Days 6 and 7: Mao, Roast Duck, and Pandas

Day 6 was filled with visits to Beijing's most famous tourist sights. I started my morning at the Temple of Heaven. This is where the Chinese emporers came to pray to the gods for a good seasons harvest.  I walked through the parks northbound towards my next stop, Tiananmen Square, but first I wanted to stop and get lunch.  A few city blocks away was a hutong, which are small residential areas being preserved by government (most of them) where Li Qun famous roast duck is located. I first heard about this place through Anthony Bourdain and his show No Reservations. I love roast duck and I didn't care what the price, so naturally I did what I needed to do.

Eventually after a few minutes of searching, around a corner in a small alcove and a mini garden courtyard where tables were located. Im assuming this place sees its fair share of foreigners as the menu was in chinese as well as English, French, and German.  They bring the whole roasted duck out for you to see before they chop it up for you. The plate of duck and its crispy skin is accompanied by sliced cucumbers, onions, and a delicious plum sauce that all gets thrown together and eaten out of a little tortilla like roll. Yes, I ate a whole duck (or at least the parts they served me). And yes I spent what amounted to about $40 on lunch. But I didnt care, the duck was highly enjoyable.

Tiananmen square is gigantic. Its by all calculations the biggest city square the world. Right smack in the middle of it is the Memorial Mausoleum to Mao Zedong, the famous Chairman who opened up China to the rest of the world. Inside is his embalmed body on display for visitors to see, but is only open for 4 hours each day. The memorial was closed by the time I reached it.

Tiananmen Square is also bookended by The Great Hall of the People and the China National Museum; two enormous buildings displaying commie architectural styles at their finest.

On the northern side of the square is the renownes Forbidden City. It houses the former residences of Emporers and features gorgeous temples and grans gates, along with smaller temples to the side and grand staircases for all. I lingered for about two hours exploring.

Above the Forbidden city is a hilly park with amazing sweeping views of Beijing. Behai park, which houses the winter palace sitw beside with an impressive lake and even more temples. By this time it was around 4:30 and I walked a few city streets past government buildings back to the hostel. I had booked through them tickets to see the Beijing Opera. The Opera itself was hysterical, a case of unintentional comedic relief at its finest. The place was built for tourists, and it wasnt an entire show but moreso 4 'select/famous' scenes. The plots were basic and easy to understand, but some of the Chinese to English translation were beyond misinterpreted I imagine. Case in point "How dare you scold me as my son is pissing!" What does that even mean!? The costumes were pretty neat, music as well and I'd probably go see a legitimate show if I ever had the chance again.

Friday I got a late start to the day (waiting for laundry to get done as I had run out of underwear) and didn't heas out until about 11. My first order of the day was Beijing zoo,which was a bit underwhelming as some animals and facilities didn't look like they were tended to properly. The panda exhibit however is the crown jewel of the zoo, and the 3 pandas on display seemed to be happily munching away on some sticks of bamboo.

A few stops on the subway to the northwest was the Summer Palace and Kunming Lake. I started on the opposite side of the hill from the lake and climbed to the top and was treated with some very scenic views of the large lake, mountains, and a pagoda and a few bridges off in distance. I descended the hill and made my way south along the bank until I hit another subway station and back to hostel I went. The family that runs the hostel were making homeade dumplings and a few of us pitched in to help for the hostel dinner. After dinner led to more talking amongst the hostelgoers and I met some pretty cool people. We shared stories and talked until close to 11 when we all called it a night.

Bullet Train and Olympic Village...Day 5

I had booked the 7:15am high speed train from Hangzhou to Beijing before I left just to avoid any misunderstandings at the train station. It took approximately 6 hour and 20 minutes to go just under 1500 kilometers. It would have taken a good 5 hours if it didn't make about eight stops along the way as it was averaging speeds of about 306km/h, almost 200 mph for those not familiar with the metric system.

Hopped on the subway for 6 stops one in Beijing and walked another ten minutes through narrow Hutong (small traditional villages being 'mostly' preserved in Beijing's city center) until I found my hostel: the Chinese Box Courtyard. It consisted of two open courtyards with multiple rooms surrounding them...pretty neat. I unpacked my things and headed off to check out the Olympic Park from when Beijing hosted the 2008 games. The birds nest, water cube, all pretty impressive, but no underutilized as the city tries to find use of the two sports arenas.

I got back to the hostel around 7ish just in time for a homecooked Chinese family dinner! The hostel is run by what appears to be parts of an extended family, and they laid out a spread of 6 different dishes to try. Chicken, chinesr cabbage and mushrooms, sweet potato fritters, a scrambed egg and tomato dish, carrots, etc. Everything was delicious and I got to meet (briefly) some of the other people staying in hostel. A group of Brazialians headed off to North Korea (!?), and Belgian couple, and a solo traveler from Italy. We all sat around for a while after the meal discussing anything and everything before calling it a night.

Hangzhou and West Lake... China Day 4

Woke up around 8 to SUN which I was ecstatic about because weather.com said it was going to pour all day.

I took a quick walk to the famous West Lake without even showering to make sure I at least got some pictures of it with the weather being decent. I Mosied about for about an hour grabbed breakfast, showered, and I was ready to start my day.

The hostel I was staying at was on the east side of lake very close to the geographic center. Where it was located is called Hefang pedestrian area, which had a lot of cool little shops and booths selling this and that. It was about a 15 minute walk to the actuall lakeside, and let me just tell you the lake area and the parks that surround it are beyong gorgeous. Landscaped manicured lawns, differnt types of flora and fauna, wide paved paths, etc. There was a slight breeze blowing so it made the walk that much more.enjoyable. At the south end od the lake I passed Leifing pagoda, past hourdes of Chinese tour groups in their yellow, purple, and red matching hats. Chinese domestic travel has only increasingly started to take off within the last decade, and from what I've been told group touring is their go-to option when exploring there own country. I myself am in favor of a more, individual approach to travel (duh). 

Arriving to the southwest part of lake brings about two manmade causeways the cross the lake and segment it into smaller parts. I skipped that stroll as I was heading away from the lake, up Longjing road,  past the China tea museum and tea plantations through a valley filled with various self run tea houses, up a hill to Longjing Tea village. This is where the most famous tea in China.is produced, called Dragon Well Tea. The right climate, mountainous location, blah blah blah all play a part in giving it its natural sweet flavor and crisp green hue.

As I had been walking for a few hours now, I decided on lunch in village. I picked the only house in the village (that I saw) that didnt have a tout outside asking if you wanted tea, as I saw a few people dining on.the outdoor patio. I was taken into the kitchen (right off the patio) to hand pick what I wanted to eat. This is awesome, but unfortunately it was a.bit dark to see exaxtly what everything was and I obviously couldnt ask the guy what they were, so I did the best I could. I picked what appeared green beans, some type of root vegetable, a cabbage looking item, and the only think I could blatantly make out what it was, roasted goose. I sat at the table, drank some of the famous green tea (which was very very good) and.anxiously waited for what was to come. What arrived were delicious sauteed "mystery root veggie" in a soy marinade, what turned out to be green beans but spicy chili peppers that still managed to look like green beans even after cooking!, what looked and tasted like sauteed onions with chili flakes but I'm not sure that'd actually what it was, and the most disappointing one of the four, cold goose. I was given a bowl of rice and dug in. I also decided it would be a good idea to pop pepto because somehow I knew id pay for it later. Ill spare the details, but when push came to shove and I had to decide between a SQUAT TOILET and a handicapped stall, I hoped that there wasnt a chinese man in a wheelchair in as dire need as I was at that moment. Also an fyi if you ever travel in eastern countries: always bring along a pack of kleenex, you'll never know when they mighy come in handy...

I finished my walk by heading back down the hill to the west side of thr lake, up the long north side which had excellent views of the cityscape, back down the east side past a water fountain show and back to hostel by 530. It started raining (pouring!) at 6. SCORE!

Stinky Tofu...more than just stinky breath! Day Numero Tres

Its been a recurring theme this trip. I fell asleep at 7pm and woke up at 1 am. Stayed awake for a few hours to plan my day out and finally fell back to sleep around 430, but only until 6. Headed off around 7, grabbed a dumpling from corner lady, and caught what was apparently rush hour traffic on metro to the Qibao old town in southwestern part of town.

I arrived through an arched gate just as shops were beginning to open. Wandered around a bit along the river, over some small bridges, and through some alleys. I sampled braised pig Trotters, red bean sweet cake, stinky tofu with fermented tofu sauce and Chili, and a sweet sesame dumpling in basically warm water. The bean cake was my favorite.
Visited a cricket museum (yea, and i paid $5 to do it!). Crickets were on display and showcases with various traps and cricket instruments were there as well. I was unimpressed.

I had to check out of my hostel by noon, so I headed back, stored my bags, and spent the remainder of the afternoon walking around in rain on the Nanjing Pedestrian street attempting to find a shot glass (I collect them everywhere I go). Apparently, every souvenir store in the entire effing city of Shanghai do not sell them?! I was told by three different people, "oh shot glass? Only in Beijing. You want tea set? Or massage?" God dammit.

My train left Shanghai's Hongqiao high speed train station at 6pm. And here I thought the Hauptbahnhof in Berlin was impressive!  This building was MASSIVE: and by massive I mean its the largest train station IN THE WORLD. A model for any future train stations to be built, both in china and abroad. It really was just part of the Hongqiao transportation hub, which also includes Hongqiao airport and the intersection of at least 3 major Chinese interstates.

The ride itself was.uneventful, as it was dark out, but the train reached speeds of over 300 km/h.  It was only a 50 minute ride, and I cabbed it from the station to my new hostel and managed to stay awake until at least 10. I think ill finally be on a normal sleep schedule again!

Tomorrow its supposed to thunderstorm, but here's hoping it doesn't as it will be my only day to.explore the famous West Lake of Hangzhou!

Day 2: Clouds, but still a great day!

Mystery meat on a stick = pepto bismal chewables! That's how my night went after not being able to fall asleep until 3:30am.

I awoke around 7:30 and decided to go to the same dumpling lady on the corner as the day before and actually bought one. Actually, I bought two. As I was walking back to the hostel eating the first, it was so effing good I turned right back around and got the 2nd one. And for 25¢ each, you can't beat that. The lady laughed when I asked for another and she held up two fingers jokingly saying I should get two more instead of just one. I find the Chinese to be very warm, outgoing, and playfully friendly when I act like a helpless tourist, which is a nice change of pace compared to the mean babushkas of Eastern Europe.

After mapping out my day, I headed off in the direction of the Jade Buddha Temple. The same metro security lady who helped me with my ticket yesterday was there again and smiled and waved at me! I'm such a celebrity! There were many beggars on road to temple and I was in a less "refined" part of town but still very nice

Inside temple a man who appeared to work there ushered me upstairs to the "Buddha" which wasn't actually the Buddha I wanted to see but a smaller one leading into a gift shop. If I have one problem with Chinese traditional/ancient sites is that they over modernize everything and put a gift store in every nook and cranie they can. The jade Buddhas were impressive, both cut from single rocks: one in the upright meditation pose and the other lounging on its side.

After, i rode the metro to the Pudang  new area to see the towers. I had 3 to pick from and I read online that Jin Mao was the cheapest at 50y vs. 150 for the other two. What did we learn? Don't trust the Internet. It was 120y to go up. The Ritz Carlton Hotel lobby is 30+ story's high and doesnt start until the 50th floor or so, and at the top you could look down onto it. The skyline is impressive but it being a cloudy day it shrouded the view of Puxi side of river.

Hoppee back across the river to the Xiantindi district where the site of the creation of Chinese communist party is located: in French concession area. Lovely neighborhoods and I imagine the museum has just a bit of its fair share of propaganda in it.  Walked over past Shanghai museum (decided to skip) and instead went to the Shanghai Exhibit of Urban Planning and Development. Not regretting it one bit. Absolutely awesome. On the third floor was a full scale 1:1500 model of Shanghai with all current buildings and future projects mapped on it. It had displays about all green building and urban renewal projects the city os undertaking. A lot of the stuff they are doing really does make Shanghai feel like a city of the future! There were also sections on the new deepwater port 15 miles offshore and Pudong Airport's future expansion.

I decided to call it a day and headed back to the hostel, stopping on the way to try some more street food. Fortunately, no incidents like I had the first night!

First 24 hours

Woke up this morning at around 6:30. I had only slept for about 4 hours,  but I felt surprisingly refreshed and not jet lagged at all. Sleeping on the plane rides probably helped a bit.

To be honest, it took me a while to work up the nerve to actually go out and start exploring. I wanted to find someplace to grab breakfast, preferably xiao long bao (soup filled dumplings), so I walked to the end of the alley and to my surprise a lady was selling exactly that right on the corner. But for whatever reason, I was too nervous to go up and buy one.  I returned back to the hostel and sat down for 15 minutes to gather myself, and then headed back out. This time, I headed the opposite direction towards the subway line that would take me to the center of the city, People's Square.

It was about a 10 minute walk to the station, and my hunger was paramount at this point. I passed a small bakery type place that was selling the famous Shanghai sesame bread, so I grabbed one on the go. Silly me grabbed the one right in the front, so parts were a bit crispy, but overall pretty tasty. I bought a ticket at the metro as their machines had an english option but once I did I had no idea how to use it. There were two lady security guards at the entrance and they happily helped me through,  giggling the entire time.

The weather today was about 70, sunny, and just downright gorgeous. I checked out People's square, East Nanjing road pedestrian shopping street, The Bund and the Pudong Skyline (nicest skyline I've ever seen), Yuyuan gardens (best preserved in the city of traditional chinese style), the City God Temple, and some alleys of the old tradional Shanghai.

All the was before 3pm, when I got.back to my hostel to take a quick nap and rest my feet, which turned into me sleeping until 830. Whoops! I went back to the bund to see the skyline at night and found some decent street food for dinner.

All in all an excellent first day.

Getting there..

First let me start off by saying that 21 hours of flying time is no fun. Factor in the two hours I was at JFK before my flight, my three hour layover in Dubai, and the extra hour and a half of disembarking the plane and taking a taxi into the center of Shanghai, I traveled a good 27-28 hours straight. Add into that crossing twelve time zones and having a "express" version of nighttime and a shortened version of day time and the fact that its early Saturday morning but its really Friday afternoon to my brain and I am all kinds of effed up right now.

The flights were uneventful, if anything. Flew over the north African coast and Saudi Arabia on the first flight and Pakistan and India on the second. The Indonesian Robotics Team made a celebrity guest appearance on the JFK to Dubai leg, so you know that held my attention for about 20 minutes. I mean, its not every day you run into the I.R.T!

Plane food was decent, although I'm positive they put some type of anti laxative in the stuff. Lets just say I have had a few "difficulties" with a certain bodily function in the last 24 hours.

Upon arrival I'm China, both the metro and the buses were no longer running so my only option was to take a taxi.  Collecting my bags and clearing customs was suprisingly a piece of cake, cosidering I AM in China, and I followed the signs for.the taxi queue.  Right at the entrance to the queue was a well dressed gentlemen who appeared to me as someone who was going to translate the address for the cabbies. I handed him the paper with directions to the hostel, he said it was a flat fee of 350Y (~$55) to the center at night (a bit steep I thought, but reasonable considering I was informed during the day it would cost between 225Y and 250Y).

This is when it got a bit strange. He led me not towards the queue, but away from it, through a small stairwell into a parking garage where it looked like I was going to take a small shared hotel shuttle. We walked right past the shuttles. Further into the parking garage we.arrived at two UNMARKED 'cabs', my bag was promptly tossed in thr trunk, and they asked for payment up front.  Having become hesitant, I refused to pay until I arrived at the destination. Surpringly, the taut was okay with that. The driver spoke no english and I sat quietly in the rear seat as we sped along an elevated highway into downtown. At this point, I was less worried about me being taken somewhere I didn't want to go and moreso if the guy could find the damn place.

We eventually did, but I learned quite a bit about Chinese driving during that hour long ride:
1) it is not uncommon for a car to come to a complete stop in the middle of a five lane highway, busy intersection, or highly trafficked street. I saw this happen maybe a half dozen times, most on the highway.
2) whenever a car passes another, its common practice to flash your highbeams at the car a good 3 or 4 times. Ya know, just in case they aren't paying attention to their mirrors.
3) the governent has radar speed detectors set up maybe every 5 miles on the highway. This leads to high speeding between checks, and breaking last minute to go through one as to not get a ticket. And they would get a ticket: they take a picture of your car as you pass under.

All in all I'm happy to be laying in a bed. My body is telling me that its not bedtime, but I know better. Going to try and get adjusted to the time difference real quick and head to bed. Tomorrow is a full day of sightseeing!

The plight of flying for bigger people

Planes are not for tall people. I was hoping for an empty middle seat but looks like a packed plane ride. Shucks

Bye bye

Flight 1: JFK - Dubai approx 13 hours.

China Itinerary

Originally, I was attempting to plan a trip to Southeast Asia, Vietnam specifically. 

Flight JFK-Dubai-Shanghai

Train from Shanghai-Hangzhou

Bullet Train from Hangzhou-Beijing

Flight Beijing-Dubai-JFK