Beijing Days 1 and 2

Dear all,

I'm on the bullet train from Beijing to Xi'an travelling across featureless farmland and occasional jungles of high rises. Beijing is behind me now.

I flew in at around 5am in the morning. On the way I saw four meteors and we passed over a lightning storm. But as we descended to Beijing all I could see was a greyish murk and ripples of what looked like repetitive grid structures.

I passed through immigration with no interrogation or conversation of any kind. After collecting my baggage I searched for my prearranged airport pickup but he was absent. I was looking forward to not having to think about how to reach my hotel, so avoided bus and train options and headed for the taxi rank. There the tout I had been shooing away for the past fifteen minutes was waiting for me. I relented when I saw a taxi sign on top of his car. In retrospect I've realised this is not a clincher when attempting to determine whether a car is a genuine taxi. The ride was exciting, with lots of hooting and driving on the hard shoulder, with a fare (admittedly agreed beforehand) costing £40, £25 more than the metered fare.

In any case, he found the hotel. There a beautiful courtyard decorated with greenery and porcelain awaited me, but no room (it was 7am, a bit too early to check in) and no English speakers of any fluency. I did take the opportunity to learn "hello" and "thank you" however.

Feeling unexpectedly energetic, I left my bag and set off to find "the centre". I noted on my tourist map that we were north west of Tian'anmem square, so set off with my compass and headed south east.

While walking I began to notice that I was nowhere near "the centre" and that I was being observed by many. I was the only white guy around. Most were staring at me. When I looked back at them they would look away, with the exception of children. This was fine but a tad unnerving, especially when combined with being very lost. I eventually found myself on my map and found I was directly north west of my starting position - I had been heading in precisely the opposite direction to that which I had intended.

Feeling hot, tired, and tired of being lost, I wanted to find "the centre" forthwith and maybe even see some fellow tourists. I'm not fond of being a tourist in the company of tourists but it can be comforting to be in the place the city expects you to be. I began looking for a taxi to flag down, this time restricting my attention to those with the proper colours.

The first taxi driver I introduced myself to by presenting him with my map, pointing to my desired destination and saying "Tian'anmen?" looked annoyed and shook his head. The second was quite receptive. We drove quite far and I paid 30 yuan (£3).

At the square I passed under a road, put my day bag through the security scanner, passed the soldiers and guards and ascended to the vast expanse. With the haze and the distance, I couldn't really make out the the other side, but there were a huge number of Chinese tourists milling about all taking pictures of one each other. A couple of them asked if they could have their picture taken with me. I couldn't understand them but it was pretty obvious.

I saw a tour group of white folk but wasn't about to join them, I was beginning to enjoy my role as a solitary celebrity traveler from the distant West. When I smiled at people they would smile back at me, which doesn't happen a lot of the time in Manchester. 

The square was largely a homage to Chairman Mao. There was the big picture of him, his mausoleum, a gigantic museum of Chinese national history and touts selling Mao watches and little red books. These important sites were well guarded by the very smart Chinese army, a sight which quickly became very familiar.

Many tourists were heading towards The Forbidden City, the building adorned by Mao's portrait, so since it was only 10am I followed them.

The Forbidden City is big. Very big. You might think Buckingham Palace is big but that's just peanuts compared to this Palace.

The above is just one of many courtyards, each followed by another of greater size, each building housing a throne room, or assorted treasures. It reminded me of the Vatican or the Lourve (you know, that place in Paris - can't spell it). A monumental construction, the work of many centuries of accumulation of wealth, collecting fine art and building showy palaces under the direction of wealthy and powerful royalty.

They have so many priceless artefacts that they don't know what to do with them all, most aren't on show, and most buildings are closed. That doesn't matter though because despite my best attempts I couldn't get round all the open ones.

The buildings have names like "Palace of Peace and Tranquility" and "Pavilion of Literary Profundity". Unfortunately they were anything but. The throngs of tourists clogged every corner, most stairs, seats and ledges were full of very tired and sweaty people fanning themselves and their babies, trying to build the energy to continue viewing this vast cultural heritage. I was feeling a bit dispirited myself, as with Beijing failing to grasp the overall design and sense of this sprawl, when I found the cool rooms of porcelain.

In these and other rooms the most popular attraction was sometimes the air conditioner, but there was some great relief also in the darkness and the quiet beauty of these ancient vases. I think I prefer this to the grandeur of towering ancient architecture. 

Feeling somewhat refreshed I ventured back into the sprawl, diligently explored many alleys, gardens, stairways and throne rooms, then decided I was done and in need of sleep.

I took a motor rickshaw back to the hotel (ripped off again, it cost me more than the taxi car that travelled a greater distance) and slept till 7 on a comfortable bed. That evening I walked at random on dark streets (but not too far this time) went into a small restaurant that was busier than its neighbours, was handed a menu in Chinese only - but with pictures - in which the owner helpfully pointed to a item. I silently assented and also pointed to the beer that was being loudly enjoyed by a group of bare chested men in the corner. It was a good meal, coming to 28 yuan (£2.80).

On day 2 I took the subway to another of Beijing's world heritage sites, the Summer Palace. The subway was quick, easy to understand and cheap. It cost 2 yuan (20p). I didn't take any more taxis after that.

I was hoping here for a grand and expansive garden of great beauty. However on first inspection the place was dominated by grey skies, a lake of great size, paths leading in one direction only and the same masses of tourists I'd seen the day before.

Seeking to shortcut a long, crowded and uninteresting path around the lake took a boat across the lake towards greenery. On the boat I was met with many stares. First one took the opportunity to appear in a photo with me, then many others, observing this, got in on the act too. This was a combination I think of both them and I being a captive audience and because these were tourists from out of town who haven't seen many - or any - white people before. 

I reached the opposite shore and headed towards more remote areas of the gardens. On finding the lesser travelled parts of the garden / palace, as with the Forbidden City I found what I was looking for. Some repose, some beauty, just a few people.

Exploring further I found a small tunnel leading to areas not noticed by many. Here there we no extensively reconstructed and suspiciously new looking palace buildings but just trees and ruins.

I liked it here. Of course it's still humid and hot wherever you are but it bothers me less when I'm in a place like this.

I found my lunch on a walkway by the waterside. First I was served some of the best tea I've ever tasted - Oolong, the leaves had the look and smell of something just picked. This was followed by a very well prepared and objectively excellent dish that was nonetheless very badly chosen. It consisted of mainly of beef, celery and peanuts, with a good amount of dried red chilli. The two foodstuffs in this world I will never eat are celery and peanuts. I like red chilli but it made it impossible to taste the delicate Oolong tea. So I carefully picked out the beef and left it at that.

I finished my day at the Summer Palace by climbing the grand hill, topped by temples and pagodas, where I enjoyed the view over the lake which was slightly marred by the ever present grey haze.

One of my favourite parts of Beijing was the line dancers. They danced in the square outside the tube station every evening, young and old, most of them seeming to have the routine down pat.

That evening I was visited by a cunning plan. I had been a temporary celebrity on the boat at the Palace. Why not visit a popular Beijing nightspot, have a drink, and enjoy the attentions of fellow drinkers keen to make the acquaintance of a genuine Englishman? With that in mind I embarked on a long lakeside walk and eventually arrived at a bustling and lively row of bars and restaurants. Impressively, every single bar hosted a live acoustic singer, singing a mix of C-pop (I think that's the right term) and covers of songs by stars like Celine Dion and Ronan Keating.

I picked one and settled down at the bar with a bottle on Tsang Tao next to a large and lonely looking Chinese man. Soon after, he rose and took his place on the stage and began to sing. He really belted it out and had a great voice.

However no one talked to me and I talked to no one. I wasn't quite a celebrity in the bar, a different context will have different results. These were classy, fashionable Beijing drinkers, not out of town tourists with cameras at the ready. It was a little lonely having a solitary beer at the bar but I enjoyed the music.

Afterwards I continued my walk along the waterfront. However heading north towards my destination, a tube station, the bars quickly petered out and were replaced by darkness and fishermen. Soon the line of fishermen ended and there was just darkness. No mosquitoes though.

The walk took longer than I expected. I was glad to reach a main road and people who weren't fishing.

I found the tube station and was soon back at my hotel.

Stephen