Beijing, Beijing
Our flight into Beijing was smooth enough, and we encountered no real difficulty in getting to our hostel. First objective accomplished. Prior reports of lack of English and the unfriendliness of the Chinese had yet to materialise, but obviously these were early days yet. Unbeknown to us (this wouldn’t have been the case if we had read the rough guide a bit more carefully) we had arrived in the capital of China during Labour Day celebrations, essentially the busiest holiday week in the Chinese calender. What this meant for us was that we would now not be leaving Beijing for 8 days! No real hardship.
Pam unfortunately was still suffering from Dehli Belly and her regular bout of Tonsilitis chose this opportune moment to resurface, so she spent the first few days in bed or watching DVDs in the TV room. Apart from being ill, it was really rather relaxing. So, day 3 of being in China, Pam finally felt well enough to leave the hostel and venture out into the big unknown.
We had also heard that China was dirty and smelly. In comparison to India, China was a breath of fresh air (actually, smog), but nonetheless it was an absolute joy not to be walking around people in the street, and to be hassled constantly by street hawkers. Above this, the first thing that hit us about China is that it is very big…and very grey! Communism obviously doesn’t allow colour. We did the usual tourist sites; Tian’anmen Square, the Forbidden City and Jingshan Park. All very spectacular in a Communist kind-of-way.
The next day we tried to find a kung-fu show, but to no avail. Being the seasoned travellers that we now are we refused to pay the hiked up prices in place for the holiday period, and therefore went and spent even more money at Lao She Tea House. This consisted of front row seats (they saw us coming, or was it just that we hadn’t pre-booked like everyone
else, complimentary snacks, tea poured from a watering can in a rather novel way, and an hour-long show that can only be described as an experience. Let’s just say that the Chinese language isn’t really designed for singing opera. Screaming and squawking opera, yes, but singing opera, definitely no. At least it made Pam feel better who was practically on the floor, in tears of hilarity. Not too sure that that was the desired effect, but worth the entrance fee alone. There is something about a woman screaming through a trio of candles that is holding between her teeth, that just doesn’t quite say quality opera to us. This aside, the dancing girls, changing-face girl, pot-on-head balancing man and the magician with a 70+ year old not-so-glamorous assistant turned the evening around.
With Pam finally feeling relatively human, we chose to take advantage of the good weather the next day and hired a couple of bikes (crap ones, it has to be said), and cycled to the Summer Palace in the north of the city. The ride was certainly eventful, with first the front brakes falling off Pam’s bike and then one of the crank arms choosing to come loose, that made riding the bike about as comfortable as riding a camel. May have also had something to do with the fact that the saddle was harder than Mrs B’s custard! The 50km round-trip was definitely worth it (no, we hadn’t checked the scale on the map), and deserved a much needed beer at the end of the day. We found a place called bar street, and as you can imagine it was full of bars, all around a lake. This is our kind of place for a Friday night – heaven! We first got in the stomach lining of beef for me and bull frog hotpot for James (yummy) whilst enjoying our first bottle of wine for 5 weeks – orgasmic! We rocked on until 5am and made some Chinese Friends along the way. Two soldiers called Tristan and Maple, the dance student who got me Salsa-ing in the bar and the pole dancers in the Sex in da City Bar (took a picture for you Girlies – of the bar sign, not the pole dancers.
Hangovers a plenty in Beijing the next day, Starbucks was a welcome oasis for us. That night we experienced true Beijing Roast Duck at the best restaurant in town. It was crap! A lot of fat and not a lot of meat – we found a better place a week later – although eating the duck’s brain by accident was a ’special’ treat for us.
