Journey Through Beijing

Thanks to the generosity of my amazing boss, our whole school got a lovely four day weekend. We asked to have this weekend because May 5th is Children's Day in Korea and as the 5th fell on a Tuesday we thought it would be nice to have the 4th off as well. Once I found out we would indeed have the weekend off, I booked my ticket to China!

On May 2nd Chris, Lauren and I set off for Beijing. We got up super early, caught a bus to the airport and landed in Beijing at 10am. After catching a bus from the airport we ended up at the Beijing Railway Station. Our hostel claimed to be within walking distance of the train station, but as we had no idea which way to head, we caught a taxi. After arriving at Saga Youth Hostel we headed towards the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. After quite a long walk, we stumbled upon the Forbidden City in all its massive glory. The Forbidden City is on 7,800,000 square feet of ground and has 980 surviving buildings. Needless to say, this is certainly a whole day experience. We got there around 2 and stayed until the complex closed, but we merely scratched the surface. If we had had time, I would have gone back to see what I missed because I'm positive I didn't see or experience the entire breadth of the Forbidden City. The beautiful buildings and gargantuan gates were truly a new and exciting experience. The whole time I kept thinking about what it must have been like to live within the city's walls. Incredible.

After a lengthy exploration of the Forbidden City we decided to head to Wanfujing Snack Street. I had seen this on Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre Foods and I just had to check it out. What we eventually found were grasshoppers, cicadas, mini and giant scorpions, seahorses, hearts, whole fish and starfish on skewers waiting to be someone's snack. The mini scorpions were still moving and I wouldn't doubt if the hearts were still beating. Unrecognizable meats and creepy crawlers were enough to make me shudder. I didn't try any of these delectable creatures, but I did have some sugared strawberries on a stick. These fresh, plump berries were coated with hard sugar that stuck to every tooth. The crunch on the outside and the soft berry on the inside was quite the culinary experience.

Our second day in Beijing we headed out to Olympic Park. Getting off the subway and laying eyes on the Bird's Nest and Water Cube was a bit of an emotional experience for me. I love watching the Olympics and like any other child, I always dreamed I'd be on one of the podiums receiving my Olympic medal. Seeing the sheer size of both venues was enough to make my jaw drop in awe. We opted not to pay the hefty entrance fees to go inside of the venues (50CNY for the Bird's Nest and another 20CNY for the Water Cube), but it was enough of an experience to see the outside and meander around the park. After a good 2 hours at the park we found a restaurant to eat at courtesy of my Beijing Encounter from Lonely Planet. The place wasn't quite what we expected, but after a bowl of Chinese noodles ladled with a pork chili, we didn't care anymore. The food was pretty good and all together it was a great afternoon. After we returned to the hostel we drank a few beers and headed to an acrobatics show. We got to the venue a bit early but we found an amazing street snack. A crepe filled with egg, sauces, cilantro, onions and a crunchy piece of wanton made for a very delicious, almost Mexican snack. The show itself was incredible. I don't understand how people can contort their bodies in ways to flip through hoops, move their legs fast enough to run on a barrel or even fly from pole to pole. The show blew my mind and still makes me wonder how they do it. If you are ever in Beijing, you have to see an acrobatic show.

On May 4th, I climbed the Great Wall of China at Mutianyu. First built in the mid-6th century, the Mutianyu Great Wall is older than the Badaling (the main tourist part) section of the Great Wall. I seriously can't believe I did it and I am so proud of myself for making it not only to the wall, but through a decent part of it. The climb up took about 35 minutes and then I spent another 2 hours on the wall. I walked through watch towers and up and down centuries old stairs. To me, the most incredible thing about the Great Wall is how massive it is and again, I only scratched the surface. The views of the wall, on top, were breathtaking and the whole time I thought I was dreaming. I never thought I'd be in China let alone climbing the greatest wall in the world. I'm sure a lot of the wall has been restored, but some of the stairs I climbed (ones that were so heavily trafficked that they had become smooth and part of other bricks) were most definitely original. The history surrounding the wall, the countless people who worked on it and died building it, everything about the wall is astounding. After our courageous and tiring climb, we decided to toboggan down. We were treated to lunch, through our tour we booked at the hostel, which was delicious. We had rice (of course) chicken, veggies, potatoes and all sorts of other things. It was fantastic. The 90 minute drive back to Beijing took us through some more rural areas of China and it was fun to people watch as we zipped through in out tiny bus. Once back in Beijing we took a nap and then headed to Tiananmen Square for a flag lowering ceremony. The soldiers march perfectly in step and arrive at the flag pole right at dusk. They do this every day of the year just to lower the flag. It was fun to watch and while we waited we acted like locals playing cards and eating an ice pop that tasted like a banana popsicle.

The last day in Beijing was spent at the Temple of Heaven Park and the Pearl Market. We decided to walk around the park that surrounds the Temple of Heaven and we discovered that this enormous park was filled with local flavor. People were dancing to music, playing something like hacky sack, exercising and playing music. Once inside the Temple of Heaven complex, we were greeted by a circular temple reaching toward the sky. I had read somewhere that the temple itself was held together with nothing more than braces and joints. No glue or nails were needed to construct it. I'm not sure if that's correct, but it didn't look like nails played a role. We left the complex to find a rose garden which was sadly not in full bloom, but when it is, I'm sure it's absolutely gorgeous. We also found the 100 Flower Garden that had rows upon rows of peony bushes almost ready to bloom. It would have been nice to see the flowers in bloom, but the park was gorgeous nonetheless. After the park we headed to the Pearl Market where I bought a pearl necklace for about $30. I've never owned pearls before and I have to say, I'm quite satisfied with my purchase. We left for the airport shortly after and returned to Seoul at 9:45pm.

Beijing was an incredible experience. I can't even put into words how much I enjoyed Beijing. Beijing is nothing like Seoul. Neon lights were hard to come by and the people were much different. In Seoul I am surrounded by hardworking men and women, fast paced life and soju. Beijing was more laid back (maybe because it was a holiday, I don't know), side games of mah jong and seemingly friendly conversation. I'm not really in a position to compare, but Tokyo and Seoul seem almost the same to me and Beijing is truly in its own element. I fell in love with Beijing and China while I was visiting and I can see myself coming back to experience more in the very near future.

For more pictures of my Beijing Travels click on the following links:
Forbidden City
Olympic Park
The Great Wall of China
Temple of Heaven