incredible noodles in a sauce that was spicy and also something else, a flavor I couldn't quite pin down. It was good but I forgot to take pictures. =(
We rested at the hotel that afternoon, and then met Wei again in the evening to go to Hutong, an area of relatively narrow streets and old buildings that combined shops, bars, and residences all into one area. It was incredibly cute; if I lived in Beijing I think I'd be there all the time. I ate some kind of yogurty thing and a bready thing filled with matcha cream. Both good, whatever they were called. We had drinks at a Spanish-owned bar called Salud. Really a cute atmosphere, spacious, two stories. Tsing Tao I found the be a disappointment, however. Wei was really embarrassed about turning red and feeling drunk off one glass of sangria. lol. Then, we walked a ways until we came to a lake and a rather more crowded area, and had drinks on the second story, where it was hot and humid but oddly comfortable. Walking around was probably the best part though; taking in all the people, the traffic, the smells. It really makes me want to spend a long time in China, maybe a month or a summer in Beijing so I can take it all in.
We went home about 10 and it was another early morning the next day. We met Wei again and had to take a taxi to a bus stop, where we caught a bus for an hour's ride to the Great Wall. The bus was... not spacious. It was one of those nice long-trip buses, except they had packed like an extra column of seats in there so it was a quite squishy inside. Once we got there, we walked uphill, passing bear exhibits (??) and numerous vendors until we got into an interminable line. It really went on forever, and little did we know at the end we'd find ourselves on... bobsleds? Almost exactly the kind you see on the Matterhorn, and these were the things meant to carry us up to the wall. The handlers quite literally grab you and shove you into the things, and they're standing so close to the gears and stuff on the railing with no protection that I imagine there must be some unfortunate finger-mangling accidents on record. >.> The safety barriers don't lock in place either; Disneyland this was not. XD
Finally, the wall itself. It was everything I expected: it looked just like the paintings, the movies, the photographs. And, just like I expected, it was crammed full of people. But wow. In every direction you could see parts of the wall and the towers, snaking over the mountains and it's really hard to believe they're all connected somehow. There is nothing little about it; I think it's the single most spectacular feat of human creation I have ever had the privilege to see.
Getting around was no piece of cake. The number of people made turning corners and keeping your party together a precarious affair. We squeezed through the towers, and even though you're not supposed to take umbrellas up there, people did, so there was always the danger of getting your eyes gouged out while you were at it. In addition, the wall was built to facilitate horse-back travel, so instead of stairs everything was just ramps, really steep ones in parts, and my shoes didn't have a lot of traction so my feet would literally be sliding down if I didn't hold on. I was disappointed to see people etching their names or whatever in the wall... I really think if they want to preserve this thing they have to cut down on the number of people they let enter the wall at once, and put some security up in there, because there was none at all that I could see.
Because of the crowds, the heat, and just the fact that a wall looks basically the same no matter how far you walk, we turned around maybe an hour later, to get in line again to go back down, by which I mean tobogganing again, which was awesome. We passed a camel at the bottom (wtf random animals?) and got in yet another line to get on the bus again.
So Great Wall. If I come back, I'm going to a different, less crowded, maybe older area. But the trip was totally worth it.
Because of traffic the trip back was probably twice as long as the trip there, and then we flailed around for a taxi to go eat Uyghur food. This was the surprise of my visit. It was AMAZING. So delicious. Lamb kebabs, ground lamb meat you wrap in little wheat tortilla-looking things, big rectangular noodles with chicken that didn't taste like chicken... even the fried rice was something special. Minorities in China need protection just for the sake of their excellent cuisine, methinks. The restaurant was really ornate and pretty as well, and the chef was a Uyghur... which I take as a guarantee of authenticity? lol Then we were pretty much beat, so we headed back to the hotel. I can't believe my time there was really so short. Wei gave me a hug and said good-bye, and I got my stuff together at the hotel and left early for the airport. The taxi was a fourth the price of the car that had taken me to the hotel, so that history conference totally ripped us off. I was ridic early so I picked up some stuff to take back to Korea, sat in the Starbucks for a bit and stared at all the Russian tourists, then went to watch Three Caballeros dubbed in Chinese in the kiddy playground (I packed so light I didn't even bother to bring any reading material on this trip... bad idea!). I love me some Disney though, and I got to watch all the kids run around and feel like I was back at work already. lol.
The plane took forever to board and we got in after midnight, took forever to get my bag, and then got to engage in my favorite sport of taxi fair negotiation. Except I was so tired I didn't even put up a fight. And then I got to run to my apartment building in the rain and finally went to sleep around 2.30.
And now here I am at work. =)
It was totally worth it though. Being able to take an international trip like this just over the weekend makes me profoundly realize just how lucky I am. I'm getting to do what I always wanted to do, and I even get to share it with my family. This is my parents' first trip to Asia, so it's a bit of a learning curve for them, but they're having a good time. They'll be in Seoul on Wednesday and then I get to play tour guide. ^^
If I can catch a breather this week, I'm gonna have pictures up on facebook too. For now it's back to English camp plans. XD
On Friday night I grabbed a taxi straight after school and took off for Incheon Airport. A big group of beautiful Germans were on my flight: they fit the stereotype, with rosy cheeks, blonde hair plaited in braids and those cute little white girl noses. I didn't think real Germans could look like that!
We sat on the tarmac forever but finally took off. Damn people on this plane wouldn't do what the nice stewardesses asked them too. When we had landed, they politely asked everyone to turn off their phones. The two Chinese women next to me continued to yammer away, and when they approached a middle-aged Korean woman about it, she shooed the stewardess away with an "알았어요" ("I know") and didn't bother to comply. Who the hell raised these people? =/
Anyway. Landed, changed money, and my car was waiting for me. Driver asked me, "Miss, do you speak Chinese?" to which I regretfully answered "No, sorry." It was a long and silent ride for about 45 minutes until he pointed and said, "Shangri-La Hotel." Once inside, an interminable line seemed to wait between me and the front desk; or rather, the few people who were in line were taking forever. I finally got to call Daddy upstairs and he let me know their room number.
I was happy to see my parents, but they definitely looked older. I just saw them not six months ago, so I don't know how they could look so different, but at least that night they did, or my mom did, at least. Maybe it's just 'cos they were tired. I got lots of goodies from back home: Starbucks VIA, some jewelry from LA Chinatown (ha!), and See's Candies! We hit the hay and my dad insisted on sleeping on the couch while I slept in the bed.
It was up early the next morning (my parents were up before 4, I slept 'til 7), and then I got to hear my dad's speech for the conference. My mom and I went to meet Wei, a 26-year-old who's going to be teaching Chinese at SMU in the fall. Together we went to the Summer Palace, which had been highly recommended to me. There were a ton of people there, but it was huge so mercifully the crowds were well-dispersed. I don't know why I was surprised, but it seemed like almost all the tourists were Chinese. I guess it doesn't make sense but I expected a lot more foreigners. It was hot, but it was a surprisingly dry heat, and there was a lot of shade, and really the whole area was impressive, or at least what we could manage to see of it. There was a really long outdoor hallway which provided continuous shade for walking along the lake. Maybe the most impressive area surrounded a temple: you entered several layers of building before you could get to the temple, with all sorts of precarious staircases running under ornately decorated ceilings. The views were just great, the palace complex seemed to go on forever from up there. The top-most area you could enter housed a large statue of a Bodhisattva but the interior was rather sparse otherwise, as I recall.
We took a boat out on the lake and then spent the rest of the time mostly wandering the park-like areas spread out between the buildings. There were some really gorgeous shaded clearings ideal for picnic-ing if it were allowed. We also ran across a group of women singing patriotic military songs.
I got hungry so we went back to the hotel and met my dad, then took off for lunch. We had duck and some kind of sausage, dumplings, sweet-and-sour... something (pork I think), and these really incredible noodles in a sauce that was spicy and also something else, a flavor I couldn't quite pin down. It was good but I forgot to take pictures. =(
We rested at the hotel that afternoon, and then met Wei again in the evening to go to Hutong, an area of relatively narrow streets and old buildings that combined shops, bars, and residences all into one area. It was incredibly cute; if I lived in Beijing I think I'd be there all the time. I ate some kind of yogurty thing and a bready thing filled with matcha cream. Both good, whatever they were called. We had drinks at a Spanish-owned bar called Salud. Really a cute atmosphere, spacious, two stories. Tsing Tao I found the be a disappointment, however. Wei was really embarrassed about turning red and feeling drunk off one glass of sangria. lol. Then, we walked a ways until we came to a lake and a rather more crowded area, and had drinks on the second story, where it was hot and humid but oddly comfortable. Walking around was probably the best part though; taking in all the people, the traffic, the smells. It really makes me want to spend a long time in China, maybe a month or a summer in Beijing so I can take it all in.
We went home about 10 and it was another early morning the next day. We met Wei again and had to take a taxi to a bus stop, where we caught a bus for an hour's ride to the Great Wall. The bus was... not spacious. It was one of those nice long-trip buses, except they had packed like an extra column of seats in there so it was a quite squishy inside. Once we got there, we walked uphill, passing bear exhibits (??) and numerous vendors until we got into an interminable line. It really went on forever, and little did we know at the end we'd find ourselves on... bobsleds? Almost exactly the kind you see on the Matterhorn, and these were the things meant to carry us up to the wall. The handlers quite literally grab you and shove you into the things, and they're standing so close to the gears and stuff on the railing with no protection that I imagine there must be some unfortunate finger-mangling accidents on record. >.> The safety barriers don't lock in place either; Disneyland this was not. XD
Finally, the wall itself. It was everything I expected: it looked just like the paintings, the movies, the photographs. And, just like I expected, it was crammed full of people. But wow. In every direction you could see parts of the wall and the towers, snaking over the mountains and it's really hard to believe they're all connected somehow. There is nothing little about it; I think it's the single most spectacular feat of human creation I have ever had the privilege to see.
Getting around was no piece of cake. The number of people made turning corners and keeping your party together a precarious affair. We squeezed through the towers, and even though you're not supposed to take umbrellas up there, people did, so there was always the danger of getting your eyes gouged out while you were at it. In addition, the wall was built to facilitate horse-back travel, so instead of stairs everything was just ramps, really steep ones in parts, and my shoes didn't have a lot of traction so my feet would literally be sliding down if I didn't hold on. I was disappointed to see people etching their names or whatever in the wall... I really think if they want to preserve this thing they have to cut down on the number of people they let enter the wall at once, and put some security up in there, because there was none at all that I could see.
Because of the crowds, the heat, and just the fact that a wall looks basically the same no matter how far you walk, we turned around maybe an hour later, to get in line again to go back down, by which I mean tobogganing again, which was awesome. We passed a camel at the bottom (wtf random animals?) and got in yet another line to get on the bus again.
So Great Wall. If I come back, I'm going to a different, less crowded, maybe older area. But the trip was totally worth it.
Because of traffic the trip back was probably twice as long as the trip there, and then we flailed around for a taxi to go eat Uyghur food. This was the surprise of my visit. It was AMAZING. So delicious. Lamb kebabs, ground lamb meat you wrap in little wheat tortilla-looking things, big rectangular noodles with chicken that didn't taste like chicken... even the fried rice was something special. Minorities in China need protection just for the sake of their excellent cuisine, methinks. The restaurant was really ornate and pretty as well, and the chef was a Uyghur... which I take as a guarantee of authenticity? lol Then we were pretty much beat, so we headed back to the hotel. I can't believe my time there was really so short. Wei gave me a hug and said good-bye, and I got my stuff together at the hotel and left early for the airport. The taxi was a fourth the price of the car that had taken me to the hotel, so that history conference totally ripped us off. I was ridic early so I picked up some stuff to take back to Korea, sat in the Starbucks for a bit and stared at all the Russian tourists, then went to watch Three Caballeros dubbed in Chinese in the kiddy playground (I packed so light I didn't even bother to bring any reading material on this trip... bad idea!). I love me some Disney though, and I got to watch all the kids run around and feel like I was back at work already. lol.
The plane took forever to board and we got in after midnight, took forever to get my bag, and then got to engage in my favorite sport of taxi fair negotiation. Except I was so tired I didn't even put up a fight. And then I got to run to my apartment building in the rain and finally went to sleep around 2.30.
And now here I am at work. =)
It was totally worth it though. Being able to take an international trip like this just over the weekend makes me profoundly realize just how lucky I am. I'm getting to do what I always wanted to do, and I even get to share it with my family. This is my parents' first trip to Asia, so it's a bit of a learning curve for them, but they're having a good time. They'll be in Seoul on Wednesday and then I get to play tour guide. ^^
If I can catch a breather this week, I'm gonna have pictures up on facebook too. For now it's back to English camp plans. XD