Beijing, Beijing, Beijing

So Day two, we woke up and got ourselves ready for another busy day of sightseeing, we grabbed some breakfast at a bakery, and made our way to Tianamen Square with the intention of seeing the Forbidden City.

There are two important things that people considering visiting China should take from our blog. First, don't visit during China's National Holidays; Second, just take the tours. We like being independent and doing our own things, but we probably would have spent about as much, seen more and may have been frustrated less.

China Lesson Number Four - Don't go for rides in Rickshaws

So on the way to the Forbidden city a Chinese man approached us and said that he would take us to the square for three money, I said three money, that's like 50 cents, I'll do it for three money, and I said three? and he agreed One, two, three money. So he takes us through the hutongs, and takes a picture for us, and we ride through the streets on our merry little way. He is having some difficulty pulling us along so a friend of him comes along side and suggests that I ride in his friends and he will continue to pull Cami in his. We continue on, until they finally come to a stop in some abandoned alley. He suggests that the ride is done and I offer him 5 money - giving him a two yuan tip. After which, he shakes his head and hands and shows me a card that says 300 yuan. Three money he says, three money - money is 00 in Chinese. Cami and I are astonished that this guy thought that we would take his little rickshaw for 40 CDN and said no no no. Cami has taken some mandarin lessons and calls him on his bluff by saying that money doesn't mean 00, ling ling, would be 00 or bai, or sun bai, for three hundred. Despite this argument they stick to their guns and say money means 00 in Chinese, I don't believe them, but I don't know and so I take one hundred out and give it to them. If I would have thought about it a little longer, I would have just told them that we will go to the police, which may have sent them running, or I would have walked away, but in the moment I gave them half of what they were asking and told them they wouldn't get a penny more off of me. Really frustrated after getting screwed over, the rest of the day had a bit of a taint to it.

Picture taken by the scum sucking Con Artist - we do look a little gullible

By myself still being conned

When we did reach the square it was over run with people. The lineups to get into the city were all the way across the square and some english people we asked suggested that it would take at least two hours, just to get tickets. I was not waiting for two hours just to get tickets, so we went on a walk through one of the side gardens instead and planned on getting up early for the forbidden city the next morning. 

The garden was nice, some of the highlights were the folk song singing that we saw in one of the corners of the garden. A man was playing an accordion and group had gathered around him and they were all singing together. If I get around to making a video you'll see it. there was also some pretty trees, rock scupltures and flowers.

Tianamen Square Day One

Picture with Bamboo in the Garden 

Picture in the garden with flowers

From there we walked down to the Monument to the People's Heroes square surrounded by the parliament buildings and Chairman Mao's Mausoleum. Again there were lineups everywhere and people everywhere. I don't think I have ever been to a busier place on earth, including New Year's Eve in Times' Square. We took some pictures and kept on trekking towards the Temple of Heaven. All in all we walked over 14km, but Cami and I both agree that it's the best way to see the city. 

Famous picture of Mao and the crazy lineups to get into the square 

This was the Museum 

Largest Gate Ever 

Me In front of Some Big Lions - the one with the ball has something to do with ruling the country and the one with the little lion under his paw has something to do with the future of the country... I don't know 

  The Temple of Heaven was pretty and it was a little less crowded than the other locations. This was where the Emperor would come to worship and pray for good harvests. 

Temple of Heaven Part I 

Temple of Heaven Part II

Temple of Heaven Part III

Cami by the cool staircase by the Temple of Heaven- there are dragons and clouds on the stairs  

Temple of Heaven Part IV 

The Altar of Heaven, It is like a big mosh pit up there, Cami stayed out of it, but there is a little mound in the centre that everyone tries to stand on and you push and push until you get to stand on it...  Fun, Fun, Fun - I was definitely King of the Altar for a couple of seconds!!!

One of the weird things about Beijing is that there are very few restaurants within the city walls, we would go block after block without seeing anywhere to get any food or drink. After seeing the Temple of Heaven, we did finally find a restaurant where we ordered some food, most of it greasy and sub par, but better than our empty bellies. We both think that Beijing should be introduced to Canadian Chinese food. We love Canadian Chinese Food, but everything we ordered in Beijing was doused and I mean doused in Grease and slimy, oily sauce. The big thing to order in Beijing is the Peking Duck, but we had Peking Duck in Hong Kong and while good, it was usually the most expensive thing on the menu. We tried some different things, but again most things weren't that great.

 That is until we found the scorpions...

After dinner, we made our way to the subway and took the subway up to Wan Fu Jing market, another popular place. We stood in line for fifteen minutes trying to get down the street and again there were security guards trying to hold people back, sometimes physically and others slipping through, and others yelling their discontent at the security guards. Once through the street was full of exotic things to eat, drink and buy. After touring the street, I decided that I needed to man up and try the scorpions. They are big black and half alive until they are tossed in a deep fryer salted and then down my gullet.

Wan Fu Jing Market

Yum Yum 

K, maybe not Yum Yum Yum 

Cami's Turn....

Mmmmmmmmmmm!!!

Mostly they tasted pretty gross. It had a little bit of salt, and salt is always good, but the texture and taste is nothing that you would want to eat if you had another option. Cami also womaned up and had her own chunk out of the side of the scorpion. I chose to focus more on the pincher and then the stinger. Yum Yum.
After walking down Wan Fu Jing we made our way down the road and came upon a large catholic church all decked out in Neon lights and with something like a flash mob line dancing in front of it. After watching for a couple of minutes Cami and I were ready to join in. Again when I get the video you'll see our sweet moves. It was a lot fun. There was some nice Chinese Guys encouraging us and by the end of three or four songs we were pros and shuffling with the best of them.

Here's a link to a 360 of what the Church looks like, no line dancing though

After dancing the night away, we shared an ice cream cone and got ourselves to bed for an early morning the next day.

We got up bright an early to get to the Forbidden City for the morning, hopefully before the rush, but unfortunately the whole square was still overrun with people and we had to wait in line for an hour just to get tickets, despite the fact that we got there before it opened.

Tianamen Square Day 2, 8:00 AM

Line's in front of Tianamen Square Part II 

The Forbidden City 

The forbidden city was cool, it was very large and the buildings were very elaborate, but the places where you could see into the buildings where overrun and you had to fight for an elbow room to see into the buildings. Once there, there was little to see and it was very different than visiting the Louvre and seeing Napoleon's Bed Chamber or other famous chambers. The spaces were poorly lit and while elaborate, not easy to really sit and contemplate what the emperor and the empress would have looked like in these settings. All in all I thought that it was good to go.

After, the forbidden city we took a bus to the 798 Art District. This is an abandoned communist industrial complex that has now been transformed into an art district full of galleries, cafes and architectural examples of communist industry. The Buildings were very cool and the sculptures were amazing. It was also nice to saunter through the streets without being accosted by hundreds and hundreds of people. We were able to see all sorts of art: from ancient chinese calligraphy and water-colours, to oversized modern sculptures. We read a little bit about 798 in a lonely planet guide and there was a mention of a super duper burger at a place called Timezone 8. So, while we were walking through the art exhibits we were looking for this burger place and just before we were about to give up and settle on a little cafe, Cami saw it. It was a nice little place with a patio where Cami had a pumpkin Hot Chocolate and I had a delicious ginger ale. We shared a panini and the super duper burger, and enjoyed a non-chinese lunch/dinner.

Raaaaawwwwwrrr!!!!

Grrrrrrrr!!!!

Cami and the Wolves 

Cami and Santa, Killer Pound Cam! 

We also took a break in a park and laid down on some grass while in 798. Once we had laid down for a bit some little chinese children spotted us and thought that it would be a good idea to come over and practice their English. There was this cute little girl that chatted with us and we chatted with her mixing her English with Cami's Mandarin and it was a fun little cultural exchange. We found out what her name was, and we found out that she really likes hot dogs, it seems everybody does and they like to eat them plain without bun, or condiments.

Cami with her Hot Chocolate and me with My Watson's Ginger Ale 

Cami giving the man with a giant head a much needed cleaning

So, these are the really ugly sandals/boots that all of the Asians wear - Cami found a place to buy them and bought three pairs... K well maybe not , but she wanted to for sure (sarcasm intended)

After visiting with the kids, we made our way back to our hostel and then on to the airport for our flight to Xi'an to see the Terracotta Warriors.