China! Day 3

Day 3

As I said, our guide Sunny was waiting for us at the train station. Knowing we were on the train all night, she led us to KFC for what she, god bless her, thought was a traditional American breakfast. China's KFC has none of the same options as America's KFC. It was insanely crowded. We ordered the last available chicken sandwich, an egg sandwich, and 2 coffees. The coffees were scalding hot and the sandwiches were slathered in mayo. Yum.

I thought I'd be able to make a quick change in the bathroom - new clothes, brush my teeth, splash some water on my face). Those tasks sound simple enough, but they were impossible to accomplish because everyone else in Beijing had the same idea. There are only 2 stalls in the women's' room and no semblance of a line. There are only 2 sinks for both men and women to share. There was a huge crowd around the sinks, including a man shaving his face. It seems perfectly acceptable to clear your throat and hock a loogie into the crowd. I'm obviously the outsider for being squeamish about this. I finally go back to our table. Jim reports that the men's room was so crowded that he didn't have the arm room required to change his shirt.

By this time, my coffee has cooled down, but someone has thrown my lid away and demands we get the day started. I take it to go, but quickly spill it all over my coat. Sunny comes to the rescue by reaching into her purse and pulling out a few squares of toilet paper I can use to clean up. Women in China are smart to carry their own supplies because you never know when you're going to run into a squatter toilet. The toilets aren't awful, but they often lack paper and the user must have a good sense of balance. It takes a little bit of maneuvering, especially on a day in which you have no extra clothing. Peeing on your pants will sentence you to a full day of walking around in pee-soaked pants.

With all this administrative business out of the way, we see what Beijing has to offer. I'm certainly no expert, but Beijing seemed more like "real" China and I enjoyed it much more than Shanghai. It has all the landmarks that come to mind when you think about China - Tiananmen Square, Imperial Palace, Great Wall...

Tiananmen Square and the Imperial Palace were unbelievably huge and you could easily spend a whole day exploring this place. The history is very interesting and I can't get over how old everything is. I think New Zealand was still under the ocean when this place was built. It seemed very crowded to me, but Sunny described it as a quiet morning. There were tons of Chinese tourists (think about Americans visiting DC). If you arrive on a tour bus, you have to wear a hat that matches the color of the flag your guide is carrying. Individualistic Americans would never do this.

By far, my favorite part of the day (and probably the whole trip) was our visit to the Great Wall of China. It's an amazing thing to see; someplace I never thought I would be. I thought it was packed wall-to-wall (pun intended), but Sunny again says it is not that crowded. Parts of the wall are very steep and it seems like your body is bent at a 45 degree angle. This is very trippy and disorienting when you're sleep-deprived. It was a hazy day, but it was still awesome to see the wall stretching into the hills as far as the eye can see. Jim and I both thought we were there for a decent amount of time - walking, admiring, etc. Sunny later says we spent the shortest amount of time at the wall than any of her other tours. Silly Americans.

We rounded out the day by visiting Olympic Park (huge), watching an acrobat show (I believe they performed at the opening ceremonies), and strolling along the Hou Hai Lake and Market area. We also walked through some back alleys with traditional Chinese homes. I notice that the tires of many parked cars were covered with squares of wood or corrugated metal (New Zealand's favorite building material). The explanation is that the covers protect the tires from dog pee. Go figure.

At Hou Hai Market, Sunny ran off to buy us a mystery snack. It looked like meatballs on a stick. Jim gets points for bravely taking the first bite. I get points for finishing the whole thing. It was a skewer of candied plums.

At 9pm (14 hours after our arrival), we are back at the Beijing Railway Station for an overnight ride back to Shanghai. Hard core! The station is packed and the atmosphere is kind of crazy. Hundreds of people rush to the platform when a train is called, yet there are still no empty seats in the waiting room. I can't figure this out.

On this leg of our journey, our roommates are much more quiet (climb right up to their top bunks) and the pillows are much less comfortable. This is a shame because I could really use a nice bed by this point. Jim fell asleep before the train pulled out of the station. I didn't know what my bunkmates were doing and didn't know how to communicate with them, so I left the light on in our cabin. It felt like only a few seconds later when I lift the sweater off my head to discover the lights are off. Jim later tells me he turned them off at midnight, so I must have got a few hours of shut-eye after all.