Chinese planes, trains & automobiles

Today we arrived home from our whirl-wind trip in China. I say this because it absolutely flew by! We arrived in Beijing on Thursday at 4:00ish and had to fly out at 8:30 am Monday morning (we didn't have a choice in terms of flight times...I guess that is why we got a deal). Even though we were gone for a short time, we did so much and had an amazing time! I'll have to apologize in advance as this entry may be a bit choppy....there is so much I want to say and am way too tired to sit down and figure out how to write this in an orderly fashion :)

So where do I begin? We arrived at the airport and made our way to the shuttle bus to go to our hostel. The airport in Beijing was by far the busiest airport we have been in during our travels...sooooo many people!!! We made it on to the bus just in time and made our way into the city. The ride was INSANE!!!

Back home people often make reference as to how Asian people do not know how to drive. Well, it isn't they don't know how to drive...it is how they drive in their home country. No signals...swerving in between lanes....cutting people off and an insane amount of horns honking etc. It wasn't just our driver either. Throughout our whole trip we realized that that is how everyone drives! Now I know why they don't allow tourists to drive in the city! If we were able to....we'd probably get into an accident within the first 10 minutes. So I don't think it's a matter of them not knowing what they are doing...when they drive in Canada they are completely out of their element just as we would be if we were to drive in their country!

Oh ya....not only do they drive anywhere and however they want...add bikes, scooters, tuk tuks AND pedestrians to the equation!!!! It was wild....I am surprised we didn't see any accidents...we only saw one and it was a minor fender bender. They do know what they are doing though. Once we were in a taxi and I was so tense and at one point I thought we were going to get side swiped hard. I guess I let out a little "Ahhhh" as the cabbie gestured "No problem" with a big smile!

Ok....so once the shuttle dropped us off at the bus terminal we caught a city bus to the hostel. This only took about 5 minutes or so. That was long enough as the bus was jam packed, hot, and the driver was having a jolly ol' time slamming on the brakes every moment he could. I shouldn't be too harsh though as being a bus driver in Beijing cannot be fun. Holy road rage!!!! Oh ya again.....we didn't really know how to pay....so at our stop we just got off as there wasn't anywhere to pay. Not that we saw anyway. Later on in the trip we realized that one person sits on the bus and collects your money and gives you a ticket. I guess he/she didn't see us because the bus was so packed. Either that or he/she didn't know to ask us to pay in English?!?!?!?!

Once we arrived at our stop we proceeded to look for our hostel. It was then we realized how many people were staring at us. I thought it was my crocs because I noticed people looking at my feet first, then my face, then my shoes again. They did the same thing to Jamie. At first I was really self-conscious wondering if I was doing anything taboo, but then I got used to it. We are used to being stared at here in Japan all the time, but the difference is here people look away once they realize you notice them staring OR they smile. In China there was none of that...just long, hard stares absolutely everywhere we went. It was interesting for us!!

After walking for about 20 minutes we finally found our hostel which was located in a Hutong district...otherwise known as the poor part of town. It was a little bit hard to find because the streets in these areas are abundant and narrow.

When we checked in and dropped off our bags it was about 7pm. We decided to catch a cab to the famous Silk Market. It is well known for its Chinese brand name (a.k.a - fake) goods. We had been advised to never pay what the seller was asking...and to start off as low as one tenth of their first price. It was really similar to Thailand...only here they weren't ashamed to grab your hand and not let you go until you would buy something. It was quite amusing actually and fun for us. But on the other side of the coin it was saddening to see how desperate people were to sell things and the look of sadness on their face once you told them you weren't interested. At one point Jamie and I were looking at jackets. I tried on this one jacket, but because the quality wasn't the best...I said I didn't think it would work out. The girl insisted on getting me a different size/style/color...you name it. I tried to be as kind as I could and I felt so bad turning it down. I proceeded to walk away and she was still clinging on to me with this look of desperation on her face. The more steps I took out of the store...the lower her price would go. By the time I was on the escalator she was offering me 50 yuan which is about $8. I thought she was going to cry.

We only spent maybe 30 minutes in the market because it closed at 9pm. They turned all the lights off at exactly that time, so we got the hint. We walked around some of the side streets and found this restaurant that was pretty packed. We thought that was a good sign, so we went in to get some dinner. There were many interesting things on the menu, but we stuck to chicken and rice and beer! It was the BEST spicy chicken with green peppers we have EVER had! So good and so cheap! Yummy! After that we caught a cab back to the hostel because we knew we had an early morning ahead of us. After 3 tries we finally found a cabbie who knew where our hostel was. Again...because of the numerous small side streets....even with a map and address it is difficult to know exactly where it is.

The next morning we were up bright and early. We wanted to get in as much sight-seeing as we could in Beijing because we knew the next few days were write-offs. We caught the bus to the Summer Palace which is located about 1 hour away from where we were staying. This time the bus wasn't as busy, but the drive to the palace was still nerve-racking!!! This palace is dominated by "Longevity Hill" and is surrounded by water. The grounds are massive and include many gardens, symbolic gates and classical architectural structures. It was built by Emperor Qian Long in 1715 to celebrate his mother's birthday. In 1860 it was burned down by the Anglo - French, but was rebuilt in in 1886. It again came under attack in 1890 and was rebuilt again in 1902. In 1924 it was formerly opened as a park and in 1998 was inscribed as a World Heritage site.

We were short on time so we weren't able to check out all of the grounds, so we made our way up Longevity Hill to The Tower of Buddhist Incense. We could've gone higher, but we were short on time. Plus it was an extremely high/steep climb and I didn't want to take any risks with my back and be out for the Great Wall. I would've died if that happened!!!

About 90 minutes later we caught the bus again and made our way to Tianamen Square and the Forbidden City. Tianamen Square is located in the heart of Beijing and is located directly north of the Forbidden City. This is the largest open-urban square in the world and it known for hosting many key events in Chinese history...including a protest in 1989 that as a result killed thousands of people. The only thing erecting from the flat ground is a 38m high Monument to the People's Heroes. The pictures may not do the real thing justice, but once you are in the square and look around...you feel completely miniature.

From the square we walked across the street to the Forbidden City. This was the Chinese Imperial Palace from the beginning of the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qin Dynasty. Construction began in 1406 and lasted 14 years. The complex consists of 800 buildings with 8,886 rooms and covers 720,000 square metres. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987 and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world.

After our time there we took a bus back to our hostel as we had to catch a 7pm over-night train to the city of Xi'an. Before we arrived in Beijing we knew we wanted to go to Xi'an to check out the Terracotta Warriors. Many sites had advised people to purchase their tickets a few days in advance, so we emailed the hostel asking them to help us out. They told us that it shouldn't be a problem and that we could book our tickets once we arrived in Beijing. We decided to do this, however it proved to be a bit more difficult then the email stated. When we arrived we asked the girl to book us some tickets, but she said there was only sitting room available as everything was booked. We were a bit disappointed as we assumed from the email that it wouldn't be a problem getting tickets. We figured that it wouldn't be possible to sit on a wooden bench for 12 hours so figured it wasn't going to happen. We think the girl named May sensed our disappointment because she offered to make some phone calls to see what she could do for us. Eventually we were told that she found us 2 hard-sleeper tickets...1 on the middle bunk and 1 on the top bunk. While she got us tickets to Xi'an she said she still had to see what she could do in terms of getting us something for the ride back. We didn't want to risk getting stuck in Xi'an because our time in China was so limited and we didn't want to end up missing our flight. Later on we found out again that she was able to score us some return tickets. The price for the tickets included commission for all of her hard-work, but we didn't mind at all....we were thankful!

We got on the train at 7:00ish and since Jamie nor I had been on a sleeper train before we had no idea what to expect. As you can see from the photos we were in extremely tight quarters. It was alright though because it was an overnight train so the majority of the time would be spent sleeping. For the first couple of hours we sat looking out the window and got to see the rural side of China. We saw horses pulling carts of fruit down the street, a man walking his goats, people working in the rice fields until the sun finally went down. It was really nice to see another side of the country.

We arrived in Xi'an at 7:30 the next morning and caught a bus to the site of the Terracotta Warriors. This ride lasted about 1 hour. We were glad we arrived in the morning because it was pretty quiet. We bought our ticket and walked for about 20 minutes to the pits where the statues are located. For those of you who have never heard of the Terracotta Warriors, I will give you a bit of history:

The Terracotta Warriors and horses is a collection of 8099 life-size statues located near the Mausoleum of the first Qin Emperor. Construction of this mausoleum began in 246 BC and is believed to have taken 700,000 workers and craftsmen 38 years to complete. Qin Shi Huangdi was interred inside the tomb complex upon his death in 210 BC. The Terracotta Army was buried with the Emperor in 210-209 BC. Their purpose was to help rule another empire with Shi Huangdi in the afterlife. Consequently, they are also sometimes referred to as "Qin's Armies".

The terracotta figures were manufactured both in workshops by government laborers and also by local craftsmen. It is believed they were made in much the same way that terracotta drainage pipes were manufactured at the time. This would make it a factory line style of production, with specific parts manufactured and assembled after being fired as opposed to crafting one solid piece of terracotta and subsequently firing it. After completion, the terracotta figures were placed in the pits outlined above in precise military formation according to rank and duty.

There is evidence of a large fire that burned the wooden structures once housing the Terracotta Army. The fire was described by Sima Qian, who described them as the consequences of General Xiang Yu, who raided the tomb less than five years after the death of the First Emperor, as that the effects of General Xiang’s army included looting of the tomb and structures holding the Terracotta Army, as well as setting fire to the necropolis and starting a blaze that lasted for three months. Despite this fire, however, much of the remains of the Terracotta Army still survive in various stages of preservation, surrounded by remnants of the burnt wooden structures.

The Terracotta Army was discovered in March 1974 by local farmers drilling a water well to the east of Mount Lishan. The State Council authorized to build a museum on site in 1975. When completed, people from far and near came to visit. Xian and the Museum of Qin Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses have become landmarks on all travelers' itinerary. In 1987 UNESCO listed it as a World Heritage Site.

The museum covers an area of 16,300 square meters, divided into three sections: No. 1 Pit, No. 2 Pit, and No. 3 Pit respectively. They were tagged in the order of their discoveries. No. 1 Pit is the largest, first opened to the public on China's National Day, 1979. There are columns of soldiers at the front, followed by war chariots at the back. No. 2 Pit, found in 1976, is 20 meters northeast of No. 1 Pit. It contained over a thousand warriors and 90 chariots of wood. It was unveiled to the public in 1994. Archaeologists came upon No. 3 Pit also in 1976, 25 meters northwest of No. 1 Pit. It looked like to be the command center of the armed forces. It went on display in 1989, with 68 warriors, a war chariot and four horses.

We spent a good 4 hours walking around the pits. We had seen pictures of the statues before, but to see them up close was pretty incredible! When we were finished we headed back into town and wondered around a bit until it was time to take the train back to Beijing. The train on the way back was a different style. The bunks were higher and there wasn't a ladder to climb up...only 2 small folding steps located at the foot of the 2 bunks below. Jamie and I were on the top bunk, so we spent as much time as we could down below because once we were up...we were up. The people sharing our area if you will couldn't speak English, but were happy to share some of their food with us. One lady gave us a triangle of sticky rice wrapped in bamboo. Inside the rice were very bitter/sour prunes. Not the best thing we have ever eaten, but we were polite and ate it. Next some other ladies gave us some jerky of some sort. It wasn't beef...who knows! maybe rooster or duck or I don't know. I didn't care too much for it, but Jamie thought it was good. At about 9pm we headed up to our bunk to read before they turned the lights out at 10pm. Each space has a TV. The train to Xi'an had one as well, but we were able to control the volume. The train ride home didn't have a way to control the volume, so we had this blaring sound to fall asleep to and little did we know it would also be our wake-up call at 5am!!!! It was then that we both woke up and I proceeded to sing "Happy 30th Birthday" to Jamie...then we fell back asleep.

We arrived in the city at about 7:30am and caught a cab back to the hostel to shower, change and have Jamie open his birthday gifts. We called a guy we had met at the Forbidden City who was giving out his business cards offering us a car and a driver for the day. We called his service and decided to get a car to take us to a part of the Great Wall. We got to the hostel at about 8:30ish and had the driver pick us up at 9:30. The Wall has 4 parts to it that people can go to. The closest part is called Badaling and it is the busiest part of the Wall as it is the closest to Beijing. We decided to go to the part called Mutianyu. I couldn't believe I was actually on my way to see the Great Wall. This had been something I'd wanted to see since I was a teenager and for me to absorb the fact that I was actually on my way to it was so surreal!

It took us about 2 hours to get to the Mutianyu. The driver dropped us off at the bottom of the parking lot and we walked our way up to the ticket booth. If you want you can walk up to the Wall and then walk on it OR you can take a cable car up and walk around it. We opted for the latter. On our way up Jamie was looking to the right and I was looking to the left. He said to me "There it is" and I looked and thought "Wow...I am actually here about to walk on the Great Wall of China." I cannot really describe the feeling I had. To be able to do something you have always dreamed of doing is so amazing. Unless you have had this experience yourself you will know what I mean..otherwise it is indescribable.

We walked for about 2 hours along the wall. We went down and up and down and up some crazy steep and uneven steps. It was a hot day, but not as hot as I thought it might be. Unfortunately it was a hazy day as well, but at least it didn't rain considering it is rainy season right now. We stopped to take in the breath-taking sites and also stopped once so Jamie could open up another birthday gift. Not a bad way to spend your 30th birthday, eh!?!

Instead of taking the cable car down we took a toboggan down. It was on a steel luge track and it was FUN!!! Too bad there were some oldies in front of us because they ended up slowing things down by braking too much. I can understand that though because if you don't use the brake very often you FLY and it can get a little scary at times if you aren't a fan of flying around sharp banked corners.

After that we made our way down the parking lot where our driver was waiting for us. On the way down, the street was lined with vendors selling their goods...so of course we were stopped every second. Poor Jamie...I left him for a few minutes to go to the washroom and during that time he was mauled by the female vendors. Oops!!!

From there we asked our driver to drive us back to the Silk Market. Since we didn't have enough time there the first night we wanted to go back and check it out some more. More good times and bargaining!

It was already dinner time, so I decided to treat Jamie to Pizza Hut. Yes....we were in China and we ate at Pizza Hut!! Back in Canada this place was one of Jamie's favorites. Pizza isn't popular here in Japan, but if you want it you can get it but it will cost you a pretty penny. Since he hadn't had it in 10 months I thought it would be a nice outing! Ha ha ha! It was pretty good...not quite the same as back home, but good. Also, the decor of the restaurant was pretty up-scale. It felt like we were in Earl's on Robson street or something!

Afterwards we headed back to the hostel and had a couple of beers on the patio. It ended up being an early night because we were bushed from being on the go non-stop for the past few days. We also had an early flight and had to be up at 5am the next morning.

So that was our trip in China. Yes it did go by quickly, but we saw some of the most amazing things. The title of this entry it fitting because during our time in Beijing and Xi'an we took all forms of transportation -- a shuttle bus, city buses, taxis, a private driver, the subway AND a sleeper train. We did it all EXCEPT rent a scooter or bike. We didn't have enough guts to do that!

All in all we had a great time. Beijing is a very interesting city. It is huge and with all the traveling we did, we still aren't sure where downtown is OR how many city cores they have?!?! The city itself appears quite poor, yet at the same time they have the most extravegant looking hotels and shopping malls etc. I am not too sure if this is in preparation for next years Olympics, but it seems like there theory about newer buildings is "Go big or go home". In all the places we have ever visited we have been able to differentiate between upper, middle and lower classes, but in Beijing it was pretty hard. On one hand you have these beautiful buildings and cars, yet people appear to be working from dusk till dawn and the majority of the houses and apartments we saw look like they are about to collapse at any given moment. I am hoping that the Olympics will do wonders for the city and its people for years to come.

I would definitely recommend this as a place to visit if you can! If you spent a week there you would have a blast! Just some things to keep in mind if you ever decided to go: 1) Bring your own TP where-ever you go 2) People don't spit as much as you think they may 3) People will try and scam you of your yuan.....be on your game and don't be afraid to say "Bo shi" - NO 4) People don't line up, so don't feel bad to push your way to the front 5) Have fun shopping! 6) Take it all in...China has so much history behind it..it's incredible!

So that's it. The end of this trip was kind of bitter-sweet. We had an unbelievable time, but know that our travels have come to a hault for the time being. What an amazing year we have had with all the things we have seen and done. I wonder how long this travel bug will stay in us once we get home?!?!