Oh hey, Beijing!
After two years, my Korean teaching contract came to an end, marking the end of an era and the start of a two-month journey across Asia and Europe. Our trip started in Beijing, where we spent a few days before hopping on a train for Mongolia.
After my adventure with China Eastern (scroll to the PSA at the bottom), I finally made it to Beijing and was able to settle in at my hostel and catch up with everyone’s favorite Canadian, Kelsea. We went with Peking Yard hostel, located in an old hutong area of Beijing, and a few small blocks from the subway. Hutongs around Beijing are labyrinths of old architecture and tiny alleyways, dotted here and there with mom and pop shops and random pubs scattered in-between. Most of the buildings here are so old that they don’t have indoor bathrooms, so most families use the neighborhood restrooms that show up every other block or so. People in the area seemed to get around mostly on bikes and scooters, and everything got pretty quiet after a certain hour. I’m not sure what I was expecting the city to be like, but I was pleasantly surprised by how calm it was. People seemed much more friendly than what I’ve grown accustomed to.
After resting up a bit, we wandered, ate dumplings, melted our faces off with a hot pot ascended from hell, and Kels scouted out a pretty cool little jazz bar. I never thought I’d find delta blues so dang far away from home, but there it was. If you closed your eyes, you’d think you were in Mississippi. Well, kinda.
…Almost.
On the second day, we decided to join in on a Great Wall hike advertised by our hostel. We were set up with Great Wall Adventure Club, who met us outside of the subway bright and early and shuttled us to the Jinshanling section of the wall. The hike itself was 4 miles, passed through 22 towers, and completely kicked our butts. We started the hike with stars in our eyes and ended as human raisins. I’ll give us a little credit, though. We didn’t pass out, didn’t break anything, and weren’t foaming at the mouth at the end. Our guide said that everyone who walks the wall is automatically a hero, so I’m working on a badge design.
After we finished the hike and rested a tiny bit, we wandered around ‘til we found the shining beacon that is Punk Rock Noodles. 17-year-old Rachel squealed a bit when we entered to find the walls lined with old show posters, records, studded jackets, and the speakers blasting a mix ranging from The Exploited to The Clash. ‘Twas the angstiest plate of noodles I’ve ever eaten, and all of the other patrons were 100x cooler than me. 10/10 would go again.
The next day, we headed out to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City to get educated and take a few photos. The scale of the palace complex was overwhelming, and I could see how someone might get lost pretty easily just wandering. The only thing I can compare it to is Gyeongbokgung in Seoul, and there’s still not much of a comparison there. It’s huge.
After our walk around the Forbidden City, we were whisked away (swindled?) by a very persuasive man on a rickshaw who took us on a mini tour of the hutong nearby. He told us random facts about the neighborhoods, particularly the symbolism used at front doors. We were told that certain door stones mean different things, like square = judge/official and circular stones = military families. We even passed one of Mao’s first houses and Jackie Chan’s Beijing vacation home. Pretty cool.
My only regret when leaving Beijing was that I didn’t have as much time as I would’ve liked to really explore the city. I’ll probably head back sometime in the future to dig in a bit more where I left off and to become best friends with Jackie.
P.S. Eat at Punk Rock Noodles.
PSA:
DO NOT FLY CHINA EASTERN. Despite warnings from multiple friends, I still booked my way-too-cheap-to-be-good ticket.
My condensed experience: delayed flight, cancelled flight, midnight check-in at a hotel set up by the airline, 5 AM wakeup call, and a last-minute sprint through the airport to a last-minute flight opening. Never again. Unless you’re a masochist, spend the extra cash on a trustworthy airline and avoid the flogging. PSA over.
Side note:
I think the first thing that struck me after landing in Beijing was the air quality. I was expecting to get smacked by a wall of smog, but everything was pretty clear and we didn’t require one of those ultra-fashionable surgical masks. Rumor around town was that the political conferences prompted the early closing of factories to clear the air a bit beforehand. Conspiracy theories! Hooray!