China Adventures!: Beijing!

Is this a dream or did I really just go to Beijing?!? This weekend was a 4-day weekend because of the tomb-sweeping holiday (Chinese Memorial Day) so our whole group went to Beijing to see all that it had to offer. We took an 11-hour sleeper train, which was an adventure in and of its self. The train was made up of several walled off sections along the length of the hallway. In each section was 6 beds, 3 on each wall stacked on top of each other. We spend the extra money to all get the bottom bunk, which was SO nice. At 10:30pm they turned off all the lights and everyone went to sleep. For a sleeper train, I was surprised how well I slept. The next morning we woke up around 7 and then only had to wait around for 2 hours until we arrived in Beijing. Sleeper trains is the way to go for long distances.

Once every once in a while an Asian would come sit on our beds.

This trip was all about experiencing Beijing and touring all of its famous sights so of course we had to start with Peking Duck! It’s usually very expensive because Beijing is known for it but we found a little place that was less expensive and closer by our hostel. The chairs were couches, the tables were buffet length and the ceiling was covered with kites. It was a super cute place! We ordered 4 Peking Ducks to share amongst the 12 of us girls but long story shorts the lady thought we had only ordered 3 so three of us girls that had waited for our duck didn’t get to eat. We were getting faint and shakey from not eating since the night before so we hurried to the closest street vendor and bought some kind of egg and mystery meat wrap for super cheap. Thank goodness for reliable street food!

I didn't get a picture of the actual Peking Duck but here is our appetizer: fried duck skin. Not too bad tasting surprisingly.

Next we made our way to the 2008 Olympics buildings: The Bird’s Nest and The Water Cube. We didn’t get to go inside The Bird’s Nest but it looked incredible from the outside. They had booths set up along the sidewalks like at the fair that were selling all sorts of knickknacks and cheap souvenirs. We were able to go inside The Water Cube and look around there for a while. They still have all of the warm-up pools available for use but the actually competing pool has been turned into a massive water park for little kids. It was pretty neat, actually, I could have stood in the exact same place as Michael Phelps!

Outside the Water Cube

The practice pool inside the Water Cube

The Olympic Bird's Nest where all the track and field competitions took place.

Last we took the scariest taxi ride of my life to the Acrobatics Show! Holy smokes, China knows how to entertain. That was so much fun! Photos weren’t allowed, unfortunately, but they were doing some fancy stuff. I was actually more impressed with this one because every once in a while they would accidentally mess up so you knew they were doing their performances all by skill instead of by optical illusion or hidden tricks. I have been hoping for an authentic cultural experience and this just hit the spot.

The beginning curtain for the amazing Acrobatics show.

The next day was our major touring day. Our tour guide picked us up at 7:30 and we headed off to the Temple of Heaven, Forbidden City (where the last scene in Mulan is made after), a pearl market, a tea ceremony, and the Summer Palace. After that we went to The Pearl Market for some shopping and intense bartering and then back to our hostel.

Outside of the Temple of Heaven

Inside the Temple of Heaven

I finally found a lady doing Tai Chi outside the Temple of Heaven

This guy would dip his stick in a little cup of water and write Chinese with water outside of the Temple of Heaven

Sometimes we like to have picture wars with the Chinese. At big touristy places they like to gather in front of us and take pictures and we take pictures of all of them taking pictures of us!

The Forbidden City (which isn't so forbidden anymore because there is no reining emperor).

In the middle of our tour they fed us the most delicious lunch! It consisted of Orange chicken (which actually isn't common here), corn peas and carrots, seaweed and egg, baked potato strips, fried fish, cooked greens, cubed chicken in veggies, fried breaded chicken strips and rice.

The Summer Palace! The man-made reservoir was made for the emperor to cool down on warm summer days. The palace in this picture was burnt down by enemies and then was refurbished so it actually cost extra to get in so we didn't see inside but outside was actually gorgeous with this HUGE 17 arches bridge.

The last day in Beijing was The Great Wall! It was a 2 hour bus ride there. Let me insert a little tidbit about China driving right here: if there are 2 lanes on the highway, then the Chinese turn it in to 5 lanes. We were in a smaller bus and it was literally weaving in between cars and squeezing through the smallest of spaces. At one point when traffic was at a stand-still the driver got frustrated, went off the road, and went flying down a “do not enter” street. Holy Hannah if the air here doesn’t kill me then the drivers will! Ok back to the great wall: then a 10 minute walk followed by a cable car ride all the way up to the Mutianyu section of the wall, hiking up tons of treacherous steps (which I think would be terrible for the soldiers running around on it), so many pictures, and a toboggan ride back down. Never in my life did I think I would have climbed The Great Wall… but I did it! I really wish I had brushed up on my Chinese history before coming here because all of these incredible places that I got to see would have so much more significance and meaning to me. Still, though, it was all incredible and amazing! I have been so blessed to be able to come on this trip and experience and see all that I have seen. I love China!