Sarah and Robby do Historic China

Beijing! Real China! Or at least, what you picture China to look like in your head.

Lucky for me, Robby had not started working by the time I arrived, meaning he was free to explore Beijing with me. It turns out we made excellent travel buddies for several reasons:

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1.  He likes maps. I hate maps. He understands maps. I don’t.

2.  He likes walking. I like walking. Except for one time where we walked about eight miles in one day and I thought I was going to shoot him because I was tired and hungry and did not feel like walking anymore. He was very patient with me while I snapped at him. I apologized after we sat down and ate something. I also discovered later that night that Starbucks in China does not sell any sort of green or jasmine tea; they only serve Tazo chai and Earl Grey. Weird. But this is beside the point.

3.  He speaks Chinese. I don’t.

4.  I stored his refrigerator with food and made sure he sent an e-mail to his concerned parents. He tends to let these things slide. I don’t.

Number four is the only point where I really added anything to our adventures. Otherwise ‘travel buddies’ is translation for ‘Robby is my personal tour guide.’ He made an excellent tour guide. He also appreciates my sense of humor and my penchant for randomness, which gave us a lot to laugh about along the way.

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Robby greeted me at the airport with a DABBY DOO sign, at which point we found a cab and headed to his apartment. I dropped my stuff off, and about thirty minutes later, we were off to tourist destination number one: the Temple of Heaven Park. The landscape is filled with grass…and that’s about it. However, I enjoyed the peace of the park, with kites flying above and gorgeous architecture from time to time. The temple itself was pretty neat, but don’t chastise yourself if you’re in Beijing and don’t make it; the Lama Temple makes for a more interesting temple visit.

The highlight of our visit was most definitely coming across a bunch of old people doing folk dance to Chinese music. Two ladies in particular were really going at it. I sort of felt like I was in an Alzheimer’s ward of an old folks home, only they were dancing out in the open, and didn’t suffer from Alzheimer’s. Robby and I dared each other to dance with them, and I almost did it, but chickened out at the last minute because it seemed there was an actual pattern to what was going on, and I didn’t speak Chinese, so I couldn’t ask what was going on. Plus I didn’t want to seem inappropriate, though referring to them as Alzheimer’s patients isn’t exactly appropriate either. Bottom line, it served as our daily dose of entertainment.

After leaving the park, we headed to the Pearl Market. Again, Robby and I made the perfect travel companions: Robby loves to bargain, and I love to buy. I like bargaining, but I like it better when it’s going on in Chinese, because then I’m guaranteed a lower price. So, with his negotiation skills and my purchasing power, I managed to buy gifts for nearly everyone, not to mention a few beautiful pearl sets for myself. As a ‘thank you,’ I wanted to treat Robby to a set of earrings and a necklace, but he refused. I was offended by his refusal, but let it slide because I'm a good friend.

Hungry and shopped-out, we headed to a Peking duck restaurant somewhat near the Pearl Market. However, we got lost several times, meaning it took us well over an hour to get there. I didn’t mind, and neither did he; it was interesting to see the streets of Beijing, and the more lost we got, the more determined we became to find the restaurant. Beijing seems to be in a weird flux – a city of the past, trying to break into a more ‘modern’ mold, yet not quite making the cut. I saw some commercial districts lined with perfectly paved roads and boulevards, then a rickshaw driver soar by and alleyways every here and there…it’ll be interesting to see how Beijing fares in the future.

We finally found the restaurant tucked into a small alleyway, surrounded by dirt roads and dilapidated homes. I flashed back to Egypt; the scene was oddly and distinctly familiar, and part of me waited for impoverished Arab women to line the alley and start picking food out of the trash to feed their children. But no such sight. While I didn’t feel unsafe or uncomfortable, a small part of me was thankful I had a friend by my side. I wouldn’t have wanted to be there alone.

As for the restaurant? Well, Robby convinced me I must try Peking duck while in Beijing; it’s the one cuisine everyone must try upon visiting this region of China. I was slightly afraid of having a whole duck served at our table, but it turned out to be delicious; it tasted more like turkey than chicken, and was roasted to perfection. It was a rewarding treat after trekking around town.

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On Day 2 Robby and I headed to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Everything important at these two sites is under renovation for the Olympics, but I didn’t mind, because I still got a good feel for the sites.

I now understand why Tiananmen is the square of uprisings. It is a huge, barren, rectangular area with no shade in sight. The only pictures that surround Tiananmen are those of Mao Zedong. Reflecting upon these uprisings, I felt a rush of adrenaline and secretly wished I was there in 1989. And then I saw two military personnel walk by, their steps perfectly synchronized as they spoke of who knows what. And then the adrenaline stopped. But just for a moment.

Tiananmen leads to the entrance of the Forbidden City. I felt like I was in ‘Epcot: The Real Deal.’ And then a surge of military men marched to a basketball court situated at the entrance of the Forbidden City and I became even more confused.

Maybe ‘Epcot Under Martial Law: The Real Deal, Episode 1, Basketball Challenge, Communists versus Mickey Mouse ie Evil Imperial Powers’ would be more appropriate?

The Forbidden City is simply vast. The Emperor must’ve been one really happy dude. I tried concentrating on the headset, which told me all about the history of the buildings, but eventually I gave up and just started wandering. Ultimately Robby and I sat down close to the end of the Forbidden City; during our conversation, a Chinese boy about 7 years old sheepishly took our picture because we were white.  Apparently this was his first experience with white people. (No, we don't bite!)  I was warned Chinese tourists from rural areas might harass white people at touristy locations – after all, whities are rarities outside of major cities – but fortunately, that was the brunt of it for us.

After leaving the Forbidden City, we ventured to a beautiful park and saw our second dose of adult entertainment. In one section of the park, a bunch of older folks were using racquets and tennis balls in order to ‘flow dance’ to music. They’d move the racquets back and forth and up and down, while the ball gracefully stayed on the racquet and they elegantly danced to music. Robby and I both found a source of amusement out of this bizarre sight; I eventually took a video of the spectacle, with Robby providing useful commentary in the background.

We then headed to the Hutong, Beijing’s historic alleyways featuring ramshackle dwellings and historic courtyard homes. This was the part where I got frustrated at Robby because we walked for a really long time, but once we finally sat down to eat, all was fine and merry.

That night, we spotted a lovely Chinese tea house located right next to a lake; the pollution was really bothering me, and neither of us had been to an authentic tea house, so we ventured in the shop. We then learned how tea is properly prepared and enjoyed about 80 (and by that I mean six) cups of Jasmine tea. We were WIRED.

Before heading home, Robby – heeding earlier requests – bought me a rose, which I promptly dropped on the ground about three times, subliminally reflecting my feelings toward him. Then we headed home.

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Hum. I should probably state for the record – for those of you who don’t necessarily understand my sarcasm – Robby and I are not dating.

Anyway.

DAY THREE: My best day in China. I booked a tour to the Great Wall at Mutanyu, a reconstructed portion of the wall about 90 minutes outside the city. I hopped into the tour van dressed in hiking gear; the other two tourists, both British and slightly overweight, greeted me in clog shoes and scarves. Did I miss the memo?

Nah. They did.

We arrived at the site and had to take a cable car to reach the Wall, which was situated on a long mountain ridge at a high altitude. I took the cable car with our tour guide and waited for the Brits when we reached the cable car station.

Guide: Why don’t you go ahead?

Me: I thought I’d wait for the others.

Guide: You are very fit, you will enjoy the Wall. The others, not so fit. You go ahead.

*Awkward turtle*

I chose Mutanyu because the guide books stated tourists rarely frequent this portion of the wall. It’s true, and it made my climb magical. As soon as I embarked to the tip of the mountain ridge, I was totally and utterly alone for vast periods of time. Occasionally I’d run into a few tourists; at one point, I ran into a group of Russians and took a picture with them (we decided the caption should read “Cold War Meets in China”), and right before starting climbing the stairs to the very top, I ran into several others enduring the trek. But otherwise, I was alone.

The air quality – even 90 minutes outside Beijing – was mediocre; the views weren’t as spectacular as I would’ve hoped. But after being in a country where people are everywhere, the solitude and tranquility of being so alone in such beautiful surroundings was beyond words.  It was a beautiful, beautiful moment.

While I reveled in my climb during the van ride back to Robby's apartment, the Brits started asking detailed questions about places to shop in Beijing.  Our guide advised against the silk market, instead encouraging the women to head to a more popular mall.

Guide: There is a McDonalds there.  You both like McDonald's very much.

Yet another awkward turtle moment in our travels.  The Brits laughed heartily, thank goodness.  Because I would've cried.

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My high spirits did not carry onto the next day, when Robby and I visited the Summer Palace. I have never been so devoid of energy. My legs felt like lead, my eyes felt glued shut; I didn’t even have the energy to think. Changing subway lines seemed daunting. Plus, the air quality was absolutely terrible, meaning the views were obstructed by clouds of who knows what. I was miserable company. Robby was a good person for putting up with me. The Summer Palace was fine. More of the same beautiful ancient Chinese architecture.  However, the more eventful part of the day revolved around our impromptu trip to Wal Mart.  Robby wanted to buy an iron.  Apparently this required the help of six Wal Mart employees, a couple of whom started laughing at us. I'm not sure why, but our guess is that they were laughing because he was considering buying a pink iron.  Or because we are whities, but that in itself shouldn't be a source of entertainment...or maybe it is.  WHO knows.

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I used my last day to visit the Lama Temple – the most important temple outside of Tibet, and the most interesting in China, in my opinion – and to pick up a tailor-made Qipao (chee-pao), or traditional Chinese dress.

So, overall thoughts of Beijing? It’s perfect for tourism – all of quintessential China resides in Beijing – but it’s a ‘small dose’ place; the pollution is too great to handle for long periods of time. Also – as is the case with Shanghai – I don’t recommend visiting unless you go on an organized tour, you speak Chinese, or you are traveling with a friend who speaks Chinese. Nobody speaks English. Period.

Beijing will be ready for the Olympics. The Olympics are the main source of pride for the country; EVERYTHING is geared toward the Olympics. My guess is once the games roll along, the government will tightly control the city limits, restricting access to Beijing and presenting a very ‘controlled’ version of China to the foreign eye.

I’m not sure that’s such a good thing – though I never saw any blatant human rights abuses, they exist en masse and I think it’s important to shed a little more light on them. For instance, I mentioned how the government imposes severe penalties on Chinese people who mess with foreigners (see Shanghai post); Sydnie later elaborated on this point in a story she relayed to me. Apparently a friend of hers who lives in China once had a discman stolen on a train; the friend told the police, who proceeded to stop the train and search every single person’s bag for the missing discman. Once they found the thief, the police took the thief off the train and shot him in the head.

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I don’t know if I’ll ever go back to China. I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to visit in the first place, yet after two and a half weeks, the China bug never fully caught on…both literally and figuratively. I was thrilled not to have contracted another third-world disease, but surprised at how little Asia piqued my interest even after my extended trip. Still – I learned a lot, and most importantly, had a ton of fun. Even if I chickened out of the Chinese folk dance.