The journey started a little rough. We rushed right after class Thursday afternoon to the train station and boarded the train maybe only 15 minutes before it left the station. I had thought Line 1 of the subway had been finished and was operating since it appears on the ticket machines; however, to our detriment, only Line 2 is operational, so we had to walk a bit further than planned. We had purchased “hard seat” tickets— trains usually have three options for tickets.
The most expensive and comfortable are the “soft sleepers,” which include not only beds but also a bathroom for the cabin and a door; the next level are the “hard sleepers,” which are merely six beds to a cabin without a door; the lowest level is the “hard seat,” which are four to six fixed seats around a small table. Hard sleepers are by far the most popular, as they provide a bed without being ridiculously expensive; however, this meant that when we bought our tickets about a week before our departure (you can only buy tickets up to ten days in advance), all the hard sleepers were sold out. We had the option of a “hard seat” for around ¥160 per ticket or around ¥450 per “soft sleeper” ticket. We did want to be comfortable for the roughly 13-hour train ride to Beijing
The train ride was rather uneventful. Some different Chinese people wanted to talk with us, though they seemed a little more keen on learning English from us than conversing in Chinese. Also, none of us slept very well, though I slept the best since I have the amazing ability to fall asleep in almost any position and conditions.
The train ride was rather uneventful. Some different Chinese people wanted to talk with us, though they seemed a little more keen on learning English from us than conversing in Chinese. Also, none of us slept very well, though I slept the best since I have the amazing ability to fall asleep in almost any position and conditions.
Snapshot of our car during the morning rush to disembark
After the train ride, the three of us made our way to the nearest subway stop, which required a short bus ride; luckily we were able to figure that out rather quickly, thanks to the helpful security guards stationed around the train station. From the nearest subway stop, we rode the subway for around 45 – 60 minutes, with either one or two rail changes. Beijing is definitely a lot more developed than Xi’an
Since it was already the afternoon by the time we checked into our hostel, we decided it would be better to visit the Temple of Heaven （天坛） since this site is in Beijing. We took the subway over and started walking north to find the entrance. The Temple of Heaven
It was a beautiful fall day, with many leaves turned a bright yellow and the weather that perfect temperature between cool and warm. We also were in the complex during sunset, which made it all the better. Some brief background on the Temple of Heaven
Constructed during the Ming and Qing dynasties (the two most recent), the temple and its accompanying ceremonial buildings were visited annually by the emperor to pray for a good harvest. Its breath-taking to see something constructed over 500 years ago standing in front of you!
Front view of the Hall of Prayers for Good Harvests
Inner view of the Imperial Hall of Heaven
Time hasn't been kind to the imperial dragons...
(Stone tablet on the steps leading to the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest)
The Temple of Heaven complex has also become a hang-out spot for many elderly people. Luckily Margaret knew about this and led us to the area where they play instruments, card games, and even do some ribbon dancing! Since it looked like a good deal of fun, and they were playing Telephone by Lady Gaga ft. Beyonce, I was persuaded by my friends to jump in and join in. Needless to say, I looked like a fool, but at least it was an unforgettable experience-- not many people can say they ribbon danced with a Chinese lady in Beijing to Lady Gaga!
My humorous attempts --- notice how the woman in the back is twirling two at once
Later that evening, we went out with some of Margaret's friends to celebrate Halloween, sort of. None of us from Xi'an, quite understandably had costumes, though all of Margaret's other friends did. It wasn't a big deal, though, since we weren't entering ourselves in any costume contests. Needless to say, the nightlife in Beijing is much, much, much crazier than in Xi'an. We only went to one little section of bars and clubs, and that alone had many more options than Xi'an! Also, the taxi cab ride home cost around ¥60, whereas a ride home in Xi'an is usually around ¥17.
The next morning we woke up and prepared for our trip to the Great Wall. Actually getting to the Great Wall is definitely one of the most confusing and frustrating things I've ever done; luckily I had other people with me to help figure things out.
We knew from online and a guide book that the cheapest way to get to Badaling (八达岭) the stretch of the Great Wall that is the main tourist destination, is to take an hour bus ride for about ¥12. We walked to where we thought the bus stop would be and saw a good deal of buses parked across the street. After crossing the street Frogger-style (we’ve all become pros at this now; it might take some time adjusting to traffic law obeying vehicles when we return to the United States…), we wanted to double-check that this was indeed the bus to Badaling. Well, a helpful looking man in a uniform came up to us and told us that we needed a different bus at another stop (he also mentioned that a ticket would be ¥60). We assumed he knew what he was talking about and followed his advice, but halfway there, saw that the bus we knew we wanted actually was in the original parking lot. So we returned and walked past this man who almost successfully scammed us and into the correct queue for our bus.
Of course the craziness cannot end there. When the bus pulled up, people came out of nowhere and began rushing the bus, thus destroying any semblance of order the line we had been waiting in created. They almost didn’t let Karen on because she got separated from Andras and I and they didn’t know if they had any seats left. I had to yell to the bus driver, “她跟我一起 She’s with me” before they let her on. (This isn’t the first time that we’ve had to reassure Chinese people that Karen is, indeed, another American and with us. She’s half-Filipino, but her features are rather ambiguous and so many Chinese people think she’s Uyghur.)
Well, the craziness couldn’t end there. After a long ride, we started to see rolling hills and fragments of the wall. Getting rather excited and anxious, the bus stopped and about the half of the bus started getting off. We knew that the bus went to other stops beside Badaling, so we assumed this was our stop. There was also a large sign that read (in both Chinese and English) Badaling Cemetery
This was one of the main clues we were in the wrong place...
We asked around if we could actually get onto the Great Wall from here; we could see it in the distance, but the map of the forest trail wasn’t clear if it actually connected to the wall. To our disappointment, there was no way to actually get to the Great Wall from here. I think I also asked my question in Chinese in an awkward way, because it took asking two or three times before the ticket receptionist understood. It might also be that this is clearly not the main Badaling entrance, so they are used to having foreigners ask silly questions. (Having been on the Great Wall now, I think it would be a fun and exciting journey to walk this forest trail another time, especially during the fall when the leaves are turning their bright red. Perhaps the next time I’m in
We walked back to the entrance and figured we could just catch the next bus dropping off visitors here and ride until the main entrance. We assumed we would have to pay for another ticket, but the price is so minimal we didn’t mind. Unfortunately, the buses don’t take passengers further down the road at this stop; they only take visitors returning to Beijing
Nothing says "patriotic" more
Towards the beginning of our hike across the Great Wall
None of us expected the Great Wall to be as arduous as it was. We were all early to mid-twenties fit youngsters, but there were moments of ridiculous steepness that had all of us moving extremely cautiously. When we reached the highest section we could, around 2/3 of the way in, I was starting to get sweaty. The way to this highest part, the hardest obstacle was the mobs of people. However, there is a cable car that runs to this section and so afterward, there was a significant drop in climbers. However, the second part's hardest obstacle was the terrain itself. The wall mimicked the hill it was built atop too well, and some parts were so steep it doesn't make any sense why they needed to even build a wall here. Also, throughout the wall, but mostly during the first section's comparatively less steep sections, the wall is smooth and not steps. Meaning walking up is slightly difficult, especially if there are "traffic jams" so you lose your momentum, but walking down is especially scary as you're never sure if you might start sliding. I slid a little bit and decided to walk as close to the ramparts / handrail as possible to prevent this in the future.
One of the most steep parts, except the descent on the other side was even worse
But we all completed the Great Wall climb without taking either the cable car or roller coaster ride down. That's right, a little before the cable car station is a roller coaster that will take you down to the base. Apparently it's not that unusual to change this historic monument into part theme park, because at the end of the Wall was a bear zoo. There were around four or five pits of bears; you could buy apple bits to throw at them and watch them eat. Their living conditions are nowhere near as nice as animals in the United States; a pit that should be fore maybe three at most held around nine bears!
八达岭熊乐园
"Badaling Bear Paradise"
There was one pit with bear cubs and they were adorable. One kept sitting down and reminded me so much of Winnie the Pooh or a panda cub. Unfortunately (or probably for the best), we couldn't get close enough to touch or pick up the bears, because I think they would've been all too eager to escape.
Getting back to Beijing
As we were departing the taxi, one of our new “friends” offhandedly invited us to go out and have a drink with them. We didn’t really respond, as we weren’t sure if they were indeed extending us this invitation, but instead of just asking them directly (which probably would’ve been awkward), we assumed that they meant it and intended to follow them to whatever restaurant or bar they went to, but then they asked us where we were staying and then pointed us in that direction. We hadn’t actually been invited after all. Luckily, we were fairly close to the Olympic Park and we all wanted to see the stadiums anyway. The subway line running through the Olympic Park wasn’t running so we had to walk the stretch above land, which I’m glad we had to do since we were able to experience a lot of street culture that don’t normally get in Xi’an. There were carnival games, roller skating, karaoke, vendors, street artists, you name it! We got scammed by some people dressed up as popular cartoon characters; we took some pictures with them and they demanded money. We should’ve known better!
We eventually made it to the Olympic Stadium, and the Bird's Next and the Water Cube are both impressive, especially lit up at night. After walking around a bit, we wandered to find food, which was a bit longer of a walk than we had expected. Along the way, we saw a group of Chinese women doing some form of traditional dance and decided to join in for a little bit. They didn't seem to mind, though they also didn't seem to notice. (The ladies Karen and I have joined dancing twice now were a bit more friendly and they definitely noticed us!)
The Water Cube, as made famous by Michael Phelps
The Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium
The next day we were departing Beijing, so we only had half a day for excursions. We tried asking the hostel for ideas, but nothing grabbed our attention. Neat the train station, we had spotted a Military History Museum (中国人民革命军事博物馆). As we were glad to find out, admission is free, though we were still required to get a ticket... Around the entrance were a variety of military vehicles, such as some planes, boats, many tanks, and some vehicles that apparently Mao Zedong himself used! These vehicles were from an assortment of wars, so some were made in the United States while othersw were from the Soviet Union. While we were walking around the outside, a little Chinese boy pointed at me and excitedly said to his parents, "外国人！ Foreigner!" It was adorable, so all I could do was smile and respond, "对，你是中国人。Yep, (directed at him) You're a Chinese person."
Imposing front for a musuem
Needless to say, there were many boys running to and fro on the outskirts of the museum. Inside the musuem, however, we found a few interesting things. In the Hall of Guns, we were having difficulty indentifying some countries (since the names were in Chinese), and tried asking some of the museum staff where the country was. The funniest one was 苏联 ("su lian"), which we found out was in Europe, but couldn't get a clear answer for what countries surrounded it. Another problem is my European geography Chinese vocabulary is extremely limited. We tried asking if it was by Russia, which didn't get us anywhere; neither did France or Germany. We eventually found it using an iPhone. It's the Soviet Union, which is why there was such difficulty describing where it is.
Also in the Hall of Guns, we found a dozen or so elementary age students, both girls and boys, plopped in front of a variety of weaponry and being instructed by some adults (parents or teachers, I'm not quite sure) to draw these weapons. Nothing is more fitting for a Sunday afternoon activity than to go to the museum and draw guns, right?
Cute little girl in pink... drawing machines of death
Other exhibits in the museum included Resistance to Japanese Occupation, which was heavily biased not only agains the Japanese but also against any forces that helped in this struggle other than the Communists. The help of the Nationalists and the United States was rather downplayed. There was then the exhibit on the Chinese civil war between the Nationalists and the Communisits, a hall exhibiting the variety of gifts received by foreign dignitaries and a Hall of Achievement, that lack any sense of order any signs, even in Chinese, that we are not quite sure what many things were or why they were there. It was a highly enjoyable and educational experience, nevertheless, so I'm glad we went.
After wandering around a giant underground mall complex that even had an ice skating rink and a quick dinner at Burger King, we headed to the train station and began our thirteen hour return train ride home to Xi'an.
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