We stepped off the plane in Beijing, onto the tarmac, and into zero degrees centigrade. Ahh, like being back home in Michigan but without the coats. So after checking into our cute Chinese-style courtyard hotel, we had to start our adventure with ... shopping. I think we bargained well as our offers were often countered by "you joking, right?". A couple merchants even passed the walk-away stress test, allowing us to leave without caving in.
Tired and a bit cold even with our new fleeces and coats (and my grandfather's beret - thank you Baba Abbas!), we visited the Forbidden City, an enclave of 800 buildings where Chinese emperors lived in opulent isolation for centuries amidst splendid architecture and all the spoils befitting a highly advanced and powerful nation. We could have spent a couple days there alone but had to limit ourselves to a couple hours - it was an impressive first site. By the way, the walk along the moat of the eastern end of the Forbidden City is beautiful, lined with endless weeping willows, closed to traffic, and full of locals walking leisurely.
Our favorite morning in Beijing started early at Jing Shan park where we were hoping to catch the sun rising over the city. It was too foggy to see much of the city but we were introduced instead to a nice bit of modern urban Chinese culture. An attractive ~40 year-old woman in a purple jogging suit suddenly turned on a tape player and what came blaring out was alternating American and Chinese exercise music. A few women joined her immediately in an exercise program, then a few more joined, and after 10 minutes there were probably 50 people doing this routine that they all seemed to know by heart. Keep in mind now that it is literally freezing outside. Madhavi joined in for a good half-hour (me for 5 minutes). What was most impressive was the number of men and 70&80-somethings who joined in. It was quite a sight and was typical of other activities people were engaged in that day - badminton (which they are really good at), Chinese hackey sack, singing, dancing - all over the park.
Over the next couple days we of course saw Tiananmen Square and Mao's embalmed body as well as some hutongs - the small alleyways where you can buy fried bread and other street food. We had the famous Peking duck at the only good restaurant we went to in Beijing (we did not choose well overall), Da Dong Gao Ya Dian. The duck was sliced precisely by the chef at our table, the serving was large (the whole duck, albeit a small one), and it was delicious - a bit strong for Madh but she's never been a duck fan like me. December 9th was our trip to the Great Wall - see the next blog for details. December 10th we were off to the southwestern China - the Yunnan province!
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