Today we were up at the crack of dawn ready for an early start at exploring Beijing. First we explored our hotel room. It was a business hotel with quite nice décor and some quite strict rules. Apparently male and female guests who were not married were not allowed to stay together in the same room. Also there was large signs in the elevator reminding guests not to pick up and hookers and bring them back. I guess businessmen get lonely on occasion. There was also some interesting items you could purchase in your room, as well as the usual mini bar items there was a kit in the bathroom with many the resource to make up for anything you may have left behind. It had toothbrushes, flannels, body wash, face wash and male and female private part lotion. And that is a direct quote from the tube.
There was also a smorgasbord of condoms and other such items, one featuring an image of Jenifer Lopez. I wonder if Jenny from the block knew she was a big hit on prophylactics in China?
We ventured downstairs for breakfast. Considering the only real food I had eaten so far was airplane food I was feeling quite famished and was looking forward to a delightful breakfast. Breakfast consisted of rice, watermelon and some watered down OJ. But I ate up as I would be a very grumpy traveller if I did not fill my belly.
We had a few stops on our agenda today, but due to the fact that it was 90 years since they formed the Communist party we were unable to get to Tiananmen Square as they had blocked it off in attempts to stop any protests or public panic. In 1989 there was a protest in the square which resulted in soldiers opening fire and killing anywhere between 400-800 people. It was that protest where the infamous image of a man standing in front of the tanks called ‘Tank man.’ I was quite happy to move on to the next destination which was quite close by and to leave that eerie piece of history behind.
Next stop was the Forbidden City, otherwise known as the Imperial Palace from the Ming Dynasty. Now I would love to say that I had a lot of knowledge of Chinese history but sadly I was a failed psych major, changing to English, Text and Writing with many of my unit being creative writing so history was not my strong suit. So I just basked in the vibrant colour’s, mass of people and the cultural differences around me. The main, which I discovered, was in regards to Chinese men. Now China is a very humid place. So to cool themselves down, Chinese men, whether they be old, young, fat, thin roll up their shirts to reveal their midriff. Now that was fascinating and oddly repulsive at times but I could not look away. Here are some of my sneaky shots of this.
After walking through the Forbidden City, being stopped a few times to be photographed with a number of Chinese folks admiring us we departed for lunch at a local dumpling restaurant. Now I tend to make things difficult for myself by stating I am a vegetarian who eats Maccas, Hungry Jacks and KFC, but this restaurant was able to supply me with vegetable dumplings and they were delicious. However something not so delicious was the soups they had on offer. Below you will see chicken soup, and a nice fish soup. Both with a little something extra. Gross.
Before I hopped on the bus to the next destination I thought it best try go to the toilet as I had indulged in a few Chinese brewskies. Now the only problem being that Chinese people use squat toilets. Although I have gone camping before and had to wonder off into the woods at times, there was something about a row of squat toilets with no toilet doors that gave me stage fright. After psyching myself up for 15 minutes, making them lock the main door and turning on the tap I was able to go, and felt incredibly accomplished. After washing my hands and leaving the bathroom behind I was accosted by all the waitresses at the restaurant who wanted to take photos with me. Tough life.
Next stop was the Temple of Heaven. All I know about it was that it was a Taoist building, with an actual altar where one can stand to make offerings to Heaven. I impulse purchased a panda backpack. Everyone knows I love a good novelty bag. The thing about Beijing is you realize how big China is, there is always a mass of people everywhere but it hardly seems crowded. Everything is so spread out and nicely spaced.
We finished off the day with a stop at the site of the Beijing Olympics, where the buildings were quite impressive but I was too busy trying to figure out a way to sneak off and get McDonald’s. Sadly I didn’t.
Later that evening a few of us decided to explore Beijing on our own. We wondered around for a bit noticing many a group of folks dancing in unison to Euro Pop songs like the Vengaboys ‘Boom boom boom’. There were also people doing Thai Chi, playing Badminton, which my friend Elise joined in and slow dancing. For a city so large and on a day of which we would imagine intense atmosphere, Beijing was very pleasant and calm.
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