August 10th- China's "other" sights!

Chelsea:


Back on schedule. We headed down for a nice breakfast at our hostel (which has very good food by the way, no matter what the meal time) around 8:30 and then it was off to see the surrounding sights. After chatting with our two friends from China yesterday, we learned that it was best to visit the Forbidden City early in the morning if we hoped to avoid the crowd. We quickly discovered that it doesn't seem to matter what time you visit one of China's famous sights, the place was filled to the brim with tourists. We waited in line and bought our 60Y entry tickets (about $10) then it was off to the main entrance gate where we were forced to merge in and out of massive Chinese tour groups while watching for errand umbrella spokes that seemed to come out of nowhere.

Finally, we were herded through the gates like cattle in to a large open space inside the walls of the City. In front of us stood thousands of onlookers, staring and taking photos of one of Beijing's most popular sights- the first of three huge halls, each leading to the next, dating back to 1406. The three main halls are known as: The Hall of Supreme Harmony, The Hall of Central Harmony, and the Hall of Perserving Harmony. The Forbidden City was the Chinese Imperial Palace from the start of Ming to the end of the Qing Dynasty. For almost 500 years, it served as the home of emperor's and their households as well as the ceremonial and political centre of Chinese government. It was known as the "Forbidden" City as no one was allowed to enter or leave without the emperor's permission, those who did would be executed. We strolled amongst the crowds for almost 2 hours checking out the halls, their impressive structures and detailed exteriors, while at the same time people watching. Sometimes, especially here where things are so different, there is a lot to be said about simply just watching things take place around you; it can be incredibly interesting.

Upon exiting the south gates we consulted our trusty (but extremely heavy and thick) Lonely Planet guide book and made our way towards Beihai Park. It was a welcome change from the hustle and bustle in the Forbidden City. Walking through the entrance we were struck by the scenery in front of us. There was a beautiful lake filled with floating lotus plants, a pretty white bridge leading to the other side and a large bell tower poised atop the mountain ahead of us. We stopped a moment to watch the boats glide in amongst the lotuses and grab a popsicle to try and combat some of the heat before trekking across the bridge and up towards the tower. The view from the top was spectacular- you could see the entire Forbidden City and of course the traffic jammed streets of Beijing for miles.

It was time for our next stop. We hailed a taxi outside the park and drove north to the Summer Palace. We had a cool cab driver this time around- he still spoke very little English but upon hearing us speak, quickly changed the music to the international hits station- first time we have heard western music aside from through our iPods in quite awhile! :) We followed the crowd in and walked around a few moments before arriving at the lake inside its gates. We watched people out in paddleboats and quickly decided that we'd like to join them. We jumped in line and laid down a 300Y deposit for our boat. An hour's ride was 40Y (only about $7) which is essentially nothing split between three people. Michelle decided she'd be the first to rest and grabbed a seat up front while Susanne and I took on the pedals. I also got the job of steering the boat- haha, we figured it out! It was lovely being out there on the calm water watching dragon boats motor by and people flocking to a nearby island via a large stone bridge designed with beautifully sculpted arches. After passing under the bridge it was Michelle's turn to paddle for a bit and I got to take in some of the sights, dragging my feet through the water while looking at the Chinese architecture peeking out from the lush green surroundings- so peaceful. Luckily for me, Susanne and Michelle enjoyed the paddling and I got to sit back and relax.... ahhhh, it ended far too soon but there was more we had to see, so off we went.

We grabbed the first taxi we saw outside the Palace. Note- read the Lonely Planet section on taxis before jumping in to them. This cab was tinted through and through with the exception of the front window and tiny sections of the drivers and passengers windows up front to allow access to the mirrors- great we thought, at least it will be cool in there. The ride started fine, we pointed to Olympic Park on the map and saw him start the meter, 10Y, the usual starting price. We were enjoying our air conditioned drive, weaving in and out of traffic, passing on the inside, passing on a solid yellow line with oncoming traffic a 100m away, listening to the blaring of horns we've become attuned to- business like usual here, when I happened to look down at the meter- 178Y!!! What in the world- it costs no more than 50Y to get anywhere in the city... it only cost us 100Y for the hour drive from the airport and we've only been driving for maybe 20mins! The cabbie must have noticed the hint of anxiety in my voice when I told the girls in the backseat as he pointed to a little tag hanging from his rear view mirror, he was a VIP cab. Apparently these are altogether different than normal cabs, although you wouldn't necessarily notice the difference aside from the color of the car but there are lots of different companies to choose from and none of them look alike. Needless to say we were pleased to see the Birds Nest a short distance down the road and motioned for the taxi to pull over. Luckily we had brought a little extra cash with us to pay for our VIP ride- that's us "Very Important People!" We learned our lesson though, yellow and green cabs from here on out!

Being the sports enthusiasts that we are, our stop at Olympic Park was a given and despite the cab ride, we were in no way disappointed. Wow, it's hard to explain what it felt like to be standing in front of the infamous National Stadium, the "Birds Nest" as it's more popularly known from the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. We bought an entrance ticket for 50Y (about $6) and walked towards the towering metal structure; it quite simply dwarfed us. Walking in to the stadium was surreal, they were showing moments from the opening and closing ceremonies and loud inspirational music filled our ears- it was like that feel-good scene from the movie Rudy where he plays for Notre Dame in front of thousands of fans; when he fulfills his lifelong dream of playing football in a ND jersey. I can only imagine what it must have felt like to compete in such a incredible atmosphere- I just wanted to jump the rails and run on to field- crazy! We took some pictures and sat in awe for a few moments, taking it all in. We gradually got up and made our way back outside and towards the famous Aqua Dome where they held the swimming and diving events in 2008. You will most likely remember it as the building the appeared to be covered in giant color-changing bubbles. It was the middle of the afternoon so the lights weren't on but it was still pretty neat to see the structure up close. Beijing's Olympic Park, although not overwhelming with tourists, was a refreshing sight considering that Susanne and I had visited the almost deserted and run down Olympic Park in Greece last year. Beijing still uses the stadium to host big soccer games as well as swimming events at the Aqua Dome. We can only hope that Vancouver follows suit and continues to use it's facilities- it seems like such a huge waste not to considering all of the time and money that went in to building them. The public should get the benefit of utilizing them long after the Olympics have passed; they are after all, state of the art. Time will tell, I guess. Off to hike the Great Wall tomorrow!