Day 4 - Beijing (Mongolian Visa Day, Ancient Beijing Observatory, Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.)
Day 5 - Beijing (Dazhalan, Qianmen Gate, Tiananmen Square, Tian Tan Park)
Day 3 Sunday 3 August
Beijing
I spent most of this day travelling. It was a great flight north over Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and then China. My excitement grew, as did my apprehension at what might be on my arrival in China. The plane arrived in Beijing at 2:30pm. The city was shrouded in a thick brown mist as we flew in.
To my great pleasure and slight surprise there were no hassles going through the formalities at Beijing Airport. I exchanged some money and while doing so I met Bobby, a fellow Sundowners traveller from Melbourne. We decided to ride together to the city. What a hassle from that moment on!
Taxi drivers, with support from Air China officials tried everything to get us into a taxi which was going to cost 380 Yuan (about US $60). I'm sure that was 380 Yuan each too! They kept telling us that there was no airport bus even though I could see one outside. All I wanted to do was buy a ticket from the counter marked "Airport Bus". Then there was the tale that the bus was not going to leave for at least two hours. We eventually pushed our way through the throng of taxi drivers and walked to the bus. Tickets were on sale there for 15 Yuan each - the bus was leaving in about 20 minutes. Success!
After a pleasant ride into the city, we were dropped about 1km from the railway station. It was on again then with taxi and bike cart drivers wanting to charge exorbitant prices for rides to our respective hotels. We decided to walk to the railway station and try there. What a mistake! It was so hot and Bobby's pack was really heavy. My decision to travel light pleased me. Bobby was so hot and flustered that she looked like a beet root! We each caught taxis (our hotels were in different directions). I was ripped off a bit - Bobby was ripped off a lot. She couldn't have cared less!
After a cold shower and three wonderful Tsingtao (Qingdao) beers while listening to some soft piano music,. I went for a walk and sat down on a corner and watched Beijing
life at 6pm on a warm Sunday evening. It was just like all the descriptions in books and as seen in films and photos - lots of people - shaves and haircuts on a street corner - groups of men
playing board games on the side walk. I felt really good!
I went out for dinner a bit later and found a little place not far from the hotel. I ordered one of my favourite Chinese meals - Sichuan Chicken, veges and rice. A Chinese guy
and his son sat at my table and we talked (well sort of), ate food and drank beer. The son was learning English at school and with his very limited vocabulary, my phrase book and lots of sign
language we all had a great time. I went back to the hotel about 11:30pm. A little too much to drink I think!!!
Day 4 Monday 4 August
Beijing - Mongolian Visa Day
Today was set aside to obtain a visa and train ticket for Mongolia. I was up early feeling a little seedy after my night out. After a quick breakfast I hit the road and joined the moving mass of humanity to make my way to the Mongolian Embassy. I started walking but soon realised the impossibility. People, bikes, cars, buses, carts, all moving (flowing) in lines. Also, it was already hot at 7:30am. I flagged a taxi and to my great pleasure I was able to sit back and relax, enjoy the ride and just take it all in. Coming from Australia with its vast space and low population this was indeed an experience. Even though I have already visited several other Asian cities, nothing had prepared me for Monday morning, peak hour traffic in downtown Beijing.
The taxi driver wasn't sure where the Mongolian Embassy was so, with map in hand, I had to navigate for him. Without much trouble I found the Embassy. After a short wait I was
first in to what was a most unlikely office: stark, sparcely furnished and rather unfriendly feeling. The place filled quickly. This was my first time in a foreign embassy and I quite enjoyed going
through the exercise.
I filled out the form and then found the glue to stick on my photo after hearing the female official snap at some guy for not doing so. I was in a bit of a rush thinking that this process was going to take all day and noting that several other people were really in a hurry and had already lodged their forms. Eventually I was able to hand over my form. The female official said "US$60 today or $40 tomorrow!" I chose $60 today.
Bobbie arrived and after she handed over her form and $60 we sat on the floor and waited. The room had filled with people of many nationalities. I talked briefly to an engineer from Melbourne who was going to work in Mongolia for six months. He was dressed in a heavy grey suit and he looked so out of place. After about 45 minutes we were handed our Mongolian Visas. Easy!
Next we had to find the Beijing Overseas Travel Corporation where we were to collect
our train tickets. Luckily, I had remembered to bring my piece of paper with the address in Chinese. Even with a street name and number and a map we had no idea where to go. We asked a few people
without much luck. Eventually a wonderful Chinese woman carrying a small child took us to a phone in the Friendship Store. She spoke good English and after telephoning the Travel Corporation she was
able to give us directions. She was so pleased to help. We were so pleased she did!The visa and ticket were obtained without much trouble. Bobby and I then walked several kilometers through the city to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. We were fortunate to come across the Ancient Beijing Observatory on the way - a thrill for me given that my profession is land surveying.
It was very hot - my guess the mid 30s (centigrade of course). There were also thousands of tourists as this was China's summer holiday time. The heat and the crowds did spoil
our visit to the Forbidden City somewhat. However, what a wonderful feeling it was to be able to see such a place and to experience the sense of history in both the Forbiden City and Tiananmen
Square. I know that we didn't do them justice in the few hours we spent there.
Following an afternoon rest I again relaxed in the hotel lobby and then joined the summer evening crowds on the street. We were all out there to escape the heat. At 9pm it was still very busy out - ball room dancing in the street, badminton, tai chi (??), dancing lessons, and lots more activities. I wrote in my journal - "This is such and interesting place!"
Day 5 - Tuesday 5 August
Beijing
Today I thought about going to the Great Wall, thought about going to the Summer Palace, thought about going to Fragrant Hills Park. Instead, I stayed in Beijing and walked and walked. I was a bit tired after the heat and long walk of the previous day so I decided to take it a bit easy by just visiting a few of the local attractions.
I walked north from the hotel through back lanes (hutongs) to Dazhalan (lane). I wanted to take photographs to capture the people going about their daily lives but felt quite
unsure about what their reactions would be. The hutongs were just like those seen in movies about China. Dazhalan is a really interesting shopping area - almost anything can be bought there. As
described in the Lonely Planet Guide, it's "the place to go to rub shoulders with the proletariat". I went into Tongrentang - Chinese herbal medicines. How fascinating! Slices of antelope antler,
bear bile powder, pearl powder were just a few of the labels I could read. I bought some gingsen for my son Courtney. In another store I bought some flowers of jasmine tea. The aromas from the tea
stores were very enticing.
I continued walking north and browsing in shops until I reached the Qianmen Gate and Tiananmen Square. I was going to visit Mao's Mausoleum but it was closed until December for renovations. I walked around the Square for a while (with hundreds of other tourists) just taking it all in, trying to imagine the mayhem of the student democracy rally. I didn't stay long because it was pretty hot again.
By this time it was early afternoon so I found an air-conditioned restaurant to cool off and have a meal. I then walked back to the hotel, again browsing in shops and in hutong markets. The afternoon sun was beating down. After arriving at the hotel, I had a cold shower and a nap. My feet needed resting!
At about 3pm I set off (on foot again) to TianTan Park which was about 4 km away from my hotel. It was hot and Beijing streets were very busy. The noise and the activity were quite overwhelming. However, what a dramatic change upon entering the Northern Heavenly Gate to TianTan Park. Oh, the peace and quiet, and the space! Apart from the various temples and halls, there is about 1 square kilometre of tree filled parkland. Apparently the best time to visit this park is in the cool of the morning, although even at this time of the day there were quite a few locals walking and sitting in the park.
Things changed a little when I visited the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, the Echo Wall and the Round Alter. I really enjoyed exploring the temples and reading the history but there were so
many overseas and local tourists that the experience was spoiled a little. The views from this park were quite impressive. I left the park via the West Heavenly Gate, making my way past the Hall of
Abstinence (it seemed the appropriate thing to do!).
I walked up to Qianmen Dajie (Street) and found the Gongdelin Restaurant (Beijing's "best" vegetarian restaurant) and had a pretty ordinary meal there. I then made my way back to
the hotel, and packed my bag. At the end of the day, for the third and final time I sat in the cool lobby of the Qianmen Hotel, sipping even cooler Qingdoa beer while listening to soothing piano
music.
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