09/14/11- Before we left for the airport we had one of our good friends Michelle take us to Islands for some dinner and drinks. Very filling burgers I must say. As we left the parking garage I noticed I was charged $12 for less than 2 hours. WTH is that all about! I’ll just dispute it later I guess.
Anyhow, our flight leaves on time at 12:20am. Asiana Airlines was a very good choice for airlines by the way. The seats were decent, the movies were nice with On Demand, and the staff was excellent. Customer service all the way. The food was good too. I tried to get some sleep on the 12 hour flight but was fighting 20 minute baby cryer, sir breath-smells-a-lot next to me and coughy coughersome down the isle. Other than that I did manage to get a few hours in.
09/15/11- Our layover flight hits South Korea at around 4:30am local time. It is still the 14th in California but with the 16 hour time change in Korea it is technically the 15th, so we lost a full day of traveling. Incheon airport in Korea is really nice however. Looks almost brand new with hardly anyone here (due to it being early morning) and free internet.
Our second flight to China was also nice. It was less than 2 hours, however we were fed a full meal. And after a long, loooooong day of flying and waiting we finally made it to Beijing around 9:30am. The transition couldn’t have moved more smoothly. They opened a new line at customs right when we got there and breezed right through. Then we grabbed our bags and had a very short wait in queue for the taxi. The ride took about 45 minutes or so and I was dozing off in intervals but we soon made it to our hotel. Well, near our hotel. We had to navigate through Chinese streets to find it. And with a little friendly help from some locals we made it without a hitch. I have heard that the people here are friendly but seeing it first hand really made me appreciate it that much more.
After a short stay of rest we took to the streets to find our way around. We headed down toward Tiananmen Square and just took in the local way of life. First thing we noticed is that not very many locals speak English. But that didn’t stop several of them from asking to take a picture we us. I know, we truly felt like celebrities. We also hit up a local restaurant for dinner. The fried rice and grilled chicken was incredible. I also ordered eel for the first time. It tasted a lot like salmon or bass fish. And before we left I tried to work out my Mandarin skills on the waiter. “Wo xiang yao kuaizi, qing wen” Meaning “I would like chopsticks, please”
On our way back to the hotel we grabbed some pastries (custard tarts) and I bought a very nice satchel bag for my camera for only 30 Yuan or $5.00 USD. Now we are at the hotel in our undies enjoying the nice air conditioned room and ready for some much needed sleep.
09/16/11- Wow, what a day! We left our hotel (Far East Hotel) at 7:30am and walked towards the Temple of Heaven. We passed by several open restaurants selling Dim Sum but decided to eat closer to the attraction. Little did we know there was nothing around there. So we bought a hotdog on a stick and a pastry to hold us over for the morning.
Once inside the Temple of Heaven grounds we immediately felt at ease. The park area was so serene and the weather was nice and cool. The smog also let up giving us a nice clear sky. Along the paths we saw groups of people either exercising to disco music, performing martial arts or playing hacky-sac with a bean ball that looked like a birdie. The place was so massive that we spend several hours trying to soak in as much as we could.
After leaving we did find a nice restaurant nearby that served all kinds of exotic food like duck tongue and liver soup. We just had the beef stir fry and spring rolls. Afterwards we headed to our hotel for a quick bathroom break. Luckily it was on the way to our next stop… The Forbidden City. And what a place this was. At first we accidently paid to get into Bei Hai Park which was right next door. We quickly realized our mistake and kept the ticket for later. We then make our way inside the Forbidden City grounds and it was truly amazing. The place was huge and there were tons of people around. It was very hard to get any kind of decent picture without a group wandering in front of the camera. In total we spent maybe 4 hours there, pretty much until it closed. It was then that the crowds were thin and we were able to get all of the photos we wanted. It was an awesome time.
Once we left we started to head back to Bei Hai Park but a few drops of rain coupled with it getting dark quickly changed our thoughts. We decided to hit up the McDonalds on our way back to the hotel. We thought they would accept credit card but we were wrong. Matter of fact there has not been one place here that accepts a western Visa or Mastercard. If McDonalds couldn’t then I know it will be cash only all trip long. We also found an awesome pair of chopsticks at a local store right before we made it back to our hotel. It’s 7pm, our feet are hurting and it’s shower time.
09/17/11- Before we get into the days events I thought this would be a good time to mention the cultural differences. First of all, anywhere seems to be a bathroom for kids. Several times we have seen moms pull down their kids pants in public and have them either pee in a bottle or around a tree. Right in the middle of people watching. After the kid peed in the bottle the mom handed it to one of the trash attendants for him to dispose of. WOW! Also, some kids wear pants that have the butt part wide open exposing their whole backside.
Another thing, men seem to hike their shirts up over their bellies as they walk down the street. I am not sure if this is a macho thing or perhaps they want to show girls how big their bellies are so they know they eat well. Either case it’s strange to me. Almost as strange as men carrying their woman’s purse around for them. I’m just waiting for the guy to have his shirt hiked while carrying his woman’s purse. That would make more since in West Hollywood.
Lastly, nobody seems to wear jewelry. And wedding rings seem to be worn on the FU finger instead of the ring finger. Oh and spitting is definitely a norm here.
Now that is said, today we started our journey at 8am. While walking toward the subway station we saw several women in their pjs walking down the road to the public toilet. It literally looked like they came out of a “walking dead” movie.
We make it to the subway and I was pretty impressed. Everything is written in English clear enough to decipher exactly where to go. Also, inside the train there is a map with your current subway stop lit up to show where the train is. And there were digital advertisements outside the subway windows as you sped passed them. After only one change we make it to the Summer Palace. This place was massive. There were hills, towers, a huge lake, more hills and it took forever to walk across. We literally spent the whole day there (about 7 hours). Our legs are mush.
Before we left we ate at a local restaurant off the river. The food was excellent and the view was nice with comfortable weather. The only part I didn’t like is they charged us as much for the tea they gave us as the whole meal. The tea wasn’t even THAT good. It tasted like perfume. Anyhow, we had just enough cash on us to pay for the meal and make it back to our hotel. We did manage to get some great dragon souvenirs for our kids. The lady initially stated 130 Yuan for one of them but we ended up paying only 60 Yuan for two of them. Talk about bartering! Tomorrow: THE GREAT WALL!
09/18/11- Where to begin. Well, we get on the subway to go to our pickup point for the Great Wall. Unfortunately we have to change trains twice. After running around for almost an hour we finally get to the van with 10 minutes to spare. It then takes about 90 minutes to get to the wall. Driver flying down the road + morning coffee = Jeff not feeling well now. But I soon got over it.
Once at the drop-off point we are told that we can either take the cable car up to the wall or hike for about 30-45 minutes. We decided to hike, however we soon realized that hiking also meant scaling tons of stairs. We were not informed of this ahead of time. But we did make it finally, but that was only the beginning. Now there are more stairs on the wall to climb. Thankfully we have 6 hours to take our time and enjoy ourselves.
The place we were initially at had many groups around so we trekked on passed the area to get clearer views without people in the way. Sharece got tired when she saw a steep hill climb that seemed to go almost straight up for a quarter of a mile or so. This was after about 90 minutes of walking already mind you. I told her to take a rest and I will do it myself to take some photos. She actually shed a tear as I left. I’m not sure if she was sad that I was going or sad she couldn’t make it up there with me. Either way I went. It was a crazy hike with many stops on my part but I made it. I went passed the “no tourist” sign and kept on going until I got to the unrepaired part of the wall. Even then I went on further to the top of the mountain. I took one look around and gasped at the views around me. Legs hurting and all I decided to make my way back to Sharece.
On our way down from the wall we thought we would take the toboggan ride down to the base, but the line was incredibly long. We decided to just take the long stairway back. We ended up in the village below with tons of souvenir shops. We found a nice small statue of the wall for our collection as well as a hand painted calligraphy scroll that said “Peace” “Love” and “Happiness”. They were actually putting people’s names on the scrolls but I asked for that instead. He did the writing right in front of us and did an awesome job of it as well.
Since the whole group was there we all were able to go back to Beijing a bit early. Enter crazy driver again. It takes longer due to traffic but we manage to get back around 7pm. After 3 subway trains and a brief walk later we finally make it to our hotel, exhausted and ready for a shower.
09/19/11- Took the subway to the Lama Temple to start our day. We walked around the grounds for a bit but wasn’t really too impressed. It seemed like most people were there to pay homage to Buddha. So we left and took the streets to get to Hoi Hai. This area of town was quite different than where our hotel was. It has some very nice lakes, surrounded by bars, restaurants and shops that seem to all take US credit cards. Oh yes, we had fun shopping. We then stepped into one of the restaurants to eat around 2:30pm to get some Beijing roasted duck but was told they do not serve that until 5pm. So we grabbed a snack we brought with us and went across the street to Bei Hai Park to spend a few hours there.
This park was very nice with a massive lake coupled with great weather and a serene setting. We took a break near the lake, took our shoes off and enjoyed just doing nothing for a moment. We then headed back to the Hoi Hai area to eat dinner.
Duck by the way is nothing to write home about. I mean it was presented in a great way all carved neatly on our plate but the taste was not very good. It was missing salt or seasonings. Either case we ate it and I feel like a more complete person for doing so. A good way to spend our last night in Beijing.
09/20/11- Slept in a bit (well until 8am) and packed our things. The hotel stored our stuff after checkout while we ventured out to explore a little more of our area and eat. After a few hours of touring Nan Hai Park we decided to head back to the hotel to rest a few hours before hailing a taxi to the train station for our trip to Xi’an.
The taxi dropped us off however we had to carry our bags up about 25 steps to get to the train station. Apparently their escalators were being fixed. We get inside the station, show our tickets to one of the info people and she directs us to the proper waiting room. We then grab some chicken sandwiches from McDonalds, which turn up to be the spicy ones, and find seats. The place looks like a madhouse with people fighting for seats and tons of people just sitting around in groups. We didn’t have to wait long before we board the train and we leave promptly at 8pm.
We got a soft sleeper cabin that sleeps four so we had to share it with 2 other people. We didn’t realize how small the compartment was. I think prisoners get more space… seriously. But despite it all we did end up getting to sleep right away. It is a 12 hour train ride after all.
09/21/11- Woke up early hoping that the train was ready to arrive however we found that we stopped for over an hour in the middle of the night due to construction and flooding. Not only that, the attendant turned on the lights around 7am. I guess they didn’t want us to sleep through “waiting some more”. Not to mention we had to endure the smell of cigarette smoke (which this is a non smoking train by the way), a funky smell that I can only assume came from the bathroom area, and loud Chinese talkers. We made it through though over 2 hours late. But it didn’t stop there. Xi’an was a madhouse when it came to people. We waited in a taxi queue line that was anything but a line with fake taxi drivers trying to solicit their vehicle.
We finally get to the hotel and what a blessing it is. Citadines Apartment hotel is just that… a little apartment. It’s in a feng shui style, large enough to have a living room, and comes with a complete kitchen. We are very happy with this choice of hotel and almost don’t want to leave. But of course we set out to see the city after a few hours of rest.
First up was the Drum and Bell towers. Not really much to be impressed about here but we did find a souvenir for our wall for very cheap. We then walked around the city walls and headed back to our hotel to rest. Around 6pm we went back out to see the Pagoda tower, but it was closed. We did get some very nice night shots of the town though. It almost felt like we were in Shanghai with all the tall buildings and lights. Before coming back we stopped at a Pizza Hut. The menu selection was massive including steak, shakes, desserts, salmon pizza and more.
09/22/11- We started off with breakfast and took the bus to the train station. It was a bit of a trek to find the 611 bus stop but we finally did 30 minutes later. At the train station we changed buses to go straight to the Terra Cotta Warriors. It took a little over an hour but we made it by 11:30am.
Once there Sharece used one of the public restrooms (which smelled very bad by the way) and on her way out was hounded by an attendant to pay. Sharece pointed to her own roll of toilet paper and said it was hers. She kept insisted and even pointed to my pockets. I said I didn’t use the toilet and that I have no money. We just kept walking away as I felt the extortion scam of that was not worth arguing about.
We purchased our tickets, which were the most expensive in China so far by the way (110 Yuan each or about $17) and went inside Pit #1. Wow is all I can say! It was literally filled with hundreds of life size statues of soldiers from several thousand years ago. Each soldier had a different look and was handmade. Afterwards we went to Pit #s 2 and 3 where we saw the early stages of excavation that they are still doing. We spent a total of about 2 hours before heading back to our hotel where we stayed for the rest of the day. We have a morning fight tomorrow to Shanghai. Only 4 full days left before we fly back to LA.
09/23/11- Got up early for our flight to Shanghai. We go right by all of the people yelling taxi at us and get on the shuttle bus to the airport, which only took an hour. We then get all checked in for our flight, however come 11am we get notified that it is delayed until 1:30pm. 4 hours later we finally fly out. Their slogan should be “China Eastern: We’ll get you there... eventually”. At least they fed us twice.
We finally make it to the airport in Shanghai and get on the #2 Shuttle bus to the city center. From there we went to hail a taxi for the rest of the way but it took about 30 minutes for us to finally get one. Fast forward to 7:30pm and we are finally at the hotel (Donghu Guest House). But one more problem occurred. I get a call from the front desk saying there was an issue with my reservation. Apparently either Capital One Rewards didn’t forward the reservation status to the hotel or the hotel misplaced it. Either case I had to call Capital One from my hotel to have them fax another copy, which ended up costing me $30 USD. That is not going to fly with me by the way. Either the hotel is not going to charge me for the call or Capital One is reimbursing me. One way or another it will all work out.
We finished the night by going out around our area to take some night shots and scope the place out.
09/24/11- Got up around 9am and went to the lobby to inquire about our reservation. They stated they still didn’t receive anything and that there was nothing they could do. I showed them the printout of my reservation again and pointed to an international number stating if they call this number they will get their info. She called and halfway through the conversation the business office called the reception on the other line stating they found our reservation suddenly. Hmmmm! I kindly asked again for the $30 phone call from the previous night to be waived and they said they’ll see what can be done.
We then walked over to the business office to talk about them getting train tickets for us to Suzhou tomorrow and sure enough the lady was already on the phone talking to her manager about our reservation and getting the call waived. When she got off the phone we asked her about getting us the train tickets and handed her our passports. It was then the realization kicked in that we were the same people that talked to her before on the phone.
After that was straightened out we headed to our first destination of the People’s Park. It was only 2 subway stops away and easy to get to, however there wasn’t much really there. Sharece didn’t want to look at the Shanghai museum just yet so we walked to the bund area instead. We eventually made it to the bizarre market where we got some souvenirs and ate. With our feet tired from the walking we decided to take the subway back to the hotel and try out the swimming pool. Now that was a neat experience in itself. The pool was Olympic size and the whole setup was more of a country club than anything else. We had to wear shower caps in the pool, got our own locker and partook in the steam room. I feel so richy!
09/25/11- Why are beds in China so hard? Is it so nobody will sleep in and they can be more productive? Anyhow, we get up by our wakeup call at 7am to start our day. We eat a quick breakfast and make it to the railway station with plenty of time for our 10am train. It takes about 30minutes and we are in Suzhou. Not too shabby! As we exit the station on foot we accidently go the complete opposite direction of where everything was and end up walking a mile into the residential section. After hailing a cab and showing them a picture of the pagoda tower we wanted to go to we quickly get there for cheap.
The pagoda tower was crazy to be on. Sharece went up only the first floor while I went to the third. Even at that height I felt dizzy just walking around. Turned out there are 8 total floors. The walk itself up the stairs was even crazy. After the Great Wall we found we do not like stairs. After leaving we looked around the tourist shops for a pagoda statue for our wall but could not find one at all. I guess the pagoda is not really a big deal here.
We continued our walk to the huge park area. This took quite some time to look through but it did cost some money (about 70 Yuan each or $10.00 USD). I am amazed that just walking through parks here cost so much. “Great Wall 40 Yuan, but garden…. That double”
After a few hours spent in Suzhou we were beginning to wonder why people like going here so much, but we soon found out why. As we walked further around we found the canals that reminded us of Venice. There were boats taking people through the bridges and canals and nice little shops down the strip. Now that is what I am talking about. We also found a nice place to eat where they served Dim Sum. I mean you can’t go to China without getting Dum Sum at least once.
After dinner we still had 2 hours left, so instead of getting a cab we ended up walking back to the train station to waste some time. And after we get back to Shanghai we take the subway to the bund area again to see the buildings at night. As soon as we walked out of the subway and saw the lights we immediately thought of Vegas. And as we made it to the water we were simply amazed on how the city lit up. Definitely a must do in Shanghai.
On our way back to our hotel we decided to check out the local malls and do some clothes shopping but we did not find anything we really like, so we just grab some sundaes and headed back. Once at the hotel we found our room key didn’t work. I asked the receptionist who stated we may have to switch rooms due to having two different reservations. Sharece was visibly getting upset at this hotel now but I said just wait a second. Sure enough the receptionist, after getting a phone call, said we were okay and renewed our room key.
09/26/11- Last day in China before flying back to the US tomorrow. Felt real good to sleep in for a change and just do nothing. No train trips, no schedule… just rest. Just a few things to reflect on. I will not get over how cheap food is here. You can eat a nice filling dinner for two for under $12 USD. Also, many bathrooms I have seen are wide open, meaning once the door is open you can literally see people going. I stay away from those places. We can’t wait to go home tomorrow.
We did go out to eat dinner at a nice restaurant down the road called “1931”. The food was great. We were the only ones eating there as well around 5pm so we felt like it was catered just for us.
09/27/11- As we checked out of our hotel I made sure that they didn’t charge me the $30 for the international phone call. After speaking with the manager she said “no problem”. That’s what I thought… I was very nice about it though the whole time. We board our shuttle bus and get to the airport without a problem. Our first flight to Korea was bumpy though from the takeoff. Not sure if it was the old 747 plane or pilot or some something else entirely but it was not very smooth. We get through customs and make it to the gate for our next flight with 30 minutes to spare.
Our second flight was even more rocky. For the first few hours we were in heavy turbulence that shook the 747 quite a bit. It did eventually calm down though and was decent after that. We arrive at LAX, go through customs, get our bags and get picked up to go home. This will most likely be the one and only time going to China, as I do not see a reason to go back.
END OF BLOG
