The trip in started with long queues... after taking 35 minutes to get to the front of the check in queue (everyone in HK must have been traveling Dragon Air!) the airline had overbooked and had no seats for us. After standing at the check in desk for 45 minutes (they kept asking us to come back in 20 minutes but we were not moving!) we finally got bumped to the next flight. The sliver lining was that business class seats that were the only seats left on that flight so Dragon Air kindly bumped us up to Business - much nicer lunch! We got to Beijing and joined the enormous traffic jam outside the airport. Whoever the VIP was who had all the streets around the airport closed for their arrival, we thank them for our 30 minutes in a cab just to get out of the airport.
The hotel was nice. We found that we could get a two bedroom suite at the Grand Hyatt for less than two rooms at any other nice hotel so we ended up sharing the suite with Andrew's parents. They are not too untidy, so it worked just fine. The hotel was immediately above a huge shopping centre which provided much more realistically priced breakfast, and a good food court option when we wanted a quick and easy meal.
We had decided that days of preplanned tours in a coach were not for us, so we arrived in Beijing with nothing planned. Lonely Planet became our most important accessory and was often seen hanging off the end of my arm. Our first full day in Beijing saw us heading off to the Forbidden City for a looksee. The place is huge, and in true tourist site form, half covered in green netting covering up construction. In all honestly, we would not bother going back... been there done that and taken the pictures to prove it.
Then we headed off to Tienaman Square. Again huge - I think everything in China must be. There were lots of kids around flying kites - very cool. President Mao's embalmed body was not on show they day we were there, so I was spared the horror of having to file past that :-)The next day we decided to head of to the Great Wall. The two hour taxi ride was a bit squished with Mac, Joyce and I all fitting across the back seat. The scenery was spectacular though, especially on the way home as we wound our way through the back mountain roads. The Great Wall is indeed great. It winds it's way through really steep mountain ranges, and is amazingly intact (yes yes I know it has been restored!).
We took the cable car up to the top and then walked a few hundred metres across the top before heading back down the stairs to the car park area. We were really amused by the 'non-touristy' feel of the place that the hotel concierge promised us if we travelled a little further out to this part of the wall. All I can say is that I hate to imagine what the other parts of the wall feel like!
That was the end of the second full day. Andrew can take over now...
Sonia forgot to mention that we ate a duck. A very nice Peking duck restaurant (Qianmen Quanjude Restaurant) on Saturday night, although it did require us to wait in line for about an hour. The duck was worth it, and we are very glad it was sacrificed to satisfy our hunger.
On the Sunday we decided a trip to the Summer Palace would be the main thing for the day. The trip out there is about 45 minutes in a taxi. Arriving at the palace there seemed to be a lot of traffic around. It was nothing compared to the number of people inside the park. Truly amazing. I'm not sure exactly what I thought it would be like, however I did not anticipating meeting most of Beijing at the park. The lake in the middle was packed full of people using the paddle-boats, the electric boats, or even row-boats. It is nothing like a park in Auckland (e.g. Western Springs).
That said, it was nice walking around the lake. We almost made it all the way around, but after stopping half-way for our picnic lunch (bread bought that morning from a French bakery in the mall), we ended up deciding that we'd seen enough and that it was time to move on. We made it all the way up to the North Gate (I think) and decided to exit and find a taxi. Dad had previously seen a tower from within the Forbidden City, and was wanting to find it and have a look-see. We left the part and got into one of the taxis that was waiting.
About half-way back we noticed that the meter was significantly higher than it cost us to get to the palace that morning. Some waving of arms and angry words ensued, with the driver claiming that he'd gone most of the way around Beijing to get back into the city (sign-language against his map). Since we'd been following the route on our own map, this really didn't wash. Strangely, once we complained, the meter suddenly slowed down.
Eventually we got back towards the hotel and got out. We paid the same amount that we'd paid to get to the Summer Palace, much to the driver's disgust. As we wrote down his license plate number, he quickly drove off. Dad noticed that the taxi sign had disappeared from the roof of the car. Obviously a fake.
Anyway, after coffee we took a taxi to the park where we thought the tower was. After a walk up to the tower and a look around, we noticed people dancing and could hear opera music. Eventually we found that the park was crowded with groups of people practicing their singing - some good, some who need more practice.
And some calligraphy on the ground with water - very good (also mentioned in the Lonely Planet).
Then a walk to the restaurant that we'd picked from the Lonely Planet. Very nice - the Sichuanese chicken dish was fiery hot, and we really couldn't finish it. We also had spicy mushrooms, some type of pancake, pork sausage (we think it was pork but not wanting to ask just in case), sweetcorn with chili, beef, and rice. Part-way through the meal they told us there was a 10-minute performance in the other building so we raced across with the camera.
The walk home was somewhat longer than expected. Sonia's blister (from the Wall) on her little toe started to cause problems partway through, and I'm still paying for keeping us walking. We did get the opportunity to take some good photos of the street stalls where lots of people were eating (photos posted earlier). And the thing wrapped around the stick is snake.
On Monday morning we took the subway to the Temple of Heaven, except that we did not realise how far you have to walk. In the end we got a taxi. A quick walk through the park before returning to the hotel for the trip to the airport. A pretty uneventful trip to HK, and we're back.
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