Taiwan Travels

Sunday, July 03, 2005

First day in Beijing

"Traveling Day"
After my night in Hong Kong, I got up early, perused the neighborhood looking for something to buy so I'd have change for the bus to the airport and eventually flew out to Beijing.

When I landed in Beijing, I was met by a tour guide that brought me to the hotel. I noticed that there was a great deal of haze while we were heading into Beijing. (Think this is a precursor??) After getting settled and vegging for a while I went down and asked the front desk where I could go that was close, but interesting to see. This lady told me about a market that I could walk to.

I went back upstairs and got ready. Then I realized that she didn't tell me if it was a day or night market. I went down and asked... then they told me it was closed by now. I asked for another place to go and they wrote an address of somewhere. I took a taxi.

And ended up at a mall.

I guess that's interesting to them.

Anyway, I wandered for a few 'cause I didn't want to go back to the hotel so quickly and when I walked out, it had started to rain. No biggie.

I was waiting for a taxi to come buy when this guy on a motorcycle and a tiny compartment in the back for people solicited me to use that. I asked him how much (in Chinese) and he told me 5 yuan more that what it cost with a taxi. I told him that. After a bit (and me walking away) he agreed to the same price as the taxi cost me. As soon as I got in the back of his motorcycle.... it started HAILING!!!!!! Lucky me..

THEY WERE HUGE!!!

To top it off, the guy stopped a little ways from the hotel and said he wanted more money. (it was still hailing) After arguing with him in very poor Chinese for awhile, I finally said, "hao" and he took me all the way to my hotel...

Day one

I was picked up at some early morning from my hotel by the tour service. Our first stop (after some "forced shopping") were the Ming Tombs.

The Ming Dynasty emperors got a little carried away (and creative) with their own burials. The first Ming Emperor (Ju Di) is the one we went to. Basically, the entire tomb is a palace that they had been completely buried (complete with the Emperors favorite concubines) underground with some shrines and places to worship around the outside of the mound. We were supposed to see some of the other tombs in the area from our view point, but they were all covered with a deep fog.

The next stop was the Badaling Great Wall. Being on the Great Wall was absolutely cool, but the view was pitiful. We were entirely shrouded by the deep fog. The whole time I was there, I was crossing my fingers that my trip to the Mutianyu Section of the Great Wall would have better weather. It was still very cool seeing section towers and other parts of the Great Wall "looming" through the fog. A little errie, but neat never-the-less.

I got a big kick out of the vendors there. THEY WERE RELENTLESS!!! Actually very aggravating. I was pretty lucky - I think- because I could speak to them in Chinese and I was pretty forceful with it. The couple walking with me (Josh and Nicky), however, were way too nice and they got the brunt of it. After a while, I started chuckling at them. It was all a game.. As long as you weren't rude, it's fine. My companions however... well... were overwhelmed.

After the Great Wall, I had the tour group drop me off with the couple I had been hanging out with and we went to a night market on Wangfujing Street. It was pretty neat. Much more nicknacks to buy than the markets in Taiwan (which are mostly food related). Vendors, however, just as pushy as the ones on the Great Wall.

After walking back (and Josh getting us completely turn around), I went back to my hotel and got on the internet to talk to friends and family.

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