All righty. In typical fashion I'd forgotten some things that happened the day before, and only now, when I'm writing the next day do I remember it. Okly dokes. So last night after the Weapons Museum, we decided to head out again because we thought that it would be a cool thing to do. And there was nothing else for us to do at the hotel. So someone suggests we go to Wang Fu Jin (王府井). Coolios. Says it's a place where we can go shopping. Awesome. So me, Jacqie, Kenny and Tina grab a taxi and get there. We wait for the others. Tina decides to ask someone where Wang Fu Jin actually is, cause we can't see it from where we were dropped off. Turns out that Wang Fu Jin is under renovations and is closed. Fantastic. So where to go? We decide to hit up Xi Dan (西单), another district in Beijing well known for its shopping. Problem was, it was all department stores. And when we got there, it was about 9.45pm. We thought it'd be ok. Until we found out that the shopping mall closed at 10.00pm. Sweet, 15 minutes of shopping. The girls made use of what they could with the time, while me and Kenny looked around the place. It felt like being in Hong Kong again, where all you had were big international brands you could find anywhere, and none of the market shopping we were after. The shopping mall closed so we decided to look around for somewhere else to go. But the night seemed to be a lost cause, and we all felt like going back to the hotel. Spotted a McDonald's not too far off, and going to McDonald's in China was on my 'to-do' list. So off we went.
Now here's the thing about McDonald's. It has a different nickname wherever you're from. The North Americans (USA and Canada) call it, get this, Mickey D's. Cool huh? The Poms in the UK call it, Macky D's. And what do we call it in Australia? Maccas. How bloody bogan is that? For me personally, this one of the unexpected highlights the trip. It's just so interesting to see how the same thing in one country is so different in another. Even if they're all Western countries. Another unexpected highlight was soon to follow.
But first, a disheartening experience. On the way to McDonald's, I was caught by a pair of Chinese women who didn't look too well off. I think it's common practice in China for people to actually come up to you and beg you for money, whereas in Australia the most they'll do is sit on the ground with a sign. I really didn't want to shrug them off but I knew that if I'd lingered for in a split-second they would've gotten something off me. I'm not sure if they're really that poor, or if they're 'pretend' poor. Yea, it's pretty sad.
Anyway, we disappeared into the underground safety of a McDonald's restaurant. Looked like any other McDonald's restaurant. Couldn't really decide what to go for. I think it was Kenny who suggested that I hit number 22, a kind of roll with salad and roast duck. Sounded interesting. Walk up to the counter. The person serving me had overheard me and Kenny speaking English to each other, so when I try order in my terrible Mandarin, she just cuts me off with English. Snapped. Meekly receive my change and walk off to join Jacqie and Tina. Oh, there's something about McDonald's I should mention. And this might apply for other things in China as well. Don't bother lining up. You're just doing yourself a disservice. People in China don't know how to line up. Getting any kind of service at McDonald's is like being at a club - push your way to the front and holler. Well, maybe not holler. But at least push to the front. So anyway, this salad and duck roll. What nobody told me was that it had this thing called 'Ma La' (麻辣) in it. For those who don't know, it's actually from Sichuan, and it is the most awesome sauce I have ever tried. I took a bite, and pretty much instantly, I felt the spicyness of it. Tasty. But then I felt my tongue go numb. And that was the cool bit. It was like, a spicy numbing sauce. And it tasted sooo nice. Literally inhaled the rest of that roll.
Getting back to the hotel was a pretty lame affair. We tried to get a taxi for about 20 minutes. When we finally hailed one down, it wouldn't take us to our hotel because the taxi driver would have had to turn around and go the other way. Pretty happy to finally hail one down.
So today was time to visit Tianjin. Bus ride took approximately three hours. The new high speed train that was currently undergoing testing for use would shorten that trip to just 30 minutes. Tianjin is about 140km south of Beijing, and will be the most modern city in China, if it isn't already. For the first two hours we were there, we endured videos I believe were made to entice overseas investors to Tianjin. They expounded the moderness of Tianjin, the importance of Tianjin to China's future and the rapid development of Tianjin.
After a glorious lunch, held in a glorious dining room, further reinforcing the awesomeness of Tianjin...
We took a bus-board tour around Tianjin itself. Honestly, I think its the most modern city in China, rivalled only by Shanghai, which we would visit later. The buildings, the roads, everything about it is just a testament to the realised potential of a modern China. It was the least polluted city we'd been to in China, and most likely the most well-planned. After Beijing and Shanghai, it is the third largest city in China. We visited a few museums in Tianjin which displayed scale models of parts of the city itself and some of the more important buildings and modern developments. Have to admit they were pretty impressive. If what I've seen is anything to go by, I can easily see Tianjin becoming a city as large and as internationally recognised as Beijing and Shanghai are.
The afternoon was spent at the Zhou Enlai memorial in Tianjin. He was the first premier of China and apparently a very good one at that. Honestly, I didn't pay too much attention in the museum.
More Commie pride.
On our way back to Beijing, passing through downtown Tianjin again, we saw another Olympic venue. The soccer stadium was built in Tianjin, but unfortunately we couldn't really get a good look at it. It's the big dome.
Blue skies in Tianjin. Beautiful.
I think ther even have solar panels to power streetlights. Top left corner.
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