Beijing, Xi'an

11/25/09

We're about to leave Beijing, so thought we'd update about our time here.

We arrived to Beijing after 2 overnight flights (layover in Seoul) from Singapore. Got in around noon, went to our hotel and left again to begin exploring the city. We powered through both the lack of sleep and coldness here (Richard immediately recanted his statement about looking forward to the cold weather, after seeimg what weather in the 30s actually felt like). There was still many patches of snow on the ground from the last snow.  Bundled in multiple layers, hats, gloves, scarves etc we survived the cold pretty well for two born and bred Southern Californians :)   We walked over to Tianenmen Square, took a tour of the Forbidden City, which is right there.  Its pretty huge, the site of where the emperors from the old dynasties lived. Lots of neat Chinese architecture. Climbed a hill where we could view the whole Forbidden City from above which was pretty cool.  From there we went to the Silk Market, a bustling (and indoor!) shopping district. They are brutal negotiators and bargainers there, with their starting prices at more than 10 times the prices they intend to get for items.

We found a vegan Chinese restaurant that was awesome "authentic" chinese food, all vegan. We went back several more times.

The next day we had a full day tour, starting at the Great Wall. It was very amazing. Then we had a tour at the Summer Palace, another of the spectacular palaces built for the emperor.  Then we went to Chinese tea ceremony.

Next day we got up early to get on a plane for a day trip to X'ian.   Next section written by Richard:

Today we went to see the Terra Cotta warriors. Note:  girls do not find warriors interesting. We got to the airport really early only to learn that due to heavy fog we could not depart. Fortunately it was a domestic terminal so no one spoke English, adding to the adventure.
Finally we departed an hour late to meet our guide, David. A surprising number of Chineese people are named David. He took us to the Wild Goose Pagoda, which, we learned  is a tribute to vegetarian monks.  Next we headed to a "factory" to see Terra Cotta made. Note: whenever an asian person wants to show you a factory he will try to sell you jade.

Then Lunch!!!  We requested a PF Changs, but there aren't any in China. Weird. So we went to one of these tourist restaurants where beer is included, but a diet coke is $2 (a lot of money in china)

Then we went to see the terracotta warriors. Awesome. Highly recommended. Photos to follow.  Then rush back to the airport.  Xian is a city that is even foggier and smoggier than Beijing. We saw at least two coal power plants in the middle of the city next to homes.  Gross.

Xian airport two hour snow delay, again thanks for not staffing one person who knows a single word of English. We arely managed to find our new gate for the fright home.

Side note aout Chinese airport security:  if you enjoy invasive pat downs, having your luggage unpacked in front of you and showing your passport 3 times in 10 feet ( 3 meters) come to Beijing. I actually quite enjoy the pat downs as the prettiest girls do that part.

Ok. Last day in Beijing. We went to see anotherpart of the wall and went to the Badaling section. It is absolutely ridiculous how they built this thing. We didn't see one piece of land at less than 45 degrees slope. We hike 1 hour to the top and were treated to the two things you see most in china - fog and outdoor billoards.  The temperatures dropped steadily the whole time to the point where the wall was totally fogged in. Quite a site.  Mom(s) don't worry there is a cable car on the side for you to take when you come.

Then back to Beijing.  Supposedly 300 million English speakers in China and we didn't meet any of them.  We didn't meet barely anyone who spoke English. We were surprised out of all the cities we went to this was the city with the least English - even cab drivers and hotel people barely speak any.  One last stop at the silk market.  Picked up a few last minute items. (If you are receiving this email please consider it your gift from us from China.).   Back to the hotel.

Our hotel was a lovely hutong style ancient chinese courtyard building with awesome video to come. There is barely enough room to drive a car here and most. Buildings (not ours) lack plumbing. Nasty. Our hotel was great, the people very nice.

Now we're off to Tokyo.