Stalker Cam

Beijing

Beijing was busy. In two days, we fit in the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and shopping. Somehow the original hotel we were supposed to stay in “lost” our reservation. I suspect the Communist party was responsible, but it ended up working out for the best because the new hotel was in a hutan, which is a traditional Chinese neighborhood.

The first morning we got up early to meet with William Lindsey, the Wild Wall Guy. He told us the amazing story of how he hiked his way across China in the 1970s. He got arrested and deported several times, but was always able to make it back because he had two passports. Wild Will took us to a part of the wall that is not often visited by tourists. We had to hike quite a way to get onto the actual wall. I thought it was a fairly challenging hike. Fortunately, Will stopped regularly so we could all catch our breath. I tried to stay toward the front of the group because Wall was explaining the history of the wall and sharing stories of his experiences on the wall. He walks it daily. I have to admit that a lot of the wall made me really nervous. To get up on it from the trail, I had to climb these stairs - aka a teetering tower of rocks. Because we were on a portion of the wall known as the Wild Wall, none of it had been restored or repaired. It was literally falling apart.

The top of the watch tower was my favorite spot because the view was amazing.

In some places there were no walls to prevent falling off the side.

The next day was our last full day in China. The group walked to the Forbidden City together, but after we got there we all broke off into smaller groups to explore for the rest of the day. I never realized how large the Forbidden City is. It felt like a maze. Many of the buildings looked the same from the outside, but each had its own unique function.

Peking duck for lunch

Tiananmen Square was kind of eerie. To know the tragedy that happened there less than 20 years ago was moving. It was strange, also, to think that most of the other people in the square probably don’t even know the extent of what happened there. I was also surprised at how few people were in the square. The Forbidden City had been incredibly crowded. The square, which was just across the street, was not.

While in Beijing, I noticed a lot of military guards. I’m not sure if they are always everywhere, because it’s the capital, or if it was because of the Communist Party meeting that was going on.

After Tiananmen Square, we made our way to the Pearl Street Market. I had a lot of fun haggling for different items. At first it was a little intimidating, but by the end I got the hang of it. I found that you can get a better deal if you team up with someone and haggle together.

For dinner we had hot pot. It’s kind of like Chinese fondue. It’s a large pot of broth and when raw meat or vegetables are dipped in, they cook within seconds.







The next morning we all packed up and headed for the airport, but I was definitely not ready to go home. I felt like ten days was not enough to discover China. And two days was definitely not enough time in Beijing. If I ever make it back in the future, I will stay for at least a month. When I left for China, I didn’t know what to expect. I mean, going to a Communist country is kind of scary. But I was glad to find that as a visitor, it did not affect me that much. True, I could not get onto Facebook or blogger, but apart from that I didn’t notice it. I think that I would feel differently, however, if I lived there. I think my favorite thing while in China was people-watching. The locals fascinated me. Everyday life is so different in China, especially when compared to small Burlington, VT. I am definitely hooked. Now all I want to do is learn more about China. I think that I would want to revisit every place I have already been, plus western China. I want to go to a bamboo forest. And maybe throw a few more cities in the mix, like Shanghai. But it’s in the cards.