Mao and Me

(this is kind of a long one... go get a drink or something...)

Holly and I ended up getting up early on our last day in Beijing, so we checked out of the hostel and stored our luggage in the back room, and left in search of breakfast.  We weren’t sure where to go, but wrongly assumed it would be easy to grab something quick and easy somewhere nearby.  We didn’t see much as we walked by our hostel, but thought we’d walk down by Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.  We took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up walking through Tiananmen Square the wrong way (against the flow of the massive crowds) which was frustrating.  But it was kind of wild to turn around in an effort to get my bearings and see Chairman Mao right above me, looking down. 

Holly and I got back near the streets around the nightmarket, and found a couple places that said BREAKFAST (in English) on the window.  We walked into one and found that their breakfast was toast and coffee for 30RMB.  Waaay too much (like $4-5).  We kept going and found another place that was open.  They had a breakfast menu and we ordered a couple little things to share for the same price as the place before.   Menus with pictures are GREAT, my new favorite travel necessity.  Pointing is the one universal I have found on this voyage.  Anyway, we discovered the one problem with picture menus that day: perspective.  We thought we ordered a small bun, a single pumpkin cake, and a vegetable/egg dish.  Oh no.  We ordered a GIANT bun cut into  about 20 pieces and fried, 8 pumpkin cakes, and a massive bowl of vegetables/egg.  They brought out the food and we couldn’t stop laughing.  We ate what we could but the food could have easily fed 4 people with leftovers. 

We felt kind of disgusting afterward because of all the grease, and most likely had MSG hangovers, so we walked around the main shopping area in search of cold weather accessories.  It was even colder than the day before (probably around 35-40 degrees F), so we knew it was important to get some warmth if we were going to be walking around all day.  Holly bought a hat and some gloves, and I bought some mittens and a scarf collar.  We wandered back to the hostel to meet up with the British girls and to warm up for a bit.

I had learned from my earlier mistake of walking through Tiananmen Square about which way to enter, so we walked through the NE entrance and took our pictures with Mao.  Tiananmen Square is the biggest square in the world and it definitely felt that way.  There is a busy street that cuts through the northern quarter of it, and we couldn’t figure out how to cross so we didn’t get to the south side where kids fly kites.  We tried to get a look at the stone lion with the bullet holes from the Tiananmen Square massacre, but we couldn’t get close enough.  Oddly enough, the government has all kinds of fences around it, preventing people from getting close.  Surprising!  I wish we would’ve been able to spend more time there and see more of the square, but we had to get to the Forbidden City because it stopped letting people in at 330pm. 

We walked through the Gate of Heavenly Peace to enter the Forbidden City (the former palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties).  My goodness, it was giant.  We kept walking through gates and seeing more and more of the complex.  We stopped halfway through to warm up and get something warm to drink.

So, I know that when you’re in China and you’re freezing, you should order TEA because that is what the Chinese do.  But then you see hot chocolate on the menu and the people in front of you are ordering hot chocolate and you’ve had so much tea in the past month that you order the hot chocolate too.   This is (obviously) what I did, but it didn’t end well.  The milk used in the hot chocolate was thick. And tasted really milky and disgusting.   There really was no chocolate in the hot chocolate, it was a powder that didn’t ever dissolve, so it LOOKED like we were drinking peppery milk.  My stomach is turning thinking about it.  Anyway, hot liquid FAIL.  That’s what I get for not drinking tea while in China. 

We headed back out and saw the rest of the Forbidden City.  We could see why the emperors rarely left the palace – they probably couldn’t find a way out.  Seriously, it was giant.  We left the palace and were so cold we headed back to the hostel to figure out our next move.  We sat in the cozy common area and looked at a map and a guidebook.  It was even colder on this day than the day before, so more time outside didn’t seem appealing to us at this point.  We decided to try out the Silk Market after a quick stop at the nightmarket for a snack.

My stomach was still hurting from breakfast, but the British girls grabbed some corn and we walked through the stalls selling their scorpions and roaches.  We had had our hostel write down “Please take me to the Silk Market” so we could easily get a cab to take us there.  We stood on the corner of a busy intersection for about 15 minutes trying to get a cab.  Many cabs would look at us and flip off their lights and drive by.  A couple would just shake their heads when we showed them the paper.  We decided to try the “just get in the cab and THEN show the paper” method, and we got kicked out of a cab.  So.  We were all feeling pretty frustrated by this point.  We headed over to Tourist Informaiton Center and they told us we should just take the subway. 

It was a bit of a walk to the subway, and when we got there, there was a staff person to give us coins for our paper money and then she actually just went ahead and put them in the machine for us and gave us our tickets.  It was very helpful.  So we headed down to the train, figured out which side we wanted, and then waited.  It was about 5pm on a Sunday, so we figured there would be no problem getting on the train.  As usual, we figured wrong.  The train was PACKED.  Literally packed full.  We watched 2 trains go by in horror at how full they were.  There was no turning around – we had already paid our 35cents for a ticket, and you just don't walk away from 35 cents.  So we decided that we had to make it happen at the next train.

We positioned ourselves further away from the staircase to increase the odds of a less crowded car and when the train arrived, we started pushing our way on (it’s the Asian way, trust me).  We, somehow, all got on the train.  We held onto each other because there were no nearby bars to grab ahold of.  And then other people started pushing to get close to the door.  We didn’t  want to get too far away form it because we were only going 3 stops.  We had to fight for our position!  You would've thought our height gave us great advantage in the battle, but that would be false. 

Our stop arrived and we had to shove our way out again.  Riding the train in China is a very violent ordeal.  I don’t think I was prepared for that after Singapore and Hong Kong.  We walked right into the Silk Market though (it was directly connected) and were instantly overwhelmed by the people grabbing at us, pleading with us to buy things from their stalls.  There were about 7 levels of knock off designer clothing and bags, tailors, carpets, jewelry, toys, knick knacks, etc.  I tried to bargain for some chopsticks but got turned down.  Whoa.  These people were serious.  Laura was bargaining for a hat and once a price was agreed upon, the seller pretended to be crying as she handed the hat over.  Apparently this was theatric bargaining, something else I wasn’t prepared for by India or Morocco.  We heard many stories like this throughout the remainder of our time in China – my friend Chris told me that a woman threw down the shirt he bought and was yelling (but she still sold it to him).  

After about 2 hours at the Silk Market we had had enough.  We left the market and since we were heading back all the way to the hostel, we thought we could get a cab pretty easily (there was a taxi stand and everything).  Wrong. Again.  We walked outside and the cab driver said (in English!) 200 RMB, which is like $30 US.  [Our cab ride from the airport had been less than $15, and it was a 45 minute ride].  We laughed at him and walked away.  Another guy told us 100 and we said we wanted the meter.  He smirked and shook his head.  So, back inside the market we went to find the subway.  We had a much easier time boarding the train back toward our hostel.

We got to the hostel and said goodbye to our new friends.  It was time for Holly and I to go to the train station for our overnight train.  As we were getting our luggage from the luggage room, I met 2 American students who were heading to the same train station for a different overnight train to Shanghai.  We agreed to share a taxi there.  It was great having them around because one of them spoke a little Chinese.  It makes grabbing a cab so much easier.  We drove through Tiananmen Square and got to the train station relatively early.   The students helped us find our gate and Holly and I grabbed some quick dinner. 

It was time to board the train, and I was so excited!  After 29 years of watching White Christmas, I was dying to have an overnight train experience.  Holly and I boarded the train and I’m pretty sure we were the only white people on the train.  We caused quite a scene! 

We found our sleeper cabin and immediately climbed into our top bunks (cheaper than lower bunks).  We wanted to claim our territory early.  There were little TVs, a blanket, a pillow, and a hanger.  I hung my shoes on the bar and put my backpack at the foot of the bed and my messenger bag at my pillow.  People were walking by the cabin and then backtracking to look at us.  We just smiled and said “Ni hao!”.  Our cabinmates arrived and seemed normal (we were relieved).  They settled in and started having a snack.  The train left right on time, and our bunkmates passed us up the headphones for the TV.  Mine were broken.  But Holly’s worked and she said everything was in Chinese anyway.  They also passed us up slippers!!!  Very exciting.  We slipped on our slippers and headed out to explore. 

We found the bathrooms and then headed to the club car with a deck of cards (featuring the faces of Chinese emperors… guess where I bought them!).  All the booths were occupied, so we sat down with a man who was by himself.  We started to deal the cards and he looked very interested.  So we asked if he wanted to play.  We decided to go with Go Fish, which seemed easiest.  It pretty much worked out and he beat us every single time.  Hustler.  Then we played War, which I was winning, but it got tedious so we stopped.  Then he wanted to teach us a game.  Holly understood it, I’m still confused as to what was going on.  But he had a new dealing method that I’m looking forward to bringing home. 

We hung out for awhile and then the lights started being turned down to signify bedtime.  We had learned that our new friend was a doctor who does PET scans and was going to Shanghai for a conference (but was from Beijing).  He actually spoke a few words in English, so that plus international charades plus a book in his backpack is how we figured it all out.  We tried to explain the whole “around the world on a boat” concept, but gave up pretty quickly. 

So, Holly and I went back to bed and found our cabinmates sleeping soundly. We just laid down in our beds (clothes on… nobody really went the pajama route on the train) and realized that the one directly below me was snoring quite loudly.  We were exhausted, so I didn’t think it would be an issue. Wrong wrong wrong.  I diagnosed this man with sleep apnea, because he was choking the entire night.  I thought it was up to his friend to roll him over, but his friend slept right through it!  Holly and I were up past 3 trying to plug our ears and sleep.  I woke up around 5am though when the train stopped in Nanjing.  And that was it for sleeping!  Apnea Man awoke too and then proceeded to speak on his cell phone VERY loudly.  I went and brushed my teeth and we started packing our stuff up.

We walked out into the train station and went to find a taxi.  We figured we couldn’t be very far from the downtown area.  Guess what.  We were wrong.  The train station we were at was at the airport, and the cabs were more expensive than in Beijing.  Exhausted, we decided to not even explore our other option (subway).  We grabbed a cab and handed over our green sheet, which had directions to the port written on it.  The cab driver was confused, and pulled over and got out of the cab.  He disappeared for a few minutes and then came back and kept saying something, but we kind of just stared at him and he left.  We got stuck in horrid, horrid traffic and could only watch the meter keep ticking.  After an hour, we pulled up to a Hyatt (the port was next to a Hyatt, so we felt hopeful) but turns out it was the wrong Hyatt.  The concierge spoke some English though and we got across what we were doing.  Holly pulled out a picture of the Explorer and they got the idea.  We eventually found the port and, relieved, walked up to the ship.  The ship had gotten in an hour earlier and there was a long line of SAS students, also in from their overnight trains to Shanghai.

The line took another 2 hours to get through since everyone had luggage to be searched.  Our dreams of getting home in time for breakfast had evaporated in the taxi, but we thought we might be able to get a breakfast sandwich on the pool deck.  Wrong.  We did get in as lunch started.  So we ate and then went down for a nap so we could explore Shanghai later in the day!