Well, here we are in Beijing. Phyllis Belcher and I left LA at 11:45 on the 28th. After a 14 or so hour flight, we landed in Hong Kong, around 5:25 AM, China time. Not many people in the airport at that time of the morning. Airline personnel (Cathay Pacific) directed us to where we should go for our connection to Beijing. Wrong. Minor error, but ask and you’ll eventually get to the right place.
While waiting to go thru the security check (why, when the only place you could have come from is a plane you couldn’t get on unless you went through security??) we met another couple from tour. The Sadlers from Maryland. They had been smart and upgraded to Business class. In that regard, we were lucky, as we had 3 adjacent coach seats to ourselves. It wasn’t that bad, considering the length of the flight. Good dinner after takeoff, movies once we figured out how to control it, sleep and a decent breakfast.
We waited in the Hong Kong airport for about 2 hours, and then boarded our flight to Beijing. The airport in Hong Kong is really something. Very nice, clean, spacious if an airport can be called spacious. Sure weren’t many people there. I guess the time of day had something to do with that.
The plane to Beijing was less than half full. They’d mixed up our seat assignments and had us about 10 rows apart. But as soon as the doors closed, Phyllis was able to move into my row. We saw some spectacular views of the Hong Kong area as we left. Wish I’d had my camera out. I did get some decent shots while in the airport.
We arrived in Beijing at least 30 minutes early. Getting our luggage and clearing customs was a breeze. The longest part was the train ride from the terminal to the main terminal where the baggage arrived. We were out of customs in less than 30 minutes from the time we got off the plane.
As a result of the early arrival, our guide, Liu Xiang Hui (Hui from here on), hadn’t arrived. But she did show up soon. A volunteer was there to help us. Only problem was that, other than his word, there was no way to tell that he was legitimate. Turned out he was. Hui was late partly because, she heard, the highway had been closed because the Para-Olympics were on and they had escorted one of the teams along it. Or, at least that’s what I understood. Much later we found out the real reason was because the Chinese President had arrived from a trip, the reason for the closure.
The weather in Beijing today is cool, 70 or so and overcast. It rained lightly on the trip to the hotel. It stopped by the time we got there, but stayed cloudy.
The airport is really something. Designed by the same architect who did the Hong Kong airport, He’s done some very nice work. From a distance, it is supposed to look like a dragon. It does.
The hotel is very nice, the Dong Fang hotel. Originally built in 1916 and since expanded a lot. The Kuomintang made their initial announcement of the party’s formation here (Chang Kai-shek’s Nationalist party). We’re on the 14th floor, with a good view of a quarter of the city.
We took a walk around the area, first along a main drag, then up a side street, or better, an alley. Sure did see the real Beijing, and perhaps China on that walk. Small homes, all connected, in what we’d consider very bad shape. Very small. Many had various wares for sale, food, tools, birds, you name it. The people for the most part just looked at us as a novelty. One man, after we stopped to look into a bird shop window, was able to tell us that the bird was a mynah, and that it talked. Later our guide took us on a walk through several similar areas, but the one we’d been in seemed poorer than those she showed us.
Dinner was Chinese style, with our entire group together at one table. There was much more food available than the seven, eight with the guide, could manage. Hope they put the leftovers to good use. In general the food was pretty good. A good bit like a good Chinese restaurant at home. All the food was on a lazy susan and each of us picked what we wanted from a large selection. Most of us sampled everything. Strangely, no seafood.
8/31/08 Sunday
The day started at 7:00 AM in front of the hotel with our first Tai Ji class. We were given a brief history, or profile of the person who started it. Unfortunately, I don’t really remember too much of that. And, while I enjoyed it, I don’t think any of us are anywhere above the rank of amateur. We all need a lot more work. Hui, our guide, promised that we’d all be experts before we leave. We’ll see.
After a really broad-based buffet breakfast, we went to our first class. Yes, on Elderhostel tours there are classes about things related to the tour. Our class was conducted by a professor from Hubei University on the geography, history and culture of China. Of course, in one hour it was a very broad-brush approach.
Following class, we boarded a bus for Tiananmen Square. It’s the largest city square in the world. For the Olympics, it had been decorated with flowers and floral statuary around much of the periphery. Mao’s mausoleum is on the south side, and had a huge line waiting to view his embalmed body. We decided to pass that up. While impressive for its size and history, there’s not really a lot to say about it. So I won’t.
Then lunch, on the same scale as last night’s dinner. Duck, chicken, pork, beef, shrimp, a variety of veggies, tofu (delicious) fruit, including dragon fruit, very good. Oh yes, rice.
Then to the Forbidden City, what had been, since 1421, the palace of the emperors. It took 17 years to build, and I can see why. A 10 metre deep moat surrounds it. The walls are 10 metres high and 8 thick (I think). A huge number of people lived within the walls to serve the emperor’s needs, or whims. For example, 3000 eunuchs and 300 concubines. Many very ornate buildings, all in red (color for happiness) with yellow (royal color) roofs. Many stone lions as guards. How do you tell a male lion from a female? The male has his paw on a bell, while the female has her paw on a cub.
The first several sections have been restored with bright paint. Much, though hadn’t. I was surprised to see what good shape the areas that hadn’t been maintained are in. It must have had some restoration, just not too recently. If you know me, you know I used up a lot of pixels on the old memory stick. So much so that the battery ran down. Fear not, I have both a charger and a spare.
Then back to the hotel, a short rest, shower, then off to dinner. We went to a restaurant famous for its Peking duck. (I’ve read that Peking duck survived the transition to Beijing, retaining its original spelling and pronunciation). Dinner was served in a private room. The usual number of appetizers preceded the main course. Lots of duck-based items. After hearing all the details of how Peking duck is prepared, neither Phyllis nor I wee too impressed with it.
The evening was supposed to end with a lesson on Conversational Chinese. Seems, though, that everyone was ready to turn in, as no one, including our guide, Hui, brought it up. So off to bed.
9/1/08 Monday
Up and at ‘em at 8:15 for the ride to the Great Wall. About a 2 hour bus ride, 70 to 80 KM north of Beijing. From the plains that surrounded Beijing, we suddenly realized that we were approaching a range of mountains. Then we could catch glimpses of the wall. We arrived at the jumping off point, Badaling, and had about 2 hours to wander the wall. To our surprise, the expected crowds weren’t there, Lots of people, of course, but not nearly the number we were prepared to find.
Phyllis and I took off in what was described as the easy way. That turned out to be relative. Some pretty steep slopes, some so steep that stairs were needed. The wall seems to follow the ridgelines, and they do wind about. We stayed on the wall for perhaps and hour before turning around. I went as far as North Tower 7, while Phyllis enjoyed the view between Towers 5 and 6.
There is a sled on a track that brings people up to Tower 5. It starts someplace other than the place our bus stopped, so we didn’t try it. There is also a gondola that brings tourists up to Tower 8. It starts on the north side of the wall.
After we got back to the starting point, we had time before our scheduled lunch, so I tried the other direction. It really was steeper. Also, because of that, I assume, the road less traveled. Some pretty good views, regardless of which direction one chooses to take.
While the entire trip has been exciting so far, I have to think that, for me, at least, the wall has been the highlight. I can see why the sight of it would have intimidated an invading army. The mountains it’s in are pretty forbidding in themselves. Then to see an 8 metre high stone wall, with an army on top of it, I’d have certainly been inclined to turn back. Of course, this section of the wall is in much better repair than most other sections. Many, I’ve read are barely identifiable now, just small mounds of earth. There never was one contiguous wall across the north of China. Just many separate sections built to protect a given area. Then as time passed and consolidation occurred, some sections were joined.
On the return trip, we stopped at the Ming Tombs. Impressive entrance building and pathway through it, but we didn’t actually enter any tombs. Grave robbers apparently hit the only one that’s been excavated, if I remember correctly, and there’s not much left to see. The road (path) through the grounds is guarded by stone carvings of animals and some human dignitaries.
In the evening, we had diner at a very nice restaurant. Probably the best meal so far. It was at a nearby hotel, which was also the site of the evening’s entertainment. The obligatory Chinese Opera. Hui admitted when asked, that they aren’t popular with modern Chinese. Historically, they were a way of getting history and legends passed on to the masses, as there weren’t many Chinese who were literate. It’s a very demanding occupation, and not many choose it. Glad it ended when it did. I could only take so much of the Monkey King vanquishing the bad guys.
9/2/08 Tuesday
Today is our day to move to Xian. Breakfast at the hotel, then on the bus for a visit to a hutong area. Hutongs are the living quarters that have survived the passage of time, and are becoming very rare. Small one-story structures with several built around a central courtyard. Narrow streets in a grid are around each group of buildings. Many have been torn down to accommodate high rise apartments and office buildings The owners of those torn down are compensated fairly well, we were told. A few have been designated as cultural or historical sites, and are preserved.
Our tour started at the Drum and Bell towers and was by rickshaw, or more accurately, Pedi cab. Good thing it’s flat, as those guys really worked their cycles hauling us around. In actuality, the hutong we’re in today is in better shape than the one we walked through on our first evening here. My guess is that that one is one slated for razing. After the rickshaw tour, we went to the home of Dr. Sun Yat Sen’s widow. She had quite a life. Very active in human rights and the advancement of the Chinese people. Quite a contrast to her sister, Madam Chang Kai-shek. Her home was originally the estate of the father of Pu Yi, the Last Emperor (rent the movie). A third sister married one of China’s richest men. A family of high achievers.
To end our visit to Beijing, we took another rickshaw ride to a private home in the hutong. There Mr. And Mrs. Wang prepared lunch for us and showed us their house. Nice, pleasant close to our visit to Beijing. We’re now in the airport, waiting for our flight to Xian.
Observations:
The expected smog and haze over Beijing didn’t materialize. They put a lot of effort into improving it for the Olympics. And it worked. Blue skies, less traffic than expected. That’s in part because they instituted odd-even license plate driving days. Presently they are debating whether to continue the program. Traffic isn’t any worse than any major US city.
We were told that red/green lights are merely suggestions for pedestrians and bicyclists.
Not nearly as many smokers as I expected. Most restaurants we’ve been in are non-smoking, as was the hotel room.
Beijing looks cleaner and better maintained than expected. As good as or better than a number of European and US cities I’ve seen. It will be interesting to see if this carries over to the rest of the cities on our tour.
Very few overweight people, as compared to the US.
The “One Child” policy is very evident. In the public areas there are Mom, Dad, maybe Grandma and Grandpa, and almost never more than one toddler. They are now realizing that this may result in a generation of spoiled brats. Also, they may loose the traditional that the young take care of the parents. In the past, parental support was spread out across several children. The nest generation will be supporting their own child, 2 parents, and the grandparents. For each adult!
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