Phase One

Phase One:

We recently got back from our ten day vacation to China’s Western province of Gansu. Because we saw so many amazing things and have so many awesome stories to tell, we are going to split up our trip and talk about a different chunk of our holiday in each of several blog posts. Here is the first….

Beijing Bound.

We started our trip just minutes after Kristen finished work on Friday. Gathering up our bags, we unplugged our hot water heater and ran out the door to begin our great adventure. Of course every other student and teacher was also leaving Jinshitan to head on their own holiday, so we ran into our first obstacle almost immediately.

The light transit rail that we take to get into Dalian was packed. Not packed like, “Oh excuse me did I bump into you? Awfully sorry old chap.” No, this was a maelstrom of people pushing, slipping and sneaking their way onto a train already packed with people and luggage. Even though we are now veterans of the light rail system we began to feel claustrophobic before we even left the station.

We made it through the tumult unscathed and with our friend Erica (who was one of our traveling six) we waded our way through the crowds until we made it to the front of the train station where we met up with the rest of our group (Catherine, Morgan and Will). Because it was the national holidays we had to join a “tour group” in order to find train tickets. Our group consisted of a number of other Chinese tourists who also wanted to get to Beijing. In order to find us to give us our tickets and board the train together the “tour guide” was given the directions “look for the six white people”. Somehow they found us and we all  boarded our train.

We had soft sleeper tickets which meant we were in fairly comfy booths with four bunks to a room. Kristen and I shared ours with a very nice younger Chinese couple who spoke fairly good English. We spent most of the night drinking beer with the rest of our group and then fell asleep for a few hours. All in all, this first Chinese train experience was comfortable and much more fun than a plane ride.

When we woke up we were approaching Beijing. We took a subway ride from the train station into the heart of town. Our hostel was near Tianammen Square, but because of the amount of people visiting for the national holiday, the subway station nearest the square was closed down. We got off one station early and waded our way through some thick crowds of people. As we got closer, the crowds grew thicker until we eventually had to turn down an alleyway (with hundreds of other people) cross under police tape, and weave our way through side streets to get to our hostel. Thousands of people in the streets and it was barely 8:00am!

730 am on a National Holiday in Beijing

Slipping under police tape to get to our hostel

National pride was evident from the thousands of red flags everwhere in Beijing

We checked into our hostel and then split up to explore some different parts of Beijing. Catherine and Erica rented a tandem bike to explore the hutongs (little alleyways that are still “old Beijing” style housing and markets) while the rest of us went to visit the Temple Of Heaven. The Temple is in a massive park, and thousands of Beijingers and foreigners were dancing, playing games, doing Taichi, stretching and playing tourist everywhere inside the walled park. We had a beautiful day, with little pollution and a gorgeous sunny sky, and we thoroughly enjoyed walking around, looking at the sights and the crowds. The park was so big that there were many places that you could be where no one else could be seen… a rarity in China’s cities.

The Temple of Heaven

Kristen borrowed one for a few minutes and showed them all up!

That night we met up with our crew and went to the Silk market. This is a huge emporium of knockoff clothing, silk goods, toys, shoes and just about anything else you might be interested in. We found some ties and jackets and spent the better part of an hour and half bartering as hard as we could. Paul was particularly insistent and forced the price down again and again. He also made them switch the jacket that they offered for one straight from a bag, and for a final flourish, whipped out his mandarin to haggle for the final price. Neither  the seller, nor Kristen and Paul were entirely happy at the end of the exchange, which we feel is the best way to know that a fair deal was worked out. For less then fifty dollars we picked up three silk scarves, a north face jacket and a Jack Wolfskin waterproof shell. Not too shabby.

We then went for Peking Duck at an upscale eatery. Kristen was disinclined to try the duck, but after some convincing she found she actually really enjoyed it. Basically you wrap the duck meat in a little rice flour tortilla shell, along with scallions, cucumber, hoisin, garlic or whatever else you feel like. It was a delicious treat, and we managed to eat three ducks between the six of us.

Peking duck... brains and all!

On the way back, the taxi drivers were unwilling to take us near Tiananmen because of the crowds. Three of us managed to convince one taxi to drop us off nearby so that we could walk, but the other three got kicked out of their taxi (which is illegal in China-taxis can’t refuse a fare). In the process of negotiating and getting kicked out of the taxi, Erica dropped her wallet and passport in the car. We spent the rest of the night frantically calling the police, the taxi companies, the embassy and anyone else we could think of, trying to get the passport back before we had to fly to Lanzhou the next day.

In the morning, Will and Erica went to the police station, where they created a lost passport form, and told her to try going on the flight anyways (she had a photocopy of her passport and visa and they thought that with the form they gave her, it might be enough to get her on the plane). We were pretty sure that Erica would not be coming with us, but we were determined to enjoy the day anyways.

Inside the hutongs of Beijing.

We wandered around Tiannamen square and outside the forbidden city (we contemplated going in, but the crowds were insane) and then found our way to the Lama temple. We walked around  through building after building, under persimmon trees and past pyres of incense for a few hours. If you get a chance to visit Beijing, this is a place you should go.

Mao on the gate of the forbidden city as seen from Tiannamen Square

Starbucks... in Tiannamen square. Irony much?

Persimmons, incense and bright colours... the Lama Temple in Beijing

Eventually it was time to head out for our flight. We took the subway to the airport, and Erica came with us, bags packed and ready to go in case she could somehow sneak through. After a few tense minutes at check in, and many more tense minutes and negotiation at security, she somehow managed to sneak by, and we were through. We all boarded our plane, and were off to Lanzhou!