Best stop in China, by far.
I’m currently typing this in Word as I wait at the Tokyo Station en route to Utsunomiya. Just “finished up” (can you ever really?) at Kyoto which was a really nice city. As cliché as it sounds, I simply must go back there at one point or another. Yeah, that’s right, I’m writing about China when I’m already in Japan. Got a problem with that? Anyways, this post is about BEIJING and not Japan just yet.
Beijing was like a breeze of fresh air compared to Shanghai. There is no comparison! I was actually shocked arriving into Beijing and seeing clear blue skies. Where was all this smog I keep hearing about? Anyways, I eventually made my way to the hostel (it was down a rather shady alley) and unloaded there. I had to get my Japan Rail Pass so I decided to save some money and take a stroll to the office which I thought was about 6-7 blocks away. I later found out that Beijing has the biggest city blocks ever.
Anyways, after successfully getting the rail pass, I checked out the Forbidden City, starting with the north entrance (it was the one closest to the hostel). I guess I shouldn’t be surprised when I see that the emperors here were living in some ridiculous luxury. I thought Versailles was pimped (in terms of area and building sizes… not pomp and treasures, at least from the outside)! It was pretty funny because you would walk up and down the steps for buildings, and coming out the next size you would see another building which was even bigger and more grand than the previous one. This probably repeated itself about 3-4 times.
Tian’anmen Square was next and that’s probably the least welcoming and friendly square I’ve seen. Your bags need to go through x-ray machines, and there is more security there than in some airports (and apparently there are some plain-clothes policemen lurking)… not exactly the square you would go out to visit for a family picnic or to toss the frisbee around. Anyways, it was pretty interesting to see in person after hearing all about it in History class. Unfortunately my camera battery died shortly after taking a few photos so I figured I’d come back later to see it more thoroughly (that never happened).
After resting up, I decided to go out for dinner somewhere… partially because no one else in the hostel was eating there and it just seemed like they didn’t serve food (which they did). There was a street called Nanluogoxiang that had a few places to eat found in LP so I thought I’d wander around there. What a pleasant surprise that place was! Turns out it was just a small walking street, full of tiny cafes, bars, restaurants and shops. They were so small one bar was actually called “12 mm^2 bar”. I really enjoyed the atmosphere, and you could tell this is where the young, hip crowd (along with the expats) liked to hang out. I walked around a bit, did some window shopping and ended up running into a Kiwi couple who I also happened to run into in Chengdu and Xi’an. Who would’ve thought it’d be possible have unplanned encounters with the same people three times in the most populated country in the world? After a nice dinner at a Tibetan café, we called it a night rather early because we were all going to the Great Wall bright and early the next day…
Woke up the next morning bright and early at 5:50 AM. Walking outside I noticed some cloud cover so I figured this was the typical weather I kept hearing about (wrong). I was embarking on the 10 km hike from the Jiamanting to Simatai sections of the Great Wall. Skip ahead about 3.5 hours and 140 km outside of Beijing later, and we’ve arrived… where the skies are as blue as can be.
To save some time and energy, we elected to take the cable car up… and the higher it went, the more breathtaking the view of the Wall became. In fact, not until I had started hiking could I really appreciate the beauty, wonder and magnificence of the Great Wall. I wasn’t really expecting much from it, and to be honest, I had probably signed up for it more out of obligation than pure desire. As cliché and typical as it sounds (funny how most cliché things are actually true), the Great Wall was the thing I most enjoyed about China. Seriously, combined with the fantastic weather which allowed you see the Wall for miles and miles away, words couldn’t do what I saw that day justice. Plus, I don’t think I have a strong enough vocabulary. I don’t think I’ve been in that much awe since Kilimanjaro and the sunrise on the Serengeti.
Just to be clear, it absolutely completely DOES matter which section of the Great Wall you do. Badaling is the one most commonly seen in photos, is closest to Beijing, and it’s where most tourists flock. The section opened up after that was opened up afterwards, and is supposed to be pretty cool and with fewer tourists. However, unless you’re really adverse to hiking and steep slopes, I would highly highly recommend doing the Jiamanting-Simatai route for the following reasons: (1) It is the least crowded section by far due to its distance and well, as I said… steep sections. I would even be pretty scared to do some of those areas if it was raining. Oh yeah, it takes most people 4 hours to hike the 10 km. As a result, fewer people = better photos and more time to stare in awe; (2) Most of this section is unrestored, and quite frankly look like those ancient ruins (which they are)… but there is a certain authenticity about it that makes you further appreciate it. In fact, I actually walked through the restored parts kind of quickly because I thought it made the Wall look a lot duller than the original sections.
Ok, enough gushing. So yeah, the sun was out, the walk was awesome, and it was pretty challenging too, which I’d say adds the fun element to it. Got pretty tired near the end especially because of the incredibly steep/large/long flight of stairs. To finish off a nice 3.5 hours of hiking, they had a zip line which you could take down for an extra 40 RMB. I figured since I’m here, why wouldn’t I? Swallowed a bit of anxiety and went for it! “Don’t worry, it’s pretty good; only 1 in 3 die on the line,” joked a guy in front of me. A great day was capped off with a solid 30 seconds on the line as you whiz over the river and see a gorgeous view of that valley.
(Lunch… etc… long bus ride home… etc)
I was pretty exhausted by the time I got back to the hostel but I knew this was my last evening in Beijing. I told my body to stop complaining and took a taxi to snap a few shots of the Water Cube and Birds Nest. It was nightfall by this time, so they were both lit up beautifully in their own way. I walked past the Birds Nest first, and it had some subtle red and orange lighting in between the seemingly random cross-hatches. The construction workers must’ve been thinking “wtf” the whole time they were laboring over that thing. Kind of shame it just sits there now. I hear they’re turning it into an “entertainment/shopping complex” which is a real pity. Next door was the Water Cube which was lit up brightly in a sort of aqua-navy blue if that makes any sense. Nevertheless, it was a cool shade of blue, and I spent some time trying to play with my camera to truly capture the blue. I don’t think I did get it right in the end, but close enough… I really need to learn how to use that White Balance properly.
Finished off my last time in Beijing with a nice stroll in the squares nearby. Of course, given China’s seemingly love affair with massive slabs of concrete, that’s pretty much what they were… but it was still a pleasant walk and a nice way to end Beijing for me.
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