...Is what I would say if I was the type of person to think of mature stuff like that. But nope, not this guy. It took me roughly 0.3 seconds to go from "SWEET! I have money!" to "Okay...where to next?"
Every fall, Korea has Chuseok, a kind of Korean Thanksgiving, for which we get about 5 days off...after a quick search, I noticed that while tickets to every destination around here were either booked or incredibly inflated, China was still affordable...so, after a long time of thinking it over (1.7 seconds, personal record), I booked tickets to Beijing...less than 24 hours after getting back to Korea.
My good pal Anthony thought this was a swell idea, and he bought tickets too, albeit for one day less than I was going to spend in Beijing.
So, when the day came, I got on the big jet plane and headed off to the land of the last major stronghold of Communism. After a pleasant flight, I got to Beijing and instead of paying for a taxi to get to my hostel, I decided to save as much money as possible and got on a bus. This was a great idea, until I got off way too early and found myself somewhere in the outskirts of Beijing, at night, without a decent map (the one I had with me was worthless as anything more than a coarse napkin). So, I stood there for a few minutes, contemplating which way to start off in, and desperately trying to somehow find where I was on the map.
Eventually, I saw a young Chinese woman and asked her. After much scratching of her head, and turning the map around and around, she declared that she had no idea where we were or where I was hoping to end up. Thankfully, her sister - who came to pick her up - knew where I was going and offered to drive me to my hostel. This was my awesome introduction to the people of China!
The next interaction was less than pleasant, as the surly woman with the perma-frown on her face at the hostel informed me that despite booking a bed in a 4-bed room, I was to be put in an 8-bed room and there was nothing I could do about it. Thankfully, the place was cheap, relatively clean and devoid of cockroaches, though equipped with the thinnest "mattress" I've ever had the displeasure of warping my spine on. Overall it ranked as mid-pack for the accommodations I've stayed in.
For the next part of this and the following posts, I'm going to be mixing up all sorts of random things/days, because, to be honest, I can't remember which day I did what.
The first day I spent walking around for 18 hours. Beijing is an awesome city, with tons of historical sights, parks and random interesting things to see. I went to countless parks and mini palaces where the royalty used to hang out, as well as a lamasery, and a few other random places. Admission was cheap to everything, and it all seemed to be in perfect shape. Despite what people think of communist countries oppressing the histories and religions of their people, China proudly displays its religious and historic roots.
Some of the places from my first day:
Beihai Park just outside of the Forbidden City:
Details of some art in Beihai Park (yellow tiles were a symbol that the building belonged to the Royal Family):
A woman in a traditional dress at one of the five pavilions of Jingshan Park (which used to be part of the Forbidden City, but is now separated by a road):
Detail of the inside of a pavilion (ceiling). It's incredible how much work they put into these things...from afar, they look similar to Buddhist buildings in Korea, but the Chinese counterparts are simply stunning...they have paintings on every surface...you could spend an hour looking at the different pictures and scenes in just one of the gazillions of pavilions:
A view of the Forbidden City from one of the pavilions in Jingshan Park:
One of my favourite sights: The 18 metre tall (about 60 feet, with an other 8 metres/25 feet being underground) statue of the Maitreya Buddha at the Yonghe Temple lamasery. The Lamasery was home to the highest ranks of royalty and religion for hundreds of years. The statue is carved out of a single piece of sandalwood! (Also, a bit of camera geekery...I really put my gear to the test...shot wide open at f2.8 with the ISO cranked to 6400 and I still had to push the shadows a stop or two...very happy with my camera/lens!!)
Burning incense at the temple:
Random Chinese playing a card game in the shade on the street:
Finally, a picture of a hutong. Hutongs are alleyways which, apparently, used to criss-cross Beijing everywhere, but are starting to disappear. Everyone I've talked to and every guide book I read implored me to go check them out. So I did. I wasn't blown away. They're alleys...maybe I'm missing something, but big whoop. Either way...here's a shot of one:
Random picture...here is some unique street food in China...including live scorpions, which get dipped in hot oil, deep fried and served:
Back to communism in China....it's not what most people have in mind. It's more of a capitalist communism, or a state-run capitalism. Gone are the hundreds of millions of people riding basic, single-speed bikes (available in any colour you want as long as you like black), gone are the simple outfits of the proletariat and gone are the middle-aged men with weathered faces reading the People's Daily and having a smoke during a quick break from their 14 hour shifts at the tractor factory. Say hello, instead, to luxury cars, name-brand western clothing and shopping streets filled with retailers for everything from Canon to Burger King and Armani. This, I have to admit, was a disappointment.
There is something profoundly ironic about a billion people paying for McDonald's with bills still bearing Mao Tse-tung's picture.
Speaking of which, the first night I was in Beijing I headed off to Tiananmen Square. Here, you look around you and you are surrounded by centuries of incredible history. Mao Tse-tung's embalmed corpse is supposedly on display a few steps away (though apparently there is at least one body double that gets put on display, so you never know whether you're looking at the real Mao or a wax figure), the chunk of pavement where the infamous "Tank Guy" (the Chinese man who stood in front of the tanks in the '80s) stood, and, of course, the entrance to the beautiful and legendary Forbidden City, known as The Gate of Heavenly Peace, which has been adorned with a massive and iconic picture of Chairman Mao for decades.
I have to admit, it was much more beautiful than I was expecting:
But don't let the colourful lights and pretty flowers fool you...the Army still has an unmistakable presence there:
Okay...this entry turned out to be much longer than I had anticipated...so I'm going to wrap it up here, since on my first day I headed back from Tiananmen Square to my hostel and hit the hay...check back soon for more entries on the rest of the trip!
Cheerio!
T
