Adrianmurray's travel blogs:
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Beijing
Entry 22 of 24 | show all | print this entry |
CHINA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS, DOWNING SOME DAFFY and TIANANMEN POLICE
Up at 5am to catch the HK airport bus for the flight to Jingers. (I've been
to Singers, Lumpers, Bangers, Honkers and now Jingers). Hong Kong is even
pretty at this hour of the morning, with the early morning sun shining off
the buildings on the island.
My first Air China flight features inflight entertainment of 'China's
Funniest Home Videos'. The difference is that this version shows the kids
actually getting hurt, not just the ones who appear to be getting hurt but
aren't. Apart from the entertainment, my first impressions of Air China are
positive, because the food is good and, well, the darn thing didn't fall out
of the sky like in my worst nightmares.
The other interesting aspect is that they have a camera built into the nose
of the plane. On approach, they turn the camera on and screen the pictures
to you. Its exciting and disconcerting at the same time as you can see how
the plane moves from side to side a little, just before it touches down.
I collect my bags and head to the Airport Buses. Its a bit of a lottery as
no one speaks English of any significence, nor have they heard of my hotel,
the Novotel Xinqiao. (pronounced No-vo-tel Sin-Chow...) I jump in one and
hope its going in the correct direction. After 45 minutes I get out on gut
feeling and jump into a cab. Then get out and jump into another cab. Then
another. Finally, a cab driver who has heard of the hotel.
After checking in I head to Tiananmen Square, which in the end is not that
far from my hotel. The driver drops me off right near the 'Monument of the
People's Heroes' which is smack in the middle of the Square. I immediately
have a "Hell, I'm standing in Tiananmen Square" moment, which is very
similar to the "Hell, I'm standing under the Eiffel Tower" moment, and the
"Hell, I'm at the Olympics" moment.
You then remember why the Square is as famous as it is - because of 1989.
Its a stark reminder to who's running the shop around here. I walk past
Mao's Mausoleum, past 'The Great Hall of the People' and to 'Tiananmen Gate'
- 'The Gate Of Heavenly Peace' (oh, the irony).
It's pretty big for a front gate... actually its Palace that sits atop three
giant archways. On the front is the famous giant picture of Mao that looks
straight down into the Square. I headed up to the top level and look down
from where Mao made all his public addresses. There are Army, Police, and
plain clothed Secret Servicemen everywhere. The Sercret Service guys could
only be more conspicious if they were nude. At least that way there's
nowhere to hide your gun or walkie talkie.
After a quick look in the adjacent Zhongshan Gardens, I head via cab to the
'Temple of Heaven'. The TOH is an enormous garden complex, with various huge
pagodas, temples and pavillions in the grounds. Buildings such as the
'Imperial Vault of Heaven', the 'Hall of August Heaven' and the 'Hall of
Prayer for Good Harvests' look like they are straight from your Nanna's
knick-knack cupboard. Only much larger. Its a stunning way to spend a couple
of hours on a cloudless, hot 31 degree day in Beijing.
Its back to the hotel for a shower and rest, as its already been a long day.
After that I headed back to Tiananmen for the lowering of the flag ceremony
and some dusk photos. The place was full of locals cooling their heals and
flying kites. There is a lot of staring going on and its all at me. I may be
the first tourist to return since the end of the official SARS scare. I'm
getting the "what are you doing here" looks rather than the "look a white
guy!" ones.
Two Uni students ask if they can practice their English on me. Lets just
call them "Nancy" and "Shirley". (not their real names - not protecting the
innocent, just pointing out that the Western names they have selected for
themselves aren't their real names. For a start the other one should be
called "Laverne"). They chat to me as we wander through Tiananmen and help
me find the "Quanjude Duck Restuarant", just up the road. I say "see ya
Nance, see ya Shirl!" at the door - or I wish I had at least.
I have a "Hell, I'm eating Peking Duck in Peking" moment.
For $9 you basically get the whole duck, pancakes, scallions (spring onion),
sweet sauce, and a local beer. Its bloody delicious and very much a
highlight of the trip. Or maybe it wasn't. When you order a beer they give
you a long neck of local product, and I drank it too quickly.
I walk from the restaurant via the "Hutongs", which are small traditional
streets (like alleys) hidden in Beijing. They had a night fruit market, and
I pick up some huge sweet smelling peaches. I then walk back towards the
hotel past Tiananmen. Some weird lights in the sky catch my eye.
As it turns out the kite flyers have attached lights to their kites, which
flicker in the sky. There are trails of lights leading into the darkness.
Its all very cool. Suddenly at 9.55pm a police van thunders through the
Square with a loudspeaker blaring. I translated it to "Oi, time to go home,
get outta here NOW!" as everyone scattered. Tiananmen closes to the public
at 10.00pm. I scurry to as I'm not one to argue with the Tiananmen Police.
THE SUMMER PALACE, THE FORBIDDEN CITY and THE WEIRD DIRTY NUDE GUY
I left the hotel by 7.30am to head to the Summer Palace. I jump straight
into the first cab... error! Beijing cabs have three price brackets, and
I've just jumped into the priciest one without thinking.
Its bumper to bumper Jingers peak hour all the way. The Beijing road grids
appear to be well organised, but its utter chaos at peak time. I arrive at
the Summer Palace just after opening at 8.30am. It is more a parkland with
heaps of grand palaces, rather than as the name suggests, one specific
palace.
The Palace contains a huge lake, bordered by bridges, temples, pagodas and
royal pavillions. As per the 'Temple of Heaven' from yesterday, many of the
buildings have great names - such as 'Cloud Dispelling Hall', 'Harmonious
Interest Garden' and 'Hall of Benevolence and Longevity'. The lake is so
huge I hire a self-drive power boat to move around in. Alas the 'power' is
battery supplied, so the thing goes a maximum of 10km an hour. It did give
me a chance to take some photos from a different perspective.
The largest temples are built overlooking the lake. They are very beautiful,
but also very busy. There are other areas which are peaceful. These are 'pay
extra' bits where for another entry fee you can get into quieter areas with
various displays. It was worth the extra $1 to get away from the crowds for
a little while.
After 4 hours I head back towards the hotel, this time in a cheap taxi. Once
again the driver has no idea where my hotel is (its the frickin' Novotel for
gods sake), and I work out that the hotel has marked where they are
incorrectly on my map, when I get dropped off in unfamiliar territory.
This did lead me to see the "Weird Dirty Nude Guy" (WDNG). WDNG was on the
street as I got out of the cab, outside of the Post Office. He was filthy
dirty, probably mid 30s and completely starkers for no apparent reason. The
Police arrived as I did, and they were telling him to get dressed. Stupidly,
WDNG proceeded to spit on one Policeman. He was stark raving nude and stark
raving mad to do that. The Policeman took him down by repeatedly kicking him
until he fell. As further police arrived (with gloves on cos WDNG was really
dirty) they made him put on shorts, and then tied him up with rope so he
couldn't move and struggle, but he could walk. The pack of them then
wandered off, with WDNG probably never to be seen again. I considered taking
photos (for human rights organisations around the world), but then thought
better of it. I'd seen what they do to a local and I'd assume foreigners
would be treated similarly. Or I'd end up with a second busted camera for
the trip.
I found the hotel so after a quick bite to eat, headed to the Forbidden
City. While I'm walking there a local said "hello" to me, has a chat and
says he's a school teacher. I soon work out he's masquarading as a tour
guide, so once we are in the Forbidden City (or I think I am) I ditch him.
It turns out I'm actually in the Workers Cultural Palace, which is just
before the Forbidden City. The Workers Cultural Palace is impressive in its
own right, with a collection of huge ornate buildings.
I then walked through the entry gate (similar in size to Tiananmen Gate,
which is only a hundred or so metres away) and I'm in 'The Palace Museum' as
its officially called, but known to all as 'The Forbidden City'. Its a
complex of around 25 main buildings, with most being enormous halls to
smaller pavillions. Its just an amazing place, with large gray paved
courtyards, bronze statues and these just supurb buildings.... why I'm
bothering to describe I don't know. You'll have to see the photos instead.
I'm now up to 22 rolls your poor poor people.
The Forbidden City got its name, because the Emperor was the only male
permitted, as other males were perceived as threats. His many wives were
allowed in, as were his helpful staff of Eunuchs. Basically they got the
well paid gig of looking after the Emperor if they agreed to have their bits
chopped off. Hence they were former males. Some didn't survive the
'operation'.... which leaves me wondering how much is enough to get your
bits sliced and diced, and also wondering how the hell did they pee.
After the 45th student asked me if I wanted to see their art display
(driving me nutty), it was 5pm closing time at the Forbidden City, so I
headed for the gates.
THE FANTASTIC GREAT WALL OF CHINA, THE OK GREAT WALL OF CHINA and A NIGHT AT
THE THEATRE
"It really is a great wall...." (Richard Nixon, US President, 1971)
"Na na na na na (Boom Crash Opera, from the mediocre song 'Great Wall',
1987)
"Hell, I'm standing on the Great Wall of China" (Adrian Murray, mouth agog,
July 10th 2003)
Today was quite possibly one of the coolest days that I'll ever spend on
this earth.
Up at 5am (nothing cool about that), fed and watered, and at Dongzeman Bus
Station by 5.55am. I'm going to Simatai, an apparently 'genuine' stretch of
the Great Wall of China. Its genuine in that it is difficult to climb and
has not been remade for tourist purposes.
I walked into the Bus Station, which is organised chaos. The first person I
speak to happens to be the conductor for the correct bus I need to catch.
Today really is looking good... Its a 90 minute bus ride to the town of
Mijun, so I catch a little extra shut eye on the way.
The conductor tells me when to get off, tells a guy standing outside the bus
"Simatai" and he says "yes". We negotiate the fee and soon enough I'm in his
red minivan taxi and on the way. Its an hour ride through small towns,
rolling hills and enormous mountains in the background, until we arrive at
the carpark for the Simatai section of the Great Wall. The carpark is at the
foot of the mountains, with the turrets from the Wall visible in the
distance way up on high.
You take a cable car up the first half of the mountain, followed by a cable
train up another quarter. Then its a ten minute walk upstairs for the
remainder until you reach the Wall.
"Hell, I'm standing on the Great Wall of China."
The Wall here does look genuinely old, as its crumbling in places, but still
well and truely intact. It is about 4 metres wide, and slightly raised on
the sides. Every 100-150 metres are large turrets with platforms. The Wall
trails up and down the mountains into the distance. The views from turret to
turret are absolutely insane. It is very steep in parts, up to about 70
degrees. It is mostly stairs, but in some parts its a straight surface, so
you do have to be careful. Its not a place for the oldies.
I walked mostly downhill, but some uphill for about a dozen turrets, to a
river. You cross via a suspension bridge, and then climb up three sets of
stairs to rejoin the Wall. I kept going for another six turrets, most on the
uphill. My thighs were burning and my calves were straining. Its a
physically demanding place. Its a bit like trying to run after riding a bike
- jelly legs. I was the first person there at 8.30am, so I've basically had
the Wall all to myself. Its an amazing thing to be here on your own,
standing atop the Great Wall with no one around.
I looked through the last turret I ventured to. The Wall continued off into
the distance, but it was crumbled badly for the next few hundred metres,
with a path running beside it. My next move was to turn round and go back
the six turrets to the river, then over the bridge and back uphill for three
more turrets to a path down to the carpark. I had already been up there for
over 2 hours.
As I was about to leave, I heard someone saying "hello" from the direction I
turned away from. Sure enough there's a local girl, about 12 years old,
walking down the path. She explained to me that she had come from
Jinshanling, which is another section of the Wall which joins this one, that
originates about 2 hours walk away. She asked me if I wanted to buy a Coca
Cola. Now that is customer service - two hours trekking to sell one can of
Coke for $1.10. And it was actually cold. How could I say no. She said thank
you, and as quick as she'd arrived, she had gone back on her way to
Jinshanling. I had to laugh. It was quite surreal that someone had sold me a
can of Coke on top of the Great Wall of China, by walking it in from miles
away.
With the sound of a family coming down the Wall, it was time to head back,
so I walked for about half an hour back to the pathway across the river. I
had turned down the pathway by about 50 metres when someone said to me
"paraglide and boat?".
The "paraglide" part was the quick way down the remainder of the mountain.
It was basically a flying fox of about 300 metres, dropping about 75 metres.
You were held in by a strap harness as you flew down above the river and
across a dam. There was a sign saying "safety assured". That was good enough
for me - I was in.
I can now let you know that you can make an echo through the valleys of
China whenl you yell as you fly downhill. It was huge fun.
At the bottom another man took me down to the dam for the boat ride. He
points to a peddlo-boat with a cover that makes it look like a large frog.
My legs are sore and the muscles are burning, and he wants me to bloody
peddle. Ten minutes later I'm off the peddlo and walking the last bit to the
carpark, where my red minivan driver gives me a wave. That was the end of my
Simatai experience. It was just superb.
I was inspired. I checked out my map and renegotiated the transport. We are
now heading back through another town, to another part of the Wall -
Mutianyu.
Another hour and a bit later, the red minivan arrives at the Great Wall at
Mutianyu. Once again there is a carpark, but this one is definitely more
tourist oriented, with postcard and souvenier vendors galore. I ditch them,
but buy myself and my driver (lets just call him Jeeves shall we) a bottle
of water each. Jeeves waves me off, and I walk up the hill to the cable car
to take me up to the Wall. This section of the actual Wall is not really the
actual Wall at all... its what they have termed a "restoration".
The original Great Wall did follow this same path, as you can see the
crumbled ruins trailing off into the distance. For a stretch of a few
kilometres, they have reproduced what the original was like. Unfortunately
it looks quite new, and there was actually a patch of about 50 metres that
they were in the midst of deconstructing and replacing what they had already
restored. I took a photo of the guys at work as they reproduced one of THE
great Man-made constructions of the world. I think American Golf
commentators at the US Open, when a player is on the final green putting to
win, would refer to the photo as, "this shot, to make history....."
Still the views at Mutianyu were sensational and still amazing, and it made
the experience of Simatai seem all the more fantastic as it made me realise
how authentic the experience actually is there. That section IS the Great
Wall of China.
I arrive back at the minivan with Jeeves pointing at my skinny legs and
making wincing pain looks on his face and laughing. He's acknowledging that
I'm quite mad doing two sections in one day. He drives me back to the nearby
town of Haikou, waits with me for the bus, waves it down, shakes my hand
profusely, and waves me off back to Beijing. In the end I've probably paid
enough to keep his family in food for the month, but what I've paid was 25%
cheaper than a hotel tour, I got to go at my own speed, and I also got to go
to two spots whereas the tour groups usually only do one. Everyone's a
winner. I certainly was as it has been one of life's great experiences.
Back in Beijing for dinner, I head to the "Be There Or Be Square" cafe.
Shocking name, but quality Barbecued Pork I can tell you. Ater that I
returned to the hotel for a shower, and then I decided to truely fill myself
to the brim with Chinese culture in one day, by heading to the 'theatre'.
"Lao She's Teahouse" is a traditional looking venue just round the corner
from Tiananmen. For $8 I get a seat at the back of the room, plus Jasmine
Tea (filled about 84 times) and traditional chinese nibblies. Included for
nibbling was roasted watermelon seeds. I didn't mind them, they were quite
smokey and salty. But then my mind ticked over as to how they collected the
seeds, and I had visions of Chinese people eating watermelon and spitting
out the seeds into a pot as their method of collection.....
The performance started with a traditional theatrical performance in
costume, basically with guys in dresses running round with swords. They are
covered in makeup with big wide expressive eyes. Beautifully over acted, it
was like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Pantomine". I constantly wanted to yell
out "He's behind you! He's behind you!" but though better of it. At the end
of the act, the boisterous table of locals sitting next to me clapped and
yelled out "Ho! Ho!". Apparently thats the chinese equivalent of "Grouse!".
Let me hear you say "Ho!" indeed.
The group next to me had a chat to me between acts as most were fluent in
English. They were very friendly and gave me some advice on what to see with
my limited time in both Beijing and Xi'An, as one of them grew up in Xi'An.
Next up was a female chinese opera singer. She sounded like a wailing
banshee. Not that I've heard one of those before... actually in hindsight,
she sounded like me as I flew down the flying fox at Simatai.
Following on from her was a Magician in a beee-autiful white dinner jacket,
pulling live fish from weird places, including the Lazy Susan on one of the
front row tables. After that was a girl tossing Ming Dynasty vases and
tables - with her feet. We were then treated to another traditional costume
performance, this time with the guy having the ability to change his face
mask repeatedly as part of the act, with the hand quicker than the eye as
they say. This brought rapturous "Ho!"'s from the table next to me, as
apparently this guy was an expert at this particular craft.
The final performers were a couple of stand up comedians. It was all done in
Chinese. They made everyone laugh, so they must have been funny. I must
learn how to say "Do a fart gag!" in Chinese for next time I'm here.
What a day.
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