In August, 2001 (pre-9/11), I took a 19-day excursion through China with my sister-by-choice, Kendra. It was an amazing journey. My hope is to excite you into making the trek for yourself. This is part 5 of 5.
Beijing
Temple of Heaven
First stop – the Temple of Heaven
On our way from the airport to the hotel, were taken to our first tour site, the Temple of Heaven. Used for ceremonial purposes only, the emperor would make a sacrifice of grains and fruit at this temple to ensure a good harvest.
Very detailed finishes
Although, the building is impressive (it is of the round pagoda style rather than square and is surrounded by the typical tri-terraced stairway), there is nothing really noteworthy about it.
To learn about Palm Springs real estate, please visit http://www.torbuck.com or email me: tor@torbuck.com
ATM! ATM!
That evening, I realized that my cash was running low. I asked the concierge if there was an ATM around. She said she would arrange for a cab to take me.
After the standard argument with the cabby, she said he’d take me to a bank with an open ATM and bring me back. She gave me a card with the hotel information on it and wrote the cabby’s license number on it. Well, I saw more of Bejing that night than I thought a simple trip to the bank would take.
We started driving down the main boulevard and I’m just taking it all in. After a couple of miles and passing several banks, I’m beginning to wonder if I’m to be the next white slave. (Who wants a 50 year old slave?) Why haven’t we gotten there yet? On he drives. At least he’s not crazy like my driver in Chungqing! We must have gone 7 or 8 miles when he pulls around the corner into an alley (OH, GOD!). Whew! It’s OK. The driveway to the bank entrance and ATM are off this alley. Then I realize that once I’ve gotten my money (only a few hundred dollars, but more than he makes in a month), now is the time when he would make his move. I tell my wild imagination that he’s an honest man and I’ll get back without incident and I do get back without a problem. I guess that most people don’t go to the bank late at night. So, there just aren’t many ATMs open then.
The Ming Tombs
The 13th Emperor’s tomb and museum
For some reason, known only to the Chinese mind, all the artifacts removed from the third Ming emperor’s tomb (the only one to have been opened) have been placed on exhibition at the site of the thirteenth (and last) emperor’s tomb. The collection of costumes, armor and implements (in gold, jade and precious stones) is certainly interesting and informative. However, it was the walk to the third emperor’s tomb (about a mile) that was the most fascinating. (The first and second Ming emperors were buried elsewhere.)
The parked grounds are lush and serene. On our walk we come across a small ornate pagoda-like building (about 4’ high) with a sign reading “The Sacred Silk Burner”. I guess silk must be burned at the emperor’s funeral.
Silk burner
Continuing on, one is greeted by huge stone statues of Chinese men, then a variety of animals. One on each side of the walkway, are a matched pair of specific animals. First there was a standing fu dog on both the right and left of you; then a sitting fu dog on each side. Next you come upon standing elephants then seated elephants and so on. There were probably a dozen different types of animals all with standing and sitting counter-parts.
Larry finds the resting guard’s hump rather comfortable
The story goes that the sitting one is resting while the standing one is guarding the place. Then, presumably, they would switch positions.
After going more than half way, you come to a housed, inscribed obelisk (similar to the one we saw at Sun Yat Sen’s Mausoleum). I didn’t ask what these are. It’s probably sort of a headstone thing.
Along the way, we walk through the 5th Emperor’s tomb
Passing through this building, you’re struck with a view of the third emperor’s tomb. Higher yet on the hill, it’s a pink, two tiered pagoda on a castle-like walled area. Going up through the castle walls, the stairs bring you to some gorgeous views. Here, in the middle of Beijing, the green valley seems to go on forever!
Finally, we reach the 3rd Emperor’s tomb. Our guide, Susie, points out some features
Cloisonne Factory
A beautiful cloisonne vase
Although I’m not a fan of cloisonne, I found this factory tour the most interesting. The process is so labor intensive and detailed, one must appreciate the art form.
Artisans are placing copper wire to create the desired pattern
Multiple layers of enamel are applied with a kiln firing in between each layer
In the first room, workers tediously glue copper wire in precise shapes until all the pieces are set then they go back and solder all those very same pieces. Next, the piece is taken to a room where the powered glass colors are mixed and applied. Once dried, it’s off to the kiln where it’s fired for less than ten minutes at a very high temperature. After cooling, it goes back for another color application and firing…then again! After the final firing, it makes its way to the polishing room where it is placed on a lathe then ground and polished smooth with hand-held stones.
The Great Wall
Yet again, a mind blowing concept. One of only two Wonders of the World that still exist.
After lunch, we make the long trek (a two hour drive) to The Great Wall of China!
East meets West
Upon arriving, I first notice the old and new world coming together in the form of an old man in the parking lot begging for plastic bottles. With his thin frail frame, rustic cane and traditional long white pointy beard, he appears to be the archetypal wise Chinese sage. However, dressed in a t-shirt and blue baseball cap, he exemplifies the meeting of East and West of modern China.
Ancient canons line a part of the wall to keep out invaders
Taking in the panorama of this, the largest man-made structure on earth, I am humbled by the dragon-like meandering across the endless mountains eventually disappearing into the mists. Studying the wall’s design, you can tell which side was China and which side the invaders came from. There are parapets on one side only, allowing the soldiers some cover while aiming their arrows at the hordes.
Inside one of numerous billets along the wall in which the soldiers would be housed
Climbing the steps to higher positions on the wall’s trail is not so easy. The steps are uneven. Combine that with the altitude, one tires rather quickly. Frequent rests seem to be the order of the day. Some of us wanted to go higher, while some decided that there wasn’t much to be gained by that and laid out easier goals. Landa and I are among these and only make it to the first billet. It is fascinating to see how soldiers lived and worked in this most uncomfortable environment.
We hear bells then a Buddhist priest chanting
We heard bells and looked around to see a Buddhist priest standing in the doorway of a temple down in the valley. It’s always surprising to see signs of religion in an atheist nation. That is an example of how the society and government differ. The government dictates its position and the people do what they will (although not flaunting it).
There are many buildings in this Disneyland setting. I assume that some of them are ancient. But much of the complex has been built for the tourist trade. There is a huge area off to the side that is presently being constructed. It will be more shops, restaurants and perhaps a hotel. Fortunately, the architectural style is compatible with the existing structures.
For the Wall workers, it’s home sweet home
Climbing down, we decide that a cold beer would be the answer to a tourist’s prayer. So I buy us a couple and rest under the umbrella absorbing our surroundings.
Landa & I decide to get a beer, and we’re already high from our day’s adventures.
I realized at one point that I haven’t seen Larry and John. It turned out that they walked the wall going in the opposite direction from where our main group went. They said that that section of wall loops around so they didn’t have to back-track.
To learn about Palm Springs real estate, please visit http://www.torbuck.com or email me: tor@torbuck.com
Professional Acrobatics Show
That evening, after dinner, we attend the “professional” acrobatics show. Although enjoyable, I think I prefer the acrobatics school performance we saw several days earlier. No photographs were allowed of this performance.
The Summer Palace
Entrance to the Summer Palace
The Summer Palace has this, the longest covered walkway in the world
The roof of the walkway is covered in intricate designs
The marble yacht doesn’t float, but it is real marble!
The next morning, we’re off to The Garden for the Cultivation of Harmony, commonly known to us as the Summer Palace. This is where the Dowager Empress Cixi, the Dragon Lady, placed her nephew, the Guangxu Emperor, under house arrest while she ran the country. In 1908, to cover up her many atrocities, she poisoned him the day before she, herself died.
The grounds are so vast that we have to take this water taxi to get back to the bus. FUN!
A shot of the Summer Palace from the middle of the lake
Pearl Factory
Yet another factory store tour was the fresh water pearl factory. As usual, the stuff was beautiful but pricey. I did learn, however, that fresh water pearls usually grow in clusters (up to 30 per oyster) unlike salt water pearls which only grow one per oyster. Also, it was the Chinese, not the Japanese, who discovered how to make cultured pearls
Tian’anmen Square
Mao’s tomb was closed when we were there
Unlike other cities in China, the military was often seen in Beijing
A Soviet-era statue decorates one corner of the square.
Other than Mao’s Mausoleum and a couple of monuments, Tian’anmen Square is nothing more than a very large asphalt surface (the largest public square in the world). Since we were there on Sunday, Mao’s tomb was not open for viewing.
Imperial Palace (& Forbidden City)
The Imperial Palace is across the street from Tiananmen Square
We crossed the street from Tiananmen Square, walked up the imperial steps and entered the first gate of the Imperial Palace. This fortress is set up with three identical gates. Between one and the next are huge open areas where soldiers would take a stand. Invading forces would have to go through three armies and three impenetrable gates to get to the emperor. On the perimeter of these fields are the government offices.
The first of two huge courtyards (buffer zones) between the first and second gates in the palace
The second buffer zone between the second gate and the Forbidden City
As I crossed these desolate expanses, I believed that the elaborate, lush gardens (like I had seen elsewhere) that I expected to see here must have been bulldozed by the communists. Not so. It was designed this way for the aforementioned security precautions.
Once again, separated from the group, I was walking toward the final gate (beyond which lays the Forbidden City), a Chinese girl about 20 years old, came up to me and asked if I was from California. She said she was familiar with Disneyland and Stanford and I told her that I lived near Stanford. She said that she was an art student and her school was raising money by selling student paintings which were being shown in a building here, on the palace grounds and would I like to see some. Not knowing whether she was telling the truth or with a gang of thugs around the corner waiting for unsuspecting tourists, I warily followed her to a delightful art exhibit where I purchased several paintings.
Afterward, entering the Forbidden City, I was overpowered by the sudden change of atmosphere.
Afterward, entering the Forbidden City, I was overpowered by the sudden change of atmosphere. Here are the fabulous gardens and buildings I had expected to see. From the fanciful pagodas and tea houses to the spectacular rock sculptures and unusually shaped trees, I couldn’t take pictures fast enough.
Fabulous rock sculpture garden
Such unusually shaped trees
My favorite rock sculpture
Puyi, the Boy Emperor, last of the Qing Dynasty, ruled from The Forbidden City for just four years until 1912, abdicating to Sun Yat Sen’s Nationalists. He continued to reside here until 1924. It became the National Palace Museum in 1925.
To learn about Palm Springs real estate, please visit http://www.torbuck.com or email me: tor@torbuck.com
Our free day
Although I really wanted to go to the Beijing Zoo for part of my free day, no one in our group seemed to be interested. Then I heard it wasn’t a well kept facility, so I decided I’d go with the others to the Friendship Store and Silk Alley for a day of…shopping!
Gina, John and Larry took one cab, Peggy, Landa and Estelle were in cab two and Kendra, Fran and I had cab three. We were to caravan to the Friendship Store and regroup there. Well, cabby one followed orders but our two drivers seemed to be confused and after two stops and consultations between themselves, we ended up blocks from Silk Alley on embassy row.
The Friendship Store
As we trod our way toward the Friendship Store (several blocks away), the six of us by passing street merchants with watch covered arms and other irresistible trinkets, we managed to enjoy the worldly atmosphere of the palatial embassies…including our own.
Finding the Friendship Store, we entered through the back door. I immediately found the chopstick rests I’d been looking for and bargained for those and a half dozen small Panda pins, which I gave to each of us in our group. I then went to look for the other three but couldn’t locate them. So, rejoining our sextet, we decided to shop as we wanted, then meet in the Starbucks at 1 pm. I found many of the things I’d already bought but at exaggerated prices. I did see other things that I hadn’t seen before but knew they were too expensive or I didn’t really want them. After a cup of Starbucks (better than the coffee we had been getting in China but still tasted foreign to what I was used to) we gathered, grabbed a bite of lunch and headed off to Silk Alley.
Silk Alley
Strolling down the main boulevard, I’m struck by the ordinary appearance of the place. It could be downtown LA; nothing remarkable or foreign about the atmosphere. As we approach Silk Alley, we see a god of a man in t-shirt and shorts with a package in hand, walking in our direction. He’s over six feet tall with black hair, a model’s face, piercing deep blue eyes, arms and pecs of death, wrap-around legs and a 28” waist. One of the women in our group had the nerve to start a conversation with him (thank you). I just got to ogle him as he recounted his story. He’s an Israeli soldier on vacation and was excited to have found a great deal on this chess set. After five minutes (could have been five hours for my money) we parted. As we were walking to the Alley, Landa wiped her chin. Yup, he was that gorgeous.
Of course, after a few minutes of shopping with the gang, I managed to find myself alone, again. While haggling with a shop keeper over a enameled golden peacock, a bearded American guy about thirty years old starts a conversation with me. We walk together, me shopping, him talking, and I’m wondering if maybe he’s interested in something other than just talk. Well, it turns out that he is but not exactly what I had in mind.
His story is that he had been in China for a year teaching English in Xi’an. He felt it was time to go home and packed up, came to Beijing to leave. In the meantime, his wallet with all his money and his passport was stolen. So, he was waiting around for the Embassy to reissue the passport and find some way of getting passage home. It became obvious to me that he was after a handout. Feeling as though his story was just that, a story, I told him I needed to find my friends and left him. I couldn’t find anyone. So, I took a cab back to the hotel for some rest.
The ANA New Century Hotel
Of the places we had stayed, this was the worst. Given the choice, I will never stay at an ANA hotel again.
Every place else we went the service people were not just polite but eager to help and always smiling. Not at this hotel. I rarely saw any staff person smile. On the first morning we noticed the bell captain marching his staff (all female) to their stations. Then he proceeded to give orders in harsh tones after which the staff saluted. Weird!
We were supposedly in the luxury rooms of the hotel. Although the rooms were furnished nicely, there was nothing special about them (unlike the other places we had stayed). Heck, there wasn’t even turn down service in the evening.
When I went to the cashier’s window to ask for a cash advance on my credit card (as I had done at other hotels) I was told no, go to the bank. This was at night when no bank was open. (See ATM! AMT!)
The lobby in this five star rip-off has nowhere to sit. Not a couch or chair to be seen. Not so easy for a group to gather and talk.
I did find a soapstone carving in the gift shop that was unique. After three days of going back at bargaining some more, I finally got it at my price.
On our last night in Beijing, the gang (John, Larry, Gina, Bob, Susie, Landa, Estelle and I) go for a drink at the hotel bar. There were three service people and only one other table occupied (a Japanese couple having tea). A waitress-in-training comes to our table with a menu of drinks. Bob and Susie each ask for scotch and water, I ask for a glass of wine. Before we finish ordering, the waitress has a very puzzled look on her face. We find that she doesn’t understand a word of English. She brings her trainer over. We start to order again. She also doesn’t know what we’re saying. So, we each point to what we want on the menu. Apparently, neither one reads… either English or Chinese! We decide we are tired of this and say we don’t want anything. They leave. Ten minutes later, the two are back with a man who speaks English. We make our order and it’s another ten minutes before we’re served. Although Kendra and Fran haven’t returned from their Silk Alley expedition, we decide to have dinner anyway. Bob and Susie said they had a good meal the evening before at the hotel’s continental style restaurant. So, we decide to go there. Pasta sounds pretty good after three weeks of Chinese food.
The place is pretty empty…people only at four tables. There are more service people than customers. For the eight of us, we get five menus at which time Estelle asks for a pot of tea. After ten minutes, the waitress returns to take our orders. Estelle reminds her about the tea. We order. Estelle gets her tea after the rest of us are served our drinks. After waiting more than 1/2 an hour, Landa, Bob, Susie and Gina get their food (one at a time over a five minute period). We’ve been there for nearly an hour when the waitress comes to tell John and Larry that they don’t have the steaks they ordered, what else would they like? Estelle and I had ordered lasagna, hadn’t been served and were fuming by this point. When I heard what the waitress said to the guys, I blew up, cancelled my order, told her what a horrible place and service it was and went to my room. 20 minutes later, there was a knock on my door. The waitress was there with a covered dish (my lasagna) and tries to explain that it is on the house. I told her to take it back and slammed the door.
Later that night, I went to settle the bill with the hotel and gave them a comment card with statements that would surely curl their hair (if they can read English).
Then I went to the cashier’s window to have my Yuan changed back to Dollars. She refuses and tells me that I can do that only at the airport. THE FINAL INSULT!
Home
The return flights were uneventful. I did chat with a Chinese American guy (about 25) with a body builder’s physique and tattoos. He was very friendly and we talked for some time. He was traveling with friends and had spent most of his time in Wanzhou.
After returning home, it took almost a week before I got over the jetlag.
Epilogue – The Loot
Although I titled this journey Shopping My Way Across China, I didn’t really go into the details of my shopping experiences. That was to save you, my readers, from what might be quite boring. However, the following pictures are of some of the fabulous things I found on this most amazing journey. Thank you for going along with me.
Wood carving of the first emperor
A beautiful set of chop sticks in a hand-carved mahogany box
Gorgeously enameled golden peacock about 6″ high
Exquisite figurines made from dough that are under 3″ tall
Traditional styled ink painting by one of the students selling at the Imperial Palace
The teacher’s handywork at the Imperial Palace sale
Ink pot styled after the Imperial court
It took three days of negotiating and Kendra’s help to get me this soap stone carving of the God of Longevity at my price.
I watched as the artist hand painted the inside of perfume bottles like these.
A miniature set of terra cotta warriors replicas
A mask for my collection, made of the root of a reed.
Also made from reed root, this exquisite figurine about 8″ tall
The one thing I really wanted to find when I left for China, a Pigeon-Blood Vase
To learn about Palm Springs real estate, please visit http://www.torbuck.com or email me: tor@torbuck.com
Tor Buck 