Beijing Navigation by Public Transport – See the Real China from a Girl come from the South

This is the most north part of the world I have ever been to in my past 24 years. I am a Chinese, yet the real Chinese experience was both amazing and shocking to me. From the time I got off the plane and had to push to purchase a airport shuttle bus ticket to wondering the ancient city streets and amazing palaces, from shivering because people spitting next to me to appreciating the Great Wall built by my ancestors. I’ve got to try yummy street food, met nice BJ people on the street and made my ways to most touristy places by public transports. The most memorable experience were I climbed the real Great Wall, being pushed over at the gate of the trade fair and scolded a lady who jumped the queue in front of me.

Love it or loath it, this is my country, this is my capital, this is where my ancestors are originated.

Day 1 – Tiananmen Square

Unsatisfied national airline and disordered capital airport
China Airline disappointed me again. For the lunch, I asked for fish, they gave me pork and insisted that was fish. Hello, I am a city girl but I am not dump! In the end, they did not even apologize but said they had no spare meal, which implied you either ate it or left it. Six years ago, when I first took the China Airline, I experienced similar bad service, which they gave me the water half an hour after I pressed the service light. How can a national airline still has such bad service to meet the global competition during Olympics?

After I picked up my luggage from the Shenzhen luggage transferred chain, I walked out to look for a shuttle bus. The strange Beijing accent mandarin directed me to the shuttle bus selling booth. What I saw was a crowd of people, pushing each other, waving their money to a lady behind the counter. There was no queue. Alright, I have to do as the Beijing people do when in Beijing. After pushed and being pushed, I grabbed the last ticket from that poor lady who were almost submerged by the crowd.

45 minutes later, I arrived at my hostel. After checking in and nagging the receptionist for directions, I scurried out to head to Tiananmen Square.

Flag descent ceremony
It was a bit windy when I got to this infamous square, where once was the world’s political centre stage. The district looked exactly the same as shown on the TV, yet the ceremonious and courtly impression stunned me every time I went past by in the next few days.

I arrived just in time to see the flag decent ceremony. In China, the Chinese flag received great respect. An army of more than 50 people will come to take back the flag every day. The armymen were quite cute with straight faces though, haha.

The Forbidden City was closed by the time I got there. I went around the outside for a bit, tried to experience the lofty rampart before I headed for dinner.

Stewed fog for dinner
I must have walked the wrong way around Drum Street. After enough walking and chilling cold, I decided to go into a restaurant on Gui Street instead of searching for the unseen street food stores. I ordered a stewed fog, which claimed to be the signature dish of the street. Wow ~~~ when the waiter bought out the dish, I was shocked. He did not bring out a plate, he bought out a platter! Lucky that was only fog meat, not duck meat. I managed to finish more than half of the dish and paid my bill with red face from the hot meal and chili. It was a yummy first meal I had in Beijing.

Youth Hostel
YHA Lama Temple Beijing was not bad, even though it was not comparable to those in Australia. I chatted to the girl on the next bunk bed before I slept my first night in the north.

Day 2 – Temples and Forbidden City

孔子监
I woke up before the sun rose; being too excited I guess. I first stop was Kongzijiang, where students took their royal exams in the old days. It is equivalent to today’s Education Institute Headquarters. Situated in a secluded area, this is my favourite street in Beijing – a civilized grace is immersed and emanated on this street.

Temple of Earth
My original plan was to go to the Lama Temple, just happened that the Temple of Earth is not far from Kongzijiang. The God of earth was calling me to see him, how can I resist? Normal tourists don't go to the Temple of Earth, first is no time, second is the thought of heaven is above the earth, one is enough. That is why I love traveling without an orgnised tour – I could have my own schedule and change whenever I see somewhere worth going. The Temple of Earth is constructed in a square as ancient Chinese believed “the heaven is round and the earth is square”, which is a big contrast to the Temple of Heaven seen later. In this early morning, I enjoyed the quietness and karma surrounding the temple.

Lama Temple
Lama Temple is one of the biggest temples in Beijing. It was also the residence of my favourite Prince Yong – I used to be so fascinated by his legendary stories and his love with a civilian girl. The colour and paintings of the Halls and archways are splendid and magnificent which combines the characteristics of Manchu, Han, Tibetan and Mongolian cultures. I have seen too many Buddhist statues in Malaysia, thus I just skimmed through from halls to halls before heading to the Temple of Heaven

Temple of Heaven
Apparently, Temple of Heaven attracts far more tourists than the Temple of Earth. Of course the temple and its construction work is far grander than its brother temple. On the way to the temple, there is this Long Corridor where Beijing seniors come for morning exercise and gathering. They sang very old Chinese songs with a big group of people, played traditional Chinese musical instruments for an informal street opera, played Chinese chess, etc. It was very interesting cultural life for me to experience.

When I came to the foot of the Temple of Heaven, I was amazed by the marvelous architect of this rounded temple – a regal place for the king to pray for the Gods in the heaven. Unlike the Temple of Earth, Temple of Heaven was not only the temple itself, it includes the areas surrounding it. The Noble Path, where the God walked in the middle, the King on the East side and the imperial chancellors and attendants walked the west. How precise the royal statues were divided. Nowadays, the roads are being walked on by thousands of visitors a day, regardless it is for the God or for the King, it is for US anyway.

The resonated wall was not as fascinated as I thought it was. As I liked physics, this is the first sound resonate theory applied in architect work I’ve learnt. I even did the calculation on how sound was resonated using its speed of 340 m/s; the distant should be 17m to get the max resonated result.

Forbidden City
Finally, I got to the Forbidden City in the afternoon. I rented an audio tour guide at the door and really enjoyed its function and “accompany” during my visit to the Palace. It is a little device with the map of Forbidden City implanted. Once I walked into an area with an audio sensor, the audio tour guide would automatically start to play, telling you stories behind the halls. After I left the hall, the light of that hall would be off on the map, which means that you have already been there; this help me to avoid going into the same hall twice as the Palace is massive!

To my great disappointment and regret, two of the three great halls were closed for renovation. I missed the Royal seat. According to legend, it is made of gold. In addition, the floors of the two halls were laid with special bricks which shined like silver. The ancient copper art decorations are also famous for their designs and usage to predict nature disasters. All of these are really “forbidden” for us to see. I heard the renovation work has started since 2006. Look like I am not the only unlucky one.

There are so many halls and 殿 to see in the Forbidden City. Every single one of them has a legendary story behind it. I spent more than four hours in this grandest Palace in Asia, appreciating every single bit of it, trying hard to comprehend its historical significance. I have learnt so much about it in my 10 years’ of Chinese education. Numerous historical events happened inside this most mysterious Palace, tones of folklore stories about the Palace and Royal lives were spread for hundreds of years. I wished I could have more time and energy to go around the Palace for one more time. By the time I went to the Royal Garden, which is located at the back of the Palace, I was exhausted. I did not really appreciate the garden landscape; it is fairly small anyway.

Wangfujing 王府井
Don't trust my Mandarin. I always pronounce “wang” as “huang”. Therefore, it took me quite a while to explain to the Beijing people where I wanted to go. Before dawn, I reached the famous shopping and eating district – Wangfujing.

The name of the street was originated from a well, it is now the famous tourists hang up area. You can basically find every thing on this bustling street – Chinese silk, hat, traditional photo shops, aged old famed restaurants, modern shops and most importantly, clean toilets!!!

I had my dinner from various snack stores along the streets – livers of some animals (I don't know exactly what animals), some kind of noodles, some unknown stuff (yep, I don't know what that is, just try it. Fingers-crossed, I won’t get food poisoning the next day), 天津狗不理包子, and my all time favourite 糖葫芦. In Beijing, they have different favours of糖葫芦. I had two!!! One was the traditional one with dates, the second one was with pineapples and strawberries. I am loving it.

Day 3 – Palace and the Summer Palace
I woke up early in the morning again, another packed and excited day is waiting for me ahead.

Prince Gong’s Mansion
My first destination was Prince Gong’s Mansion. The specialties of this Mansion is its architectural design, every bit of its buildings were constructed with thinkings behind them. The houses and garden of the mansion are said to reflect half the history of the Qing Dyansty, home to the most prominent man He Shen. A stone tablet bearing the word “福” was written by the Emperor Kangxi and was the treasured of the whole mansion. The meaning of this Chinese character was that, more male children, unlimited money and good health were the blessing from the Emperor. My aunt bought an imitation of the word for my dad last time she visited the mansion, wishing every good bits would turn true on him.

The Summer Palace
I met up with Polly finally and decided to visit this beautiful Summer Palace together. It was such a beautiful day, with the sun lightly glowing over us and the gentle wind soothing our face softly.

The Palace incorporated scenes from surrounding landscapes and the beauty of nature with delicate garden design and construction. It lives well to its name as the priceless collection of cultural artifacts. I felt in love with the Yulan flower. I wish I could take better photos to capture the beauty of this little white flower.

After climbing up the hill, I had a panoramic view of the Beijing city under the clear blue sky. No wonder the Emperors loved to come here for “holiday”. I would love to come here more often if I live in Beijing. Despite the Palace is a bit out of the city centre, it has better air quality with a big lake that you can almost your hand and heart to embrace it.

H&K Beijing
After saying goodbye to Polly, I went to meet my colleague from H&K Beijing. It was such a coincident that I ran into its MD at lift! Briefly exchanged a “hi”, I went up to the 19th floor, our biggest office in Asia. Around 140 staffs are accommodated in this building. The office is in such a good location, right next to the central radio and broadcast stations, where PRs need to visit the most in their work days. I wish the Singapore office could be that close to Mediacorp so I did not need to wake up early for an early interview. Colleagues in the China office also work very hard, almost comparable to our Singapore office (still, our Singapore colleagues work slightly harder according to Ivana), there were still a number of staff working past 7pm.

After the short visiting, Ivana and I went out to have a quick bite at T.G.I. Friday. She told me very interesting stories about client’s accounts, what is booming in China, how excited PR works are in China, etc. All these can not be disclosed, but I can tell you the PR business is definitely booming yet the professional standards still need a lot of improvement. We also talked about crisis management, my favourite work. It is the toughest and draining, yet it is the most excited and intriguing. You can not sleep for two days because of the crisis and you can talk about it for days after it is resolved. I would love to do more crisis work if I have chances in the future.

Day 4 – The Great Wall = The Great Walk?! (from Jinshanling to Simatai)
Today is the day to climb the Great Walk. This part of the Great Wall is not the usual touristy Great Wall, where the surface of the wall is preserved in perfect shapes for fancy “photo opportunities”. I don't like fake stuff; no “Great Wall Climbing” certificate for me please. I would like to see the real, most natural scenery and the unpreserved Great Wall.

So to pay the price for the view, Polly and I had to walk. Not the normal walk, it was a difficult 10K 4-hour Great Walk on the ruined roads. Gosh, this was the most difficult walk I have ever done in my life. I survived with knee cap and calf pain after climbing up and down on no road. I think Polly would have been half-dead after the day’s walk. Hopefully her husband would not ban me from their home visiting after today. Despite being stairs-phobia after the walk, my mind was blown away by the fabulous view I observed when I climbed up to the wall. We were blessed with good weather, clear blue sky with not so strong sunshine. Postcard photos and astonished landscapes were easily captured into my camera.

This is the most memorable day of my BJ trip. As an ancient saying, good views do not come from easy walk (or something like that).

Day 5 – CHIC 2008 International Clothes and Accessory Trade Fair

The Trade Fair
This was a horrible day. My worst day ever since I came back to China. I went to this CHIC 2008, an international event held in the new Beijing exhibition centre.

To sum up first, for such an international trade show, Beijing is still not ready for it. The trade fair content was great; I love the designs and am surprised how advanced China clothing brands are compared to the others. However, the logistics and event management parts were horrible. To make things worse, the Chinese has no basic manners; everything is push without considering others.

In the morning, I got off the subway and hopped onto the shuttle bus with no hiccups. Yet, the nightmare started from the bus. The bus driver did not know where he was going. He went a big whole round, stuck in the traffic jam, and eventually dropped us off like in the middle of nowhere. The people from the bus had to go across the road among cars and walked 10 minutes to the trade show venue.

At the ticketing booth, I saw no queue but a bunch of people pushing and waving their money into the ticketing window. No choice, I had to do the same despite I felt so unladylike. Finally I got my ticket, I went to the entrance. There was no queue either, everyone was trying to push through a small door as the secure was doing a crowd control, only allowed limited amount of people to go in at a time. So people were like wave, pushing each other forwards every time the tiny door opened a crack. I almost got pushed over at the gate.

After that much difficulty, I got into the venue. Now there were queues in front of every single female toilet. I went upstairs and found a toilet with little people. After the business, there was no water for you to wash your hands! Lucky I brought a bottle of water.

I enjoyed the show very much. The Chinese brands and designs were quite nice; the prices were also reasonable. They were doing spring/summer collections for 2008. I took some photos of nice clothes and window displays. Loads for me to learn about in the clothing business if I really want to do it.

After a short sweet time, the real nightmare began. There was no shuttle bus for unexplained reason. I had to walk 10min in the rain to a bus stop. The bus stop had no shelter. About 80 people were waiting in the rain, shivering, complaining and swearing. Two empty buses drove pass by because “this is not their stop”. When our bus finally came, I was half drenched. People pushed each other onto the bus again. I got pretty much squashed with no strength to fight for my own space in the bus. I over heard a girl talking to her friend on the bus that she was so disappointed about the event that she was going to change her flight back home earlier. I am not the only one.

In the subway, I scolded a lady who jumped in front of me to purchase the ticket. In normal days, I’d turn blind eyes to people jumping queues as there are so many of them in China, but this time, I was so cranky that I almost like yelling at her, “Can’t you queue?”

Beijing is in a chaotic state once it rains. Lucky, it was not snowing today, otherwise I would be dead by now.

As a Chinese, I see the real China today. OMG, I wish I would never have to see this again.

Beijing Opera
Since I could not get the ticket home for Friday night, I decided to explore more of our Chinese culture. The Beijing Opera fell into the thought. I paid for the night’s entertainment and got driven to the Opera venue after dinner.

No more surprised by the chaotic BJ traffic in a rainy day, it took us 1 1/2 hours to get to the venue. The Opera was held in a theater inside a hotel. The first act was great, with traditional singing and opera movements. The second act was so-so, as it was mostly actions, no singing was involved. Some audience, including me, became very bored towards the end. Well, I guess I am better off re-watching Farewell My Concubine again.

Day 6 – Home Sweet Home after 20-hour Train Ride
Don't get frightened by the hours, it was actually not that bad. I bought a thick book to read on the train. Time flies once I immersed myself into a book. 20 hours flew swiftly easily.

As soon as I reached home, I applied dead skin removal gel, pore removal mask, skin booster gel, essence mask and rose water refresher to save my peeling face skin. I saw some moles were forming. Er ~~~ I don't want anymore moles!!!

I need a few days rest before my trip to Shanghai. Ciao for now everyone. I will upload photos to my multple site as soon as I go to Australia, promise.