beijing
thanks to angel and a few well placed phone calls from our receptionist, lis and I just spent a little time in beijing. it was fantastic. I’ll have to pretty much just list the highs and lows, as we did SO much.
HIGH: fancy car to take us to the airport.
HIGH: china air’s animae flight safety video, complete with a Swallow on a Plane.
LOW: cabin pressure. literally. my ears were screaming for about 20 minutes of our descent.
HIGH: our cab getting lost on the way to the hotel. the driver kept getting out of the car to read the address in the headlights of the cab. he finally asked some guys loitering on a corner where to go.
LOW: our hotel. the elevator smelled like feet. housekeeping refused to come help us with the air unit until we went down to the front desk to ask for help. the beds were crammed into the room, and the bathroom was, well, nothing either of us relished walking in barefoot. thank god for crocs; lis and I both used mine as shower shoes. (the shower was also just a dingy corner of the bathroom with a curtain. no tub. no walls. nada.)
HIGH: shopping nearby.
HIGH: the forbidden city.
HIGH: hou hai, the lake area. we found a ton of little bars and entertainment (some filipino bands as well; our boston pervert friend would be proud).
LOW: being accosted by three (drunk?) chinese men who approached our cab, kept opening the door and having to try to close the door on them. we got NO help from the cab driver and were unsure of they were going for my purse, trying to steal our cab, JOIN us in our cab, or just fuck with us. any way you looked at it, they knew we weren’t amused as I was waving my arms, shaking my head, saying “NO” and trying to close the door over and over. I finally used my leg to clear the area around the door to shut it without actually kicking anyone. the main guy was shocked and kicked back, but fully going for contact. the REAL kicker? our ever so helpful cab driver kicked us out of the cab. (he was nice enough to take us around the corner first, but somehow in that exchange I ended up looking like a violent, crazy foreigner. whatever. better safe than sorry, I guess.)
LOW: the next cab refusing to take us anywhere too.
HIGH: the very nice third cab driver. he actually waved BYEBYE.
HIGH: finding an adapter for my laptop so we could watch nip/tuck.
HIGH: the great wall of china. we went on a tour which took us up into the hills outside of town and allowed us to hike up to the wall, and along the unrestored part of the wall.
LOW: using the back-water stink-hole of a toilet in a farmhouse near the start of our trip.
HIGH: not being the slowest hiker.
LOW: lis getting stung by a bee. I stopped to help her. then we both got attacked.
HIGH: not dying on the great wall of china from bee stings. there was a chance I was allergic and I have never been stung. excuse me, HAD never been stung. (grand total of bee stings between the two of us: 6.)
HIGH: discovering that when hiking the great wall of china, it's much more satsfying to call it by it's full name. you can't just say "the wall" or even "the great wall". it's really "the great wall of china."
LOW: our van breaking down on the way back to town. (lis and I managed to use it as an opportunity to nap though.)
HIGH: terribly cheesy boy band music and videos played in the van ride home.
HIGH: finding the restaurant we had been looking for after we had given up. not only was it good, but none of it made us sick.
HIGH: meeting jay and george, the nice middle-aged gentlemen who we had to share a table with at the weird australian bar down the street from the restaurant. they gave us chinese lessons, explained what the deal is with mao, and weren’t too creepy.
HIGH: learning to embrace the chinese way through the liberal use of our bells on our bike tour through town.
HIGH: unknowingly being in tianamen square on the 30th anniversay of mao’s death.
HIGH: the 798 area of town. it’s warehouses converted to galleries. some very cool stuff there, including a few art openings we unwittingly wandered into.
LOW: low blood sugar and ordering a pizza bagel at mini café. apparently cinnamon raisin bagels are not excluded from becoming pizza here.
HIGH: finding some good shopping at hou hai which we had missed before.
HIGH: finding that our search for “no name bar” could finally end, as the cute bar on the corner we were going to if we couldn’t find it was actually the same bar.
LOW: bee stings becoming problematic and acting like my mosquito bites from the weeks before. except worse.
LOW: low energy for the summer palace.
HIGH: the jade store. it’s the beijing version of the fabric market.
HIGH: street food in snack alley.
HIGH: all the photos we took.
LOW: will be figuring out where to post them.
HIGH: fancy car to take us to the airport.
HIGH: china air’s animae flight safety video, complete with a Swallow on a Plane.
LOW: cabin pressure. literally. my ears were screaming for about 20 minutes of our descent.
HIGH: our cab getting lost on the way to the hotel. the driver kept getting out of the car to read the address in the headlights of the cab. he finally asked some guys loitering on a corner where to go.
LOW: our hotel. the elevator smelled like feet. housekeeping refused to come help us with the air unit until we went down to the front desk to ask for help. the beds were crammed into the room, and the bathroom was, well, nothing either of us relished walking in barefoot. thank god for crocs; lis and I both used mine as shower shoes. (the shower was also just a dingy corner of the bathroom with a curtain. no tub. no walls. nada.)
HIGH: shopping nearby.
HIGH: the forbidden city.
HIGH: hou hai, the lake area. we found a ton of little bars and entertainment (some filipino bands as well; our boston pervert friend would be proud).
LOW: being accosted by three (drunk?) chinese men who approached our cab, kept opening the door and having to try to close the door on them. we got NO help from the cab driver and were unsure of they were going for my purse, trying to steal our cab, JOIN us in our cab, or just fuck with us. any way you looked at it, they knew we weren’t amused as I was waving my arms, shaking my head, saying “NO” and trying to close the door over and over. I finally used my leg to clear the area around the door to shut it without actually kicking anyone. the main guy was shocked and kicked back, but fully going for contact. the REAL kicker? our ever so helpful cab driver kicked us out of the cab. (he was nice enough to take us around the corner first, but somehow in that exchange I ended up looking like a violent, crazy foreigner. whatever. better safe than sorry, I guess.)
LOW: the next cab refusing to take us anywhere too.
HIGH: the very nice third cab driver. he actually waved BYEBYE.
HIGH: finding an adapter for my laptop so we could watch nip/tuck.
HIGH: the great wall of china. we went on a tour which took us up into the hills outside of town and allowed us to hike up to the wall, and along the unrestored part of the wall.
LOW: using the back-water stink-hole of a toilet in a farmhouse near the start of our trip.
HIGH: not being the slowest hiker.
LOW: lis getting stung by a bee. I stopped to help her. then we both got attacked.
HIGH: not dying on the great wall of china from bee stings. there was a chance I was allergic and I have never been stung. excuse me, HAD never been stung. (grand total of bee stings between the two of us: 6.)
HIGH: discovering that when hiking the great wall of china, it's much more satsfying to call it by it's full name. you can't just say "the wall" or even "the great wall". it's really "the great wall of china."
LOW: our van breaking down on the way back to town. (lis and I managed to use it as an opportunity to nap though.)
HIGH: terribly cheesy boy band music and videos played in the van ride home.
HIGH: finding the restaurant we had been looking for after we had given up. not only was it good, but none of it made us sick.
HIGH: meeting jay and george, the nice middle-aged gentlemen who we had to share a table with at the weird australian bar down the street from the restaurant. they gave us chinese lessons, explained what the deal is with mao, and weren’t too creepy.
HIGH: learning to embrace the chinese way through the liberal use of our bells on our bike tour through town.
HIGH: unknowingly being in tianamen square on the 30th anniversay of mao’s death.
HIGH: the 798 area of town. it’s warehouses converted to galleries. some very cool stuff there, including a few art openings we unwittingly wandered into.
LOW: low blood sugar and ordering a pizza bagel at mini café. apparently cinnamon raisin bagels are not excluded from becoming pizza here.
HIGH: finding some good shopping at hou hai which we had missed before.
HIGH: finding that our search for “no name bar” could finally end, as the cute bar on the corner we were going to if we couldn’t find it was actually the same bar.
LOW: bee stings becoming problematic and acting like my mosquito bites from the weeks before. except worse.
LOW: low energy for the summer palace.
HIGH: the jade store. it’s the beijing version of the fabric market.
HIGH: street food in snack alley.
HIGH: all the photos we took.
LOW: will be figuring out where to post them.
posted by danigrl at 1:59 AM
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