About six weeks ago, Kaz and I (along with our friends John and Nicole) traveled to China to spend a long-weekend exploring the capital city of Beijing. I have to be honest in saying that visiting China was never on my "To Do" list until living in Japan - and being a direct-flight's distance away.
Kaz had visited Beijing with his family about six years ago and after listening to his stories...I was both intrigued and worried. Those of you who know me will probably agree when I say that I am not the most adventurous traveler. Nor am I an experienced traveler either - especially when it comes to non first-world countries. However, since living in Japan...my worldview has grown by leaps and bounds...and the traveling bug in me is much, much stronger and more adventurous than its ever been before.
And so, with our bags full of masks, stomach medication, and water bottles...we were off!
Our trip started out rather eventfully as our driver never showed up at the airport to pick us up. So after waiting for close to an hour, we decided our only option was to take a cab. Thankfully Kaz is able to speak a bit of Chinese and was able to tell the driver where we needed to go. However, I'll admit that there were many times during the drive that I wasn't so sure we would make it...alive! The cab drive was quite terrifying...even with little to no traffic at 2am! The driver didn't wear a seatbelt...and the seatbelts in the back of the cab didn't actually work...so neither did we! The driver weaved in and out of traffic so much that we all closed our eyes for most of the ride; and, even though it was raining - the driver kept opening the windows and letting in the extremely polluted air, so we couldn't really breathe either!
Exhausted, shaken, and slightly nauseous...we made it to the hotel! I don't think I've ever been so happy to see a Hilton in my life! :)
I wish I could say that this cab ride was just a fluke; however, it was not! Most of our cab rides were on the frightening side! Though, those drivers sure do know how to avoid accidents like champs! Some lessons we learned about cabs during our trip included (but were not limited to): cab drivers will always speak to you in Chinese and expect you to speak Chinese back; written directions and maps do not help; it is impossible to hail a cab - and I mean impossible; seatbelts are a luxury feature; when you tell a driver where you want to go - a lot of the time he will tell you that it's too close or too far...and you'll be left to walk; cab fares are almost always much, much higher than advertised; walking into the lobby of any hotel you can find and asking them to call you a cab is basically your only option...unless you hire a driver; it's best to hire a driver.
Despite the rainy weather, we spent our first day in Beijing exploring the Forbidden City, which was about a 10-minute walk from our hotel. On our way, we walked through an outdoor market, which had some very interesting "foods" on sticks! Spoiler alert - I didn't actually try any...but I did take lots of pics!
The Forbidden City (also sometimes called The Forbidden Palace) was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming dynasty to the end of the Qing dynasty (from 1420 to 1912); and, served as the home of emperors and their households (as well as the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government) for almost 500 years. The Forbidden City is located in the center of Beijing and now houses the Palace Museum. 
I could not believe the size of The Forbidden City - it is absolutely gigantic. And, when you pair it with Tian’anmen Square (which is directly across the street and is said to be able to hold 1 million people) the enormity is rather mind-boggling. I mean, this area used to be the city - so in that regard I guess the size makes sense - however, walking through the entire thing at once jades your concept of size! The Forbidden City consists of 980 buildings and a common myth states that there are a total of 9,999 rooms. We spent about three hours just wandering through the city - and that was without actually going into any of the museum exhibits.
China's architecture is definitely different from Japan's...and I think the most noticeable difference is the color. A lot of Japan's temples and shrines are earthy and muted colors; however, most of the sites we visited in China had much brighter buildings - usually shades of red, blue, green, and gold. As we walked around, we were able to witness a group of Chinese military members (or possible police) marching through the City. I have to admit that it was rather intimidating. Actually, military and police presence throughout the city in general was rather intimidating. If there weren't people standing around or little police boxes on the street corner - then there were cameras everywhere you looked. I definitely felt as though we were being watched the ENTIRE time we were in Beijing! 
The next morning - with weather that looked a lot like the previous day - we headed out to explore the Temple of Heaven. The Temple of Heaven is an imperial complex of religious buildings. It was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties yearly for ceremonies of prayers to Heaven for good harvest. The Temple of Heaven is considered a Taoist temple - even though Chinese heaven worship is said to predate Taoism. In Taoism, Earth is represented by a square and Heaven by a circle. This symbolism can be seen throughout the temple.
Next, we headed to the Hutong Neighborhoods. Hutongs are a type of narrow street/alleyway that are commonly associated with northern Chinese cities. This area in particular housed many modern shops, restaurants, and residences. One of things that I found some interesting about this area was that the facades of the buildings were all very similar. In fact, we noticed that they all had the exact same doors. However, as you looked into the entryway - you realized that they were often hiding alleyways or courtyards that were much older and more rundown than the building. Perhaps a way of making the city look cleaner and newer than it is - as they continue to work to make it that way. Or...perhaps just another way to create a sense of uniformity. 
Within these neighborhoods, we found a coffee shop - where we spent some time warming up, enjoying some strong coffee, and taking artsy pictures. Then, we found a famous dumpling house and enjoyed the most wonderful lunch!! We even left our mark by signing the walls with the rest of the visitors whom had visited the shop over the past several years. After lunch, we spent a bit more time exploring the hutongs and several other sites (the Black Lakes; the drum tower; and, the bell tower) which were nestled within them. Then as it began to rain more heavily, we decided to head inside to rest...and give the Chinese foot massages we'd been reading so much about a try! 
At first, I was really against seeing parts of the wall that had been restored because I wanted to see the wall in its original form. However, after realizing that it was a rather dangerous multi-hour hike to see an "untouched" portion of the wall...I decided that the safer route made a bit more sense. The little village of shops at the base of the wall initially made the wall seem less historic; however, after riding the cable car up to the wall...my perspective changed. Once you get off the cable car - you are literally ON the Great Wall! And, almost immediately - you realize just how long it is. As far as the eye can see, in both directions, is the wall. We took about two hours, walking just a small portion of the wall...and even though it was "restored" - it was still quite challenging. There were several instances in which I was grasping onto the side of wall - so that I wouldn't fall. We ended our hike by climbing an incredibly steep staircase to another part of the wall - so that we could get an even better view. As I shakily reached the top of the staircase - and looked to the crumbling path in front of me - I was happy with the decision we'd made not to go any further! 
After an amazing morning at the wall, and a quick lunch at Burger King...yes, you read that right...they have a BK at the Great Wall of China...we headed to the Summer Palace.
The Summer Palace is the largest and most well-preserved royal park in China. It was first built in 1750, as a luxurious royal garden for royal families to rest and entertain, and later became the main residence of royal members in the end of the Qing Dynasty. It was destroyed several times during periods of war, but was reconstructed and opened to the public in 1924.
Because it was a Saturday afternoon, we really got to experience a crowded tourist attraction in China. At one point, when Kaz was taking a picture with me, two women (who must have thought he was a random person taking a picture with the "foreigner") started pushing him away so they could get closer to me and giving him their cellphone to take a picture of them with me! About fifteen minutes later, a tour group walked by and the women all stopped and gasped at me. Then, they started grabbing my arm and shirt - trying to get me closer to them to take pictures. Kaz actually had to grab my other arm and pull me in the opposite direction. It was like human tug of war?!? Our friend John was stopped by a a swarm of teenage girls asking to take pictures with him. I think they thought he was a movie star. At least they asked instead of pushing or pulling. We weren't the only foreigners there - so we were rather surprised that people were so interested in us. We were, however, some of the only foreigners not in a huge tour group...so perhaps it is better to travel in larger packs in the future!!
I am not the biggest fan of duck; however, when in China...one should probably visit the Great Wall and eat Peking duck! So I did! I was surprised to see that the duck was served with tortillas. You dip the pieces in the sauce and then roll it up in a tortilla with the sides that they give you. Quite yummy - although I much prefer dumplings!After eating at a few different restaurants - of varying types, levels, and prices...I realized that regardless of those factors - the service was the same. In Japan - the service is amazing everywhere; and, in the US, it definitely varies. In China, however, I learned that the patrons are actually viewed as doing the restaurant a favor by eating there. When hesitating to order, our waitress audibly yawned and looked at her watch; and she was also visibly annoyed when we asked questions. Definitely an interesting experience - especially after spending the last year in Japan - where the staff apologizes when you make a mistake!
Beijing was definitely a mix of old and new; money and poverty; order and craziness. The pollution was intense, the water wasn't safe to drink, the taxis would run you over if you weren't careful, we saw people relieving themselves on the street....and, at the same time, the history was incredible, the sites were visited were breathtaking, the experience was humbling and eye-opening, and (according to Kaz) the positive changes made in the past six years are incredibly impressive! While I was thankful to be back in Japan after our whirlwind trip...this visit has definitely left me wanting to visit some other areas of China in the future!
And...as I wrap up this post, I want to share Nicole's "Top 10 Tips for Visiting China" - in case you are itching to go after reading this blog post! :)
2. Better yet, be Chinese
3. Hire a driver
4. Never try to hail a cab
5. Pray when crossing the street
6. Be a brave eater
7. Wear a blindfold when riding in a car
8. Beer is probably safer then water, you should drink this instead
9. Be careful of people spitting and/or “relieving” themselves in public places
10. Patience is a nonexistent concept, except it and move on
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