A Weekend in Beijing, China

Over the Memorial Day Weekend, Brian and I decided to take one of the Camp Walker tours to Beijing.  We have travelled all over East Asia, but we had not yet ventured to China.  You can't very well say you've travelled to Asia and skip China.

There were 33 people in our tour group.  Rule number one, try to avoid tour groups.  Rule number two, definitely avoid tour groups with 33 people--way to many people to herd in any direction.  It is tedious enough when we try to get seven children through airport security and coralled in the same place, but this was beyond ridiculous.  On the other hand, the nice part was that we didn't have to do any planning or thinking and everything we did was included in the very low price.

 (Summer Palace)

These pictures are not in any particular order because I am still trying to figure out the new blogger interface, so I will try to note each particular place. The first day we flew into Beijing, went for traditional Chinese food and Peking duck (which is disgusting to me since I hate duck). Then we went to a Chinese acrobatic show. That was very cool.

The next day we hiked the Great Wall of China.  This was the coolest part of the entire trip.  It was a beast of a hike and incredibly hot.  The views at the top were remarkable.  I can now check that off my bucket list.  However, the problem with my bucket list is that for every one thing I check off, I add two or three more things I want to see or do.  After the Great Wall we went for more Chinese food (big surprise) and then toured the Summer Palace.  Everything in Beijing is excruciatingly crowded and makes Seoul feel rural.  I quickly became very tired of feeling like a herd of cattle being coaxed from one place to another as we bounced into each other.

 The next day we headed for Tianamen Square.  I didn't realize how vast this place was from the pictures I've seen.  There were hundreds of thousands of people everywhere.  Most of them were standing in line to see Chairman Mao Tse Tung's dead body.  We decided to pass--we're not really keen on dead communist dictators even when the line isn't five hours long.

We then went into the Forbidden City which is an ancient palace compound of the Chinese royals from some dynasty, but I could barely hear what the tour guide was saying and what I could hear, I couldn't understand through her thick accent.  So, I just wandered around trying not to get lost, run over by throngs of Chinese people, or surrounded by Asian paparazzi wanting to take pictures of me (I'm not joking, this actually happens to me all the time in Asia, more often with the kids). 

This picture shows a little bit about what I mean when I say "throngs" of people.  We were tired of constantly being in such close proximity to people all the time--and that's really saying something because it's not like people in Korea have a really great concept of personal space!

I always giggle at Engrish signs and have to record them for my own entertainment.

After the Forbidden City we visited the Temple of Heaven.  This place we actually really loved.  It was unique and not very crowded so we got to fully enjoy seeing the site.

This is my favorite picture of the back courtyards at the Forbidden City.

I have a thing for photographing doorways, especially as they open to several more in the distance.  But, what I really am glad I captured here is Brian in his "buttercup" tourist hat.  What a sexy beast!
The following are more photos of the incredible views from the Great Wall of China (I'm sorry, all of these are out of order).  The picture directly below is a good depiction of just how steep the stairs were.  It reminded me a lot of hiking the ancient stair case on Mt. Sinai in Egypt.

 

Most of the time we were in China, our tour group was shopping at tourist shopping centers dedicated to the infamous Chinese knock offs.  Brian and I love shopping for cheap stuff, but after Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia, China did not seem cheap at all.  Plus, when you tried to bargain with people in China they would yell at you and act like you had just insulted all of their ancestors.  It was exhausting.  One place, I offered $20 for some vinyl jacket.  The merchant yelled at me, "You gotta be joker, this leather!"  I rolled my eyes, "Do you want my $20 or not?"  I may be a joker, but I get the last laugh because you ain't getting my money sista!  They were constantly trying to take you for all you are worth and convince you that some guy that looks like Danny DeVito is really your mom, or that this Chevette is really a Ferrari.  It was ridiculous!  Brian and I decided to go for pedicures instead of shopping.  The sad part is that most of our group actually bought a lot of that fake crap, for serious dough.  There are times when it is very lucky to be pathological cheapskates!

Overall, we did not like China.  The people were not nice, the prices were not cheap and it was far too crowded.  Maybe it is more interesting outside of Beijing, but the communist, Big Brother feeling was very pervasive and I doubt that we will go out of our way to go back to China. . . not when Thailand costs less to vist!!