The area really comes alive at night, and gets more reputable closer to what must be a main street. Though now that I've seen the area where my hostel is in daylight, I can say that it's not so much seedy as it is residential. Further down though, tones of restaurants and little shops, and stalls selling food. I had a slice of what must have been the longest cantaloupe ever, a skewer of what I really hope was beef, and a yummy red bean cake.
Am currently sitting in the fanciest of the restaurants on the strip. I think if I do this again though I might try one of the littler places that seem popular, rather than sticking to the places with English menus. It'll still be upper cheap relative to eating back home though - probably less than $5?
Ordering for one is a bit of a chore, as the dishes are all meant for sharing. I stuck to a basic veggie dish (so not getting enough nutrients - just realized I never ended up eating lunch which goes a long way to explaining why I'm so famished.) and an order of rice. Choosing the poshest place is further justified when you consider that this was my only proper meal of the day. Also was adventurous and ordered tea instead of diet coke.
Which I can get a bigger bottle of on the way back to the hostel anyways :) I may also get one more of those giant cantaloupe slices. Or possibly another barbecue stick to up my protein intake?
Anyways, to more thoroughly recap the days events since the temple of heaven. I was inches away from giving up on the pearl market - went out the east gate and didn't see a thing, so I figured it was one of those little unmarked places. So I wander down the street looking for a taxi only to come across this truly gigantic building with 'pearl market' labelled on all sides, and a giant pearl and oyster out front. Success!
It was one of those standard asian malls, selling pretty much everything and not just pearls. Ended up picking up a few things, including a new phone. My blackberry is pretty mug a goner, and the little one I bought in Australia is a bit too basic for normal use back home. And getting ripped off in HK turned me into a bargaining pro here in Beijjing - I think I might now be aggressive enough to make up for my losses. Though I did feel better about it when I noticed that what I'm calling ripped off still came in at less than what the airport would have charged.
The shopping I did at the pearl market pales in comparison with the damage I did in the palace museum - a.k.a. The forbidden city. Especially when I went to pay with credit card because I was concerned with conserving cash and found out that using my MasterCard got me an extra 10% off. And random knickknacks have extra meaning hen bought from somewhere cool?
But I'm getting ahead of myself. So, I taxi over to the forbidden city, only to find that I've been dropped off at one of the side gates so have to treck around to the front. Which in retrospect gave me a chance to see the moat, but at the time had me seriously reconsidering just heading in early.
Glad I stuck to it though. Even splurged and went with the audio commentary option. Which was kind of cool - it had this gps type thing going on, where I just wore it wandering around and it would spout of facts as I reached different areas.
Had another giggly moment when I got in the main gate. Totally brought to mind Mulan, one of the many, many films I've watched on the various flight I've been on.
I don't really remember what any of the buildings I passed were - various temples to earthly or heavenly harmony. I picked up this cool map (well, series of matching maps of all the sites I have/will see in Beijing) which describes the main sights so I can look it up later.
I do remember how super long it was. The weather cleared up so it was super hot and sunny. And there were lots if stairs, and lots of tourists wandering about. I kept wanting to just turn back, but toughed it out. They had benches scattered throughout, and most of the gates, and some of he smaller buildings are now gift shops with cold drink stands attached. I would occasionally stop and sit until I could talk myself into continuing. The shopping probably made it worse, what with the added weight. I ended up making it all the way across from the main meridian gate through to the imperial gardens at the back of the complex, which turned out to be one of my favorite parts. Both the gardens and the temple of heaven have really cool cypress trees, one of which (forget where) is 800 years old.
And am taking a quick break - restaurant is closing up. I've been sitting here enjoying my tea while writing, as I figure it's more pleasant here than lounging in the hotel lobby, but think I'll trek over now before I get too tired. Totally right about the total though - less than 5.
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Too full for more food. Or my planned diet coke.
To recap the rest of my day quickly, as I need to get to bed, I made it back across the palace complex, and then cross another series of traditional arches and promenades until I hit tianamen square. Which I partly only went to because I didn't want the cool map I bought off it to be a lie.
Then did a halfhearted search for a recharge card for my cellphone (apparently only available back on HK, so currently cell less) before taxiing back. I considered walking, as it's all meant to be walking distance from he hostel, but really - it's like two dollars. And I was exhausted.
Still am, so am heading off to bed. Early start tomorrow - my tour of the great wall starts at 7:30. I'm doing the Badaling portion of the wall - partly because it apparently involves the least walking and stops at some tombs along the way, but also because it's also advertised as being a 'shopping' tour. Yay :)
Oh and heads up that there's no facebook in Beijing - so if you're contacting me through there, I get the notifications to my inbox, but can't go in to respond.
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