So,
I've decided to start my China travel blog a little earlier than I've
planned...I've not even left Nepal yet. In fact, I'm sitting at a
worn-down table, drinking an over-priced latte with almost three
hours to go until my flight. And that's before any possible delays.
This followed a fairly insane taxi journey who seemed to have little
regard for cyclists... or pedestrians...or other cars...or us.
However,
despite my limited journey, it's already been pretty interesting.
Not only have I managed to arrange meeting my friend Xin Na for
dinner tomorrow in Beijing but I've already had my obligatory Nepal
airport special of 'Are you male or female?'! Nice to see I've still
got my feminine appeal. Only another two or three pat-downs where I
need to convince the guard that I'm male. Maybe I should bring my
birth certificate with me next time. I also got invited to join an
Asian tour group which was nice. I don't think I've ever been an
honorary member of anything...can't see them now though. *Sigh* such
fleeting relationships.
Fast
forward 24 hours and I'm sitting with a chilled Tsingtao at the desk
in my hotel room and I'm both exhausted and stuffed. Seriously, I
may not eat again. Excuse me, I seem to be getting ahead of myself!
Let us rewind a little. After I finished typing the first section,
I ended up going through security to find my flight delayed by 45
minutes (this now being past midnight) meaning I missed my nice
relaxing breakfast in Hong Kong and instead had to rush around
getting something to eat quickly plus my money changed and a Chinese
sim card. I then boarded my next flight to Beijing only for it to sit on the
tarmac for another 45 minutes. Not a happy bunny at this point.
However, I pushed it aside and enjoyed the flight, got through
immigration and collected my luggage quickly enough. I then went to
get a taxi to the hotel. Being the researched-up, sensible wabbit
that I am, I joined the official taxi rank queue and suddenly got
ushered into a small mini-bus on my own. Uh-oh. Is that alarm bells I hear? The driver then got in and made a big show of highlighting
his number on his ID card (which I suspect is now fake as it was a series of Xs) but got a
little annoyed when I turned over his card to look at the price.
What's that? 700 plus RMB to the centre of town? But the internet
told me it would be between 100 and 200?
EEEEEHHHHHOOOOOOOEHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOEEEEHHHHHOOOOO. I got out of there
quicker than something kind of fast and jumped into the next
available regular taxi. Lo and behold, 130 RMB to the centre of
town! Not a great start.
Then
it got awesome.
I
arrived at the hotel and started the check-in process. Everything
was going fine and normally, when suddenly 'Ah yes, you've been
upgraded'. I NEVER GET ANYTHING LIKE THIS. I now have a bigger
hotel room with a bath and three, yes three shower heads! I might use a
different one for each morning! That cheered me right up, The hotel
overall is a little worn but really nice. The room has a great bed,
a couple of soft chair, a good shower and a desk for my blogging. On
top of that, it's got great staff, it's near an off-licence (can't
see any bars anywhere) and is close to major sights. After my bags
were dropped to my room I got changed, had a coffee and a shower then
headed out to the city of Beijing.
My
first impression is that Beijing is large in everything it does. The
place itself is huge, the buildings loom over you and the people are
animated and bustling: sellers hawk for your attention; tourists snap
flashes in your face; police stand silent but watch your every move. It really catches your attention and keeps your attention. However,
it's neither as busy as I thought nor as dirty...in fact it is very
clean in a variety of places. As for crowds, unless your near a major
tourist sight or are on the underground, it's unlikely the crowds
will bother you. Having wide pavements helps but it really isn't bad in places without them. Sadly, the roads are pretty busy but you don't need to cross them much...you
can use the underpasses provided.
After checking in, I ended up wandering round Tiananmen
Square in the cold for a while as I took in all the various monuments
built around the area and marveled at certain buildings (some of the architecture is stunning). Inside I
checked out the gates that still stood and the monument of the people
but mostly, I just enjoyed walking around this massive and
significant square whilst thinking about all the history involved in
the place.
It is worth noting (as a warning) that within 15 minutes of leaving my
hotel for the first time, I got approached by a scam artist...then by
a further 4 that day. Sorry ladies, I tend to automatically assume
that anyone approaches me to 'go for a coffee' or check out their
'art exhibit' are trying to scam me (if I don't know you anyay), I'm
not the kind of person that people randomly approaches. It did help
though that I read up on a list of scam before I flew out. Here are
few examples:
- Your hotel burned down
- The taxi driver puts you in a mini-bus, not a regular taxi
- They want a coffee and to practice English
- They want you to see their artwork
Before
I could do much else, I received a message from my friend Xin Na who
had just arrived at my hotel. Rushing along the insanely long wall
of the Forbidden City, I made it back to meet up with my friend and
ex-flatmate Xin Na, whom I hadn't seen in three years. What followed
was a pleasant afternoon chatting and catching up as we wandered
around the area, where I got to try some of the local yoghurt. After a while, we decided it was time for dinner.
That was a very, very, very good decision.
You see, she decided to
take me to a famous restaurant called Quanjude: a chain of
restaurants renowned for its Peking Ducks (you even get a
certificate with the code and number of the duck you ate). At this 5
floor giant of a restaurant, we met up with our friend Harry whom was
joining us for dinner, so I caught up with him as well. Eventually,
our table was ready and we sat and chatted as Xin Na ordered for us
and she did not disappoint. After the green tea and the beer came, a
deluge of different dishes flooded the table, starting with a
delicious pea jelly cube thing (I didn't get the name). Next up was
Snakehead fish soup, seasoned duck giblets and chicken with chestnut.
Ohoho, it didn't stop there either. Steamed vegetable in sauce and a whole
roasted fish arrived shortly after. All delicious and all new to me.
Then the piece de resistance arrived: the duck. The duck was
heavenly. You got the roast duck sliced up with pancakes which you
build up yourself. You take a pancake and spread it out, pick some
duck and dip it in some hoi sin sauce, add it to the pancake, garnish
with some vegetable then wrap and eat it. As a bonus, I did it all with chopsticks! Utterly amazing, cooked to
perfection and a great end to the meal. Except it wasn't over yet.
We then also got some of the duck's skin crackled a little and dipped
in sugar, some soup made from the carcass of the duck and duck spring
rolls. I'm not sure I've ever had a meal like it. It has been a long
time since I've used the phrase 'suitably stuffed' but this is one of
those times.
This
was a great start to my trip and a great way to balance out the delays. As
it was still early, after we said goodbye, I then decided to go for a beer
somewhere and start my blog. Sadly, I wasn't near a bar but I did
find what I thought was a famous food market: Dongfuman Night Market. I later found this out to be a different market but let's ignore
that for now. So, despite being stuffed, I wandered up and down the
street and felt compelled to try a couple of items...as research for
this blog. I hope you all appreciate what I go through to write this
sometimes (not sure you're getting away with that excuse - Ed).
I
decided on two items...deep fried milk and some small scorpions. The
things I do...The deep fried milk wasn't as bad as I thought: just
like a creamy/custardy doughball served with sugar (I ignored that
mostly). I wouldn't go out my way to eat it again but it was
perfectly edible. Next up the scorpions which were crunchy and
that's about it. Very little flavour and less than a mouthful each.
I did removed the stingers though. See for yourself!
And
that's that. Day one over. I grabbed a beer from a local shop, typed for a while,
skyped home for a little bit then fell into a very deep and food
induced sleep. Day two next! Not bad for a couple of hours sleep
eh?
Pick of the Week
Red Hood and the Outlaws - A spin-off series from Batman with the recently revived Jason Todd (after being killed by the Joker). A modern and mature take on a gallery of roguish 'superheroes' that don't exactly get along well as they take on an ancient cult. Good humour, human characters and good action throughout. Check it out.
Music of the Week
Recently rediscovered this album which was a firm favourite when I was younger. Machine head - Crashing Around Me...enjoy!
More China trip next week! See you then!
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