4/7/2015
The Flight - Manila to Beijing
Why China, you might ask. Honestly speaking, backpacking in a foreign land was the idea. Why not Philippines would be the next question. I'm not really sure. The idea of China was seductive . In a Zero- english speaking country, the idea of being lost was too tempting.
So here I am. On my way to Beijing from Manila. We got cheap tickets from Cebu Pacifc. My travel partner on this voyage was Shiveta. We had fun planning the trip and we got along pretty well. Kent says we would either return as life-long friends or as arch enemies. Apparently, that's what backpacking does to relationships. What about the people who dont really have a choice, Like you and Me, Mr. Allwyn Kent.
Major panic attack at the Manila airport. Maybe because the flight was only half-filled, the boarding gates closed way before it was supposed to while we were quite happily waiting in a cebu pacific queue . What happened after that was the first of its kind for me. I've missed my flights. True. But I've never had to run all over the airport with the flight crew shouting words of encouragement to us while running beside us. If you saw two women with a pretty big backpack huffing and puffing towards the boarding gates of Ninoy Aquino International airport- Terminal 3 at around 7.30 PM, doubt not, that's us. Laurel & Hardy ( Shiveta is taaalll ).
Once we had settled down in our seats, thanks to the very helpful crew, I thought to myself, a little less huff and puff would be a good idea for the rest of the trip .
1. I miss Kent. I felt horrible leaving him alone with his broken arm. On a more cheerful note, people are taking extra care of him because of his broken arm. And he had Paru. Thank you Usha chechi for the packed lunches :). Note to self- Stop feeling so guilty. It was his idea :P
2. I'm a little worried . That would be an understatement. I dont speak or understand Mandarin. I'm going to a land without Google. The zone of comfort looked like a dot from here. The only relief is that I have someone to worry along with me. Haha. We are bound to be so lost!
Our first leg of the journey was a 3 day Beijing darshan. Designed almost entirely by Aysha ( our friend in Beijing ), I should say it was a wholesome package. As we got out of the airport, Aysha, Gince & Aadam were waiting to receive us at the Arrivals section. Aysha's wide smile had become familiar to me from her Facebook pictures. Warm :) Aadam was fast asleep by the time we me them. We remained our spoilt-brat selves until the day we left Beijing. Morning coffees, Malayali breakfast, Chinese dinners, Sulaimanis before going to sleep, packed lunches, night conversations-
"ഈ കൊയിക്കൊട്ടുകാരുടെ ഒരു കാര്യം ."
( The hospitality of the Kozhikkodans ( people from Kozhikkode/Calicut ) is unmatchable ).
5/7/2015
DAY I, BEIJING
We could not have started off our China backpacking trip in a more luxurious manner. Li'l Aadam did his bit of pampering us as well. The little rabbit is sort of the heartthrob of Beijing. Crowds surround us when we walk around with Aadam. The little Charmer.
Thanks to Aysha we got our SIM card the very next day. Now we could bug Gince when we get lost. Shamelessly handing over the phone to our taxi driver after dialling in Gince's number whenever we got lost, became a routine thing for the 3 days we were in Beijing.
Beijing is polluted. That said, the effort that has gone into GREENING Beijing is just standing-ovation worthy. You wake up to a smog filled morning , yet the greenery sprouting out of every nook and corner of Beijing fills your heart with hope and admiration.
The moment you get on to the streets of Beijing, you feel super unhealthy and it is NOT because of the pollution. You are suffocated by guilty pangs of not working out or taking care of your body when you walk past the exercise equipments set up every 500 metres or so which are never empty. You find 2 year old children to 90 year old grandmothers working out there , no matter what hour of the day it is. That explains the agile bodies and the youthful body language. Exercise & Green Tea, I guess. Aysha said she has even seen people coming there in wheel chairs and heaving themselves onto the exercise equipments.
Dance! < Watch Out For ( WOF ) No. 1 >
We were pleasantly surprised to find men and women dancing to their hearts' content in front of apartments and inside parks . Music is played from someone's cellphone and amplified with the help of a speaker. And then they dance. They dance like noone's watching. They move oh so gracefully and in perfect harmony.
Little kids walking around in shorts with slits in between the two legs is a common sight here. As we observed with curiosity about this strange costume, we figured out that this was to enable the kids to pee and poop anywhere they wanted. Umm.. Kinda what Paru ( My dog ) does. The kids are almost always accompanied by a parent or guardian to clean up the poop and throw it into the waste bins. Well , there is no reason to squirm your nose here. Poop poop. Clean clean . Wipe Wipe. And off you go. Pee and Poop away li’l ones !
Tiananmen Square
The conversation went something like this.
There are beautiful well-maintained flower gardens here. You won’t find a place to sit thought. Assuming the rest of the places ( except the Great Wall ) we had planned on visiting would be almost the size of Tiananmen Square ( area wise ) was so so wrong.
Gate of Heavenly Peace
The imperial palace of the Qing and Ming dynasty ,so called because it was off limits for commoners for around 500 years . Uninvited admission, back then, would have meant instant execution. The Forbidden City is surrounded by a moat designed for security purposes. One pauses to muse on the Qing and Ming obsession with barriers. Moats , Walls. You ask it and they have it.
The tour of the Palace Museum was quite self-explanatory.
Feel free to wander away to the East and West wings when you reach one of the many courtyards.
The Lonely Planet had a 3D map of the Forbidden City which helped us in ruminating on the different structures and the stories attached to them. It was a long walk and most definitely worth it. Courtyards which can hold an audience of 1 Lakh people are definitely cardio-friendly.
The Forbidden Palace undoubtedly is a 1 day visit & we would fiercely recommend you start the tour around 10 AM. Like most of the places in Beijing, the palace also closes at around 5.30 PM.
Brace yourselves to encounter places with names like Hall of Literary Profoundity ( the Ceramics musuem for laymen ), The Hall of Character Cultivation, Hall of Joyful Longevity, Palace of Earthly Tranquility , Palace of Gathered Elegance. Somewhere down the lane of Mandarin to English translation, these unfortunate structures were baptised with such glorious names. You will see this everywhere in China. Its quite entertaining if you ask me.
We got out of the Forbidden Palace through the Southern gate right across the entrance of Jingshan Park.
Jingshan Park
A beautifully constructed park right across the Forbidden City. This is one of central Beijing's few hills. When I say a constructed Hill, I mean a "CONSTRUCTED" hill. A hill created from the earth excavated to make the Forbidden City moat.The best place for an aerial view of the Forbidden City in all its grandeur. One of the best spots for some People-watching. On our way up , we gobbled down our packed dosas .
Our Chinese Princess Moment was shot here. Well, When in China, one needs her Chinese princess moment. Half an hour was spent on top of the Jingshan Hill gazing at the golden topped Forbidden City. We clambered down just after sunset
The Guardian Lions < WOF No. 4 >
The pair of lions that guard the buildings in Beijing was initially an amusing sight because of the difference between the male and female lion on both sides. Later on, we figured that wherever we go, the lions seemed to follow us and we decided to take a picture with every single pair that we met.
The male has a paw placed on a globe( representing the emperor's power over the world ) . The female has her paw on a baby lion playing with the mommy lion's paw. And this represented the emperor's fertility. "This ain't no mere Emperor Lion. This is an Emperor Lion with Balls" seemed to be the crux of the design. This did not stop me from looking out for Emperor Lions without the female counterpart. Unfortunately, the Chinese are not to be doubted when it comes to perfection. Ouch!
Keepie-uppies< WOF No. 5 >
One of the many innovative sports of the Chinese. I'm not really sure about the origin of the game. You are bound to walk across a group of men and women tossing around an over-sized shuttle cock with their feet in almost every park here. More like a football juggling sport.
HouHai Lake
From Jingshan Park, we headed to Ho Hai. Aysha and gang were to meet us there for the Tea Ceremony. Ho Hai is an area around an artifical lake. Here, you have all kinds of restaurants. Aysha told us that Ho Hai is where the locals come to hang out. We hung around the lake for sometime waiting for the Threesome to join us.
The Tea Ceremony
The Chinese Tea ceremony is quite a Ceremony. A lady comes in with the wooden tray, kettle, tea leaves, cups and the rest of the tools. She explains in Mandarin ( Gince translated most of it for us) as to how one has to go about while preparing tea, serving it and even drinking it. The etiquette. The ceremony begins with the cup cleaning. They have the customary steps to follow, even while cleaning the cups. Once the cups are cleaned, the boiling water is poured into the ceramic vessel which has the tea leaves. After squeezing the tea leaves gently with the lid of the cup, tea is poured out to everyone. Its polite to serve others before drinking your tea. This can go on for a long time until the last of the tea leaves are completely strained out.
We discussed the possibilities of inventing an Indian Tea ceremony ( popularly known as Chaaya Adi in Kerala ). Shiveta is a tea lover. She told us about Kehwa and other beverages popular in Jammu. Aadam slept through the ceremony :)
6/7/2015
DAY 2, BEIJING
After a nice breakfast of Puttu-Cherupayar, we headed out to the Summer Palace.
Summer Palace
Like every other place in China, the Summer Palace is also HUGE! I hope to shed some kilos after all this walking around. We entered through the East Palace Gate and walked towards the left. It's a refreshing stroll around the Kunming Lake. Laced with willow trees , the sun hardly gets to you. The grounds, temples, gardens, pavilions, lakes, bridges, gate towers and corridors are architectural marvels.
You walk past by iron statues of various animals. Mostly mythical- dragons, qilins..
We crossed the 17-Arch bridge ( so called, because the bridge has 17 arches obviously ) to the Dragon King Temple. The God of Rains seems to be the favourite God around here. Makes sense. By the time , we reached the Longevity Hill ( You were warned! )after crossing the Silk Bridge, The Willow Bridge and The Jade Belt Bridge, we were super exhausted. I longed for a bicycle. It was the perfect place for a cycle ride. The Huffs and Puffs seemed to follow us all the way from Manila. The Longevity Hill had to be climbed. Artificial Hills! Got to give it to them Chinese! We got a pretty picturesque view of the setting sun from the Longevity Hill. We missed the Suzhou street because it was closed by the time we got there. The lesson to be learnt was right there , dancing naked in front of us. EARLY TO BED, EARLY TO RISE, will at least guarantee entrance to most of the places in CHINA!
The Qilin < WOF No. 6 >
A mythical hybrid animal that only appeared on earth at times of harmony.
Me thinking " Kali yugam cannot possibly be the right time for this interesting animal. "
We headed back to Aysha's place for a delicious Neychoru ( Ghee rice ) with chicken curry and Beef pickle dinner. Sulaimani time and off to sleep.
7/7/2015
DAY 3, BEIJING
Today we Get Lost! There is always a First.
The day for the Great Wall of China.
The Great Wall of China
Gince suggested we visit the Mutianyu stretch of the Great Wall. We took the 916 "Kuai"( Fast Passenger for the Mallus ) bus from Dongzhimen Wai bus stand that goes to Huairou. We were supposed to get down at a bus station called Mingzhu Guangchang and take a minibus from there to Mutianyu. This was our first bus ride in China. It was very comfortable, until disaster struck in the form of a cab driver who ushered us out of the bus saying this was where we had to get down. In our defense, the bus station did read "Huairou". The ONE thing that was written in Lonely Planet was NOT to be lured away by cab drivers before you reach Mingzhu Guangchang and that is EXACTLY what we did. We certainly didn't expect to be lured out of a bus from our comfortable seats. The LURING OUT picture that we had in our mind was AFTER we got out at a bus station. Well. That was embarrassing. Looked like we didn't have a choice but walk till Mingzhu station. 2 Indian ladies walking on the street, trying to ask directions from the locals by frantically pointing at a book defines LOST in a city. The locals are extremely helpful. But the communication part is a torture. You almost feel like giving them a hug for all the effort they put into helping you out with directions.
The Extremely Helpful Locals.< WOF No. 7 >
Either the pair of us look so helpless with our book in one hand and multiple maps in the other, OR the locals are just really nice and helpful people by nature. Either way, EVERY single time we opened our book and pointed at the address of our destination to any local, we were overwhelmed by the help we received. Below are some of the ways in which the PROBLEM- SOLVER locals helped us:
1. They draw the route for you on a piece of paper and animatedly usher you towards the route.
2. They whip out their phones and open the Bing translator in an effort to communicate the directions to you.
3. They call up English-speaking friends on their phones and hands over the phone to us.
4. If they are not sure of the way themselves, they ask people passing by to help us out. And NOpe! They don't leave until you have a solution.
5. We even had one of them actually running after you to apologise for the wrong directions and to show us the right direction. Who does that kind of thing ? :)
We were inspired. Next time, someone asked for directions. WE WILL MAKE SURE he/she FINDS his/her way !
Coming back to the Great Indian Walk to the Great Wall of China. A lady finally helped us out with the directions in the form a route map drawing in our book. That was one long walk. It did not help that it was around noon and the sun was shining bright right above our heads. We got into the minibus which charges 15 CNY/person and reached Mutianyu.
We booked the cable car upwards and toboggan downwards. 4 tickets each. A total of 8 tickets. Assuming that the 2 extra tickets were entrance tickets to somewhere once we reached the top, we walked on.
After almost half an hour of walking and NO cable car station to be seen, we figured something was wrond. NO! DO NOT SMIRK AT US! We saw buses ( shuttle buses, we realised later on ), whooshing past us and even tried to stop one of them for a ride up. But they didnt stop. As we reached a steep slope up, we figured something was miserably wrong. We asked an old man the directions to the cable car station in sign language. I wish I had a video of it. He almost laughed at us! We were walking all this while clutching the bus tickets close to our hearts.
Naivety strikes again.
Aysha consoled us later in the night that this happens to most people( Bless her kind heart ) and that multiple tickets is a problem every non-Chinese person faces.
We held the tickets up ( Like Harry Potter sticking his wand out for the Knight Bus ) when we saw the next bus. Voila! It stopped and we scrambled in.
The cable car got us to the top. We walked along the Great Wall marvelling at the enormity of the wall. Oh! The damned slavery. The people who worked on the wall construction were mostly political prisoners. I missed Kent and his class on slavery.
It is most often mistakenly assumed that the Wall is one continuous entity. In reality, the edifice exists in chunks scattered between mountains ( the natural barriers ). The Mutianyu piece of the wall has 26 watch towers and it is a good walk. It is cold, almost chilly inside the watch towers.
The Toboggan ride downwards was worth every penny spent. Felt like Calvin & Hobbes on one of their winter WHEEE... adventures down the snow-covered hills. Very simple mechanics to control the speed . Absolutely safe if you follow the simple instructions to slow down and speed up written on huge hoardings during the ride.
We had a Subway wrap( Veggie for Shiveta, much to her delight ) when we reached down and headed back to Beijing.
Gince had booked a table at the famous Quanjude Roast Duck restaurant. We ate the famous Peking Duck. Honestly, this Peking duck business is sort of overhyped. But well, one for the record.
We went to the insect market next, where I got to eat crispy little scorpions on a stick. As Aysha had told us earlier, it tasted like prawns. I would recommend this little wiggly scorpions for your personal list of " Dare to Eat ". The snakes and bats did not look too fresh.
We went back home to catch some sleep. Our train to Xian the next day was at 7 in the morning.
The Flight - Manila to Beijing
Why China, you might ask. Honestly speaking, backpacking in a foreign land was the idea. Why not Philippines would be the next question. I'm not really sure. The idea of China was seductive . In a Zero- english speaking country, the idea of being lost was too tempting.
So here I am. On my way to Beijing from Manila. We got cheap tickets from Cebu Pacifc. My travel partner on this voyage was Shiveta. We had fun planning the trip and we got along pretty well. Kent says we would either return as life-long friends or as arch enemies. Apparently, that's what backpacking does to relationships. What about the people who dont really have a choice, Like you and Me, Mr. Allwyn Kent.
Major panic attack at the Manila airport. Maybe because the flight was only half-filled, the boarding gates closed way before it was supposed to while we were quite happily waiting in a cebu pacific queue . What happened after that was the first of its kind for me. I've missed my flights. True. But I've never had to run all over the airport with the flight crew shouting words of encouragement to us while running beside us. If you saw two women with a pretty big backpack huffing and puffing towards the boarding gates of Ninoy Aquino International airport- Terminal 3 at around 7.30 PM, doubt not, that's us. Laurel & Hardy ( Shiveta is taaalll ).
Once we had settled down in our seats, thanks to the very helpful crew, I thought to myself, a little less huff and puff would be a good idea for the rest of the trip .
1. I miss Kent. I felt horrible leaving him alone with his broken arm. On a more cheerful note, people are taking extra care of him because of his broken arm. And he had Paru. Thank you Usha chechi for the packed lunches :). Note to self- Stop feeling so guilty. It was his idea :P
2. I'm a little worried . That would be an understatement. I dont speak or understand Mandarin. I'm going to a land without Google. The zone of comfort looked like a dot from here. The only relief is that I have someone to worry along with me. Haha. We are bound to be so lost!
Our first leg of the journey was a 3 day Beijing darshan. Designed almost entirely by Aysha ( our friend in Beijing ), I should say it was a wholesome package. As we got out of the airport, Aysha, Gince & Aadam were waiting to receive us at the Arrivals section. Aysha's wide smile had become familiar to me from her Facebook pictures. Warm :) Aadam was fast asleep by the time we me them. We remained our spoilt-brat selves until the day we left Beijing. Morning coffees, Malayali breakfast, Chinese dinners, Sulaimanis before going to sleep, packed lunches, night conversations-
"ഈ കൊയിക്കൊട്ടുകാരുടെ ഒരു കാര്യം ."
( The hospitality of the Kozhikkodans ( people from Kozhikkode/Calicut ) is unmatchable ).
5/7/2015
DAY I, BEIJING
We could not have started off our China backpacking trip in a more luxurious manner. Li'l Aadam did his bit of pampering us as well. The little rabbit is sort of the heartthrob of Beijing. Crowds surround us when we walk around with Aadam. The little Charmer.
Thanks to Aysha we got our SIM card the very next day. Now we could bug Gince when we get lost. Shamelessly handing over the phone to our taxi driver after dialling in Gince's number whenever we got lost, became a routine thing for the 3 days we were in Beijing.
Beijing is polluted. That said, the effort that has gone into GREENING Beijing is just standing-ovation worthy. You wake up to a smog filled morning , yet the greenery sprouting out of every nook and corner of Beijing fills your heart with hope and admiration.
The moment you get on to the streets of Beijing, you feel super unhealthy and it is NOT because of the pollution. You are suffocated by guilty pangs of not working out or taking care of your body when you walk past the exercise equipments set up every 500 metres or so which are never empty. You find 2 year old children to 90 year old grandmothers working out there , no matter what hour of the day it is. That explains the agile bodies and the youthful body language. Exercise & Green Tea, I guess. Aysha said she has even seen people coming there in wheel chairs and heaving themselves onto the exercise equipments.
Dance! < Watch Out For ( WOF ) No. 1 >
We were pleasantly surprised to find men and women dancing to their hearts' content in front of apartments and inside parks . Music is played from someone's cellphone and amplified with the help of a speaker. And then they dance. They dance like noone's watching. They move oh so gracefully and in perfect harmony.
Tcch! Not another word about Chinese and their craving for dog meat! < WOF No. 2 >
Enough said about Yulin and all of them Chinese being dog haters and dog eaters. The Chinese love their dogs as much as any other race in the world. And the interesting part is that the dogs are so well-trained, that you seldom find a dog being walked on a leash. While walking on the main roads, the dogs just trot next to their humans with no leash around them. Occasionally halts for a little pee break and in 10 seconds catches up with their humans. I’ve never seen dogs this disciplined and that too in such a huge number. Well done!
The one with the curious pair of slit - shorts< WOF No. 3 >
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| The slit shorts! Couldn't take a picture ( privacy concerns ). This is a picture from my google search |
Tiananmen Square
Equipped with a nice lunch of dosas and chutney ( so much for backpacking ! ), we set out to visit Tiananmen Square. Aysha helped us catch a cab and saw us off with lots of good luck wishes. The cab dropped us at the NCPA( National Centre for Performance Arts ) building, which was a pretty good looking building. We didn't enter the building, since we were keen on visitingTiananmen square and Forbidden city. Outside the NCPA building , we found an English -speaking Chinese lady who told us that we had to go straight to get to Tiananmen Square. And we walked straight. With absolutely no idea about how Tiananmen square looks like, we whipped out the Lonely Planet Guide ( Our Saviour and Best friend for the next 15 days ) and started looking around for pictures. Pardon our lack of knowledge. Aysha comes to the rescue! She called us up to check on where we have reached. We admitted that we were officially lost and described the place in front of us.
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| The scene before Aysha's call |
Aysha : “ So have you guys reached Tiananmen Square?”
Us: “ Umm. So we are in this garden like place with a tall building erected in the centre. On the other side of the road, there is a big red building, with Mao’s picture “.
Aysha( I’m quite sure with her palm on her head ): “ Darling. You just described Tiananmen square to me”
Us: “ ummm.. umm. umm…( Longer ummss..) Okie dokie. “
Aysha:” That’s ok. Just come back home in one piece tonight”
After all the embarrassment and mutual consolation , we entered Tiananmen Square. It is a big flatland of paving stones. It is said that, here one stands at the symbolic centre of the Chinese universe. It was built by Mao to portray the enormity of the Communist party. It has served as the venue for some of the major historic moments in Chinese History.
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| Tiananmen square |
The Flag raising ceremony here at the Square is quite a scene to witness is what I’ve heard. But unfortunately it happens in the morning at 8 AM. Lamenting about not being able to witness it at 2 PM in the afternoon was pointless. We moved on towards Forbidden City.
Gate of Heavenly Peace
We crossed the road and walked straight through the Gate of Heavenly Peace, little knowing the importance of the gate.
At this point, let me remind you my dear reader, we did evolve as the journey progressed, into more observant people. Pardon us for our glitches so far.
We actually thought we were just entering the Forbidden city and walked further ahead. Forbidden City was all that we had in our head.
Built in the 15th Century , the Gate of Heavenly Peace is a potent national symbol. This gate was formerly the largest of the gates of the Imperial City Wall and it was from this gate that Mao proclaimed the People's Republic of China. The soldiers emerge through this gate for the Flag Raising Ceremony at Tiananmen Square. ( Source : The Lonely Planet )
Imagine reading this about the Gate that we casually walked past without a second glance.
Imagine reading this about the Gate that we casually walked past without a second glance.
Forbidden City/ Palace Museum
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| Outside the Hall of Literary Profoundity |
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| The moat around The Forbidden Palace |
The tour of the Palace Museum was quite self-explanatory.
Feel free to wander away to the East and West wings when you reach one of the many courtyards.
The Lonely Planet had a 3D map of the Forbidden City which helped us in ruminating on the different structures and the stories attached to them. It was a long walk and most definitely worth it. Courtyards which can hold an audience of 1 Lakh people are definitely cardio-friendly.
The Forbidden Palace undoubtedly is a 1 day visit & we would fiercely recommend you start the tour around 10 AM. Like most of the places in Beijing, the palace also closes at around 5.30 PM.
Brace yourselves to encounter places with names like Hall of Literary Profoundity ( the Ceramics musuem for laymen ), The Hall of Character Cultivation, Hall of Joyful Longevity, Palace of Earthly Tranquility , Palace of Gathered Elegance. Somewhere down the lane of Mandarin to English translation, these unfortunate structures were baptised with such glorious names. You will see this everywhere in China. Its quite entertaining if you ask me.
We got out of the Forbidden Palace through the Southern gate right across the entrance of Jingshan Park.
Jingshan Park
A beautifully constructed park right across the Forbidden City. This is one of central Beijing's few hills. When I say a constructed Hill, I mean a "CONSTRUCTED" hill. A hill created from the earth excavated to make the Forbidden City moat.The best place for an aerial view of the Forbidden City in all its grandeur. One of the best spots for some People-watching. On our way up , we gobbled down our packed dosas .
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| On our way to the top of Jingshan Hill |
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| Our Chinese Princess Moment |
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| The Forbidden City from Jiangshan Park |
The Guardian Lions < WOF No. 4 >
The pair of lions that guard the buildings in Beijing was initially an amusing sight because of the difference between the male and female lion on both sides. Later on, we figured that wherever we go, the lions seemed to follow us and we decided to take a picture with every single pair that we met.
The male has a paw placed on a globe( representing the emperor's power over the world ) . The female has her paw on a baby lion playing with the mommy lion's paw. And this represented the emperor's fertility. "This ain't no mere Emperor Lion. This is an Emperor Lion with Balls" seemed to be the crux of the design. This did not stop me from looking out for Emperor Lions without the female counterpart. Unfortunately, the Chinese are not to be doubted when it comes to perfection. Ouch!
Keepie-uppies< WOF No. 5 >
One of the many innovative sports of the Chinese. I'm not really sure about the origin of the game. You are bound to walk across a group of men and women tossing around an over-sized shuttle cock with their feet in almost every park here. More like a football juggling sport.
HouHai Lake
From Jingshan Park, we headed to Ho Hai. Aysha and gang were to meet us there for the Tea Ceremony. Ho Hai is an area around an artifical lake. Here, you have all kinds of restaurants. Aysha told us that Ho Hai is where the locals come to hang out. We hung around the lake for sometime waiting for the Threesome to join us.
The Tea Ceremony
The Chinese Tea ceremony is quite a Ceremony. A lady comes in with the wooden tray, kettle, tea leaves, cups and the rest of the tools. She explains in Mandarin ( Gince translated most of it for us) as to how one has to go about while preparing tea, serving it and even drinking it. The etiquette. The ceremony begins with the cup cleaning. They have the customary steps to follow, even while cleaning the cups. Once the cups are cleaned, the boiling water is poured into the ceramic vessel which has the tea leaves. After squeezing the tea leaves gently with the lid of the cup, tea is poured out to everyone. Its polite to serve others before drinking your tea. This can go on for a long time until the last of the tea leaves are completely strained out.
We discussed the possibilities of inventing an Indian Tea ceremony ( popularly known as Chaaya Adi in Kerala ). Shiveta is a tea lover. She told us about Kehwa and other beverages popular in Jammu. Aadam slept through the ceremony :)
6/7/2015
DAY 2, BEIJING
After a nice breakfast of Puttu-Cherupayar, we headed out to the Summer Palace.
Summer Palace
Like every other place in China, the Summer Palace is also HUGE! I hope to shed some kilos after all this walking around. We entered through the East Palace Gate and walked towards the left. It's a refreshing stroll around the Kunming Lake. Laced with willow trees , the sun hardly gets to you. The grounds, temples, gardens, pavilions, lakes, bridges, gate towers and corridors are architectural marvels.
You walk past by iron statues of various animals. Mostly mythical- dragons, qilins..
We crossed the 17-Arch bridge ( so called, because the bridge has 17 arches obviously ) to the Dragon King Temple. The God of Rains seems to be the favourite God around here. Makes sense. By the time , we reached the Longevity Hill ( You were warned! )after crossing the Silk Bridge, The Willow Bridge and The Jade Belt Bridge, we were super exhausted. I longed for a bicycle. It was the perfect place for a cycle ride. The Huffs and Puffs seemed to follow us all the way from Manila. The Longevity Hill had to be climbed. Artificial Hills! Got to give it to them Chinese! We got a pretty picturesque view of the setting sun from the Longevity Hill. We missed the Suzhou street because it was closed by the time we got there. The lesson to be learnt was right there , dancing naked in front of us. EARLY TO BED, EARLY TO RISE, will at least guarantee entrance to most of the places in CHINA!
The Qilin < WOF No. 6 >
A mythical hybrid animal that only appeared on earth at times of harmony.
Me thinking " Kali yugam cannot possibly be the right time for this interesting animal. "
We headed back to Aysha's place for a delicious Neychoru ( Ghee rice ) with chicken curry and Beef pickle dinner. Sulaimani time and off to sleep.
7/7/2015
DAY 3, BEIJING
The day for the Great Wall of China.
The Great Wall of China
Gince suggested we visit the Mutianyu stretch of the Great Wall. We took the 916 "Kuai"( Fast Passenger for the Mallus ) bus from Dongzhimen Wai bus stand that goes to Huairou. We were supposed to get down at a bus station called Mingzhu Guangchang and take a minibus from there to Mutianyu. This was our first bus ride in China. It was very comfortable, until disaster struck in the form of a cab driver who ushered us out of the bus saying this was where we had to get down. In our defense, the bus station did read "Huairou". The ONE thing that was written in Lonely Planet was NOT to be lured away by cab drivers before you reach Mingzhu Guangchang and that is EXACTLY what we did. We certainly didn't expect to be lured out of a bus from our comfortable seats. The LURING OUT picture that we had in our mind was AFTER we got out at a bus station. Well. That was embarrassing. Looked like we didn't have a choice but walk till Mingzhu station. 2 Indian ladies walking on the street, trying to ask directions from the locals by frantically pointing at a book defines LOST in a city. The locals are extremely helpful. But the communication part is a torture. You almost feel like giving them a hug for all the effort they put into helping you out with directions.
The Extremely Helpful Locals.< WOF No. 7 >
Either the pair of us look so helpless with our book in one hand and multiple maps in the other, OR the locals are just really nice and helpful people by nature. Either way, EVERY single time we opened our book and pointed at the address of our destination to any local, we were overwhelmed by the help we received. Below are some of the ways in which the PROBLEM- SOLVER locals helped us:
1. They draw the route for you on a piece of paper and animatedly usher you towards the route.
2. They whip out their phones and open the Bing translator in an effort to communicate the directions to you.
3. They call up English-speaking friends on their phones and hands over the phone to us.
4. If they are not sure of the way themselves, they ask people passing by to help us out. And NOpe! They don't leave until you have a solution.
5. We even had one of them actually running after you to apologise for the wrong directions and to show us the right direction. Who does that kind of thing ? :)
We were inspired. Next time, someone asked for directions. WE WILL MAKE SURE he/she FINDS his/her way !
Coming back to the Great Indian Walk to the Great Wall of China. A lady finally helped us out with the directions in the form a route map drawing in our book. That was one long walk. It did not help that it was around noon and the sun was shining bright right above our heads. We got into the minibus which charges 15 CNY/person and reached Mutianyu.
We booked the cable car upwards and toboggan downwards. 4 tickets each. A total of 8 tickets. Assuming that the 2 extra tickets were entrance tickets to somewhere once we reached the top, we walked on.
After almost half an hour of walking and NO cable car station to be seen, we figured something was wrond. NO! DO NOT SMIRK AT US! We saw buses ( shuttle buses, we realised later on ), whooshing past us and even tried to stop one of them for a ride up. But they didnt stop. As we reached a steep slope up, we figured something was miserably wrong. We asked an old man the directions to the cable car station in sign language. I wish I had a video of it. He almost laughed at us! We were walking all this while clutching the bus tickets close to our hearts.
Naivety strikes again.
Aysha consoled us later in the night that this happens to most people( Bless her kind heart ) and that multiple tickets is a problem every non-Chinese person faces.
We held the tickets up ( Like Harry Potter sticking his wand out for the Knight Bus ) when we saw the next bus. Voila! It stopped and we scrambled in.
The cable car got us to the top. We walked along the Great Wall marvelling at the enormity of the wall. Oh! The damned slavery. The people who worked on the wall construction were mostly political prisoners. I missed Kent and his class on slavery.
It is most often mistakenly assumed that the Wall is one continuous entity. In reality, the edifice exists in chunks scattered between mountains ( the natural barriers ). The Mutianyu piece of the wall has 26 watch towers and it is a good walk. It is cold, almost chilly inside the watch towers.
The Toboggan ride downwards was worth every penny spent. Felt like Calvin & Hobbes on one of their winter WHEEE... adventures down the snow-covered hills. Very simple mechanics to control the speed . Absolutely safe if you follow the simple instructions to slow down and speed up written on huge hoardings during the ride.
We had a Subway wrap( Veggie for Shiveta, much to her delight ) when we reached down and headed back to Beijing.
Gince had booked a table at the famous Quanjude Roast Duck restaurant. We ate the famous Peking Duck. Honestly, this Peking duck business is sort of overhyped. But well, one for the record.
We went to the insect market next, where I got to eat crispy little scorpions on a stick. As Aysha had told us earlier, it tasted like prawns. I would recommend this little wiggly scorpions for your personal list of " Dare to Eat ". The snakes and bats did not look too fresh.
We went back home to catch some sleep. Our train to Xian the next day was at 7 in the morning.
