About to leave Beijing

We had a really good trip to the great wall. It was a little sketchy at first actually - we (and a Scottish guy) booked ourselves a trip on the street. The guy was pretty strange.. anyway we haggled him down the price of the ticket from 800 RMB per person to 200 RMB per person (about 30 dollars Canadian). This is more expensive than normal, but we got a private car/driver to a less touristy part of the wall. The next morning we met him and the Scottish guy at 7 am around Tianamen Square (our hostel was right next to the square). We walked a few blocks and then a car pulled up with our tour guide 'Lily' (who couldn't speak a word of english). Anyway, we got in and traveled like sardines all the way to the great wall (about 3 hours).

On the way we got a phone call from the 'guide's' manager. She said the car had to be inspected for 35 minutes to make sure it could go to the wall. Having been a tourist in latin america I knew this would mean a stop at a 'special' store. It was a jade shop and we made it out only spending about 18$ canadian.

The wall was absolutely beautiful. The scenery was just amazing - there were green mountains just about as far as you could see and a green lake flowing through everything. We took lots of pictures and we will post them when we get a chance.

We went shopping to a clothing market when we got back to Beijing. I had an absolute blast and haggled until I was ready to drop. I think I should put my services up for hire because Andrew now uses me to buy things for him - "I want those pants so go see what's the best price you can get me". The shop sellers always start out at really ridiculous prices - like 850 RMB (120 CDN) for a pair of obviously fake shoes (even though they say "Goodie, goodie for you!") or a pair of pants that say "FFashionable & Fitch"......hmmmm..... Anyway, it's fun and usually the sellers prices will drop further and further as you continue to walk away from the stall. All in all, we managed to get a pair of shoes, 2 pairs of pants, and a '100% silk' shirt for Andrew. Everything was about 60 dollars - so I think we did pretty good.

We went to the Forbidden city yesterday morning. It was about 100 degrees outside and it was really sticky and polluted. Andrew and I were both not that impressed with the palace. I think it's just because everything feels like a money grabbing operation. Just about every corner you turned there was someone there looking for money - it's really annoying. Also, everything was under construction (as with a lot of beijing, being refinished/demolished for the olympics) so it wasn't that nice. The size was impressive though...

We went to the summer palace today though and that was a whole different story. It was like a giant garden with a great big lake in the middle and a bazillion temples and buddas all laying around the outside.

Unfortunately, we had already checked out of our hotel and were hoping they would have luggage storage at the place. They didn't. So... we carted around three heavy bags (my stuff, tara's stuff, and souveniers) for 3 and a half hours. I think we are going to be pretty tired by Sunday. The most impressive thing about all these places is the size. I mean, we saw lots of temples in Korea... even some nice ponds and stuff. They are just a lot bigger here. On the downside, the smog is thick so the pictures aren't that great.

I don't really like Chinese food so far. It's really greasy, spicy, and salty. Everything is packaged as well. Andrew and I have been trying to eat only one meal a day at a restaurant and just eating fruits and granola bars for the rest of the day. It's not bad, except that I almost like our fruits and granola bars better than the meal that we eat at the restaurant. They say the food gets better as you head out closer to tibet.

The food is REALLY cheap though. Today we ate lunch in a touristy area.. well, chinese touristy anyway... tara had szechuan chicken, i had a large bowl of soup... and a bowl of noodles each, a tomato side dish and a large cold beer... all for under 4.50 canadian. But yeah, really greasy and salty (even for me!). The supermarkets we have seen so far aren't that great either - EVERYTHING is packaged. We were hoping it would be easier to pick up healthy food in the markets... maybe it's just the tourist areas. Or maybe we were just spoiled in Korea with everyone being a lot more health concious there.

So, we're taking a train tonight to Datong (about 7 hours away from Beijing). We're hoping to hop on a tour tomorrow morning to see the caves in Datong (it's supposedly a really dirty industrial city) and then hop on another train tomorrow night. That means 2 nights no bed and no shower - ewwwww!

Pictures to come soon! Just been go-go-go since we got here. Good to hear from everyone.

Ji-Hyun: Say hi to everyone at taekkyon for us. We are REALLY missing practicing with you guys.

Tara and Andrew

Slow boat to China...

Well, we made it. We got through all the good-byes, the bus ride to
Incheon, the boat to Tianjin, the bus to Beijing (barely), a taxi across
town and a moto-taxi to the hotel. It is quite a bit different in
Beijing... the streets are wider, the air is more polluted, the vendors
are more aggressive, and it is a lot more flat than Korea.

The boat was quite nice. We lucked out and got a 4 bunk room to
ourselves with a nice view of haze hanging over the sea. We played some
cards, ate our last Korean food, and even got to watch some TV. It was
really something seeing all the boats coming in to port in China.

We are REALLY missing Korean food. So far we have only managed to find
a lot of greasy and salty food. We did manage to find some cheap fruit
so that made us happy. And also really missing the sense of security we
had in Korea. I've already had to twist a guy's arm and yell at him and
his friends for trying to grab Tara's camera. Next time the Taekkyon is
coming out...

Today we just toured around Tianamen Square and the area around here.
We found a nice market where we picked up a hat, a flashlight, a
spotting scope, and an MP3 player with batteries all for under 40 CAD.
Nice stuff too. Most things are actually pretty cheap here except for
the hotels are a little pricey for the quality. Apparently everything
gets cheaper when we move out of Beijing. Which is good for us cause we
have already gone over budget every day so far.

Tomorrow we are heading to the great wall of China. We booked a bus
(the price was originally about 100$ per person, we got the price down
to 60$ for 3 people) to take us to a remote area of the wall which is
apparently really scenic and also a tough hike. Unfortunately, I
smashed my knee in the hotel room about an hour ago so it will be
interesting to see how far we make it.

Thinking of everyone, send us some emails!

Love,
-Andrew and Tara