1 August - Beijing
Made it to Beijing!! Left today from SFO on a smooth flight to Tokyo, then waited in Narita for about 2 hours. By then it was 11PM SF time so we were SO tired. Got in to Beijing at 9PM and took a taxi to the hostel - it's a nice room! Like a hotel with adjoining rooms, so we have 4 beds. Tomorrow Mr Han, a friend of Uncle James, is picking us up in the morning to show us around Beijing. Yay!
2 Aug - Beijing
Had breakfast at a local hole in the wall - YUM! Red bean rice porridge, wonton soup, and dragon buns - all for 14 yuan! We walked around after breakfast down to the Haping Subway Station, about 10 minutes away. We're in an older section of SW Beijing (but still inside the 2nd ring road) - near Tienanmen Square. Going down the street we saw lots of music stores, then calligraphy stores. Made it back to the hostel at 9AM to meet Mr. Han - a really nice guy who drove us around to show us the main layout of the city. We drove up to the Bird's Nest, then around the western part and back to the east, near Wukesong (the basketball stadium). Had lunch at a great noodle restaurant - Glory Hyman. It was really good - had appetizers, then cut noodles, then a bowl where the entire bowl was one long noodle. Had a little 'show' to make noodles - the guy pulled a noodle so thin it looked like hair! It was so impressive!
Then Mr. Han dropped us off at the Beijing Zoo so we could see the giant pandas - so cute! They were in a special separate enclosure - one called the Asia Games complex, the other was the Olympic Games complex. After that we walked around the zoo a bit but it was really hot, so after about 2 hrs we went across the street to the Beijing planetarium. We wanted to be somewhere cool so we went to see the IMAX movie, which as about stars and nebulas, but it was all in Chinese and very technical, so we didn't understand it. We walked around the planetarium a bit, then Mr. Han came to pick us up and bring us back to the hostel. We went out again just to walk around a bit - looked for a park but didn't find it, so we just walked back. Stopped to look at glasses and minor shopping, then had dinner - good vegetables, soup, and soup dumplings. Fed all 4 of us for 65y. Back to the hostel by 8:30 since we're all tired...!
3 Aug - Beijing
Another very full day in the city! Woke up again around 3 to go to the bathroom - which George and Ev both did too. Last night around 10 PM there was REALL loud banging/explosions. George thought maybe it was for weather control, but the front desk said it was Tienanmen celebrations. VERY loud - so much that I could FEEL it through my earplugs!
We left around 7:30 and walked down to Tienanmen. had breakfast at another random joint - rice porridge and herbal tofu flower soup. Yummy as always. Went down through the square to the Forbidden City. It is WAY bigger than I thought - you have to walk pretty far just to buy tickets! Spent 3.5 hours there, walking around the inner palaces; hit most of them but it's pretty overwhelming. It's truly like a city - there are several walled courtyards separated by alleys. Also liked the gardens, especially the stone/sculpture/rock parts. Also saw the well where one of the concubines was drowned because another more powerful one was jealous.
After the Forbidden city, subway'd to the Capital Museum, which was a cultural/history museum opened in 2006. Had an exhibit on Chinese Civilization from the past 5000 years - it was good but too crowded so I went very fast through. Had several good exhibits - competition in Ancient Greece, and Beijing History ones. The building itself is really cool - a huge circular spiral tube thing in the middle that sticks out of the side of the building with a 5 story open space in the middle.
Then we went to pick up our Olympic tickets - eek, small hiccup when "Kathy" didn't match the "Kathleen" on my passport! Then we came back to Tienanmen, had dinner, then came back around 8:30.
4 Aug Beijing
Great day today!! Got up early because we had to meet Mr. Han by his house at 7:40, so we cot up around 5:30. Took the subway to Wukesong and made it there by around 7:15, so we decided to have breakfast - tried to order salty soy milk, but it was basically just soy milk with salt in it - not right at all. But we put in chili and vinegar and pickled roots in and doctored it up. But then Mr. Han called and said he wanted to take us to breakfast. So he picked us up and we went to his house to pick up his daughter and her boyfriend, Luna and Luc. We went to a congee restaurant - had lotus nut congee.
Then started out of the city - about a 2 hour drive, to JianKou, past farmlands and into the hills, north-northwest of Beijing. We hiked up about half an hour to an unrestored part of the Great Wall - it was SO COOL!!!! Some parts were definitely crumbled and worn, but it was SO great seeing the original as opposed to the 'fake', touristy part. During the entire trip, we only saw one party coming down from the hike while we were on the way up, and one couple right at the beginning who I don't think hiked the wall at all. We then followed the wall along the mountain ridge, climbing some pretty steep portions and some crumbled portions. But considering how old it was, it is in really great condition!
The weather was hot but really overcast, which blocked the direct sun but made it a bit muggy. When we got to the top of the hill where the wall actually was, the fog was rolling in, over the wall. It gave a really eerie feeling and made it very mysterious. But the pictures probably won't turn out as nice. We walked around the wall then hiked down on another trail for a big loop - took about 3 hours for the whole thing.
We then went to eat lunch/dinner at a restaurant in the farm village - called "There" - we caught some fish (Mr. Han was funnily impatient and scooped some up with a net because we tried fishing for about 5 minutes with no luck). Had a great meal - good salad, fresh tofu, egg, sausage, fish, lotus, rabbit, eggplant, and these really interesting deep fried peppercorn branches. We fought (and won) for the bill. Then they drove us back in two cars.
We gave Mr. Han our Olympic tickets to hold so that we wouldn't lose them in Xian. We had a quick walk around our neighborhood, mainly to get snacks for the train. Checked internet in the hostel part of the hotel, then to bed!
5 Aug, Zhengzhou
Woke up early and packed up - Goodbye Far East Hostel! We walked around the hutongs in our neighborhood - had breakfast at the first place that seemed to have lots of people - more rice porridge and pickled vegetables and shao long bao. Walked across to the big pedestrian street, Datienfong. Pretty touristy, but George and Ev both got a pair of glasses - made in half an hour! We went around a few side streets - lots of small alleyways with open doorways, but there was usually a turn so we couldn't really see in one - I think it was probably several small rooms and maybe multiple families. Oddly, there are lots of 'public toilets', so I wonder if the houses have any bathrooms in them, of if it is all communal. At night, everyone seems to be outside - even eating dinner, on smaller squat chairs.
Anyhow, we got a taxi to Beijing West RR station and took a nice express train to Zhengzhou. Ev's aunt lives in nearby Luohe, and her uncle's former student is the head of the local IRS training facility. Mr. Liu is taking us around for the next 6 days. We're staying in the IRS training facility in some really nice hotel apartments - we each have our own room and its quite nice - large living room area and dining area, 2 bathrooms. Along with Mr. Liu is Ev's aunt plus her granddaughter who we don't know her name. We'll also have a driver and tomorrow, Mr. Liu's wife.
For dinner we ate here at the IRS building upstairs in the private room. 6 of Mr. Liu's trainee/friends from Luohe were there too, so there was a lot of thanking and drinking and showing off. Each guy came around to 'wish us well' and we had to drink to thank him - I did a lot of fake drinking, and George had about 8 shots of really really strong clear alcohol that they called "white wine/alcohol". Plus we had a huge dinner, starting with pig feet that you put on a plastic glove on one hand and eat. There were at least 26 dishes that we counted, probably more, and it was all good (except when I got grossed out after eating what George said was probably a testicle). We may eat with them again - Auntie says next time just fake the drinking and smile...
6 Aug, Zhengzhou
Nice, relaxing day today. Got up fairly early - 5:30 ish, did some reading, then had breakfast at 7:30 with Mr. Liu. Then we went to Kaifung, about 1.5 hours away, an ancient walled city. Aside from our driver, we had another guy from the Zhengzhou tax place, then picked up a guy from the Kaifung tax place, and lastly when we got to the old city we got a tour guide!
We went first to the "Millennium City" amusement park - they recreated a 1000 year old Chinese city based on a famous old painting that showed the same bridges, gates, etc. We didn't realize the park was mainly to watch shows - our guide asked if we wanted to wait to see one show and when we said "that's ok", we just left. Walked around the park a bit, took a boat ride, then left.
Since we didn't watch shows, we were super early to lunch at the city's most famous restaurant - had about 25 dishes, including 8 different soup dumplings. We were all SO stuffed because of all the food that it was almost uncomfortable. After, we went to the Merchant Guild Hall with is about 300 years old. Beautiful buildings, mainly because of the carvings on the edge which are done from a single piece of wood.
Then we went to the Dragon Pavilion in the middle of the lake, built for the emperor but not really used (the dynasties fell soon after.) We climbed up to the top pavilion for some great, albeit hazy shots of the city. After dropping off the tour guide we stopped back at the tax place to pick up our scrolls, then came back by 3:30 to rest. At 6 when we met up again I was still so full it was uncomfortable - we had a bit of time before dinner so we walked a bit to help digest.
Had dinner with Mr. Liu's wife in the common room - buffet style, really good food, but so stuffed I couldn't eat much. Had a walk after as well and played at the little physical fitness area which felt SO good. Back to the rooms - Mr. Liu met us and showed us the scrolls. One is the painting on silk of the old city, which the park was modeled from. The other was an embroidery of 5 cows, which we were told takes 3 months to make and costs 2800 RMB. And the map he said was 1500 RMB. Yikes! Plus they come in really nice wooden cases. We're packing up our stuff and we'll be off tomorrow to Shaolin Temple and Luoyang.
7 Aug LuoyangGreat day today! We packed up our things after having another buffet breakfast at the tax hotel. Drove with Mr. Liu and his wife to the Shaolin Temple, famous for its wushu (kung fu) school. We toured the temple - most interesting was the story of the monk who came and begged the master to teach him kung fu, and the master said he'd teach him if it ever snowed red snow. So the disciple cut off his left arm and sprinkled the blood all over the ground, turning the snow red, so the master taught him. Also saw a rock with the image of a person - another monk supposedly stared at it so long he imprinted his own image into the rock. At the entrance/exit of the temple is the statue of a guard - to get out you have to fight and beat the guard, signifying that your training is complete.
After the temple we went to the wushu show - so cool! The best was the guy who threw a needle through a pane of glass, popping a balloon on the other side. I got picked to go up and do some moves - ended up doing a cartwheel and somersault. Mr. Liu bought me the photo that they laminated.
From Shaolin we went to LuoYang and had lunch at another amazing restaurant - had a "water banquet" - like flowing water, the food flows in front of you and literally they would serve soup and by the time they got around the table back to you, they'd take the bowl away and put down a different one. There were probably 10-15 different soups, plus a bunch of different dishes. I did my best to not eat too much because I was in so much pain yesterday, so I stopped before I got too full. We went and checked into our hotel - the LuoYang Kai Lai Hotel, and rested for half an hour before meeting downstairs to go out again.
We had a different guide because Mr. Liu had business, and the guide's college age son came with us - spoke great English so it was great having someone help translate. We went to the famous LuoYang (Longmen) Grottoes - a UNESCO World Heritage sit that has been there since AD 493. There are over 2300 caves (some shoebox sized) and over 110,000 statues. They are buddhas, with some inscription. It's located on a river between two hills. Very cool!
We came back to the hotel for another short rest, then had dinner at the hotel - another feast. After dinner, Mr. Liu insisted on taking us for foot bath/massages. Ev tried very hard to resist but we went anyway - and it was great. Soaked in herbal hot bath, while a girl massaged our legs. Then got a long foot massage followed by a shoulder/neck massage. Overall, we were there for 1.5 hours. So tired, but a great day!
8 August, Xian
Getting ready for opening ceremonies! Today was a day of driving - 4.5 hours from Luoyang to Xian - we stopped for gas in the middle, but otherwise straight through. Went to lunch with some officials from the Xian tax center - in another gorgeous restaurant in a private room, with 20+ dishes. But now I've learned to just take a small taste and not stuff myself (well, either that or my stomach is stretched so I can just shove more in). Checked into the tax hotel - really nice again - double rooms, computers in each room, fresh fruit waiting for us! They even offered us singles but we said no, so I'm sharing with George.
We left at 3 for the Big Goose Pagoda - 7 stories, built for this monk that traveled to India and became the highest level of Buddha master - brought home books of the teachings (lost about 50 of the original 700 in a river, so now nobody can be a master). They built the pavilion to house the books. Story was the vegetarian monks were on a long trek and were about to starve to death when a big goose flew down and died right in front of them. They didn't want to eat it, being vegetarians, but they did and it saved their lives. That's why they called it the Big Goose Pagoda. We came back for an early dinner and will watch the opening ceremonies at 8!
9 August, Xian
Another great day sightseeing! Went this morning to the Terracotta Warriors - it's the mausoleum of the Emperor Qin from about 2200 years ago. Over 8000 figures, each unique. Pretty amazing how they have been restored, because when they were found they were definitely in ruins. A peasant uprising not long after his death caused a huge fire and destroyed a lot of them, and they were subsequently buried for 2000 years. Found by farmers digging a well in 1974. There are 3 main pits - all very impressive.
After a VERY spicy lunch - lots of ma la dishes - went to the Huaqing Hot Springs where the Emperor Qin used to go rest. Good story - went with his favorite concubine, the most beautiful of the 4 great beauties. But the 4 beauties each had a fatal flaw - one had big feet, so she only wore robes that dragged on the ground. One had 'weak' (slopey) shoulders, so she only wore clothes with giant furry collars. One had small ears - not lucky - so she wore big earrings. And Yang, the concubine, was smelly. So she insisted on fresh flowers everywhere. Also, she was supposedly the Emperor's daughter-in-law and he fell in love with her so he locked her in a nunnery until the son married someone else and then he took her out and made her his concubine. Also at this palace (which has lots of hot springs), Chiang Kai Shek stayed for a while and it was the site of the famous 'Xian Incident" where he was captured and finally later persuaded to stop the civil war and fight the Japanese.
After the hot springs we went to pick up our tickets for the train, then we went to the old city walls - gigantic gates and very wide wall that still actually goes around the inner city in a 20 km loop. Saw the big bell and drum towers in the city center, then had another huge feast - unfortunately with a very arrogant pushy guy that kept wanting us to drink wine and wouldn't take no for an answer. Ev and I got mad to the point where Ev had to be kind of rude because he wouldn't stop. Oh well, we'll never see him again!!
10 August Xian - Beijing Train
Went this AM to Famen Temple - a burial palace that housed relics of Buddha. There was a pagoda that was built 1000 years ago that partially collapsed in 1981, then fully in 1986 from earthquakes. When they went to clean it up, they discovered the underground palace. Main thing is the finger bone of Buddha. Took 1.5 hours to get here; had a huge lunch then came back to clean up. At 4, we went for another meal - ripped up bread into tiny rice-sized pieces - then add soup and cook in each individual bowl. It tasted great but we were all still SO full! They then took us to the train station. We're now in pretty comfy sleeper car - oddly, the woman in the next car is Graciela, the head of interpreter services at LPCH! The ride is 11 hours so we'll be in Beijing at 7:17AM.
