I traveled to Beijing on my own. Most of you who know me know that I don't like being by myself. However my options were this: go with friends for 2.5 days or go by myself for 5 days. I chose the later because I really wanted to be able to see the entire city. So, I went on this journey on my own, hoping the extrovert in me wouldn't die of boredom.
The first day in Beijing, I went Tianamen Square and the Forbidden City. Tianamen Sq. is really interesting because neither in the square anywhere nor in the square museum do they acknowledge what happened there in 1989. How could they not even mention it, as that is what tourists know it for? Well, the China government likes to pretend some things never happen...so, the students are not taught about it and it is never mentioned. Crazy, huh?Anyway, the square was just a gigantic concrete square (see picture), nothing too interesting. The Forbidden City, however, was so interesting. It is chalk full of history from Imperial Chinese times. The Forbidden City is where the emperor and his empresses and concubines lived. It is absolutely
huge, as the emperor never really left the area. I have learned a lot about that stuff in my Women in China class at HKUST, and so it was cool to get to see some of that historical stuff in person. The gate to enter the Forbidden City is called the Gate of Heavenly Peace and has a huge portrait of Mao's mug on it (see picture). People in China like Mao. Apparently they agree he did some bad stuff but they have a saying (actually I think it is the party slogan) that goes something like "Mao was right 70% of the time and wrong 30% of the time."...ha!
After a long day running around Beijing, tragedy struck. I went to a convenience store to buy food and then walked 2 hours home (because a I refused to take a ride back home with this particularly persistent tuk tuk driver and then asked him for directions...bad idea because he pointed me in the completely wrong direction). When I got home, I realized I didn't have my wallet, and because I was alone in Beijing I got quite nervous. I stepped outside my hostel to get a ride (with borrowed money from the front desk) back to the convenience store to see if my wallet was still there. Ironically enough, the tuk tuk driver that had given me wrong directions was sitting right outside (ready to laugh at me). Because I had few other options, I took his ride back to the store. When I got there, they told me they didn't have the wallet (of course). Then I really panicked. I had no money, no credit cards, and therefore no way to eat or move around Beijing...with 5 days to go. (Of course this would happen on the one trip I go on alone). So I called my dad from the hostel crying hysterically, and he was able to contact a friend of a friend in Beijing to bring me money that night. The lady's name was Joy Ding, and she was a Beijing local. She not only brought me enough money to get through the rest of my time in Asia at 1am in the morning, but she also offered to take me around a lot of Beijing in the following days. She was fantastic. I thank God for working everything out for me so smoothly!
The following day, I woke up at 5 am to hike the great wall with several other people from my hostel. My hostel provided a tour that no other place in Beijing does. It doesn't take you to the touristy spots that was reconstructed (and thus date back to circa 1993) with the roller coaster rides and other random ways to make money...they took us to a spot they call the "secret wall." It was about 3.5 hours out of the city, and we had to hike 1.5 hours to get to the wall from the rural road. But all the traveling was well worth it because the wall was so legit. In any Western country, this tour would not be legal for safety and liability reasons. The wall not reconstructed at all, and so it was crumbling in most places. Also, when you got to the high parts of the wall (in which the sides were crumbling or gone), the wind was so bad that we had to crouch down onto our knees sometimes so the wind wouldn't blow us off the steep side. Several times the wind blew me across the walkway...it was so strong. But these things definitely added character and adventure to the trip. I got so many great pictures, and I loved every minute of the hike. This was literally a dream come true.
After the Great Wall, Joy took me out with her family to eat the famous Peking (Beijing) Roasted Duck. The meal was delicious, and her family's company was great. We had to use my Chinese-English dictionary times, but that added some spice to the nice. I loved the Roasted Duck..but I didn't like the duck liver as much. And, yes, in the picture that is the duck head on the plate, split in half. Ha, oh China!The next day I went to the Summer Palace, which is where the Emperor and his empresses and concubines lived during the summers. The place was huge and
very beautiful, but most of the things to report are very similar to what I had to say about the Forbidden City above, so I will spare you the details. However right after the Summer Palace, I went to the Olympics area in Beijing and saw the Bird's Nest (and went inside) and the Cube. They were absolutely beautiful buildings (even better in person than on TV) and are wonderful works of modern architecture. Because I love the Olympics, this was another dream come true.
That night, I went to a tea show at the first tea house in Beijing with Joy and a friend of hers. I saw some Beijing opera, Sichuan mask changing act, Chinese comedy, kung fu, Chinese acrobatics, etc. It was a great show, and the tea was wonderful. Joy also took me shopping on my last day. I bought so many things because China is just so stinking cheap! I got shoes, scarves, chopsticks, a tea pot, purses, pearls, etc. This shopping trip was a wonderful way spend a day in Beijing!
Now, the last, and one of the coolest things I have to report: I ATE A SCORPION. On my last night, I was downtown and was on the "snack street" where you can get many different things on a stick. I saw a whole stand of bugs and was completely disgusted. I, along with many other tourists, took pictures and gasped in horror. Time passed, and I left the area. Then I stopped in the middle of the street and turned back. I realized that I could not leave Asia without eating something completely insane. So without much hesitancy, I went back to eat a bug. After arriving there, I decided (with the help of others) that the scorpion was the most adventurous so I went for that one. But these aren't just scorpions...they are live scorpions (see video). They are still squirming around. So I ordered a stick, the guy stuck them on the grill for 10 seconds and then handed them to me. AH! No other tourists were willing, and all gathered round to watch the one blonde girl from America try it out. So, without fear (kind of), I bit an entire one off the stick, kept it on my tongue for a picture, and then chewed it up. It was actually not horrible (though I wouldn't eat it again). It tasted just oily and very crunchy. So....BE IMPRESSED! ;)
No comments:
Post a Comment