Beijing Visit

We just came back from a short trip to Beijing, a nice ending to the summer vacation. Even the weather was kind to us, sunny a lot of the time, and the pollution not too bad.

Restaurant in Beijing inside the Old Home of Some Ex-Royalty from the Qing Dynasty

Upon arrival, my cousin took us to a special restaurant that is set inside the former home of some Qing Dynasty royalty (the brother of the founding emperor of Qing). There are many different rooms and houses, and some tables are set outside in the gardens as well. It is very neat. All the servers are dressed in Qing costumes and greet people in the Qing way, as if everyone of us were royalty. It was funny. We had a nice meal, including some special palace-style dim-sum with cakes made from different beans. Sweet but not overly so.

The Great Wall

The next morning, we went to The Great Wall at Badaling, which is the most developed section of the Great Wall. I visited another site before when I was in Beijing for business with some of my colleagues, so it was nice for me to see a different section. The Great Wall was definitely the highlight of our trip! It was quite tiring at times to climb some portion of the wall, especially with the crowd and the sun, but the view was completely worth it. I thought it would be boring for kids to just climb and walk, but everyone found it very interesting, just thinking about how it was all built, and imagining the lives of those soldiers patrolling the Great Wall. At the end, we decided it was too much to walk back and took the cable car down instead. It was a nice ride inside the cable car, though short.

After the Great Wall, we had lunch and went to the Summer Palace. It was nice to see some of the palaces and the lake, but my favorite part was probably walking around the lake. It felt very relaxed and peaceful. The next day, we went to visit the Forbidden City. The palaces are all very grand, but we felt sad that the whole place did not seem to be very well looked after. The palace rooms are not opened to the public, and you can only view it from the outside, either through the windows or through the doors. However, you can see layers of dust on the floor, on the furniture, and things just seem to be in a deteriorating state. There are many gift shops and small eateries here just like everywhere else, but with the old buildings and fast-food restaurants, it’s rather incongruous.

Fast Food Restaurant inside the Summer Palace

Summer Palace

Palaces inside the Forbidden City

We all agreed that when we come to Beijing again, we would like to visit other sections of the Great Wall, but not palaces.

 

Electronic Age

We are packing for our short trip to Beijing tomorrow. Sammy has been pretty excited. She creates this song herself, and has been singing it for at least over an hour, “I am going to Beijing tomorrow. It’s going to be fun. It’s an adventure. There is going to be so much joy…” It is so nice to be a kid!

When it comes to packing the electronics that we are going to take with us for just a 4-day trip, we pack the following:

• 2 MacBooks Air
• 1 iPad Mini
• 1 Kindle
• 2 iPhones
• 1 Digital Camera
• Various power chargers for these electronics

To make the computer bag a little lighter, I am leaving the old Apple iPad at home, as well as the little iPod Shuffle. It is pretty ridiculous when you see the number of devices and cords. Gary has said many times, that when he retires, he will have no TVs, no computers, no telephones. To get in touch with him, people can either write him letters (on paper, and sent via the post office), or just drop by and knock on his door. I am not sure how realistic is that. He can’t live without watching footballs, and he’s been watching the matches online! Whether we want it or not, so much of what we do everyday involves electronic devices. It is all the more important to remember that we are human beings, social beings, and not forget to have some real, physical human interactions!

Beijing Trip

I made a trip to Beijing recently for business.

Flight to Beijing
I flew from the Guangzhou airport to Beijing. For travels within China, the Baiyun Airport in Guangzhou is a better choice from Zhongshan to avoid all the Immigration paperwork etc. I took an airport bus that was not too far from where I lived for ￥75 (~$12) one-way and it took a little less than 2 hours to get to the airport. Not too bad. For international flights, I still prefer Hong Kong. It’s much easier to go to the port and then just take the ferry directly to the Hong Kong airport.

Beijing Impressions
This was the third time I was in Beijing and I got to see a little more of this city, thanks to my cousin. I had never met my cousin before (actually, according to Chinese hierarchy, I am actually her “aunt” as her mom is my cousin, and she’s quite a few years older than me – way too complicated), but I knew of her. Anyway, she was very nice, booked my hotel, picked me up from the airport, took me to restaurants for the two nights I was there. We chatted quite a bit like we knew each other all these years. Gary thinks maybe that kind of relationships would only happen in China, where the family is such a strong bond.

Soho Area in Beijing

I was really lucky with the weather. Beijing was hot and sunny, and with very little pollution. I could actually see the blue sky, the white clouds, and the sun! Beijing in this weather was quite charming, some old buildings mixed with a lot more of the new skyscrapers. There were cars and people everywhere.  At night time, the whole city was alive with people taking strolls, hanging out in the various parks and plazas.

Bar Street
My cousin took me to the famous “Bar Street” in Beijing. It’s an area where a lot of the older building have been converted to bars, restaurants and boutique stores, all situated around a lake. There are also many vendors selling Beijing traditional snacks and arts and crafts. When I was there, there were many people walking about, flying kites, and singing karaokes. It was rather amusing to see these people singing on the street, forcing other people to listen to their songs. The whole area was very much alive!

Beijing Transportation
I was not planning to be adventurous and was just going to take the taxi everywhere. Indeed, I did take the taxi a few times and the prices were quite reasonable. For a 20-minute ride, it would cost about ￥30 (~$5) or so, not bad. I was also entertained by this ad when I was taking one of the taxis.

 

However, at one time, it was really difficult to get a taxi. I tried to flag down a taxi on a busy street and I must have tried that for 20 minutes and still no luck. Since I was right next to a metro station, I decided to give the subway a try. My time spent in Paris riding the subway has prepared me well for the Beijing subway system! For ￥2 (~$0.30), you can get from point A to point B anywhere within Beijing! I was told that the transportation was subsidized by the government and hence, the low prices.The subway system is quite similar to that of Paris. It is efficient and clean, with a lot of people! If you don’t like to be crowded, then avoid the subway.

Once I got out of the subway station, I was having some trouble finding my final destination and it seemed rather a long walk. Since I saw these lining the street, I hopped into one of these.

My destination was only about 1km away, but the lady charged me ￥10 ($1.60) for the short trip. This was probably the most expensive in terms of value, but at this point, I did not care and it was a neat experience. These little things just zipped around the streets, taking the sidewalks etc. and avoided a lot of the traffic.

Beijing Restaurants

Of course, no visit to Beijing could be complete without food, and without tasting the famous Beijing (Peking) Duck! The first night I was there, my cousin took me to Da Dong Restaurant for their Peking Duck. She told me that the quality of the traditional (most famous) Quanjude Restaurant has gone downhill over the years and now only tourist groups go there. Last time I was in Beijing, we went to Quanjude and my recollection was that the food was okay, not great. My cousin ordered a bunch dishes for me to try. They were all very yummy. Besides the duck, some of the little cakes were my favorites.

Ducks Roasting in Da Dong Ovens

Various Little Cakes Made with Different Bean Pastes and Sweet Rice

Sweet and Sour Paste Made with White and Purple Yams

Pickled Radish

Fried Parsnip

Fresh Lychees in Season

Chilled Persimmon Puree with Ginger Sugar

The second night, my cousin took me a family style dumpling restaurant. It was not exactly  Beijing style, but rather Northern style (Shandong). We had some dumplings, steam and pan friend, as well as some cold dishes and some pork, all very yummy.

My cousin told me that May and June were one of the best times to visit Beijing, and the other good month was October. I considered myself lucky to be in Beijing this time and not running into the air pollution like I did in Shanghai. I can see the charms of big cities like Beijing, especially on a good day with nice weather and no pollution. However, I think I still prefer the small-city feel of Zhongshan, with its slower pace of life. Sadly, skyscrapers are springing up everywhere in this little city, just like anywhere else in China. These concrete jungles make one city look like another, and places everywhere are losing their unique charms. I hope there is still some left for my hometown.