This is a picture of Mike, Koedy, Me: Laynie, Brandi (Chris Dodds: The paralympic goalball player's wife), Lewis (Brandi's brother), and DeWayne Berg (Chris and Brandi's friend, and a coworker who I went to Athens with) on the GREAT WALL!
FRIDAY/SATURDAY
Koedy, Mike, and I left on Friday morning for the airport. We flew to Vancouver, and boarded Air China. Fortunately, we barely make the connecting flight...but our luggage didn't....so we arrived in China 11 1/2 hours later, without our luggage. We got a taxi to our hotel. We arrived in China around 5ish on Saturday and by the time we explained our luggage situation, got a taxi, and drove to the hotel, it was about 8:00. We were exhausted. None of us had slept much on the airplane ride, so we settled into our hotel and slept!
We exchanged our timeshare for a week stay in Beijing. We only had to pay $98 for the whole week there! Our hotel was really nice. It was in a nicer hotel/apartment building. We had a great room to use for the week. It even had a kitchen. There was a washing machine in the kitchen, right under the sink where the dishwasher usually would go.
The girls at the front desk spoke okay English...some of the time...so every day; we would have them write in Chinese on a card where we wanted to go for the day. The card had the hotel name on it in Chinese and a map, so we were able to travel around easily AND find our way back (None of our taxi drivers spoke English).
SUNDAY
Sunday was rainy, so we decided to go shopping at the Silk Market, go pick up our goalball tickets, and then go to the goalball game later that Evening. As we drove around, I couldn't believe how many people were riding bikes in the rain. Most of the bikes looked like something left over from the 50's and 60's. Some bikes had trailers hooked on them. Little old men would be pulling a trailer with an old woman all curled up inside. It was really different to see such a big city, and then see old bikes with wares piled in the back, going down the street. Mothers and fathers were riding bikes with little kids sitting on the back in little child seats. Sometimes, the parents would put their rain jackets they had on, over the child, so all I could see were little legs sticking out of the jacket.
The cars had the right of way, even if people were in cross walks. People had to continually jump out of the way of the cars. Our taxi driver would usually honk and then go...people would have to scatter, or get hit...and there were a few close calls....we were really surprised to see that most of the cars weren't all dented. Koedy said it is because we weren't ever going fast enough to do much damage. I think we went pretty fast quite a few times. Most of the taxis didn't even have seat belts in the back. Koedy and I would usually sit in the back...and only three taxis had seat belts...which was VERY scary in a few of the taxis! I wish I would have recorded a typical drive down the street in a taxi....you would be shocked....I'm not sure if they even have to get drivers licenses in Beijing...or if you just try to avoid getting hit.
The Silk Market is where all the tourists go to buy things. It is a four story building that is packed full of booths, many selling the same stuff, with cute Chinese girls that know enough English to talk you into buying their stuff. You have to haggle over the price. They start really high and if you don’t want it…don’t even start to haggle. The girls would chase you down, put things in Mike’s hands, and they even put a shirt on Koedy…to get you to buy from them. It was so much fun! There were knock-off designer jeans that we paid about $15 a pair for...jeans that cost over $100 here. There were shoes, purses, suitcases, coats, and of course, Chinese items, like silk robes, shirts, pearls, jade, and chopsticks.
After the Silk Market, we took a taxi to pick up the goalball tickets which ended up being right across the street from The Bird’s Nest. We picked up the tickets and walked around for a little while. Later that evening, we went to watch the USA Men, play China. It was crowded. After the goalball game, we went to the Night Market, which are booths of weird food set up outside a tourist shopping area. Mike, Koedy, and I each ate a scorpion.
MONDAY
We went to The Temple of Heaven and then to The Forbidden City-which is right across the street from Tian’an Men Square. AND YES...the toilets are in the ground...you don't sit on them....and you SHOULD bring a packet of kleenex with you always....you never know if there will be toilet paper.
The Temple of Heaven was a beautiful park. There were a lot of people in the park, but most of them were dancing or playing games. As we walked through the park, we would pass big groups of people (some larger than one hundred people) dancing/exercising. Some people were dancing in big line dances. They were chanting and/or singing with the music. Others were doing a variation of ballroom dancing. We also would pass by groups of people playing Jian Zi, which is a form of Hacky Sac. Hacky Sac originated in China over 2000 years ago. Most of the people doing the line dancing/exercising were older women, and middle aged/older couples where usually doing the ballroom dancing, but all ages where playing Jian Zi together.
The Forbidden City was HUGE. It is made up of an endless collection of pavilions, gates, courts, and gardens. There were lots and lots of tourists there.
Then we went to goalball. After goalball, we went to eat Peking Duck at a really nice restaurant. It was really hard to find something that I would eat on the menu....I know...I ate a scorpion...but I don't want to eat webbed feet...or intestines....or...worse...AND they did have dog brain soup on the menu in some places...or blood soup...yuck!
TUESDAY
We went shopping at another store like the Silk Market but it was supposed to be bigger and not have as many tourists. I think it was higher priced and catered to richer tourists. The people didn't hound you as much to buy their goods, but they had about the same things as at the Silk Market. We ate in a food court that was upstairs in the shopping center. When we got off the escalator, a young Chinese girl met us and wanted to take us to a seat. She was leading us over by where she worked. She even said, "Table for Three?" The competition was incredible. It was a food court...we were supposed to find out own seat. People from behind other booths were yelling....so we knew something was up. We walked around and looked at the different stalls and ate really good Chinese food. I made sure to eat only things I knew. I stayed away from intestine, webbed feet, and anything with meat that wasn't chicken. Then, we decided to try to find a music store for Koedy. We found one that had a lot of guitars (U.S. prices), then we looked for a magic store for Mike (but I don't think people understood us), and finally we went looking for used postage stamps for Mike's mom. We ended up looking for postage stamps in this old looking warehouse type "shop" that had a lot of booths in it. As we walked around, we saw people counting lots of money. We were the only NON Chinese people in the whole warehouse. We tried to ask people questions, but nobody would or could talk to us. One little girl started pointing at us and saying something, that her "dad?" put his hand over her mouth and pulled her out of our sight. We don't know where we were, and we don't think we were supposed to be there...finally we did find one person that spoke enough English that we found a few postage stamps....but I think it was from a woman's personal collection...I don't think she really sold them there.
WEDNESDAY
We went to goalball, then to the Summer Palace. This was very beautiful. We rented a peddle boat and went out onto the lake. I liked this much better than the Forbidden City. After the Summer Palace, we went to Hou Hai to ride a Rickshaw. The rickshaws were pulled by bicycles. They took us through the hutongs (which are alleys) were people lived. We stopped at a house where a woman invited us into her home and gave us Jasmine Tea while she showed us pictures of her when she was younger, and told us (through a translator) about her home, children, and way of life. Her 95-year-old father lived with her; her 91-year-old mother had passed a way a few years earlier. She showed us her courtyard and explained how important a courtyard was to a family. After, we found a restaurant and ate a nice dinner. It was hard to order…but luckily the menu had some English and pictures, so we pointed and said, “one”.
THURSDAY
We went to the Great Wall. This was my FAVORITE place in BEIJING...actually 1 1/2 hours from Beijing. We went to the Mutianyu section. There was a closer section, but it is more crowded than this section. There are a series of watchtowers along some of the restored section. The wall dates back to 1368. We rode a ski lift up to the wall and then a toboggan ride (like in Park City...only better...down.) After, we went to watch goalball. Then, we went to eat at Hou Hai to eat a nice Chinese dinner at a restaurant around the lake. People were ballroom dancing in the park and playing Jing Zi.
FRIDAY
We went to goalball and then shopping again at the Silk Market. I helped Brandi buy souvenirs. Then we went and ate lunch at The Hard Rock Cafe...and payed American Prices for our food.
SATURDAY
We went back to the Silk Market to grab some more souvenirs, and then we ate outside at a nice little restaurant where the food tasted and looked about like Panda Express. Then we went back to the hotel and went to the airport. Our flight left at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday. We flew into San Francisco, and then made it home by 5:30 p.m. Saturday night.
I want to go back to China. There are so many more things I want to do. Anyone want to go? I think I will go there every so often just to buy my clothes. We figured out how to get things for very inexpensive prices. Mike just has to pull out his sponge balls...and do magic tricks for the girls. They LOVED it...well some...some screamed when he did magic for them, but others hugged him until he showed them more tricks. One guy gave him a Buddah statue so he would show him more magic. It was fun. Koedy and I loved laughing at the girls' responses to the magic. They even remembered him when we went back the next time and all gathered around him and asked him to make more balls.
If you want to see our pictures, go to flickr.com/photos/laynie
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