Ok, so before I get into today's goodies, remember how we left Sirui behind at the Hong Kong/Shenzhen border? Yea, I actually forgot to tell you he made it back in a day. How awesome is that? Anyway, so this is his story. From what he told me at least, after I got out of the pool at the Guangzhou hotel. Note: swimming at night, during a humid summer is fantastic. Cool water and warm, thick air. Gorgeous.
He rocks up to the customs like the rest of us. His officer seems to be taking awhile. CSP delegates stream past him. His officer looks grim. Tells him there's a problem with his visa. He looks around for CSP support but everyone's already crossed the border. He's given a full body check by a huge, man of a woman. Jokes, jokes! Seriously though, his visa was invalid. Turns out he'd tried to get an extension on his visa, after entering China earlier as a volunteer after the Sichuan earthquakes. Except the people who fixed his visa up for him botched it. So he took a long taxi ride back to Hong Kong, called up some relatives and stayed there that night. The taxi ride alone cost a fair fortune, let alone applying for an emergency visa the following day. Moral of the story: Get your visa checked out before you hit customs.
So I wake up this morning feeling a whole lot better. Billy was on hand to get the doctor, but I didn't need to see him. So that was awesome. Sophie checks in on me and when I tell her I'm feeling good again, her face just lights up. Li Lei visits later and he's pretty happy with the quick turnaround. What can I say, I heal fast. I was just happy that I was hungry again. The train cruised into Beijing and I saw what a friend of mine meant when she said the income gap between the rich and the poor is just huge in China. Interspersed with some relatively modern medium and high rise residential flats were some rather squalid places in which people lived. I'm sure this is what the Olympic spectators will not see when the Games begin.
They will, however, see this.
Loads and loads of Chinese people. Honestly, up till now, we hadn't seen that many Chinese people gathered in one place. It's like a stream of ants, there are just so many of them. We got whizzed off to a restaurant for breakfast.
On the way, we saw this.
It took more than a few attempts with the camera to get a clean shot. You'd probably think it was a cold day. Except that it was the middle of summer, around 26 degrees (a cool day, actually). You might think was rain. Well, you'd be right in a few hours. But that's actually smog. We'd been told that China plans to clear it all before the Games begin. Our Beijing tour guide said they had policies in place, such as alternating the days on which cars may be driven, depending on the number plate. During our stay, those policies hadn't been acted on yet. And unforunately, we weren't allowed in the Nest. With barely a month to go (at the time), security was extremely tight and really, only authorised people were allowed in. Tourists are able to take photos with the Nest, but they must have the security fence in their background.
Breakfast was welcomed by all. Especially me. Took no prisoners this time. Even the oily stuff was not spared. Apparently this restaurant has had some sort of tradition with CSP. Last year, the delegation rocked up at midnight after flying in, and the restaurant still served dinner. The only real surprise of the morning was a thick jelly-like dish which bore a passing resemblance to the props used in 2girls1cup. Nice.
Off to the Summer Palace we went. The emperor used to reside there during summer. Cause it was a chill place to hang out I guess. Lots of people there today.
Everything about the summer palace is supposed to suggest longevity. The Palace was filled with longevity rocks, huge rocks with holes in them. I think the holes are supposed to represent peaches? And these peaches are supposed to represent longevity? Perhaps. The Summer Palace was a bit like a park really. A lot of families were there to spend the day. The some of the tiles that formed the walkways were painted on by people practising their calligraphy. I don't think they were using water though, their water marks appear not have evaporated, and it was a hot day.
The lake at the Palace is actually quite nice.
Our arrival at the Summer Palace also marks the first of our 'muscle men' victory poses. Or as Kristina likes to call them, 'the gun show'. Observe.
Variations of this theme were to follow. And for the ladies? How about a kiss?
After our shenanigans in front of yet another longevity rock, we proceeded to proceed down the longest hall ever.
Unfortunately, this photo doesn't capture just how long the thing is. It curves, and it took us a good ten minutes walking to get from one end to another. I believe it was made for a particular empress, who enjoyed walking down such long long halls.
Before ending our official first 'day' in Beijing, Amanda yet again spotted another Viennetta outlet. I believe it was 3 yuan (0.5 AUD/USD) this time. Cool. Literally. Even Kenny, who missed out in Xian, got in on it this time.
Lunch was a pretty interesting affair. The food was pretty standard by now, and it included sweet and sour pork as usual - we just couldn't escape that dish the entire trip! Treated to some live performances as we ate. Dancing girls, dancing men, and ethnic minority group instrument players (who we thought were instrument-syncing, who actually weren't) comprised the lunchtime entertainment. The dancers even dragged some delegates on stage to participate in a traditional ethnic minority group dances which involved forming a circle and bumping hips with those next to you. Chunping clearly didn't like the dance.
We left the restaurant to find the skies pouring down on us. For the lucky few who had umbrellas (one of the few times I would actually use mine), the rain only reached our ankles. For those who weren't so fortunate...
Our hotel was the next stop, and free time would follow afterwards - a whole afternoon and night's worth. Sweet. Our Beijing hotel wasn't too shabby.
It was also about time to wash my CSP polo shirts again. I'd gotten them laundered in Xian, but even in China, getting laundry service for multiple items is quite pricey. And food stains are just embarrassing after awhile. Just ask Krissy. The typical method would be to drench and rinse in soapy water. Soap and shampoo were often the detergents of choice. The lengthy drying process would follow afterwards. It took me three days to get everything dry. Those with experience suggested hanging up clothes underneath the air-conditioning vent to speed things up.
You could feel the humidity after the shower. A short (40 minute) bus ride took us to the famous Tiananmen (天安门) Square. It literally means, gate of heavenly peace. So what to do at a huge square? Well, the first thing you see is Mao Zedong's mausoleum.
We tried.
And then you might go see the Monument to the People's Heroes.
And finally why not a group photo with Chairman Mao in the background?
Couldn't leave without taking one last photo.
The ground on which the people were heard.
Dinnertime! I decided to play it safe, and instead of going for some food from small outlets, hit up some hotpot instead. Oh, almost forgot this.
Gotta love Chinglish.
Hotpot was filling. So filling. We ordered soo much meat, and we only had an hour to finish it all. So I tanked quite a bit. Gotta love Annie: 'Kevin 是我们的希望!' Interesting things to note. In China they don't use gas hotpots pre-installed in tables. They still light it up. And they use a kind of, peanut butter like sauce for dipping in. They offer you shallots and something else I can't remember right now as well to add to your peanut butter like sauce.
After leaving the hotpot place pretty bloated, I bought a bottle of water for 3 yuan (0.5 AUD/USD). Still marvelling at how cheap everything is in China. Met up with the others who'd gone to the 'gourmet street' for dinner. Apparently there was a night market, and Kenny was working his magic again with the store ladies. I was in the market for fans, and luckily I had Tina there to help me score some at a low, low price of 10 yuan (1.4 AUD/USD) each. I've come to realise that everyone has a unique style of bargaining. Kenny prefers to work the ladies, and with a bit of persistence, can score it down nicely. Tina uses strategy. Two things I learnt from her that day. One, set a price for yourself to bargain down to. And don't back off it, if you know you can get it for that price. She kept insisting that we wouldn't buy the fans unless it was 10 yuan up to the point I thought the shopkeeper would just tell us to bugger off. Two, walk away if you need to. When the shopkeeper refused to sell it to us for 10 yuan, Tina simply told me to walk away. We'd moved barely two paces before the shopkeeper called us back. These shops all sell the same thing. If you can't get it there for 10 yuan, you can get it from someone else for 10 yuan. This is the art of bargaining. So how do I do it? That was to be seen later.
Kenny had managed to work over two different shopkeepers in the space of half an hour. I was interested in getting a man-fan (big, made of wood, and usually had a more paper like canvas) cause it was so hot that night. I was after one with a dragon design, and managed to get it for 8 yuan (1.1 AUD/USD). Tina was after some as well, and wanted ones that symbolised longevity. When the first shopkeeper didn't have what she was after, Kenny took us to another shopkeeper. Tina found what she wanted and I spotted one with the four beautiful ladies of China as its design. It is so pimp. Note: learn about the four beauties of China. Other interesting things in the nightmarket...
Fried scorpion! Apparently it tastes like fried batter. I have been searching for ages for a picture of this, if someone would oblige I would be eternally grateful.
Took me awhile to dig up this gem as well.
That is our lovely Jacqie getting into some glazed fruit on a stick.
And this is the gang all sporting Mao watches. Basically, watches with pictures of Mao on their face, and his arm moving back and forth in salute. Amanda and Kristina kept asking me for the time the following day. Monica's broke with her not even knowing that it was, 'How come I can't put my watch on?'. The latching mechanism had fallen off.
So after shenanigans in the markets of Beijing, our Beijing student guide tells us there's this pretty cool place called Hou Hai (后海?). While we try get a taxi, I notice these buses hooked up to cables. Weird. According to Meghan they have them in Vancouver as well and it's more eco-friendly.
Also spot this huge poster and figure of Yao Ming. Maybe they made it his real height?
Taxi it there and wait for the others. While we wait, we spot a hooker in the area. So the girls think it'd be funny to see if I could lure her. So I walk around the area, looking kind of alone and maybe needing a bit company? Spot some couples waltzing around. It's a nice place to be. Kenny also got put on 'hooker lure' duty, but I guess we didn't look desperate enough. She had a mullet by the way and was chain-smoking cigarettes. This is Hou Hai.
It's a lovely spot, lined with bars (note, not clubs) and outdoor drinking areas overlooking the inlet/lake/thing.
Beautiful spot. When waiting for beers, what do you do? Take photos of course! This one's a beauty. Please send in captions for this.
I actually managed to exterminate the candle inside those glass thingies by flipping the candle over. Logical huh?
Monica's got the idea.
Can't forget us!
Or William!
Got Engle pose?
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