The first things we noticed about Beijing are probably what everyone notices-traffic and smog! The traffic is so crazy it's amazing anyone bothers trying to drive anywhere at all. At anytime day or night the main roads are completely choked with cars, trucks and buses sitting idling inching their way forward. This in turn adds to the pollution which makes the air verge on the unbreathable. Since Guangzhou I had picked up a niggling cough that stayed with me until I left China and I attribute this solely to the poor air quality in the main centres. Beijing only seemed to make it worse and how anyone can live here year after year and breathe the revolting air is a mystery to me but I guess most people probably don't have a choice! Anyway after what seemed like a very long time we made it to Ping's enormous apartment tower. Her's was a flat on the 21st floor and the view across the surrounding area was pretty impressive. To have our own bed in her lounge under the air conditioner was a special kind of luxury for us after so many hotels and guesthouses. I think it's safe to say at this stage of the trip that both Kate and I are looking forward to having our own place again with our own things but for now it's still living wherever we can, so lets get on with it!
Our first night we went to a Peking duck restaurant with another friend we had met in Vietnam, Lan, and a few of her mates. The restaurant was in an old 'Hutong' which is like a really old Beijing laneway where all the buildings are super old and built in the 'traditional Chinese' style. The restaurant was supposed to be pretty famous and just the sort of place you could probably never find as a tourist which was precisely why I was pleased to have some locals as our hosts while we were there. The duck was really good and in true Chinese style there is no part of the duck that goes to waste and I tried the 'crispy duck entrails' which didn't really taste of much. It seems if they have to create a dish from a particularly gross bit of the animal being prepared then they simply just deep fry it so it just tastes like crispy anything. After dinner we went and checked out Tiannamen square and had a look around. It's hard to imagine just what took place here but speaking to Lan about it, she mentioned that the general public don't really care or know too much about the people who had been killed here as nowadays most people are too busy trying to make money and create a better life for their families to worry about politics.
We could see Mao's mausoleum and the big picture that of him that hangs above the entrance. The whole area is huge and looks pretty awesome at night. The 'forbidden city' is directly behind Mao's mausoleum and is where the former emperor's lived way back in the day. We visited the forbidden city a couple days later and were blown away by how big it is. This place is right in the centre of Beijing and it's hard to believe that a city like Beijing can still have the space to accommodate it. During the times when this palce was still going the Emperors were not allowed to leave the forbidden city and they lived their entire lives within the considerable confines of it's walls. The enormous old buildings are scattered around the area and in one place there is a square which was able to hold an audience of 100 000 people. Not surprisingly there was an enormous amount of tourists visiting while we were there and it's funny watchng people all jostling one another to try and get a look into the different halls and buildings.
On another day we took a trip 60km's out to 'Badaling' from where you can walk along the Great Wall of China. This is supposed to be the least desirable place to walk the wall due to enormous numbers of tourists and the quality of the wall here. Unfortunately the better part of the Wall that we were going to visit was closed for renovations, so Badaling it was. Actually it was still pretty cool and certainly enough wall walking for me. The wall is really steep in alot of places so in the heat and humidity it was quite a taxing affair. After about four or five hours we were both pretty buggered and we had seen enough of the wall. The sight of the crowds flooding up the wall was pretty impressive and the wall actually looks kind of surreal as it winds off into the distance. Both Kate and my attention span for these kind of tourist attractions is pretty limited at the best of times so after the usual 'yep, there's the wall, righto, seen it, climbed it, time to go...' it was back on the bus to Beijing.
One thing we found about Beijing that was a little unusual was the fact that nowadays the city officials have demolished alot of the old buildings and rebuilt replicas of them in their place! This means that rather than renovating the old traditional Beijing buildings they have knocked these over and built a new version of the buildings that used to be there. Crazy huh? We were expecting to see lots of cool old buildings but sadly these have largely been removed and replaced. In some ways Shanghai had more authentic old buildings than Beijing which was a real surprise.
In happier building news, for some reason, the American skatepark creators 'Woodward' decided to build a huge indoor and outdoor skatepark some 50km's outside of Beijing earlier this year. Luckily as this place is not serviced by any kind of public transport that I would be able to negotiate, Ping happily volunteered to drive both Kate and I out there and wait for five hours while I skated-what a champ! Although this place is not quite as large as SMP in Shanghai it is still significantly larger than anything in New Zealand or Australia. The indoor park is simply amazing and unbelieveably well made. The outdoor section isn't too bad either but unfortunately it rained whilst I was out there skating it but who cares?? Back to the world class indoor area it was! Woodward Beijing is undoubtedly the best skatepark I have ever been to and I dare say it would rival the best facilities anywhere in the world. Once again there was a noticeable lack of skaters and I had the place almost to myself. That would never happen at home! If you're reading this and you skate, get there. Seriously, get there, you will not be disappointed, I'd stake my last red hair on it.
The remainder of our time was spent looking around the city and dining with Lan and Ping at various yummy restaurants far off the tourist track. Six days was not really enough to see even a fraction of what Beijing has to offer but it was still a good introduction to the city, especially having locals to show us around. I think I would need to visit Beijing again with a little more time available to get a real feel for the city. Beijing is supposed to be roughly the size of Luxemburg and with a population around the 22 million mark it's easy to see why a week just isn't long enough. Overall Beijing had a markedly different feel about it to Shanghai but it wasn't without it's charms. Due to the massive population and poor air it's easy to find things to complain about but the reality is that there's a lot more to Beijing, and the Hutong's and the food are simply spectacular, especially the food. Even the smallest unassuming restaurant can have some of the best Chinese food you can imagine and it was great exploring the laneways and chowing down on a host of local delicacies. I have to say a huge thank-you (even though this blogsite is blocked in China and they'll probably never read it!) to our affable and endlessly patient hosts, Lan and Ping, that showed us around some of the best Beijing has to offer and who even drove me to the skatepark! Thanks guys, you rock!
So after a month of ups and downs, insane scenery, never-ending train trips, amazing food and good friends, it was time to once again drag our packs to the airport and take the short flight over to Seoul, South Korea. I think I have to go back to China one day with a more structured itineary and maybe a few more flights between places rather than trains! The sheer size of the place is overwhelming and the mass of humanity is something that we just don't have at home. If you want to see a lot of people in one place at the same time just go to a train station in China and be swept away in the human tide. I must say I was looking forward to getting to Korea in the way that it is a place that is already familiar to me and I can read the language and even speak a little so no more ordering food by pointing and acting things out! Three weeks in 'The Land of Morning Calm' seemed just like what we needed after the heckticness of China. Find out how it all goes next time. 'Til then
Beijing and it's highlights.
I thought this was our duck so I made the waiter pose for a photo but afterwards I found out it wasn't. It was for the room next door.
Lan, me and her friends with the yummy food on the lazy suzy. Yummmm
Tim, Lan and I.
Lan and I.
Outside the restaurant.
The ducks are hung above the open fire to be cooked.
In front of fake gates on an 'ancient' street. I think they must have created this street for the Beijing Olympics. It is filled with high-end shops in ancient looking buildings.
Another pic.
There is Mao's mausoleum.
This is what the public toliets look like - so when you are doing the number 1s or 2s, you may just have an audience! There are millions of public loos throughout China because many of the older buildings were originally built without toilets.
Ping negotiating with the old lady on the price of the watermelon. These are supposed to be the tastiest watermelons in Beijing - I think this must be because they use poo as fertiliser.
View of Beijing from Lan's apartment. Below are some older, single storied (business?) buildings with what looks like a junk yard but actually is a lot of stuff for recyling (plastic and glass bottles, and cardboard). Yes they do recycle things here. You often see old ladies collecting bottles from rubbish bins and cardboard from stores.
Another view. This has been taken on a very, very, very good day in Beijing. Normally you cannot see about 1km a head of you.
More apartments for the millions of people.
And more.
Me.
Tiannanmen Square. At night time it is sealed off to the public.
The entrance to the Forbidden City. Of course we have to have the beloved Mao's picture on the gate.
So touristy.
I was more fascinated with the mobs of people in the Forbidden City than I was with the buildings. I never found out what everyone was taking a picture of.
Handles from these HUGE brass drums which used to store water which was used to extinguish fires within the Forbidden City (Some of the buildings have been burnt down at least twice).
A wall within the Forbidden city.
A lion playing.
More sites, more people.
View of the Forbidden city from above. And a view of the Beijing smog.
View of some old looking buildings.
Brother? Cousin? Related maybe? Their eyes look very a like.
They're just waiting for the bus.
These green banners were all around the city. It says "Actively support the population census and cooperate fully to reconcile household and population records."
A nice green haven amongst the city.
I love this t-shirt. It says "ObaMao".
The city at night.
The Great Wall.
More of the Wall..
and more people....
Skating
The Beijing blog cannot be complete without some skateboarding photos.
The entrance.
The indoor park.
Me looking absolutely thrilled! Yes another day stuck at the skatepark was just what I wanted to do!
Broken board! No more skating today. Boohoo! Did I mention that me (Kate) has been carrying his skateboard on her backpack since Vietnam?!!! (and my 'Suicidal Tendencies' Vans Hi-Tops, can someone please nominate Kate for a sainthood please??!!)
Skating.
Another photo, another video..all in the day of being a skater in China.
A video of Tim at the skatepark.
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