Beijing Hotels
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Beijing
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After an uneventful flight (short delay seems to be the norm) we arrived in the Capital, Beijing for a four day stay. Kim, another winner. The hotel was so-so but the location was great.
We tried out the hotel's dining room and were less than impressed but we've been spoiled by some great hotels in the past. The first morning we walked down the street about 2 blocks to the North Entrance to the Forbidden City, called the Palace Museum here. Remember your walking shoes as this place is immense.
I kept a copy of the map of the palace grounds because I can't remember all of the courtyards, and pavillions located on the site. There's a Hall of Celestial Harmony, a Hall of Eternal Peace, a Hall for Virtuous Living, and a hall for just about every positive human expression. Now that it's a tourist site some of the halls are now Halls of Beijing Olympic paraphenalia, halls of soft drinks (some of which include flavoured milk, apple flavoured milk is not bad). Some of the sites are being renovated. Will they be completed in time for the expected influx of tourists for the Olympics? I'm sure that the Chinese will do everything possible to make it so but there's so much construction underway.
We walked the Forbidden City for about 3 hours and maybe saw 1/3 of the part that was open. We made it to the South Gate and were looking for a place to sit and rest. We did find a nearby hotel, the Beijing Grand. Go there if money is not a concern. Very nice! Very expensive. My lemonade was $7, Cheryl's tea was $7, and the coffee cake we shared was about the same. The stores in the hotel had $1000 shoes for sale. I'm sure they're wonderful but I'd rather spend the money on more travel.
After resting we took a cab to the Pearl Market. There is everything at the Pearl Market, including pearls. I bought a 254 gig flash drive for $40 and Cheryl picked up a nice pearl necklace. They must be good, we got a Certificate. We'll see how good a deal we got when we get home.
Dinner at a nearby Noodle House, yellow python in an aquarium at the door, 2 loud Mynah birds, and lots of ambiance. We were the only ghosts there. Did I tell you about "ghosts"? Apparently long ago when white men arrived they were called "ghosts" due to our colour. With most Chinese taking skin lotions to look whiter I'm actually darker (from 3 months of travelling) than most Chinese. 2 cab drivers refused to take us back not wanting to fight the traffic from there to our hotel but one did agree for an inflated price.
The second full day in Beijing we booked a tour. A 7:00 a.m. start for a long drive out to the country and the Great Wall. The driver knew the right roads as we made good time, the highway beside us was stopped dead for at least 14 km. as it was the first day of the 3 day International Labour Day holiday. We made it up the easy side of the Wall. Only 1000 steps this way, the other side was steeper and had 1400 steps. It was early thankfully as the day got hotter later on but the mist/ fog/ smog meant the views were'nt as far. Still, a spectacular site. Just beyond the part that has been refurbished was what remains of the original. Almost completely gone with just a pile of bricks where the guard towers were and what looked to be a foundation for the wall.
We also got to visit the Ming Tombs. There were 13 of them but visiting 1 was enough. More steps, more great edifaces and pagodas. The tomb itself has not been excavated supposedly for the same reason as the rest of the Terracotta Warriors. There is concern that opening the tomb would lead to deterioration. They're also concerned that the tombs may be rigged with traps that would kill any intruders. Not sure, good story though.
Of course we had the mandatory stops at shops along the way. Nice jade carvings, silks, at probably decent prices but how much is too much. The last stop was a (free) foot massage. A reflexologist talked about how treating the feet cures many ailments. A Tibetan Doctor diagnosed our troubles just by looking at our hands. According to him I have high blood pressure and kidney and prostate problems, Cheryl had liver problems. We did buy some medicine to cure us. Linda, can you get your dad to check out our medicine when we get back?
The "free" foot massage cost $60 or so, but the foot massage was great after so much walking.
The last full day we were on our own again. We had a nice breakfast at the nearby Prime Hotel (much better though more expensive than that at our hotel). We got a cab who would take us out to the Summer Palace Grounds still in the city but in the suburbs. A one hour cab ride each way and the driver waited over 3 hours to have our tour for the return trip= 300 yuan ($42). Nice grounds but whereas I had thought that there were over 3 billion people in China and I had only seen half of them, I now feel that I've seen 3/4. The place was crowded on a Saturday on a holiday weekend. Lots of walking there too!
Beijing to Shanghai on the 3rd. Left the hotel at 11:00 am for a 1:50 flight which was delayed again. Arrived Shanghai hotel close to 6:00. Tired. Details to follow.
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