Great Expectations and Few Complaints in Beijing

On the second day in China I found myself in what has become a strangely unfamiliar place: the airport.

 

And this time, I was with one hundred and fifty people, not just one.

 

Flying around the world naturally lends itself to a definite experience when entering foreign countries. As you can imagine, we highly associate feelings of foreignness and ‘having arrived’ with things like the drive to the airport, security checks, baggage issues, waiting on flights, sitting in uncomfortable seats, flying for hours at a time, and then finally, being where you wanted to go.

 

The ship is totally different.

 

On the morning of an arrival we wake up, and we’re there. Poof. It’s pretty much that easy. All we have to worry about is packing up some clothes (not even that if you aren’t staying overnight) and not forgetting that damn passport. I, of course, had completely taken the ship for granted. How awesome is it that we get to walk off a gangway and just, boom, we’re in country?

 

Answer… pretty awesome.

 

So the trip to the airport was a nice reminder of how blessed we are to be traveling the world in this unique way. That being said, the Chinese airport was an experience in and of itself. I tell you what… these people just don’t miss an opportunity to throw some culture at you. Especially during the New Year celebrations.

 

 

Yep, that’s a big shiny dog puppet running through the gates.

 

Try finding that at Laguardia… or Newark… ::shudder::

 

So once we had been slightly entertained, we made our way to the gate and were off to the capital city of Beijing. Having gotten use to the sparse food and friendliness of most US based carriers, I was surprised when I was freely (and nicely) given bottles of water, complimentary beer, and a full meal on a flight that was a little over 2 hours long. (As an aside, I just heard about the AA/US Airways merger… I’m hoping those two can figure SOMEthing out.)

 

After a few hours of blogging, we began the decent. This time, I noticed yet another strangely unfamiliar thing outside of my window: snow.

 

Dammit. I thought I had escaped winter!

 

 

Not so much.

 

Not a single day we spent in Beijing was above freezing. But hey, I got to see the Forbidden City covered in snow, so I’m not really complaining.

 

Our first stop after boarding the bus was the Beijing Olympic Park featuring the well-known Bird’s Nest and Cube buildings. Even after 5 years, this sight is still crawling with tourists and the government seems just as proud as they were in 2008. To be fair, I guess I’d be just as excited if the Olympics were in say Dallas… wink wink… nudge nudge…

 

 

They were definitely impressive, but we had about 5 minutes before we had to be on the bus again.

 

The plan for the afternoon led us to a Chinese acrobatic show—something that I would NEVER have signed up for on my own. I imagined it would be something akin to a lame version of Cirque du Soleil, so I wasn’t all that excited when I was shaken awake from my bus nap to run inside the performance hall. But one hour and one box of popcorn later, I was a changed woman.

 

I could strain my vocabulary rolodex to come up with the perfect superlative for just how amazing these athletes were, but I’d rather just sum it up in one word.

 

STRONG.

 

Holy crap these people were strong.

 

 

Yes, friends, that’s a guy… walking over a ladder… while balancing a chair on his head… while another guy… balances on the chair… ON HIS HEAD.

 

And that wasn’t even the craziest part!

 

People were doing flips without letting bowls drop off their heads. Guys were tossing girls in the air like they were dice. At one point, 10 girls were riding ONE bicycle. They even put 8… yes 8… motorcycles into a sphere cage and had them driving around in circles at the same time.

 

I wish I had taken more pictures.

 

With our jaws decided on the floor, it was time for dinner. Our first one of many ‘lazy susan’ meals… This one was the least authentic, but we were hungry from traveling, so few complaints were heard.

 

 

The next morning, we were up early for a full day of classic Chinese tourist sights, the first of which was Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Apparently, only a week prior to our arrival, the air quality in Beijing had been so bad that cars at stop lights couldn’t even perceive light changes. Although we were given a freezing and foggy morning, thankfully, we were without smog.

 

One of the first things I noticed about Tiananmen Square, and Beijing in general for that matter, was the ubiquitous presence of the Chinese police force. I don’t think we visited one sight that wasn’t somehow regulated or supervised by the authorities. Tiananmen Square itself was crawling not only with officials but also with security cameras that were so numerous, we were certain that not an inch of the grounds went unnoticed.

 

 

Once we got to the square, the snow and ice began. Not quite an ideal situation for walking around all day, but we ran with it. Or rather, we shuffled with it. Carefully.

 

With our ‘tourist mindsets’ about us, we actually found that this otherwise unwelcome weather situation created the opportunity for some incredibly unique pictures.

 

 

From the Square we headed into the Forbidden City. Now, I’ll let you in on a little secret—yet another embarrassing truth about my lack of preparedness. My only orientation to what the Forbidden City might look like… was Mulan. The Disney movie. I didn’t look at a single picture or read a single article before visiting.

 

Ignorant tourist, yes.

 

Childlike wonder at every turn, also a yes.

 

So my walk through the ornately decorated temples and vast expanse of pagodas was a veritable picture snap-fest. I may have overdone it a little, but oh well. I got some gems.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So pretty!

 

After two hours of touring the grounds, we moved on to a few more sights including a tour of a silk factory, lunch at a local restaurant, and pondering the meaning of life at a Confucian temple. Of all these, the temple was by far my favorite, and again, the snow allowed for some choice photo opportunities.

 

 

Gorgeously decorated pagodas.

 

 

And my personal favorite…

 

 

So deep.

 

So mature.

 

So funny!

 

After the temple, we were whisked away to yet another stop—the tea shop! The Chinese have over 3,000 kinds of tea, and we were able to try a whopping 6 of them: oolong, jasmine, flower, black, lychee, and fruit tea. I actually learned a ton about which teas should be made with boiling water (oolong and black) and which teas should just use hot water (green and jasmine). You should also drink your first cup of tea in 3 sips for happiness, good luck and a long life.

 

Cheers!

 

 

We wrapped up the day with two infamous Beijing activities: bargaining markets (clearly now as professionals, if you refer to the previous post) and Peking duck (been a professional for years, so no worries there). The bargaining was successful—Louis Vuitton bag and multiple souvenirs for fractions of their normal prices. The dinner was just as successful—hoisin, cucumber, rice pancake, duck… DONE!

 

As you might be able to tell, those were two rather full days in Beijing.

 

I honestly felt that while we were clearly being steered in undeniably touristy directions, I enjoyed seeing a wide variety of what the city had to offer and tried to make each experience as personal as possible. Ultimately, I was left with a sense that China wishes to be viewed in a certain distinct way and, especially in Beijing, it’s difficult to find the Holy Grail of travel experiences: an “authentic” one.

 

But hey, we got duck, so I’m not complaining.

 

Question of the Day: What do you expect to get out of traveling?