Jack's Trip to China
September 2004
Copyright © Jack Gregory, 2004
To play the Beijing Biking song click here (you gotta have high speed, or a lot of patience)
DAY 1.... I THINK...
Well, here I sit in some bar (I think). I got into Beijing ok, Air Canada was its usually pathetic self. The guy next to me snored soooo loud all the way I decided to get an operation to prevent that when I get home. At least my snores are nice and calming......not a combination of tractor noise and deep hawking loogies. I digress.
Godspeed Wu met me at the hotel and we had to move because the hotel was full. We moved to one near this lake that the receptionist can't find on the map, even though I kept pointing at it. A nice lake with little bars and restaurants around it. All kinds of people walking around the lake on a Saturday night. Near as I can figure there are more bicycles in these 5 square blocks than there are in all of Calgary.
(This is the view along the lake outside the hotel in Beijing)
I used my best Chinese to order an iping pijoe and the waiter asked me whether I wanted a Coors or a Corona, I think he speaks better English than I do. I'm going to finish the beer then go back to my hotel room to pass out, I forgot what traveling for better part of 20 hours can take out of you! The clock in this computer says I've been up for 24 hours.
Day 2
I got up this morning and sat near the lake and listened to the neighborhood wake up. Its different than back home, people get up, go for a little walk etc. Some people yell in their courtyards, Godspeed says they do that to get the bad air out of their lungs.
(See that little motorcycle thingy on the right, that's a one person taxi)
I put my bike together this morning and took it for a ride around 2 lakes in central Beijing, they are aptly called the big lake and the small lake. On both sides of the lakes are the Hutongs. Hutongs are the older style houses in central Beijing. To us they look like narrow little alleyways with slum like dwellings.
(A view of the Hutong area from above....actually from the Drum Tower)
To the people that live and work there, I think they are more like home and a good investment. The Hutongs are rapidly being bought up (at a profit for the homeowner I assume) and either turned into big buildings or 8 lane expressways.
In the afternoon, I took a taxi over to what I thought was the zoo, at least that is what I showed the taxi driver. He took me to the subway near the zoo and after much walking around I finally figured out that he had got me as close as he cared to get me and I should walk the last kilometer by myself...so I did. I stopped on the way for lunch and had a huge beer, which of course, being a Gregory, led me to another discussion with the waitress on how to say where is the bathroom. I'm getting pretty good at drawing things to get what I want. I may take up a career as either an artist or a draftsperson when I get back.
I finally made it to the zoo and had a nice time. It took me 3 taxis to get back to the hotel because the taxi drivers here don't have to know where anything is, you're supposed to. The hotel gave me a card with its name and a little map on it, but the taxi drivers either don't know what a map is or don't know how to read, or don't know either.
When I finally made it back to the hotel, I walked about a kilometer down the lake and toured the home of Son Quingling, the wife of Dr. Sun yatsam, the guy that is credited with starting the cultural revolution.... except he was out of the country when it happened and was apparently as surprised as anyone else. Son came from a well to do family and saw a good thing when he happened, so she married him and brought him back to China to a hero's welcome. Co-incidentally, her sister married the guy who took over Taiwan I think.... those girls kinda got around and had a bit of a plan me thinks! Anyway, he died 10 years into the marriage and the Chinese government kept her around and trotted her out whenever foreign dignitaries came to town. The residence is kind of moth eaten and has some really weird pictures of her life, and death in it. The grounds are beautiful, quiet and probably a good example of what you get in the neighborhood if you have a million dollars.
( Home of Son Quingling, the wife of Dr. Sun yatsam)
Day 3
The day started with Godspeed going to get David Flaxer, the other rider. David works for IBM, but doesn't know my brother or brother in law…guess you guys aren't that famous. When we got all settled and "biked up", we went for a ride around Tiananmen square and parked our bikes for a short walk to the Forbidden city.
(Forbidden City on the right, a huge bike lane in front of us!)
First we had lunch, it has become plain to me that this particular army will be traveling on its stomach. The beauty of having someone with you that knows the language and culture is obviously going to be several fold. Firstly, he knows what to order, lunch was great. My first night all I could get was some kind of fried cabbage and spaghetti.
(David finds an air conditioner)
(Here's me in the Forbidden City)
Lunch followed with a couple of hours going through the Forbidden City. I don't know if there is a word for larger than huge, but there should be. There are over 800 buildings in the place and it is so large that there is a group (large group) of people who continually restore the buildings in a 10-year loop. The main entrance way has three very large buildings half way into the compound for what were, I guess, official functions. The first was the "greeting building" (it seems like all the buildings are called heavenly something, if your looking for a precise and accurate travel guide, you've come to the wrong place). This was the place the Emperor met and intimidated dignitaries, visitors and anyone else he felt like. The second building, just behind it, looks like the first, but smaller and is where he practiced his speeches to give in the first one! Behind that is the "lunchroom? each of these is separated by courtyards, the first one could hold up to 100,000 people for the Emperor to intimidate and generally impress.. These 3 buildings take up the first half.... get an idea of the size yet? The most depressing thing is a Starbucks right in the middle of the whole thing! After a couple of hours walking around there, we rode our bikes back to the hotel.
(One of the courtyards in the Forbidden City)
(Godspeed pointing out the Starbucks in the middle of the Forbidden City)
( I think this is the Emperor's private little garden, now full of tourists)
(From right to left, David, Godspeed and I in front of Forbidden City, Tianimin behind us)
After we got back to the hotel, we showered then took a taxi to a famous duck restaurant. If you've never tried Peeking duck, this has got to be the place! It was great; they say if the guy cutting up the duck is really good, he can get 108 little pieces out of it.... we lost count. I am proud to report that we demolished duck number 115,019,938 since they opened up the restaurant (they gave us a certificate to prove it).
(At the Duck Restaruaunt)
After the duck restaurant, we went to an excellent Peeking opera at a teahouse. The first two acts were great, I missed the 3rd while I was trying to figure out the proper way to use a squat toilet.... there's a skill I never thought I would need after I left Indonesia in 1985.... don't ask.
( The heroine, perfect face, Godspeed says they look like hell without the makeup though)
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