Beer on the Great Wall

Royal Treatment

Since Darah had work on Tuesday and Marshall had school, I hired David, the driver that took us to the Great Wall, to be my driver for the day. He picked me up at 9am and off we went. It was perfect that Darah had found him a few weeks earlier and got his contact info. He is one of the few drivers in Beijing that speak English, and his is very very good! So in addition to the places I requested to see, he also had an itinerary of places he thought we should add to the list. He was also able to tell me some history behind the sites. That was nice. He was like my tour guide, driver, and friend for the day!

So off we went on our site-seeing adventure! First we visited the home of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. I entered into the nest egg stadium, where the opening ceremony was and slowly walked around the stadium imagining what it must have felt like to have been an Olympic athlete walking the walk on that day last year representing their country. It must have been amazing knowing that you one of the best in the world and completing the title!

Next, we went from celebrating superior athletes to celebrating Buddha! The Lama Temple is one of the largest and most important Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in the world. The building and the artworks of the temple combine Han Chinese and Tibetan styles. The building work on the Lama Temple started in 1694 during the Qing Dynasty. It originally served as an official residence for court eunuchs. In 1722, half of the building was converted into a lamasery, a monastery for monks of Tibetan Buddhism. The other half remained an imperial palace. Now it is open to the public and is populated by tourists, locals and monks alike. So, I definitely did a lot of people watching first, but finally felt comfortable performing the ritual that most others visitors were doing at the temple, praying to Buddha. I bought some incense, lit it in the flame and let it burn while I got on my knees in front of many different Buddhas and prayed. One of the ways to pray to the Buddha is, you place your palms together close to your face (with or without incense lit) and bring your hands toward the ground three times. The higher the hands and the lower the bow, the more respect is shown. It is a sign of respect and politeness. At first I was hesitant to try it, but finally got the courage to just do it. How often will I get this opportunity to be in an amazing Temple like this? I am so glad I overcame my fear and embarrassment and showed my respect to Buddha and the Temple. On my last prayer before exiting the Temple, I lit my last incense and got on my knees to pray. Immediately, the incense ash was falling on my hands and over my clothes and my knees were on fire! Of course, typical clumsy Stephanie has to do something like this! I walked out laughing at myself with a burnt palm and burnt holes in my white skirt. CLASSIC!

Next, I got to spend a few minutes at the Confucius Temple, which was also amazing. The Temple of Confucius at Beijing is the second largest Confucian Temple in China after the one in Confucius' hometown of Qufu. It was built in 1302, and imperial officials used it to pay their respects to Confucius until 1911.This temple wasn’t as populated as the Lama Temple. There were local student artists working on their paintings in the courtyard and few other tourists. It was peaceful inside and also beautiful!

Onto The Bell Tower we went. Bells and drums were musical instruments in ancient China. Later they were used to tell time and became watches for the officials and common people as well. The Bell and Drum towers were the center of time telling during the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Now they are tourist attractions and offered some amazing views of the city. As you can see, The Bell tower is surrounded by Old Beijing. According to David, all of Beijing looked like this 35 years ago. This city has grown so fast in the past 35 years that only small portions of the city still model these smaller buildings.

David took me to this traditional Chinese restaurant in Old Beijing for lunch. I ordered Egg Drop soup (something we order often at Overseas Chinese in Carlsbad) and David ordered the rest for us to feast! The parking in Old Beijing is a nightmare! We finally found a spot to parallel park in, and David accidentally hit the car in front of him! I got to watch the Chinese settle a car accident. There is no car insurance in China….. so you settle up with cash on the spot! It was very interesting!

On our full stomachs, we headed to the Temple of Heaven. This was my other favorite place for the day! I didn’t actually go inside the temple. I had too much fun wondering around the park surrounding it. This park is full of local Chinese and tourist visitors. The locals seem to each have their hangout spots throughout. At the entrance, the first group of locals were dancing around with a hand held kite (hard to describe) to 50 Cent! It was so awesome!!! I have video! Off to the right about 30 feet away was a group of 50-60 elderly locals ballroom dancing to Chinese Pop music. I wanted so badly to join them but was a little intimated. After watching and thinking and telling myself, Steph… just do it, you’ll never see these people again, I did it. One of the older ladies came up and pulled me into the dancing circle. As we were dancing, I couldn’t help but smile thinking about how amazing this is. I may not be able understand them but I have found the language of music and dance that we can equally express ourselves and communicate with. There were times that I was imitating their moves and vice versa. And all of the ladies and men were so nice. The spectators were equally entertained. I was the only foreigner out there immersing myself in the culture. It is times like these I wish Marco was with me to experience this too, and be able to catch it on video! It is a moment I will never forget and will cherish forever. As I walked further into the park, there was an area where all the locals were playing cards, and further in, they were all singing and playing instruments. Then further in, groups of men were playing Chinese checkers, and further…. A hacky-sac like object was kicked towards me. I played with an older man for awhile, trying to kick with my heels! I wanted to snap picture after picture but felt like I was intruding on their personal space. I kept my camera in my purse and hope to remember this park and its inhabitants just as I saw it!

David then took me to the famous Tea House in Beijing for a tea break. You know how much I love Tea. I tried some Jasmine tea and David ordered us some tasty pastries to go along with them. We then headed to the Silk Market. After a long walk down the dirt roads of Beijing back alleys, we arrived at the Silk Market.

I bought some tea from a local vendor and looked at the silk products being sold, but nothing caught my eye. I’d rather save my shopping for tomorrow. And the end of the Silk Market, we stopped at a refreshment stand and David treated me to the traditional Chinese yogurt in a ceramic container/cup. I was a little weary but it was tasty! It tasted just like plain yogurt, but you drank it out of a straw.

My day with David was finally coming to an end. I had him drop my off at 8pm at the Dahli Courtyard to meet Darah and her friend Vasusu for dinner and drinks. I was thankful that David was able to show me Beijing just the way I wanted to see it. And my adventure still isn’t over… there is still so much to be seen in this large city!

Lost in Translation

So, the crazy part about Beijing is that you could be in big city Beijing and having fancy champagne at the Park Hyatt Hotel, and the next minute you could be walking down the street finding yourself lost in the crowds of the average local residents in authentic Beijing. This happened to me on Monday night when I has some time to spare after Tiananmen Square before we went to dinner. I thought I would just walk down the street to see what I could find. I walked and walked and walked and found myself Lost in Translation. I felt a little uncomfortable because no one could speak any English and everyone was staring. It wasn’t a bad stare, just a “is she lost?” kind of stare. I decided to enter into a local convenience market where there was a fresh fruit stand outside and many people gathered around. I went inside and wondered around a bit, just checking everything out. I was followed by a worker there and she instantly starting grabbing things from the shelves and showing them to me, asking me in Chinese of course, if I wanted to buy them. Hair bands? Jewelry? Tea cups? Toys? I knew I needed Toothpaste so I found that aisle and tried to pick one. Luckily I saw Crest on one of the boxes so thought that would be a safe choice. The price on the shelf said 3.5RMB. I picked it up and the woman (who was still following me) grabbed her calculator and typed 4 and showed it to me! Ha-ha. She must have thought I didn’t notice the price on the shelf. I love the calculator! More stories on that later! I paid my 4 RMB and headed down the street with toothpaste in hand. I was getting a bit thirsty so I thought I would stop into a local restaurant and order a beer. All of the restaurants at this time were packed with local diners and I felt a bit uncomfortable going in and ordering a beer with no food. Also, I would get stared at and didn’t know any Chinese. I settled for a hotel lounge/bar and entered into the first hotel I came across. I went inside and ordered a beer… no one knew what I was saying! Hands come in handy here. I’ve done a lot of pointing! It’s just so amazing that I am in a country where language is a huge barrier to communication. I have thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and have appreciated every second of my time here. Can you imagine being in the US and not knowing any English? I really should know another language!

More Pictures!

I have so much to write about and my time is running out here! I'll try to catch up with some awesome stories after dinner tonight... but in the meantime, here are some more pictures!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=xzebhg9.8ixgy6vt&x=0&y=lo8fe3&localeid=en_US

Tiananmen Square and The Forbidden City

Although I can’t say that I know much about both places I visited, I definitely learned a lot and am inspired to educate myself further about China’s history. Tiananmen Square is HUGE. You really don’t do anything there but hang out on this large open concrete covered space, be present in the moment, and people watch.


I would estimate that about 90% of the visitors/tourists were from another province in China and this was their BIG vacation (kind of like how Washington DC would be to us). They come to see all of the historical sites of Beijing, the famous monuments, temples, and places that represent so much to them than we’ll ever know. As I stepped foot on the grounds, I was instantly approached by a college student who befriended me and wanted to know where I was going. I told her that I wanted to see the Square and the Forbidden City and as she pointed in the direction of where I should go, and then continued to walk with me, I thought I made my first friend. About 5 minutes and many conversations later about how she is a student in another part of China, here on vacation, learning English, etc, I finally realized that SHE wanted to be my hired “tour guide”. And she wasn’t the only one. I would say that about 10 people came up to me throughout the day asking to be the same thing. You know when you are being approached by someone wanting something from you, when:

1. They are usually in their 20’s
2. They speak English
3. And then the questions: “You are beautiful! Where are you from? How long are you here? Is this your first time to Beijing? What is your name? Where are you staying?”……
At first, I fell for it, but quickly picked up on the game!

I sat in the middle of the Square for a bit just enjoying the sun and being present in the moment when I then started being approached by this sweet young girl and her family.




They sat down next to me and practically good the 2 year old in my lap and smiled. Immediately the camera came out and I was in the middle of a photo shoot with this precious girl in my lap. I didn’t really know what to think. I did like that everyone was so friendly but it was just so strange that they thought because of my blonde hair and blue eyes, that I was something else, something beautiful, something they’d never seen before. I had to admit, it did feel good!

Not before long, others started to follow suit, sending over family members to ask to take photo with me. It made me laugh each time and thought, "no one is going to believe me unless I catch this on video" So once I get to a place that allows YouTube to be viewed in their country, I’ll share!

Finally, I made my way to the Forbidden City.
As I walked through the massive complex, I imagined what it must have been like to live here back with all of the different dynasties that called this their home. One of our book club books, “Peony in Love”, came to mind as I strolled through the grounds. I pictured Peony being trapped in the walls of the City and never being able to leave (although it really is a city in and of its own). I got lots of pictures of pictures of the architecture of the city that still also exist throughout Beijing! Above and beyond the history surrounding me, I really felt like I learned more about the tourist culture of Beijing. Just know that even though I am exploring on my own here, I am constantly being entertained by the city’s occupants and contributing to the city my never-ending smiles and laughter as I head to the next destination!

Chinese Public Exercise Equipment

Beijing's public parks are very different than in the US. I feel like our parks aren't nearly as utilized as they should be, but I also have to remember that most of us in Southern California have yards. Beijing reminds me a lot of New York as a city, and their parks: a lot like Central Park but with one exception, the Chinese Public Exercise Equipment. It is this bright colored equipment that are in many of the parks and are available to anyone, although its mostly the elderly who are occupying the equipment. When lots of this equipment is bunched together, it looks just like an adult playground! Each piece is designed to provide a slight workout or a deep stretch to a different body part. Some machines remind me of elliptical machines, others like a steering wheel you turn with your arms. It is so intriguing to me how popular these machines are. When I was at the park that surrounded the Temple of Heaven yesterday, I just sat and observed the outdoor gym being used to its fullest. Next time I come accross one, I'm definitely giving it a try!

Split Pants

So, around town you'll see toddlers walking around in what is called "Split Pants". So, if you can imagine a ski bib outfit for snow skiing, but with a slit in the butt area of the pants, that is what they are! They have seriously made my laugh each time I see a toddler walking around in them. Basically, its so it is easy for them to go to the bathroom. They just bend over, wherever they are, and go #1 or #2. I havent seen this yet and would like to avoid it, but that is just too funny. Apparently diapers are hard to come by around here...no doubt though, it is precious!

Pictures! Beijing Part 1!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=xzebhg9.9zmrvl0p&x=0&y=ps1q5x&localeid=en_US

Most of the pictures in the album are of the first weekend of being here. I have pictures of Friday and Saturday night going out, and then The Great Wall on Saturday. :) More to come in Part 2!

JT, I feel your pain

My visit to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City today wouldn't have been as magical without the swarm of people running up to me asking to take a "pikcha" with me. To the other tourists, I was Paris Hilton. It was FABULOUS! Its funny knowing that 40 people will be taking home a picture of me with Tiananmen Square in the background. Justin, its a lot of work being famous. I was only famous for a day and I am exhausted! Goodnight!

Good Times!

I am finally sitting down to get in some great blogging. It is now Monday morning in Beijing, and I’ve had my weekend of fun living the fabulous lifestyle of Darah and Marshall. As much as I can say that it was part of the strategic plan to arrive on Friday morning, it just sort of worked out perfectly! Darah just got a job working full time and Marshall is currently in business school here so I was able to get acquainted with the city while they were on their weekend break. Beijing is an interesting place. And while I know I haven’t seen it all, I feel like I got a pretty good glimpse of the many classes of people that live here. We’ve had dinners that range from regular western prices to dinner last night at a local restaurant in an alley where our billed totaled US $3 (and that was because we order a Sprite with our meal and over-ordered! It is a city of large buildings where the high-rise lifestyle is the norm for most residents. Darah and Marshall live in a 20 story building that is one of the nicest in the area that they live in. Let’s just say that every morning there is a Bentley waiting out front picking a resident up for the day. It is in a neighborhood that surrounds itself with 2 of the largest universities in Beijing and although there are many students in the area, there are few living in their building. They are on the 16th floor in a corner apartment where the views are amazing. They are on the northwest side of the enormous city and my room looks out over Tsinghua University (where Marshall goes) and out toward the mountains where the Great Wall lies. It is too far to see the Great Wall but it is neat to have a bedroom full of windows looking out onto the city and mountains surrounding. Not many people speak English in the part of town where I am staying. Although most of the signage, restaurant menus and even ATMs are also in English, many of the people do not speak the language. I find it intriguing but also difficult to communicate. I wish I knew even a few phrases that would be helpful for the week. So far, I have only learned how to say hello, thank you, how much, and don’t want. In another part of the city, where most westerners live, the local eateries, bars and clubs cater to them. You’ll see the nice American style dinners for the same prices (maybe a little less) and the local night clubs charging the same prices for drinks. On Friday night, a club was re-opening and we Darah and Marshall know one of the partners in the nightclub. We got into the club no problem. I was definitely one of the few blondes there until we headed to the VIP area where I was in the majority and the Chinese were the minority. I told Darah that I didn’t feel at all like I was in Beijing. She pointed out that the reason you didn’t see many Chinese in the VIP was because the drinks were priced so high, that many Chinese can’t justify spending that much when you can go to other clubs/bars in other areas of Beijing and drink all night for $5 total. It made sense. I am sure we’ll be visiting one of those places before I go.
The food here is amazing. Every meal I’ve eaten has been wonderful. And I haven’t gotten sick once. This morning I am eating an American breakfast at the café connected to the building I am staying at. It is nice and convenient and very tasty. I’ve also been enjoying my Thai Iced Tea. Here, they call is Iced Milk Tea. FUN! After Darah and I hiked the Great Wall and took the awesome toboggan ride back down the village, we hit the dried fruit stands for some samples and then bought some dried kiwi. It was so cool! Last night Darah and I went to this hole in the wall Chinese place and ordered water dumplings. This menu was NOT in English and we ended up stuffing our faces with the 50 dumplings Darah ordered (even thought she tried to only order 25). They were amazing! On my first night here, Marshall took to me this place called Noodle Bar. It was tucked away and surrounded by art galleries to the left and right. The food reminded me of Pho. We each had a bowl of noodle soup with beef broth. The noodles are actually made right in front of you and then you have sauces you can mix into your broth to create your own taste for the broth. In terms of the drinks, beer is very popular here. I’ve also indulged on a few lychee martinis when we’ve gone out. My best drink experience was having a beer with Darah on the Great Wall. There are local vendors at random spots of the Great Wall selling snacks and such. Darah and I each sipped our warm beer and enjoyed the view from one of the wonders of the world. The club scene here, well, the westerner club scene is pretty much the same. The music is either hip hop or house, both very good. Lots of people dance with a different flare to it. I like it. I’ve also had the opportunity to meet some of Darah and Marshall’s friends that live here. They are so very nice, well cultured, intelligent, and know how to have fun!
The people in Beijing are also very friendly. My favorite manner of respect is when someone hands you the bill, or their business card, or something… they hand it to you with both hands while looking at you in the eyes while leaning forward and slightly bowing. It is a very nice sign of respect that I would like to take back to the states and implement myself. J Then there are certain mannerisms the Chinese lack, but just make the culture that much more interesting, and entertaining. When you get off of an elevator or subway, those getting in don’t wait for anyone to get off before they charge ahead. So you charge too. It’s not rude here to do that, or fight for a seat on the subway, you just do it. And there really isn’t a thing called personal space here. There are just so many people everywhere that they are used to being shoulder to shoulder. There are lots of street vendors everywhere, selling all sorts of things, from jewelry, to pineapples on a stick, to illegally copies DVDs, illegally printed best-selling books, fruit, etc. Everything is negotiable and it’s an art! It you don’t negotiate, it’s an insult to the vendor. I am sure I’ll have lots of great shopping experiences to share later this week! Our relaxing Sunday ended at Oriental Taipan where I got a 90 minute head, neck, shoulder and foot massage for $20. I was in heaven and am sure I’ll be heading back before I head to Cambodia. It was a nice treat after hiking the Great Wall the day before. Also, I have kankles right now. Oh yes, my ankles are so swollen and won’t go down. I think it’s from the long flight, but who knows. It was a nice treat and way to end the great weekend!

Today I am going to take a taxi (which are very inexpensive btw) to Darah’s work. I’ll take a tour of Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City along with the Confucius Temple. Funny Story. I just paid for my amazing American Breakfast but couldn’t explain to the Chinese waitress that I was ready to pay. She had to get 4 more waitresses before one of them understood my English somewhat that I was ready to pay my bill. I am laughing out loud right now at this experience. This is the kind of experience I wanted to have. And I am totally getting it! I LOVE IT! And now I know that mai dan means “check please”!

My First Weekend n Beijing

I really wanted to blog more frequently but seriously there just hasn't been time to even sleep! I arrived in Beijing on Friday morning. Marshall made me a sign with my new Chinese name and then took me to their posh apartment and since then, we have been go go going! I have so many stories I wan to go into detail about but, of course, the weekend isn't over and Darah and I are leaving in a few to catch the subway to the shopping district! A few quick highlights of my weekend:

Friday, Marshall picked me up at the airport, gave me the tour of the apt (which is AMAZING, btw!) and then we got my first meal in Beijing, a burger! HA! (They say there will be plenty of time for Chinese!) I took a nap, then we headed to dinner at this very cool noodle soup restaurant before meeting up with Darah after she got off work at lounge in this new fancy hotel called PUNK. Then off to the club, China Doll, where we met up with D & M's friends who are partners in the club (of course we got VIP!). There isn't late night Mexican drive through but there is Late Night Chinese... so off we went to Bellagio for the BEST Chinese I've ever had!

Saturday, on 2 hours of sleep, Darah and I went to the Great Wall! It was a beautiful day, sunny with blue skies. We hired a driver to take us out there and back for very inexpensive. David was awesome! The villages we past on the way to the Wall were so unique and interesting. But the Great Wall was even more spectacular. I can't wait to post pictures as soon as I can figure that out! I can't unfortunately show my videos since YouTube has been banned from this country as of about 1 month ago apparently! But more to come soon! After the Great Wall, we ordered take out, ate, then took a long nap! Had Filet and wine at this nice restaurant. Then more clubs, PUNK again then Block 8. Met this famous DJ dude and famous Chinese actor. Too funny and so many stories! Late night food last night was Marshall's tasty quesadillas. Late night Mexican has arrived!

Off to do some shopping now.. more later!

In Korea!

Luckily everything in the Seoul, Korea airport is labeled in English, so I was able to find this internet cafe at the airport and get 30 free minutes! What a journey it has been so far, and I'm not even to Beijing yet!

So, first of all, I love international travel! It is such an adventure doing this for the first time, and on my own. I can't have Marco do all the research (he loves that kind of stuff) but I have to actually find everything on my own! I found my gate, boarded the plane in LAX even through the flight attendants were speaking Mandarin, I even did the currency exchange all my myself- that was the easy part!

I wish I had time to go into more detail but here are some highlights so far (trust me, I am taking it all in!)

- Asiana Air ROCKS! I felt like I was in first class! The chairs reclined back pretty far, the service was amazing, they served 3 meals (steak for dinner, sandwiches for lunch, and an omelette for breakfast! You know me and how much I like to eat! LOVED IT!
-The Seoul, Korea airport is amazingly clean and very modern. Also very quiet.
-I love India.Arie. She was my music buddy on the flight.
-See the Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons. GREAT Movie!

Finally, before I head onto Beijing, I want to say thanks to:



Marco (my Booty) for being so patient with me and also letting me go on this adventure (for 2 1/2 weeks!)
Hollywood- for letting me borrow your i-FLIP- cant wait to use it and share video on the blog.
My girls at the office, Janelle and Kyla, for being so awesome at work that I can actually take off 3 weeks to do this! You too Keith! You are awesome!

Okay, off to the next adventure!

Stephanie

Here

Its finally here. My BLOG. I plan on using this space to document my growth and evolution through my life experiences. It'll be an interesting ride, I am sure!