May 12, 2006
Hello everyone!!
Hello everyone!!
Sorry it has been awhile but hotmail seems to be down most of the time in China. I arrived in Beijing on May 3rd at 9pm and went looking for a bus to take me into town when an english speaking chinese guy asks me if I need help and then tells me there is no bus to downtown and I immediately know he is lying and suspicious that he is probably a taxi driver so I ask him and he says "Yes" as if volunteering his services at which point I say "Bye!". Damn taxi drivers!
I find the right bus but don't know where to get off at until it stops and everyone on the bus gets off so I assume that it is the last stop since the bus drivers doesn't speak english and just signals me to get off. I walk for a bit not knowing where I am downtown until I run into the forbidden cities red walls and had assumed it was only a block or two in length judging by it in my map but it is more like a kilometer long and I am carrying my heavy backpack desperately looking for white people to speak english with and give me directions. There are no english signs anywhere and can't believe it since this city is hosting the 2008 olympic games.
Finally I am getting tired of walking along the forbidden city wall and ask a chinese man for directions using my map that has chinese characters and using charades as best I can to ask him where I am on this map and then he starts making hand gestures and speaking mandarin saying "Hong han chee nee do la ki lee" at which point he is confusing me the more he talks but I finally start pointing in different directions until he shakes his head in the affirmative and I continue in that direction.
Still walking along the forbidden city wall a bicycle driver asks me where I am going and I am more than happy to get on the back of his bike taxi to the Jade hostel for $20 yuan ($3 cdn). It is the May day week holiday in China where lots of chinese come to Beijing for the week long celebration so it was quite busy here and why I booked my accommodations before arriving.
Still walking along the forbidden city wall a bicycle driver asks me where I am going and I am more than happy to get on the back of his bike taxi to the Jade hostel for $20 yuan ($3 cdn). It is the May day week holiday in China where lots of chinese come to Beijing for the week long celebration so it was quite busy here and why I booked my accommodations before arriving.
The next day (Thursday May 4) I head out to Tiananmien square and I have not see so many people in my life in one spot due to the May week holiday. There is a huge moat that surrounds forbidden city and forbidden city is 750 meters by 960 meters and has 9,999 1/2 rooms. Forbidden city was started in 1406 by the Ming dynasty.
I arrive at the reception and tell them I have reservations for my 4 bed mix at which time they say it is full but that they have an 8 bed mix available. I say "No you don't understand, I have a RESERVATION which means my bed in the 4 bed mix is RESERVED!". It reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where he says "No, you see, you are good at TAKING the reservation but you are just not good at KEEPING the reservation". Anyhow their excuse is that it is messy and not clean but I say I don't care because it is 10pm and I am tired and then they say "Room photo" after I repeat what they are trying to tell me, I think it is odd but they are indicating that I should go to the elevator and see the room photo before going into it and I assume it is to not disturb others in the room if I am not interested in it. Well I go to the elevator and don't see any photos of the room on the walls and finally after 5 minutes of looking I go back and say "Listen! there is no photos of the room and I would just like the key now and go to bed if you don't mind!" and then one of the hotel staff slows down her english (or should I say "engwish") and says "room Fo-o-to" (402) and which point I laugh at the mix up and head to the room.
The next day (Friday May 5) I go on a great wall tour which takes us 120km north of Beijing to the great wall section called "Jinshanling" and we are given 4 hours to walk 10 km to the Simatai area where the bus awaits us. I meet "Teddy" from Minnosota, "Martin" from Germany and "Darrel & Teresa" from Toronto, Canada. The great wall is absolutely impressive as it winds along the mountain tops and goes for 5,660 km!! and it is around 10 feet wide. Female vendors followed us half way (5km) along the wall hoping to sell us their T-shirts or books which we weren't interested in. I can't believe how far these people will go in hopes of a sale!
There is a watch tower every 500 meters or so with a vendor there to sell you water or drinks saying in one word "Cocabeerwater! Cocabeerwater!". The Egyptian pyramids are more mysterious but the great wall is more amazing when you realize how big it is and how far it runs for. You could probably build 1000 great pyramids with the bricks and rocks they used to build the wall and just thinking of the man hours involved boggles the mind.
Next day (Sat May 6) I go on the Forbidden city, Temple of Heaven, and Summer palace tours with Darrel and Teresa where it is just the 3 of us. The tour is $260 yuan ($37 cdn) which is a little pricey for a tour but I think I will see 3 main attractions with a guide to explain everything and get my moneys worth.
As we make our way across the street to Tiananmien square the guides tells me "Kebin, this is my first time speaking engwish in twee years" and I am like "Really?? No shit?" ;). So it was obviously her first tour in english and we had a hard time understanding what she was saying and basically relied on english signs in Forbidden city to tell us what we were looking at.
We basically went from the south gate and B-lined straight to the north gate in 45 minutes and I was in shock at how she was rushing us and telling us that most of the forbidden city was closed off to the pubic (just another lie of course). Then we go to "Temple of Heaven" and spend enough time there and then they take us to the silk factory to learn about silk but once we arrive I realize it is just another "commission" stop where she gets paid to bring tourists in to buy expensive silk garments and have to keep us there for 40 minutes to get her commission.
We then go to a buffet which was the best part of the tour and then she takes us to the pearl factory where we have to stay another 40 minutes. I am annoyed at spending good money for a tour that is only interested in getting us into the commission shops and she realizes it and says "Kebin, please don't be mad at me". Of course I wasn't mad at her but tired of them running us around to these shops like a herd of sheep.
We then go to a buffet which was the best part of the tour and then she takes us to the pearl factory where we have to stay another 40 minutes. I am annoyed at spending good money for a tour that is only interested in getting us into the commission shops and she realizes it and says "Kebin, please don't be mad at me". Of course I wasn't mad at her but tired of them running us around to these shops like a herd of sheep.
Finally she says we are off to the Summer palace where we cross a bridge to a little island for 10 minutes and then leave and I say "So when are we going to the summer palace" at which point she says "That is the summer palace!" and I say "NO!! there was NO PALACE there!!" and she argues with me saying that we were at the palace" (Obviously she thinks a "palace" is a place where there are trees with no friggin palace in sight). All 3 of us are hugely disappointed in this tour and my Lonely planet guide had warned of these commission stop tours along the way. To get out of it she just says "The summer palace is closed for renovation" (which is just another lie).
Later that evening Darrel and Teresa take me to the Donghuamen night market where cooks set up stalls along a street and sell everything like starfish, snakes, sea urchents, crabs, bugs on sticks, grasshoppers, squid, scorpions and SEAHORSES on sticks!! I had the starfish, snake and sea urchent which wasn't bad but wasn't good either. The menu above their stalls were all in chinese characters but I did see the prices in numbers and saw nothing above $15 Yuan ($2cdn) so didn't really ask and when I went to pay they say $50 yuan for the snake and another $50 yuan for the sea urchent. Of course they say $15 originally and after you eat it they say $50 (As if that is what they told you originally).
Later that evening Darrel and Teresa take me to the Donghuamen night market where cooks set up stalls along a street and sell everything like starfish, snakes, sea urchents, crabs, bugs on sticks, grasshoppers, squid, scorpions and SEAHORSES on sticks!! I had the starfish, snake and sea urchent which wasn't bad but wasn't good either. The menu above their stalls were all in chinese characters but I did see the prices in numbers and saw nothing above $15 Yuan ($2cdn) so didn't really ask and when I went to pay they say $50 yuan for the snake and another $50 yuan for the sea urchent. Of course they say $15 originally and after you eat it they say $50 (As if that is what they told you originally).
My experience in south east asia is that women never rip you off and will even count your change in front of you and basically do business honestly which is why I usually deal with them rather than men but China is completely different where the women are ruthless and more than happy to rip you off with a straight face.
After arguing I finally pointed up to the menu and tell them to show me where it says $50 yuan at which point they give up and give me my change back. Later we went shopping and saw a store that had a lot of chinese people in it so we realized that was where the bargains were. Most stores have "tourist junk" but China has "Cool junk" and things you can use. I bought "Iraqs most wanted" playing cards which the US army gave to their troops to memorize "Iraqis most wanted" with Saddam Hussein and his sons on the aces.
Sticker prices mean absolutely nothing here since if you aren't interested they give you the calculator to give them an offer. Usually they will use the high sticker price as a guage to show you what a great discount they are giving you. I now divide there asking price by 10 and don't usually go farther than that.
Next day (Sunday May 7) Martin (from Germany) and I went out to forbidden city since I didn't really see any of it on my previous tour. Martin had told me that a couple chinese ladies befriended him and a friend and invited them out to a tea ceremony for polite conversation and at the end, him and his friend were shocked to see the bill of $900 yuan ($130cdn) for the 4 of them. The women said they didn't have any money and asked if the guys would pay their half and they said no at which point they magically pulled out their credit card and said they could pay. He later realized it was a set up from the beginning.
Next day (Sunday May 7) Martin (from Germany) and I went out to forbidden city since I didn't really see any of it on my previous tour. Martin had told me that a couple chinese ladies befriended him and a friend and invited them out to a tea ceremony for polite conversation and at the end, him and his friend were shocked to see the bill of $900 yuan ($130cdn) for the 4 of them. The women said they didn't have any money and asked if the guys would pay their half and they said no at which point they magically pulled out their credit card and said they could pay. He later realized it was a set up from the beginning.
The next day (Monday May 8) I take a tour to another section of the great wall called "Badaling" which is the most common spot to view the great wall but more touristy with vendors everywhere and the view is not as good. On this tour I meet "Sebastian" from Ireland and "Florian" from Germany and an old guy name "Pauly" from Brazil. On our way to the Ming tombs we are talking about scams and experiences at which time I tell them about Martins teahouse experience at which point Florian tells me he fell for the same thing and paid half the $1400 yuan bill and then Sebastian tells us he fell for the same thing but they wanted him to pay a portion of his $3000 yuan bill!! Everytime it is usually young cute female "students" befriending white foreigners asking if they could practice their english and then after 5 minutes inviting them to a tea house for tea. Most foreigners will go along with it because how expensive can tea be? Afterwards they spend 30 minutes with the foreigner and ask for their email address to make their friendship look genuine at which point they probably head back to the tea house to split the profits with the owner.
We went to the Ming tombs (Changling) but they didn't bring us into any tombs saying they were closed from the public so we complained and for extra money they took us to the Dingling tombs which is an underground palace where one of the Ming emperors and his empresses are buried. They took us to 2 commission shops (Jade and Vases) and we complained so he dropped the last shop.
We went to the Ming tombs (Changling) but they didn't bring us into any tombs saying they were closed from the public so we complained and for extra money they took us to the Dingling tombs which is an underground palace where one of the Ming emperors and his empresses are buried. They took us to 2 commission shops (Jade and Vases) and we complained so he dropped the last shop.
The next day (Tuesday May 9th) Sebastian and I left to meet up with Florian at the Confucius temple. The subway was packed at rush hour and I had to push our way on and make enough room so that Sebastian could get on since we didn't want to wait for another train (I felt like a tokyo train conductor when he grabs a stick and pushes everyone in like sardines). We went out to the Confucius temple which was basically all under renovation with scaffolding so quickly left and went to the Lama temple which is one of the biggest buddha temples in China.
There wasn't a lot of english signs so we jumped in with a german tour group and Florian interpretted for us. Later Florian went to grab his flight to Hong Kong and Sebastian and I went out to summer palace but half way there we stopped at the Beijing zoo to see the panda bears. They were very clumsy and playful and couldn't catch anything if there life depended on it. I normally don't go to zoos or support them in any way and was horrified to see the cages and conditions they keep the animals in but I was shocked at the variety of animals they had there and basically they had every animal on the planet at this one zoo since we saw all kinds of tigers, lions, chimpanzees, Kangaroos, elephants, zebras, ostriches, giraffes, rhinocerus and PENGUINS!!
I saw one bird that was 5 feet tall with a big helmet and looked
like something out of the prehistoric dinosaur era. This bird was called the "Cassowarry".
Later we went to the Summer palace for a couple hours and then back to our hostel.
Sebastian had told us he was ripped off by a taxi driver at the airport when he first arrived and finally agreed to $250 yuan (way too much) and when the driver stopped in front of the hostel he locked the back doors and told Sebastian he wanted an extra $50 yuan for the toll (which was another rip off scam) so he felt he had to pay it in order to get out of the car. Cabs are super cheap in Beijing and $10 yuan ($1.50cdn) will get you 4 km in the city before the meter starts to move.
After that I walked around downtown and found myself haggling over an electric shaver at a shop. The sticker price was $268 yuan and she said she could give it to me for $150 yuan and then I countered at $100 yuan so she countered again at $120 yuan insisting on that price and I countered again at $80 yuan where she reminds me that I had originally bid $100 yuan 30 seconds ago and I say "Ya, that was 30 seconds ago and my price changes according to my mood where it could go lower again" so then she quickly draws up my receipt for the electric shaver for $80 yuan ($11 cdn) before I change my mind again haha.
Sebastian had told us he was ripped off by a taxi driver at the airport when he first arrived and finally agreed to $250 yuan (way too much) and when the driver stopped in front of the hostel he locked the back doors and told Sebastian he wanted an extra $50 yuan for the toll (which was another rip off scam) so he felt he had to pay it in order to get out of the car. Cabs are super cheap in Beijing and $10 yuan ($1.50cdn) will get you 4 km in the city before the meter starts to move.
After that I walked around downtown and found myself haggling over an electric shaver at a shop. The sticker price was $268 yuan and she said she could give it to me for $150 yuan and then I countered at $100 yuan so she countered again at $120 yuan insisting on that price and I countered again at $80 yuan where she reminds me that I had originally bid $100 yuan 30 seconds ago and I say "Ya, that was 30 seconds ago and my price changes according to my mood where it could go lower again" so then she quickly draws up my receipt for the electric shaver for $80 yuan ($11 cdn) before I change my mind again haha.
As I leave the store I am approached by two cute chinese females who ask if they can practice english with me and I am shocked that they don't remember me from the night before where I had flatly told them "NO!" and walked away. I go along with it pretending I don't know what they are up to and they ask me the regular questions like are you married? have kids? what is your job? how long are you in China? and it is not even 5 minutes before they get right down to business and ask if I would like to go for tea at which point I explain to them that I am fully aware of the tea house scam and with a big smile on my face I enthusiastically explain how they are planning to rip me off by bringing me to the over priced teahouse where they pretend to pay and then later go back to collect their share of the loot with the tea house owner.
The one young female is pissed off that I exposed them and I tell them that all the tourists now know about this scam and that everyone is talking about it and warning others (which isn't true but I just said it to see the expression on their faces) and the one had a bitter look on her face as I told her this and she basically admits their guilt by saying "Well maybe these other tourists should look at the prices on the menu before they order anything!" at which point I say "the real question is...Why are poor students in China spending all their time running around downtown looking to practice their english with foreigners by dragging them into expensive tea houses they can't afford in the first place (not to mention most of the chinese) and that the students are getting their money back or not being charged and are splitting the profits with the tea house owners to get tourists in there". At this point I say that english lessons are over and that I am going back to my hotel.
The next morning (Wednesday May 10th) I go to Mao's Mausoleum which has Mao's body preserved like Ho chi mins body in Hanoi, Vietnam (There is something about preserving communist dictators since Lenin's body is in Moscow). I get there 15 minutes before it opens and there already is a huge line up with lines of 4 across but it is moving fast and takes me 45 minutes to get in to view Mao for 30 seconds. 99% of the line up are Chinese and many of them are laying roses for their beloved leader and looking in admiration but as I pass I am thinking "Wow! This is the dude who murdered 75 million of his own countrymen just to keep power!!".
The next morning (Wednesday May 10th) I go to Mao's Mausoleum which has Mao's body preserved like Ho chi mins body in Hanoi, Vietnam (There is something about preserving communist dictators since Lenin's body is in Moscow). I get there 15 minutes before it opens and there already is a huge line up with lines of 4 across but it is moving fast and takes me 45 minutes to get in to view Mao for 30 seconds. 99% of the line up are Chinese and many of them are laying roses for their beloved leader and looking in admiration but as I pass I am thinking "Wow! This is the dude who murdered 75 million of his own countrymen just to keep power!!".
Apparently the Chinese communist government made a deal with "Google" search engine to filter out and limit what Chinese could find out about their governments past etc... Mao makes Hitler and Stalin look like boyscouts in the killing department.
On my way to find the underground city (started by Mao in 1969) I have 2 young female "students" approach me and ask if they can practice their english and then they tell me the underground city is towards Tiananmien square when I know they are wrong or lying since I have a map but play along since I can't cross the street where I want to and decide I will cross over at Tiananmien square. Of course on the way they tell me about this incredible tea ceremony that is taking place and invite me to go with them to a tea house and I just tell them I hate tea at which point they turn in the opposite direction and say they are now going to go for food. I felt like saying "Sorry for spoiling your scam girls!!" and then 30 seconds later as I approach to go under the main street through the underground walk way a young guy and girl who are in their early 20's do the exact same thing making polite conversation with me before inviting me to a tea house which is a 600 year tradition yadda yadda and then I tell them that I know all about the tea houses from other tourists at which point the guy laughs nervously wondering what others tourists told me and they soon leave.
On my way to find the underground city (started by Mao in 1969) I have 2 young female "students" approach me and ask if they can practice their english and then they tell me the underground city is towards Tiananmien square when I know they are wrong or lying since I have a map but play along since I can't cross the street where I want to and decide I will cross over at Tiananmien square. Of course on the way they tell me about this incredible tea ceremony that is taking place and invite me to go with them to a tea house and I just tell them I hate tea at which point they turn in the opposite direction and say they are now going to go for food. I felt like saying "Sorry for spoiling your scam girls!!" and then 30 seconds later as I approach to go under the main street through the underground walk way a young guy and girl who are in their early 20's do the exact same thing making polite conversation with me before inviting me to a tea house which is a 600 year tradition yadda yadda and then I tell them that I know all about the tea houses from other tourists at which point the guy laughs nervously wondering what others tourists told me and they soon leave.
On my way to the underground city I bump into Sebastian who tells me he has been invited many times to the tea houses just in that day. Obviously a good way for young people to make good money. From there I grab a bicycle taxi to the underground city and wouldn't have found it without someones help. The underground city is like a nuclear bomb shelter and I wondered if that was what it was originally built for. After being down there for 30 minutes I couldn't find the way out and all the tunnels kept running back to this main point where it looked like gift shops and these women kept on looking at me wondering what I was doing and the 3rd time I popped up through another tunnel I just laughed when I saw them again since I couldn't explain to them that I was lost. I finally found my way out.
That night I grab my 10 hour night train to "Pingyao" and arrived at 5am where a woman at the train station invited me back to her hotel. Pingyao is a small town that has a 800BC wall around it originally built by the Zhou dynasty but mostly restored by the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Red lanterns that look like lampshades hang down from the roof tops throughout the walled city.
Counterfeiting must be common because I am noticing most shopkeepers examining my money before accepting it yet they are more than happy to give me their ripped older money as my change. The news always talks about how the Chinese are such savers saving around 20% of their income. The chinese will always give you an answer even if they don't know which I am not sure if it is a "saving face" kind of thing or just trying to annoy travels asking for directions.
Tomorrow I grab an early 8:30am bus which gets me to Xi'an in 6 hours.
Kevin
Tomorrow I grab an early 8:30am bus which gets me to Xi'an in 6 hours.
Kevin
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