Beijing: Part One
Trip Start
Dec 28, 2005
1
31
55
Trip End
Sep 01, 2006
Beijing,
China
Wednesday, May 3, 2006
Arrived Sunday - excellent spot of driving on the way here - felt like I was in a high speed car chase (don't worry Mum and dad - had a seat belt on!) Got to my hostel, walked into my room, hoping for some fun people to hang around with, but instead found an old Singaporean man moaning and convulsing on his bed and an Ozzie reading a book, ignoring him - hmmm? Peter was the insane one (and I don't mean a bit weird - talking mentally unstable!) and Rodney was the Ozzie who was leaving the next day - he very kindly helped me change rooms before he left so I wasn't alone with the mumbling, snoring, pill popping Peter!
Anyway, Rodney and I headed to the Summer Palace that day which was really beautiful. Was so hot, especially compared to Yantai, where I'm constantly trembling from the cold (somebody give me a jacket!!)
01 Summer Palace
. The buses to the Palace were as fun as the ones in Yantai - jam packed with gobbers, extremely cute babies (until they start bawling) and agressive talking (can't tell if they are mad or excited?). The Palace had many big lakes with tacky primary coloured boats but also beautiful dragon boats, over 3,000 structures including pavilions, towers, corridors and gorgeous bridges (really unusual) - the best one being the 17-Arch Bridge decorated with hundreds of lion statues - all different. Everything was really ornate and very 'Chinese' -perfect for entertaining all the emperors and empresses! The Marble Boat was one of the many highlights - gorgeous! That evening we also ventured to the famous Donghuamen Night Market and witnessed tourists tucking into the likes of scorpians, cockroaches, bugs, frogs, lamb balls, etc! Nice.. Also went down some little back alleys which were alive with loadsa little stalls selling all sorts of goodies - I was very restrained - only bought a pair of sunglasses (Caz, I think that's the fourth pair I'm on now - what's wrong with me?)On Monday I went exploring by myself. Went to see a Student Art Gallery which exhibited the best artwork I've seen so far - really beautiful work - scrolls mounted on silk of Chinese caligraphy or traditional drawings (eg. eight horses, six fish, pink blossom, scenes representing the seasons of life etc.), oil paintings, paper cut pictures (the picture is made by slicing out pieces of the paper - so pretty and delicate), feather pictures, all sorts - and had my own personal guide explaining all the meanings, which was really interesting until the 15minute hard sell at the end - managed to escape eventually
02 Summer Palace
! Wandered around Tiananmen Square - the original gate of the Imperial Palace and now a huge gathering ground - where loadsa tourists requested photos with me - so funny. The best was posing with two kids that looked really embarrassed thanks to their over-excited parents! Met up with Amy, Ryan and a friend of theirs, Dan, in Forbidden City and had lots of fun requesting our pictures with Chinese people - thought we'd throw em by reversing the situation - they loved it! Went on missions to get people with tour caps, umbrellas, anything ridiculous in their hands or distracted couples - brilliant! The Forbidden City itself was really fascinating, full of tradition and history, surrounded by a moat and grand watchtowers. Parted from Amy, Ryan and Dan after that and took a stroll through Jingshan Park which is full of colourful flowers and excellent hill views. It was really peaceful... apart from when a couple requested not just a picture but a photo shoot with me - on bench, on grass, standing up, next to blossom - very embarrassing! They then yattered on in Chinese whilst I glazed over until I finally managed to make them realise that repeating themselve wasn't gonna make me understand - I then escaped off up a hill!That evening I made friends with a French girl called Aurelie and shared a much needed Pizza a la Pizza Hut - was so good, I was on a cheese high! Went to the bar afterwards for a couple of drinks and got talking to a load of Canadian guys, a few Europeans and an Ozzie from the Hostel (Swar, Sheff, Alex, Jordan and co.), who were mostly royally wasted - made for some funny viewing
03 Summer Palace
. Arranged to do a day trip with the Ozzie, Swar, the following day - sadly Aurelie was leaving.So next day, Swar and I headed to the Old Summer Palace, which was beautiful and quite different to the sights I'd seen so far, as it was mostly in ruins, yet still stunning to look at. It was ruined by the second Opium War, but was once meant to be very grand and a favourite hang-out for the Emporers. It dates back to the 12th Century and was designed to resemble French and Italian Palaces. It's huge (same size as Central Park) - we just kept turning left and left and it just seemed to get better and better - a really cool place. Decided to actually eat at the Night Market that evening - tried out pineapple rice, noodles, vegetable balls, some tofu dish (really bad), corn on the cob, etc... Not bad for a veggie...
