The Plan B Adventure

“Welcome to Beijing”, we hear as we step off the painless, China Southern flight from Hanoi. Little did we know…..those would be the last English words we would hear in our week visiting Beijing, the capital of China. No just kidding….but it’s not too far from the truth. During our two and a half months in Southeast Asia we really didn’t how spoiled we were with local Lao, Thai, Cambodian, and Vietnamese English-speakers. Being that we had already been in southeastern China we figured the L.B. (language barrier) would be a bit thicker than our SE Asian adventures but, man, it is a L.G.W. (language Great Wall) instead…..

Beijing and China, as a country, are still not quite developed if you are a do-it-yourself tourist. What we really mean is if you are on a tour with a English-Chinese speaking guide things will be quite a bit easier…..but pullin’ a “Home Depot” (get it? D-I-Y) like we are, you are really gonna have to work for everything…food, transportation, even accommodation!! We really enjoyed the cultural adventures Beijing has to offer but (and this is the last we will say of it!!) they better ramp up that learning curve before the English-speaking world unloads its masses for the 2008 Olympics.

Our travelling objectives in Beijing were two-fold and we had figured at least a week’s time was going to be necessary. We wanted to see the sights (Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Great Wall), experience the culture (Tiananmen Square kite-flying, Peking Duck, walking the ‘hutongs’), and also pick up the Visa Stamps we had attempted to get in the past for Pakistan and India. Well, when dealing with Consular ‘red-tape’ we thought we would get an early jump on our administrative tasks and jump head-first into obtaining a Pakistan Visa. Mind you, this was the 4th Pakistan Embassy we had visited in five countries and we were pleasantly surprised when the paperwork was simple, next day service was promised, and we even got a personal interview with the Consular Associate (everyone does!). He even offered to call the Khunjerab Pass (where we cross from China to Pakistan) directly and double-check that they were expecting an on-time pass opening this year. The world has something to learn from Pakistani customer service at their Beijing Embassy. While we were feeling lucky we thought we’d give India a shot!!! The people were just as helpful yet the ‘red tape’ runs a bit thicker in the world’s largest democracy….HAHA!! They were very helpful and took our applications and $$$ and said “See you in a week!” No prob…..we wanted to take a side trip to Xi’an for two or three days as well as see the sights around Beijing.

Side note for all the Americans reading this: Get your wallets ready!!! In the true spirit of capitalism we (the U.S) make it as difficult and as expensive as possible for others entering our lovely land of liberty. That being said, many countries have always kept their entry fees for Americans comparable (afraid to upset trade tariffs, etc) to other nationalities but many countries are now catching on and charging what Americans charge the rest of the world…..a good ol’ Ben Franklin ($100USD). We are happy to pay just simply to continue on our ‘life trip’ and are going to chalk it up to reciprocity and take it with a smile…..

Okay….(dusting hands off), now that that’s finished let’s get on to some sightseeing. From our residence, the Li Shi Hotel, getting down to Wafujing (the main shopping street) and Tiananmen is just a short jaunt down one of the city’s famours (or infamous) ‘hutongs’. Hutongs are much like the small, quaint passageways of Western Europe that many of you might be familiar with…..except with a China flavor to them. By flavor we mean everything from great flatbreads and fruits sold from the storefront windows, to gorgeous pagoda-like walls of personal residences, to the random child relieving himself on the street. They provide a realistic, behind-the-scenes view of Beijing courtesy of a strong flow of locals and are not the tourist-frequented sights the government would prefer you visit. In fact, the ‘powers that be’ are so skeptical of how foreigners will feel about the hutongs, many of the historic ones have been refurbished in order to provide a more sanitary look. Sadly, the rest are being razed, prior to the Olympics, in order to build the ever-present towers of condos and apartments that come with 9% GDP growth, state-run construction companies, and the up-and-coming Chinese nouveau riche.

Once past Li Shi Hutong the commercialism and sightseeing (and uncanny number of hair salons…who knows!!) of Beijing come alive. We enjoyed a nice stroll along the moat surrounding the Forbidden City as our first introduction to that gigantic complex, then strolled down to Tiananmen Square for a view of Mao and the hordes of Chinese tourists at sunset. Our first impressions……the scale of everything in China is enormous. From the country itself, to its population, to its public squares and its walled cities. They do it big and they do it proud. The next few days were packed with sights. The Temple of Heaven park complex, the Forbidden City, and Beihai Park. All monsters on the sightseeing tour of Beijing complete with hordes of people, fabulously rich history, strikingly different architecture, and even a Starbucks (works well for a pitstop)!!! One word of caution (well, two): Visiting a city in the throws of preparing for the Olympics is not always the best idea. Many of the major sights are under renovation so make sure to set your expectations properly. Lastly, 8am-5pm sightseeing in Beijing is extremely tiring…and it’s because of the pollution. If you don’t have a headache by 2pm you are lucky so pace yourself and take a few seistas along the way. They say each day spent in Beijing breathing the lovely air is equivalent to 70 cigarettes. Now in addition ,to the other two packs you smoke courtesy of your taxi driver, the guy next to you at the restaurant, and your fellow tourists you could be looking at a 100 cigarette a day habit!!! HAHA and be careful!

I guess this trip was actually three-fold. Can’t forget about the food!! We had received some highly-rated recommendations from Dean and Linda (our Chicago friends who lived in China) and knowing their tastes are very similar to ours we had to give all of them a ‘Go’. First on the list was LiQun Roast Duck, a local institution in Beijing (Hey, Al Gore’s been there). This place is a must visit, not only for the food, but for the ambience and historic hutongs you must get lost in before finding the Shangri-La of Peking Duck! No…really you have to get there ’cause they are tearing it down in one of those Olympic-related condo development issues we referred to earlier. Sad but true! Next, we headed to South Beauty, a food court stop, that promised great food! Umm…now forget your food court impressions of America….this was the swankiest eatery we have ever seen located next to a DQ/Orange Julius. Thinking we were eating in a food court and not really having the trendiest attire in our backpacks we felt a little uncomfortable walking into any place with tableclothes, mood-lighting, and a subterrainean, open-air fish pond!! “Oh, are you sure we are okay in hiking boots and zip-off pants??? Okay…Mangia!!!” The recommendation did not let us down. The food is cooked table side in a bowl of hot oil and the bottle of Mud House Sauvignon Blanc was the best chilled bottle we’ve had since departing.

Following another superb Indian food recommendation from Deano we decided to join some others (conversation gets a bit stale after two months 24/7) for dinner the next night. We met Eric and Kathy Hyde (and family) at Victoria Peak way back at the start of our trip in Hong Kong (remember…WE ARE THE FRIENDLIES!!) and they invited us to dinner and a show while in Beijing. Eric works in Regional Security at the local U.S. Embassy and Kathy is quickly becoming the Yoga Queen of Beijing. Before we headed off to dinner Eric graciously showed us around the Embassy which was quite a treat. Homeland Security Director Chertoff had been there earlier in the day so things were neat and tidy (We are sure they always are, Eric!). We got to meet the First Post Marine, some of the off-duty Marines, and see the prominently placed photos of the American Triumvirate (George W., Dick, and Conde). It was something we would have never thought of experiencing and with Eric the Entertainer as our tour guide it was an all-around great time! Afterwards we met up with Kathy to enjoy a tremendous dinner and Chinese cultural show. Can you believe that’s a guy in this barrel? Neither can we!! Thanks Kathy and Eric…..we can’t wait for our next adventure with you guys.

Okay, onto the Great Wall….but not before meeting some other new friends（The Friendlies, remember?) Rachel and Kurtis from Edmonton, Alberta. After less than two minutes of initial conversation they seemed so ‘wicked’ we invited them to join us at the Great Wall. We had already booked a private car (‘sweet’ Volkswagon Santana) with John Guo, another tremendous recommendation from Dean “Mr Connections” Cowan. John really caters to the whole experience and advises you as to what you want to see. We all wanted a bit of a hike (didn’t know it was that intense!) while having the opportunity to to an authentic part of the Great Wall that isn’t overly touristed. John recommended dropping us off at Jinshanling and letting us trek for about 3-4 hours on the Wall. He would then be waiting for us at Simatai for the drive back to Beijing. We had a tough workout but a fascinating time. The Wall between Jinshanling and Simatai is partly restored and partly original from the time the Ming restored it over 700 years ago. As you can see by the pictures the views of the mountains and the Wall were breathtaking and the climbs (no stairs sometimes) were pretty vicious. At the end we partook in a short 2 minute “Zip Line” across the small lake and Jeff started his initial steps of conquering his fear of heights…..we will see how the Himalayas treat him. Yikes!!!

In order to properly celebrate such an intense day hike we thought we would introduce Kurt and Rachel to the much celebrated Peking Duck of LiQun Restaurant for Round Two. Note to visitors of LiQun: Get a reservation and get it earlier in the evening. During the day’s comedic interludes, Kurt had professed that this was the “Decade of Eating” so we went all out….Spicy Shredded Potato with Peppers, Sweet and Sour Shrimp with Broccoli, Killer Pork with Pineapple, and (of course!!!) the Duck complete with pancakes, sauce, and spring onion for fixins. Oh, what a feast to finish off the day with great company. We can’t wait to get together once we return to the States and get a glimpse of the Okanagon Country…Canadian-style!!

We are off to Xi’an to check out the Terracotta Warriors, beginning spot for the Silk Road, and experience the great foods of Central China. New pictures are on the Flickr.com site so please take a peek!