Beijing Diaries, Day 5 and 6: The End of a Wonderful Journey

At Mutianyu, once you come back by cable car to the base you have to walk about 100 meters to get to the parking area. This small pathway is very much like the pavements in Pettah for both sides of it are covered by small stalls where they sell everything from replicas of Great Wall to pictures of Mao to I Climbed The Great Wall T-shirts. I know better than to show even the faintest interest at this kind of a place for a brief glance is enough for them to flock around you, so I was just walking steadily ignoring their pleads for me to buy 'original' replicas of Great Wall and the like. However, though those T-shirts looked pretty cheap the words printed on them tempted me so I just paused in front of one stall and the woman in there practically dragged me inside. This is the conversation that followed.

"Sir, this is very good t-shirt, buy one."

"How much?"

"Original price is 285. But I discount price only for you. 230 sir!"

Now, 230 RMB is about 3500 Yen, 5000 LKR or more than US$ 40. That's way too much for a cheap-ass T-shirts and I instantly realized (though not unexpected) that she's trying to rip me off. I just laughed and took a couple of steps.

"Okay okay sir, hundred!"

If you are a Sri Lankan, or from around South Asia in general, you know what's about to follow, right? I thought I'd have some fun.

"Hundred? Hmm... nope, still too much."

"Fifty then!"

"Nope"

I took a few more steps, and the woman in the next stall calls me.

"Sir come here, it's 20!"

The way things were going I wondered, if I persisted a little more, whether they'll give me the T-shirt for free and maybe some money along with it too. Now that would be me ripping them off, which I didn't fancy, so I left saving them some money. A couple or so minutes later I arrived at the parking are and was faced with the next problem; now I needed to find a ride back to the bus stand so I could take a bus back to Beijing. There were no taxis to be found and most of the vehicles around were either private vehicles or large buses where tourist groups arrived in. Finally I found a guy who was willing to take me back, and the same conversation took place when I and the French couple tried to hire a van to the Mutianyu. But this time, probably because he knew that I was at the mercy of him, he was not willing to bring down the price so easily. We started at 75, I was trying to get it down to 25 at least, but he was not willing to go below 50. There was also the added condition that I would have to wait till he found enough people to fill his van. We were going nowhere - figuratively as well as literally - with this when I heard a loud "Sach!" from behind. Wondering who the hell from around here knows me, I turned back.

It was Homar and Mili, in a car, waving at me fanatically.

I needed no second invitation so I jumped in leaving the dude I was bargaining with to curse at the new driver, the French couple, me and probably our mothers too. Our driver Cheng (or Chzeng? I'm not sure, it sounded like that) with whom we struck a conversation later was only too happy to take all three of us back for 25 RMB each which was a very good price. Especially considering it looked like I was going to have to pay 50 while not knowing when we will leave even. Rest of the trip was much more uneventful as we soon caught a bus back to Beijing and slept most of the way. Finally upon returning to Beijing we said our final goodbyes again before parting. They were such a nice couple and I must say they have brilliant timing.

After that I returned to The Den again, my new home away from home if you will, for a cool beer and a plate of noodles while contemplating what to do with the final night of my stay in Beijing. I was very tired by then so a hot shower and the bed back in my hotel room seemed so inviting and irresistible. The only place I couldn't visit so far was The Bird's Nest and I admit that I even thought it's a damn stadium for god's sake, what's so good about it for a moment. But then again I might not go back there ever again so why leave something to be regretted like that. How am I going to tell my grandchildren that I was in Beijing but skipped seeing probably the biggest stadium in the world because I was tired? No, I was not going to let them mock at me like that so I plucked up all my strength, found a taxi and headed for The Bird's Nest.

Even from a distance you could see how big the stadium was. It wasn't just big, it was huge. I mean HUGE huge, not just huge. So much so that it was a little intimidating if truth be told. It wasn't just about the size though. Stadiums like the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff or MCG in Melbourne are probably equally big if not bigger, but this was so impressive in that it wasn't only a stadium but a work of art as well. There still was daylight when I arrived there so I circled the stadium (which took about an hour) to find a good spot to take a few pictures. I found one which reminded me so much of Galle Face for this was also crowded with families, lovers and just random people who had come there to spend a nice evening. The picture was complete with kids running around playing, flying kites and the like, a lot of street vendors selling all kinds of stuff (no scorpions though) and the general leisurely feeling in the air. A quick inquiry from a guy nearby revealed that they do indeed light up the stadium when it's dark just as I had wished so I settled myself into a corner and started people watching again. Just watching the world go by in front of you while doing nothing is such an obsessive activity (or lack thereof) sometimes that you don't realize how quickly the time pass. Before I knew it about thirty of forty minutes had passed and it was starting to get dark.

Then they lit up the stadium.

Thank god I had decided to come, was my first thought. It was such a spectacular sight that I'm sure I was transfixed for a few minutes. That there, my friends, was a sight I will never forget for the rest of my life. The stadium may have been intimidating during day time but it was absolutely charming at night. It has three main lit up tiers which glow in bright red and yellow. I feel that words are failing me again here - I could use all the words like stunning, breathtaking, brilliant and awe-inspiring but I'm sure they still wouldn't do the justice - so perhaps you should check out these pictures I've taken. It might give you some idea, but just so you know, in reality it was hundred times better a sight. With the general happy and relaxed air around it was a place to be. I would have killed myself if I didn't go though there's no way I could know that this is not a sight to miss until I see it with my own eyes in which case I am there rendering null the need to kill myself. That last sentence didn't probably make any sense but after I started writing it, it looked so cool I got carried away. But I digress. The gist of the matter is that if you're ever in Beijing, DON'T miss this. And make sure you go there when it's dark.

After being amazed at the sight for a while I started my usual routine; setup the tripod and camera then click, click, click. Then I walked some more circling the stadium again to take more pictures from different angles. While doing that I saw there was a very cute and young couple of girls, surely not more than fifteen or sixteen, keenly watching me. We exchanged smiles before me asking whether I could take a photo of them and they were all too happy to pose for me. After a couple of photos I said a quick thank you and started to turn back when one one of the girls said, "how can we get it?" I asked for an email address and noted it down before leaving them thanking again. I mailed them the pics later that night. That was about it for the day so I headed towards the street and spent several unsuccessful minutes trying to find a taxi because several taxis went past me without stopping. I must say that this is a very common scenario in Beijing for so many taxis go passing ignoring their potential customers which doesn't make sense at all. Luckily there was a young Chinese couple next to me watching this and seeing that nobody would stop they offered me the taxi they managed to stop which was a very nice gesture. I asked them whether they're heading the same way I was going (though I had no idea which way I was going) but since it wasn't the case we said goodbye and I arrived at the hotel about half an hour later.

My return trip back home the next day was totally uneventful, except perhaps for the gorgeous evening sky I saw out of the window. I had my breakfast that morning, packed up (thank god I travel light) and paid my bill at the counter which took very little time. The hotel staff was not exceedingly friendly but they were efficient alright which was all I needed. I soon found a taxi and headed for the airport. Since had I arrived a little too early I tried to connect to airport WiFi but thought they said 'Free WiFi', none of them really worked. So I put aside the iPad and turned to my oh so favorite hobby which you must be familiar with by now if you've read the recent few posts. Also airports being places where you see all kinds of people this was just the perfect place for people watching, so I must say I had a good hour there. Cappuccino was really good too despite being ridiculously expensive. Afterwards I got on the plane (Like George Carlin says, why is it 'on' the plane, not 'in' the plane? You don't get 'on' a car do you?) and watched the remainder of Rio which I couldn't watch on my flight to Beijing. Then, as I said earlier, I got to see the most amazing evening sky I've ever seen plus some lightning in distant clouds in a purple sky. That was a sight to remember much like this whole trip was.

All in all it was a trip well worth the every penny (or should I say every yen?) spent especially considering I got to go see The Great Wall of China which was one of my 'dream destinations' if you will. I always loved traveling and this, not surprisingly, made me love it even more. There are so many other places in the world that I want to see and I think I will go see them as much as possible heeding the golden advice Wijitha - a blogger that I admire so much - once gave me:

"Sach, travel the world as much as you can; you'll be poor with rich stories to tell."

Beijing Diaries, Day 5: To the Great Wall for a One Last Time

After a satisfactory fourth day in Beijing, I had seen most of what I wanted to see except for the Ancient Observatory and Bird's Nest. On the fifth day I was hoping to visit the former first thing in the morning and the latter in the evening with the hope that they would light up the thing. So I had a several hours of free time in between and a few choices as well. I could either go see 798 Art District which was supposedly very impressive, just walk the streets getting a taste of the lives of locals, stay at the hotel relaxing or go see The Great Wall again, hopefully a different place this time. Finally I decided on the last option for a) I was so inspired by it I didn't mind a second look, b) I wasn't really satisfied with the pictures I took there the first time I went and c) though I love art I was sure there was no Michelangelo stuff. Since I had visited Badaling already, this time I wanted to go to Mutianyu but was faced with the problem of how to get there. A quick inquiry from the front desk revealed that it would cost me around 700 RMB for a taxi to and from the Mutianyu Great Wall. It wasn't a huge amount per se, but a considerable amount nonetheless. So I turned to ever so faithful Google - though it was google.jp as they've blocked the .com site over there (yeah, makes sense) - that I visited for real. It told me that I could take a bus so to make sure I called Lynda and she e-mailed me the details on how to get there. I needed to take a bus to a town close to the Great Wall and then either take a taxi or hire a car. The bus fare - I'm not kidding - was 11 RMB and a taxi or a car would cost about another 25, so it's about 70 to and from there, one tenth of what a taxi would cost. I didn't need any convincing.

But first I grabbed a taxi and headed for the ever so elusive Ancient Observatory which I so wanted to see. No it wasn't avoiding me as such, but the circumstances prevented me from seeing it so far. The ride was only a few minutes and upon arriving there I got off the taxi to face, for the first time in Beijing, a deserted entrance to a tourist attraction. I was not sure even if it was open, but a quick inspection revealed that it was though nobody had bothered coming there. Maybe, no, surely, not everyone is an astronomy fanatic like I am. I bought a ticket and entered to find an amazing and unexpected sight. It was an oasis at the heart of Beijing, masked from all the noise and chaos. The place was very quiet and with a bunch of trees inside, very cool and beautiful. I could stay there for hours I didn't have other plans. There were so many ancient astronomy related instruments with lots of descriptions and I spent a good hour or so there chilling. And taking pictures of course.

Once I had seen all that was there to see I proceeded to the next step. Which is to find the central bus station where I was supposed to take a but to the hills. Another few minutes' taxi ride later I was there and quickly found the correct bus with the help of a information counter lady. However I had to fend off a couple of guys who offered 'cheap' rides up there, and believe me getting rid of these people is not easy. Finally I bought a ticket and was seated inside the bus which was pretty comfortable. Unfortunately an oldish looking couple sat next to me who wanted to talk to me despite them not speaking a word of English and me not speaking a word of Chinese. It must have been hilarious to see for others though I didn't exactly feel that way at the moment. Finally I just shrugged and turned away to listen to my iPod and they got the message so they left me alone for the rest of the trip which was a little more than an hour. Towards the end of the ride I saw there was a young foreign couple sitting a few seats away from me and we exchanged one of those "phew, glad to see another alien here" nods and proceeded to talk. Turned out that they were a French couple - Homar and Mili - who were living in Vietnam and travelling around in China for their summer vacation.

Upon arriving at our destination we got off the bus and were immediately approached by a couple of locals who again offered us 'cheap' rides to the wall. Cheap ride being 50 bucks each. But I as well as the French couple had done our homework and we knew it shouldn't cost any more than 25 so we said no thanks and headed away from them. Just as I expected one guy started following us, nagging us to go with them saying there were no taxis. And we quickly realized that unlike in the central Beijing it is indeed hard to find a taxi there. But we still feigned disinterest and got down to bargaining.

"Sir, no taxi here. I take you fifty, fifty, fifty", said the dude pointing at each of us.

"No, fifty's too much. Way too much."

"Okay, give me forty."

"No"

"Okay sir you tell me price"

"Fifteen" we said, though I felt a little bit of guilt even.

"Noooooo sir no fifteen. I give you thirty. Best price."

A little more bargaining later we managed to get it down to 20 each, and if we persisted a little more we could probably have taken it down even more but decided it wasn't worth the hassle. A few minutes later we jumped in his van and was on our way to Mutianyu which was about fifteen minutes away. At the entrance I bought a return ticket for the cable cars while they bought only one way saying they wanted to come back on foot. Upon arriving at the wall we said our goodbyes knowing that we will probably never meet again in our lifetimes. Wasn't to be so, but that's for later. Then I turned my attention to the sight that was there, and I shall not waste your time again trying to describe the scene there like I did the few posts ago. I could use the words like spectacular, amazing, breathtaking, awe-inspiring and many more but they will all fail me, I'm sure. It is worth saying though that this Mutianyu wall is much less crowded than the Badaling wall but probably more scenic. If you ever intend to go there, I suggest you go to Mutianyu if you have time to visit only one. This time around I spent time there to my heart's content (or more like till I got exhausted) and took a bunch of nice picture. I also met a few tourists including a bunch of Americans who walked with me for some time, a family of Indians who were very keen to inform me that they lived in America though I didn't ask and finally an elderly South African couple who got very hesitant about walking the rest of it seeing me in my exhausted state. We chatted for a while and found out that the gentleman was as big a sports fan as I am so we got to talk about Tri-Nations and the Bocks' pathetic display this year until the old lady interrupted asking us to stop with the 'stupid rugby talk'. We parted after a while and I took a cable car back ending my second and probably the last Great Wall visit.

Next and final post will bring you the story of how I met the French couple that I thought I would never meet again, and also the details about my thank-god-I-did-it moment that night.


Part Six

Beijing Diaries, Day 2: The really great Great Wall of China

Now I'm pretty sure you were waiting to know what I did with the pack of condoms I found in the minibar inside my room, but sorry to disappoint you dirty minded people; I just left it there. And went to sleep at around midnight. Luckily I had told earlier my tour guide to come pick me up from the hotel at 10 in the morning so I would have enough time to get a proper sleep.

The next morning I headed for the dining hall since I was to get free breakfast with my hotel package and it truly was an awesome breakfast. I'm all for trying out authentic local food and all, but I would always like a good old English breakfast if I am anywhere but Sri Lanka. Thank god they had just that; scrambled eggs (and if you prefer all other sorts too) with mashed potatoes, sausages, salad, toast and of course tea. But it didn't stop there. There was such a huge variety of food, and I was SO hungry after a poor meal in the plane last night, I ended up eating not just that but also wheat bread with peanut butter (crazy, I know) and Chinese noodles with, well I don't remember with what.

Anyhow, full to the brim I was back in my room getting ready to go when I got a call from the reception saying that my guide had arrived. Few minutes later I was in the lobby looking around everywhere wondering how the hell am I going to spot my guide what with three fourth of the people in the lobby being Chinese and they all looking pretty much the same. But I guess that a Sri Lankan with a big ass camera and a tripod in hand in a hotel lobby in China must be kind of a rare sight, so a moment later I saw a cute girl heading my way.

"Hello sir, are you Sach?"

"Yeah, and you must be my guide?"

"Yes sir, I'm Winnie, nice to meet you!"

"Hello nice... what? Winnie? You said your name's Winnie?"

"Yes, like in Winnie the Pooh!"

"Erm... okay, hi Winnie, nice to meet you too!"

Now you shouldn't assume that this conversation went as smooth as you read it. Firstly, the accent of Chinese when they speak English is damn hard to follow especially if they are not really good at English. Add to that the fact that while I was talking I was also thinking how the hell did a Chinese got a name like Winnie. Strange, just like if you named a Sri Lankan guy Angelo Matthews. Anyway after this initial surprise we got into the car she had brought with her and proceeded to teach each other how to say "good morning" in our respective languages. For your information, or FYI as they say in this age of the Internet, it's zao shang hao. Stop trying to pronounce it now and read the rest of this post. As I was saying, we exchanged this information but I was still bemused at "Winnie" so I asked if it is her real name or just a pet name. Looks like most of the Chinese, or at least people who deal with foreigners, have an English name too which I thought was pretty stupid. I can't for the life of me imagine Japs changing their name so it would be convenient for the foreigners to speak it. Eventually I got to know her real name is Yan which I thought pretty cool and also easy to say so we stuck to that. Of course I asked her to do away with "sir" and stick to just Sach.

My plans for the day were first to go see Ming Tombs, then to the Badaling Great Wall and later if time permits, somewhere else too. The first place I visited, Ming Tombs, disappointed me since there wasn't really much to see. Then Yan suggested that we go see this Jade factory and store, which to be honest I didn't think would be very interesting either. How very wrong I was. It was fascinating to see the all the brilliant sculptures, jewelry and all sorts of other things that were made of Jade. Before this Jade stones meant green color beautiful stones to me. But it was much more than that; there were all sorts of colors like blue, purple, orange, brown, gold - you name it they have it. They also took me around the factory to see how actual stones are cut, polished and made into beautiful artwork which was pretty awesome. It was tedious work which sometimes take months apparently and you need to be skilled at the art. After spending more than an hour there and taking many many photos I finally spent a few bucks on a Jade bracelet before leaving the place.

Next was the lunch. Yes even after such a huge meal I still was hungry so we proceeded to find a restaurant and ended up in a place which I can best compare with a Saivar Kadey in Colombo. I ordered Chinese Fried Rice and a pork curry and I was in for not one, but two surprises. Firstly, being used to get so little whatever you order in Japan, I couldn't believe the size of the pork curry for one person. Easily three people could eat it. And secondly, I think the Sri Lankans can give a good lesson to Chinese on how to make Chinese Fried Rice. This rice was SO bland. I finished only one third of what was on the table though I must tell that the pork curry was really good.

Now all that behind, finally, I was ready to go see my dream destination. We hopped in the car and headed for the Badaling Great Wall, but I had picked the worst day of the week, Sunday, to go there. The traffic was awful and it took much longer than I had hoped so it was close to 4 in the evening when we finally arrived there. From there tourists must take cable cars to go up to the Great Wall, but I felt really hopeless seeing the very long line that was there. But that's when Yan stepped in; not only she was able to get me tickets pretty quick, she also found another cable car place where I could use the same ticket but was MUCH less crowded. Thank god I had decided to go with a guide that day. However, since Yan could not use her tour guide pass to travel by the cable car the plan was for me to walk on the wall for about one and a half hours before coming back to the same location where she would wait for me. Since the cable cars stop their service at 5 p.m., she was continually reminding me to get back on time. Minutes later, finally, there I was on The Great Wall of China, and what can I say but it truly was a great feeling being there taking in the absolutely spectacular sight which was literally all around me. Whichever way you look the Great Wall ran on almost all the mountains until you could not see it anymore. Ever since I was a kid I always was fascinated by this place, I often wondered how cool it would be to actually see this place but never really thought I would be there someday. It was truly a dream come true though not for the first time; I felt the same standing in front of the altar in Sistine Chapel and looking at the painting Last Judgement, a wonderful work by that genius Michelangelo.

After about ten minutes of being amazed I realized I also need to take photos so set up my tripod and camera and set to work. Several minutes later I felt a gentle touch on my shoulder and I turned to see Yan there behind me. Apparently she was worried that I might miss the final cable car downwards - actually I would have - so she had talked up with the guys operating them to take her up there. And a good thing she did too; I took SO much time photographing eventually it was close to six in the evening when I finished. She was very patient with all that, and then we walked on the Great Wall towards an exit where we can go downwards on foot to where she had asked the driver to bring the car to. From there onwards I mostly slept in the car on our way back to hotel where I said my goodbyes to Yan, a really wonderful girl whom I would love to meet again someday.

You can see a few pictures in by Photoblog and a lot more in my Flickr stream.

Await for more which happened on that night as well as the following day, on my next post.


Part Three

Beijing Diaries, Day 1: Getting There

As you might have already guessed I was in Beijing last week, spending my much earned break of summer vacation seeing the things I so desired to see ever since I could remember. However, it was much more of a sudden decision to go there so let me track back a bit and tell you how and why I ended up there. My initial plans for this summer was to go to New Zealand to – no it wasn't to see the country, it would be foolish to go there for sightseeing in winter – see a Tri Nations game between the All Blacks and Wallabies. However, as often happens with the best laid plans, last minute changes at work meant that I could not take time off to see the match I so wanted to. I love rugby and I love this Blacks team, and I was SO looking forward to going there and seeing the match in addition to meet up with some of the friends over there. But then I was left with a week’s worth of holidays and no plans, so then I decided maybe I should make a trip to China, to see The Great Wall of China in particular which is one of my childhood dreams.

Then I got to work; first spending hours on the net reading Lonely Planet and Wikitravels and the like deciding where to go and what to see. Finally I decided upon Beijing for it’s quite close to Japan and also most of the tourist locations are so close to each other I would have to spend less time travelling and more time seeing them. Booked a plane ticket as well as a hotel also with the help of the above said sites, which are must reads if you intend to travel anywhere in the world. After that did some more reading and got to know what to expect over there and arranging my travel plans too. It goes without saying my first and most important destination was The Great Wall, and I decided on going to Badaling Great Wall first and if possible to Mutianyu Great Wall too. The first is the most famous and the second, apparently, less crowded. I also decided upon Summer Palace, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven and finally a much less popular a tourist destination but one that I was sure would fascinate me; an ancient observatory. Then I arranged for airport pickup and a guide with a car for the following day to go to The Great Wall. My plans were to see how it goes and then if possible travel by myself for the rest of the trip.

So then everything in place, there I was at the Narita Airport in Japan on 6th of August waiting for my JAL flight. Sweating a lot too though not because of fear of flying but because as a means of saving power the Japs have cut down air-conditioning at the airport. After about a half an hour’s delay I finally boarded the plane and sat next to a grumpy old German couple who kept talking nonstop. I quickly put on my headphones and started watching a documentary about Dinosaurs followed by Rio, an awesome movie. Well actually only half of it as that’s all the time I had.

After a smooth landing and a few minutes later I was inside the Terminal 3 of Beijing Airport and people, take it from me, that airport terminal is big. Not just big, really really big. After walking on and on for what felt like hours (okay it didn't feel like hours but it give a nice edge to the sentence) finally I arrived at the immigration counters and the Chinese lady was nice to let a tired me in very quickly. After waiting so long to pick up my baggage (why is it my baggage ALWAYS the last to arrive at the belt?) I headed outwards and found the driver dude holding a name board. He could speak only few words of English, but that and the sign language was enough for us to get by. The hotel was about a half an hour drive from the airport, and the dude laughed and put on his seat belt when I inquired him about the seat belt rules in China.

So finally after a long day I arrived at my hotel at around 11 p.m. that day. The hotel staff was nice and they checked me in very quickly not letting me wait there for long. After a nice hot shower I plugged in my laptop and sat down to do the most important thing before going to bed; to update G+ and FB status only to find out that they both are blocked in China. Oh well. Then I caught up with someone on Skype, someone as jobless as me, to have a little chat while enjoying a bar of chocolate I found in the mini-bar inside my room which contained, among other things, a packet of condoms.

To be continued…

Part Two