BEIJING BEIJING BEIJING!!!

Mat arrived in Suzhou late Monday evening. Just 24 hours later we were on a hard sleeper train, ready for our 11 hour ride to Beijing. Arriving at the train station, we were surrounded by the hustle and bustle of a big city. Though Beijing (the capital of China) has over 16 million people, the incredible width of the streets and the vastness of the city, makes other metropolitan areas seem far more congested. Toronto's streets could learn a little form Beijing.

After walking from one side of the city to the other (in order to find our hotel) we discovered the internet map had provided us with the wrong location. It was just a short cab ride away, but our forray into the city gave us a great taste of some of the sites as well as a more realistic look into the life and living conditions of a typical Beijinger/Beijingite----you get the point.

There are so many things to do in this city. It's over 5000 years old, with a rich 600 year old history. 5 days isn't nearly enough to see it all, but I think we feel like we've experienced the essence of Beijing.

We visited the Forbidden City, the former palace of the Ming and Qing Emperors (forbidden, because it was closed to the citizen for over 500 years). Many of the buildings were under construction in (Mat is making me point out that this is an assumption) preparation for the Olympics (as is most of the city), but the incredible structures of the reamining buildings, of which there are plenty, gives a clear idea of the sheer economic strength of the empire.

Walking through Tian'an men Square, we were able to see Mao's Masoleum and the old city gates--HUGE!!!.

We searched for a theatre that was supposed to present Peking Opera at night. After being pulled slowly on a rickshaw (how embarassing) by a small chinese man, we discovered there were no shows to see that night. Luckily, many teahouses have variety-type shows for tourists/richy-richy business men. We saw one of these. Ballad Opera, Folk songs, Face Changing, Kungfu, Juggling, a shadow play and a scene from a Peking Opera show, gave us just the right amount of each to get an understanding of the arts in China.

Day Two:

We made a trek (on public transportation) to the old Ming Tombs. The bus ride was entertaining-----We saw a REAL CAMEL on the side of the road. It was too quick to get a picture, but it was there. A REAL CAMEL!!!!

Day three:

We're off to the wall. On public transport again, we found our way to Jinshanling, about 2 hours (or 4 on the bus) from Beijing. We arrived in Miyun, and were screwed by the drivers, who kept telling us that busses didn't run to this area of the wall. It might be true, but we did see busses on the way. The price for a cab for the 85km wasn't too bad, but it did take some heavy bargaining on my behalf (and some concern for my sanity on Mat's).

The wall was amazing! We were basically the only ones on it (except for 'tour guides' who follow you and then force you to give them money. We paid ours 30 minutes in, just to go away. The view was spectacular! This part of the wall is pretty well presevered, since some of it has been renovated, but the part in Simatai (where we were going to) was essentially untouched, which meant that for a lot of it, we walked on a path beside the wall.

Though we booked a room in a hotel at the foot of the wall in Simatai, we were the only ones staying there and the friendly neighbourhood bugs had found their way into the room, onto the curtains, and even onto the bed. Now, we can rough it, but this just wasn't going to happen. After arguing with the manager (she charged us 100yuan for the 2 hours we were there---though we were eating ridiculously priced food in her restaurant), we had an emergency cab ride back to Beijing. We hired someone's friend, and since it was dark and busses had stopped (though once again we saw our bus on the drive back), we paid through the woohoo, but made it to a lovely hotel in downtown Beijing, where the beds were soft and the bugs were safely stored outside. It was great!

Day four:

We visited the Temple of Heaven

An area designed specifically to worship the heavens and perform animal sacrifices in hopes of good harvest and in regonition of the gods and their powers.

Day five:

Our last day in Beijing was spent at 2 parks.

Beihai Park has a beautiful White Pagoda. There are 455 Buddhas on the wall of this structure.

The scenery of the city (both parks are on hills) is fabulous, but the best part was a great picture we took. Too bad we can't show you----it's your christmas present.

Though you could spend years in Beijing and never see it all----we did a fair amount for two crazy tourists. We saw the sights, experienced some of the real Chinese culture (those busses are something else) and most of all, had a blast.

P.S. This one's for you Kel. It's the first of the super crazy signs in China....but I'm sure it's not the last.