You'd mistake us for locals at this stage, honest
Trip Start
Jun 25, 2011
1
2
62
Trip End
Dec 01, 2012
Beijing, China
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
So Tom reckoned it was jet lag but by my reckoning it was a just a lie in....have struggled to get up before 10 since finishing work anyway so don't see why this morning would be any different. Anyway I leapt out of bed thinking it was 12.30 and tried to light a fire under Tom to get him moving. Really I'd misheard Tom telling me the time and it was 10.30 so not too bad considering the 'jet lag'. Discovered breakfast is included with the room at the hostel (yey) then set out for the day.
Tried out Beijing's underground system which is deadly, very fast and straightforward and the stops are even announced in English. Got off Line 5 down by the Park of the Temple of Heaven and set about exploring. The Park is 267 hectres so pretty vast and we spent a good few hours in there. There isn't actually a temple - the temple is a huge 3-tiered white marble altar and there are various other halls and gates inside the park all set amongst gardens filled with old cypress tress. There's also a rose garden, both agreed that it isn't a patch on the one in St Anne's Park though.
Leaving the Park we headed a few km North on foot and stepped out of a busy shopping area down a Hutong to find a place to get lunch. Ordering was pot luck. Tom ordered duck - turned out OK, I thought I was playing it safe ordering chicken and peppers but when it arrived I dubious straight away from the colour of the meat. Brandishing my chopsticks I tried some....like chewing on leather and no chicken taste. Tom braved some and decided they were kidneys or livers, blurgh. Honest to God the size of the pile of meat on this plate and I think we managed to eat 4 pieces between us! Filled up (on duck and rice) we continued on to Tiananmen Square and after negotiating a number of security checks and diversions we entered the massive expanse that is the Square. Honestly wasn't quite the spectacle I thought it would be, for some reason soldiers had a big part of it sectioned off as well. Luckily caught the changing of the guards and as we were leaving the sun was starting to set which was quite picturesque. At this point you'd swear Tom's legs were going to fall off and so we hopped on the underground back to the hostel.
Headed out for dinner late enough after a long days sightseeing. Walked about 15mins up the road to 'Ghost Street' a kilometre stretch lined on both sides with wall to wall restaurants and red Chinese lanterns hanging from the trees. Did a lap of one side of the street before doing a U-turn and plucked up the courage to venture into somewhere. After a LOT of confusion over the menu and trying to figure out what was going on. I ordered for the two of us, not knowing exactly what to expect and keeping my fingers crossed. We'd gone to order just the soup but it quickly transpired that the reason that the staff were insisting on us ordering other ingredients was because the soup comes boiling hot and you place your meat and veg into the soup to cook in front of you making a kind of hot pot. Of course much to the amusement of people in the restaurant we did try eating the soup on it's own before the other food arrived - oops! Was really cool and tasty to boot - check out the photos. Finished off some beers then headed home with full bellies and heavy legs for a good nights kip.
Day 3 - The day I promised Tom we wouldn't walk as much but it didn't quite work out that way
Got an earlier start and after breakfast headed to the Forbidden City. We stumbled across this on the first nights walk and that's what most of those pictures are of. A few degrees hotter today, it was up to 34 C and we were feeling it straight away. En route Tom was delighted to discover his Chinese counterparts - the Chinese culchies were looking out for him when he at last managed to withdraw money from the Chinese Agricultural Bank (yes really a bank for culchies) having had his card refused at other banks ATM's. Arrived to mad throngs of crowds outside the Forbidden City's North entrance, picked up an audio guide (note to Jen - well worth the money :)) and away we went. The city was home to Emperors, Empresses and concubines (Tom seemed particularly impressed by this concept) over many centuries and is called the Forbidden City as it was out of bounds for the ordinary Joe Bloggs for over 500 years. It's surrounded by a 50m wide moat and is filled with many palaces, halls, museums and ornamental buildings. Spent most of the day in there happy out taking pics, and listening to the audio guide, sucking on ice lollies to keep us going. Get this - they have a pea flavoured ice lolly, think I'm going to try it tomorrow.
Left the Forbidden City around 5ish and headed to Beihai Park. Stunning views from here over the 'North Sea' lake. Strolled around for a good bit taking in the scenery and watching old folk doing Tai Chi. Left the park in search of a beer and after me getting us slightly lost we hit the jackpot and found a great Hutong with lots of bars and resturants. Slightly more touristy than the other places we'd come across and so after stopping off for a beer in a bar with a roof top terrace we found a restaurant and ordered some delicious food easily enough. Off to the Great Wall tomorrow and so going to aim for an earlyish night. Next post should be a good one - we have our bags packed with all the essentials - GAA jerseys and macarenas.
Zaijan,
Karen and Tom
Disclaimer: Day 2: "a couple of Kms" we walked for at least 10 hours with only one or two stops. Must have been at least 20 miles (nearer 30 i think)
Day 3: Much of the same...
(probably worth it though)
Also were going to the great wall with a pair of maracas not macarenas
Comments
YES! Audio guides rule OK!!!