Beijing, China
I was up early today. Too early. My body doesn’t like 7:59 AM wake up calls (I know, queue the little violins). Today is the last day of the May Day weekend holiday for the Chinese people, so Vivian anticipated we would find heavy crowds at the sites. Our first stop was Tienamen Square and the Forbidden City.
Dad and I were in China together in 2002, so I have already seen most of the major historical tourist attractions. My hope for our Forbidden City visit was simply to get a hoop picture. I had read that a few courts were installed by the entrance gates for recreation for the guards, so I was hopeful to have success. It turns out the hoops were quite easy to find. The challenge was going to be getting a good angle to take a picture. There were two courts directly inside the main gate and both were manned by security guards. I asked Vivian if she would ask one of the guys to let me go behind the gate to take a picture. She said he would not. I didn’t press the issue, yet. I went to the other court to check the shots there. I could take a decent picture, but not one as nice as I wanted. So I asked Vivian again if she would please ask the guard if I could take a picture. She did it this time and he appeared to say yes with no problem, just that I should be fast. The Chinese are so pushy in so many ways I don’t really understand why I have trouble getting guides to ask for things. It’s like they live in fear of something...
I asked Vivian if there were any other courts inside the next game and she assured me there were not. Since I had accomplished my goal of taking a good hoop picture I decided we didn’t need to take the time to go through the Forbidden City. It is a huge place and very fun to see, however, it all sort of looks the same. I had done it once and wanted to move on to seeing something new.
Next we set off to see some of the Olympic venues. In particular I wanted to see the Bird’s Nest (the home of the opening and closing ceremonies and track and field) and the Water Cube. I knew that people could tour the Bird’s Nest but I did not know the Water Cube was open.
The Water Cube is a really cool looking building. The exterior is all it appeared to be on TV and more. I can see why Michael Phelps enjoyed it so much. Speaking of Michael Phelps, one of my favorite parts about the Cube is the museum dedicated to the building on the top floor. The Chinese managed to build a museum to describe the building where the greatest Olympic feat in history took place, without ever mentioning the feat or the athlete. I seriously looked all around the display and could not find a single mention of Michael Phelps’ accomplishment of eight gold medals. There was a medal chart where one could count all of his medals. There was also one nondescript photo where I don’t even think his name was mentioned. This could and would only happen in China.
Inside the Cube there is now a legitimately large water park open to the Chinese public. It also appears like the warm up pool can be used for lap swims. No one was using the actual Olympic pool or diving platforms when we toured the facility.
Directly across the plaza from the Cube is the Bird’s Nest. The Bird’s Nest is also an incredible facility. I would have loved to tour the building with Joe or Han-Mei, so I could try to wrap my mind around how a building of that magnitude and random detail is constructed. I was surprised, however, that while the roof is as ornate as one would imagine, the rest of the facility felt a little like a 1980’s NFL arena to me. Maybe that’s because of I’ve spent too much time in Phil Knight funded UO buildings of late. I also felt like parts of the building were rather worn for it only being three years old. I think there may have been a bit of shotty construction because of the time crunch to have it completed.
From the upper levels of the Bird’s Nest I spotted a basketball hoop on what was most certainly the warm up track from the Games. It appeared to be heavily fenced but I was hopeful to find a way in.
I made a serious lap around the warm up track looking for an entry point. There were workman on the track, so I figured there had to be an entry point. It turns out the entry point was an underground tunnel from the bowels of the Nest. That basically ruled out a sanctioned entry. Now my choices to gain entry were to climb over or under the fence. I seriously considered going under the fence. I spent like five minutes trying to decide if I’d fit. I’m also fairly certain I could have successfully climbed over the fence. Eventually, however, I remembered I was in China and better judgment won out. I settled for reaching my arm through the fence to the best of my ability and snapping a picture that way. It’s not PERFECT but it will do. And I still have my freedom.
For lunch Vivian took me to a popular local Beijing noodle place. The service left a bit to be desired but that very well may be because it was extremely busy. The food was decent and being amongst exclusively locals made for a fun lunch experience.
After lunch I went to the Silk Market, which is one of Beijing’s largest black market/bargaining/shopping areas. When dad and I were in Beijing in 2002 the Silk Market was an outdoor street that sort of wrapped around with all kinds of stalls. Now it is a six story building packed to the brim. I could spend hours in the place, and, actually, I did. I didn’t necessarily buy that much stuff. I mostly just enjoy the sights, sounds and bargaining.
Since I knew I would be in the market for a long time I decided to send Vivian and my driver home early. I didn’t really see the point in having them sit around for hours while I just wandered. The only issue with that was it required my finding a way home when I left the market. I had planned to take a cab home but on my way to the cab line I was approached by a rickshaw driver. I decided that would be a really fun way to get home. I negotiated a fare of 30 Yuan, which was about two dollars more than it would cost me to take a cab. I thought that was worth it for the experience.
On the ride my thoughts kept shifting from this is the best idea I’ve ever had, to what the hell was I thinking. The thoughts tended to coincide with seeing or smelling something uniquely Chinese to thinking I was going to die in a back alley or car versus rickshaw accident. I hadn’t really had dinner, so when we got to the mall by my hotel I decided to have him drop me there. When he stopped I handed him the agreed to 30 Yuan and he goes, “No. No. 3-0-0 Yuan.” I laughed and said “Uhm, NO. 3-0 was the deal.” He makes a face like he is pain and again says “NO. NO. 3-0-0.” I said again, “Here is 3-0. Take it or leave it.” He said, “Okay” and took it with a bit of a grin. It’s amazing how in China at every turn someone tries to get a little extra ,or in this case, 10 times out of you.
I’m now back at the hotel and totally ready to crash. I just got done gchatting with Joyce and she told me the news that we killed Osama! It's crazy to me that in 2011 I didn't know this until more than 16 hours after it happened.
Vivian and I are going to the Great Wall tomorrow, so I again will have to be up early.
Until tomorrow,
Katy
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