30 DAYS IN ASIA - DAYS 5-7

REMINDER: IF YOU ARE READING CHRONOLOGICALLY, YOU HAVE TO READ THE POSTS FROM THE LAST PAGES FIRST. 

Disclaimer: Read at your own discretion. I will make no excuses for writing in my own voice and point of view.

Previous Entry: 30-days-in-asia-introduction

DAYS 5-7

Everytime I go to Beijing, I have this song in the back of my mind. In many ways, it exemplifies the Chinese attitude very well. That is:
- They try hard to impress you when you are a foreigner, or an honored guest.
- They don't give a crap about you if you are local, or a nobody.

Of course there are exceptions to what I just wrote...but in general, I believe it's true. So here's a tip for all you foreign born Asian looking people. Speak English. LOL
Or at least drop bits of English when you are talking to your friends. Yes, it'll give away that you are a tourist, but at the same time, it protects you from the abuse the locals give one another. Just don't do it too much when shopping or they'll give you foreigner price.

There is another side to this of course...after being polite to you, they'll gossip about you and say/think that you're 'sad'* for not being able to speak Chinese even though you look like one. But if you have a thick skin, who cares right? If you don't...well, probably should develop one.
*can sometimes also be translated as 'pathetic'.

Back to Beijing. Beijing is actually quite a nice place to visit if you haven't been there before. But since I've been there twice before, including spending a whole week just there, I decided to just get ready for the mission instead of being a tourist.

But here are a few things in Beijing you should see if you are there for the first time (Pics from my previous trips).

Above: Outside the Forbidden City (Gu Gong). My hotel was nearby, just off the perimeter walls.

Above: Inside the Forbidden City. 

Above: Great Wall (less well trodden path)

Above: Great Wall, another section.

Above: The Temple of Heaven

Above: The Summer Palace

I actually made a mistake when I made my plans to go to the designated hotel. I looked at the hotel directions and on google maps and decided that I could just walk the distance once I got off the subway.

That was truly stupid.

Mistake 1: Taking the subway to a hotel NEAR the Forbidden City stops (to be exact: Tiananmen stops). Beijing Subway Trains heading there are packed, packed, packed. During rush hour, you may not even be able to get on period...especially if you have luggage. It's truly quite intimidating even for a big guy like myself who uses his Jedi powers (or is it Sith) to clear the crowds. I felt violated, crushed and suffocated, and that's not a good experience.

Mistake 2: From the subway to the hotel took me over 30 minutes! That's because I got lost, and nobody knew where the hotel was. The below picture is what I had to wander through...frequently just on a prayer!

In this area, there are what you call 'Hutongs'. Hutongs are basically leftover enclaves or teeny neighborhoods of old school living. The buildings are heritage style, and the street names are so confusing that even the cops directed me to the wrong alleys.

Mistake 3: Letting your cell phone battery die! It died cos I was using the subway and ground maps too much...leaving me in serious trouble.

But after pushing my heavy luggages through the alleys, praying and asking at least 6-7 people for directions, I finally found the hotel/hostel with my shirt drenched with sweat, and my hair all puffy from stress.

To give you an idea of how flustered I was at that point (and I haven't been this flustered on a trip for many years), when I got to the glass door, I couldn't figure out how to open it!!
I tried to press the metal plate, then I tried to pull it apart, but it didn't budge, and then finally I saw a young guy in a suit sitting there looking at me and I waved for him to help me.
Then he looked at me like I was stupid (seriously I can't blame him), and made a pushing motion.

Yes, so I just pushed the door and it swung opened.

I laughed and the guy laughed at me, and I just said 'xie xie' and then looked on the ground as I rolled my luggage past him. Luckily I never saw him again. 
(Note: There were no protruding handles on the door but that's not an excuse really.)

Above: Hotel lobby and my room. 

Above: View from my room.

For some reason, my hostel room was super stinky, like someone didn't flush (there was nothing in the toilet...I checked). I suspected it was the vents. When I came back to stay on the final day of the mission, I was given another room, and that was fine. So I guess I was just unfortunate on that day.

After failing to get a room change (it was fully booked), I opened the windows and then just went out to my old shopping haunt (10 mins walk away) and walked around.

Photos: Wang Fu Jing Shopping area. I was there in the day, but these were night shots taken on another day.

Above: Wang Fu Jing white people sighting.

Above: West side thug life...lol. Displayed prominently inside a mall in Wang Fu Jing.

Beijing is one of those half modern, half ancient cities. And if you wanted to, you could completely immerse yourself in one of the halves and not interact with the other side.

So I went to meet a friend who lives in the modern half.

I call the above picture 'The Great Squish'.
I was waiting at the Tiananmen subway to go meet my friend in another part of Beijing, but it was so packed, packed, packed that 2 trains went by without me being able to get on. 
By the time the 3rd train came, the people behind me were so impatient that they PUSHED me into the train, ignoring the cries of the people trying to get out of the train!!

So basically I could see and hear these girls screaming,"I want to get off! I want to get off!" (in Chinese), and I was like physically blocking them off from the train exit because I had been shoved inside by the people behind me the instant the doors opened. I shrugged helplessly as I was carried by the wave into the back of the train.
Then the doors closed and nobody succeeded in getting off!

I took the picture for commemoration. Is this what a mosh pit feels like?

So this is what the modern part of Beijing looks like. My friend and I took a cab to a Japanese place and ate there. I was so hungry I forgot to take pictures of our food there.
But it was a great meal. Thanks for bring me there King.

But I did remember to take some pictures of other foods. 

Above: Ajisen ramen in Wang Fu Jing. Was okay with it until they wanted to charge me for a paper napkin to wipe my mouth. WHAT????

Below: After I met my mission teammates the 2nd day I was in Beijing, we went out to eat. And we had a really good dinner!

That was really yummy!

I'll just finish off this part with a couple of stories.
- I was walking along an alley one morning to a convenience store to buy water when I noticed an old lady from the hutong staring at me. She stared at me without looking away for a long time, as I kept approaching her. I didn't look away, but I said 'Zhao An' (good morning) as I got close. And then she looked so shocked and stammered a greeting back. I don't know what that was about. Could it be that they are not used to people saying hi?

- The weak flushing toilet in my hostel room plugged up twice. Apparently you're not supposed to put ANY paper in there. Not even the single ply toilet paper that they provide. I was informed later that you should wipe and throw it into the bin next to the toilet, but I was like...WUT??????

Yeah well, you didn't need to know about the toilet, but I just wanted to share.

Next up: The Mission Begins