Beijing - This Site Currently Under Construction.
Trip Start
Mar 03, 2005
1
16
235
Trip End
Ongoing
Beijing,
China
Thursday, April 21, 2005
FSQ and I decided to hit the ground running so to speak, by heading to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Alas, its more of a Forbidden Shitty at the moment because they are well and truly underway into grand scale renovations in time for the Olympics. It was quite a disappointing experience for me on behalf of FSQ, because I had seen the place two years ago, days after the end of SARS, in all its grandeur, empty. Today we experienced it with millions of others, with only the main buildings not hidden by scaffolding, green mesh, and workers. It was still beautiful, but not as beautiful as it should have been.
In addition to the construction issues, we were also kept out of certain areas due to a visiting politician. Rumours were flying in the crowd that it was Australia's own Little Johnny. FSQ and I were disappointed not to view the Wallabies Tracksuited one making his ritual morning walk.
Our first night in Beijing for dinner and we went western, and were subjected to our first annoying Aussie. Shane the fat annoying coughing guy, with his Chinese wife, from Ballarat. Shane was the kind of person who had to tell you about the amazing electrical bargain he picked up, in great detail. "Mini walkie-talkie, $25, at least $100 at home, now the key to negotiating with the locals is not to make....", yeah blah blah Shane. The only use I could see for the walkie talkie was when Shane left for the toilet, and was gone for quite a while (probably disappearing up his own arsehole as they say) and his wife made a "10-4 good buddy" to him from the dining table while Shane was in the cubicle. True story.
FSQ and I were up early again, this time for a trip out into the countryside to see the Wall. Whether or not you can see it from the moon doesn't worry me - it is still an ethereal experience going up onto the Great Wall Of China. We were corralled off the public bus in the town of Mijun a little too early, and thus got stitched up on the further private taxi we had to hire for the rest of the trek. It seemed the bus attendant had phoned a friend ahead....
Our first wall stop was at Simatai. Unlike most of the other wall-sites around Beijing, Simatai hasn't been conquered by AV Jennings, and thus remains in a similar state to how it should be. You feel like you are walking on crumbling history, rather than in Disneyland. To reach the wall from the car park, its a cable car ride, followed by cable train, and then onward hike, to reach the top of the mountains. The Simatai section is steep in places, and the views are spectacular. It was great to experience it a second time on such a beautiful sunny day, and also to see FSQ's reaction to it.
Our driver was trying to convince us that there were no late buses from Miyun so we should hurry up. I suspected given his cheap polyester suit, that he had an early date in town. We thought stuff him, and continued on at our own pace to our second stop at the Wall, at Jinshanling.
I hadn't been to Jinshanling before and I was enthralled by the experience. Jinshanling also remains mostly un-renovated, and the views are tremendous, especially as we arrived later in the afternoon where there was an orange-glow to the wall on one side. The wall meanders on and on into the horizon. Sometimes when you are travelling you forget to take it all in, as you expect that there may be something better just around the corner, and thus keep moving. So we sat down for a few minutes and soaked in the atmosphere, pinnacles and wall snaking its way into the distance. And although we had to endure the whingy whiney taxi driver (who did lie to us because there was a bus at Miyun), the bus drive from hell back to Beijing, and the stuffed achilles, ankles, knees and hammies that go with climbing a wall up a mountain for 6 hours, it was all worth it.
I do feel lucky to have seen the Great Wall Of China twice in my lifetime. I was going to say blessed, but I figured the Monk in Zhongdian was focussing the blessing he gave me last week on something more significant than at my liking for an old wall.
I'm currently loving the fluffy towels of the four-star lifestyle, as inspired by FSQ. I even had the hotel wash my jeans, which cost me nearly as much as their purchase price in Nanning. And when you decide on the "sleep in" option, as we did the following day, your double-glazed windows and quiet corridors actually do give you a chance to do that - sleep....
The Temple Of Heaven is another destination on the "must do" list for Beijing. Its a beautiful park, with temple buildings running south to north up the middle. The buildings are exactly the same as the little chinese porcelain buildings that your Nanna might have in her treasures-case at home - only of course a little larger.
The crowds were there usual pushy self. A group of locals in old Mao Suits, splendid with missing teeth and ordinary smell, pushed into us to cunningly attempt a photo with us in it. Apparently it was we who looked funny. I reluctantly took up the standard 'V' for victory pose, but should have gone the bird instead. Or lent them some Mitchum deodorant. (thanks to FSQ for bringing me an adequate stock from home).
In the afternoon, we made our way to a section of the Hutongs. These are pockets of older-style alleyway systems from yesteryear, in the heart of Beijing. You can usually smell them from afar, as wafting poo seems to emanate from them. It wasn't as inspiring as we'd hoped.
The China Post, an English local newspaper, recently outlined that there had been around 23,000 deaths so far this year on Chinese roads, a drop of over 14% in comparison to last year. Woohoo! With this in mind, I'd often I've often wondered how thew Chinese solve their car accident issues, post-crash. Is there an exchange of addresses? Is there insurance?
On the way to dinner, FSQ and I were eyewitness reporters to how they solve such bingle issues. They do so by punching-on. There was a minor bingle between a motorbike and car, and the drivers when at it toe-to-toe sorting out who was to blame. They then stepped back, yelled at each other for a minute or so, hopped onto/into their respective vehicles, and sped away. Problem solved.
After dinner we wandered back through Tiananmen Gate (the building with the big Mao photo that you see in every Chinese Tourist brochure), which was lit up like Christmas, through to the forecourt outside of the Forbidden City. With the dulcet tones of Eminem belting out from a souvenir stall, the Police Guards wandered around at 10pm yelling at everyone to leave. Who is to argue with men with batons.
FSQ and I were back to the early morning starts, for the ride out to the Summer Palace in Beijing's suburbia. Once again the disappointment was abundant, as there was construction and scaffolding all over the majestic buildings. Somehow fixing up old buildings to make them look brand new is the Chinese way of preserving history. By 2008 when the athletes arrive, all of the ancient manmade wonders of this country will have the vintage of a wine picked, squished and bottled last month. Still it didn't deter thew crowds as there were thousands of people there for a view.
Mental Note 7: When Cairo wins the right to host the 2012 Olympics, don't turn up to see the Sphinx in 2010....
FSQ and I paid a couple of extra bucks to go into a gallery area of the Palace, which contains antiques from the Ming to Qing dynasties. The buildings aren't old (they are from the Bunnings Dynasty), but at least they aren't under repair, and do offer a rest from the throng outside.
A 'highlight' of the day for me (given the views of the buildings were ruined) could best be summarised by the opening line from the 'Teddy Bear's Picnic'. For those of you who can't remember, "if you go down to the woods today, you're in for a big surprise...." I looked down into a small wooded area between a couple of buildings of the Summer Palace, to find a Grandma, taking a dump, in open view of a number of people. It didn't seem to concern here that she was in a public place, and indeed doing so at a nationally treasured monument.
Does a bear shit in the woods? Yep. And so does Granny.
On the return journey we stopped off in Tiananmen Square for a better look. There are many English students who want to stop and have a chat with you to practice their English skills. Sometimes its hard to establish as to if they are trying to sell you something or otherwise, but when you work out that they simply want to say 'hi' then its a fantastic thing. A couple took us to some Hutongs near to the Square for a gander. FSQ and I were shown a very famous four storey Chinese medicine shop, which included 90 year old Ginseng, retailing for around AUD$160,000. There were also cheapies at around 1/1,600,000 of that price.
I can not understand how it has not occurred to the Chinese, that perhaps if they didn't spit, snot, hold one nostril and blow out the other onto the footpath, sneeze onto others, cough onto others and consistently pick their noses, then perhaps they wouldn't need to invest that much on a plant extract for their health.
