Our trip to Beijing was amazing. We had nearly a week off for Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) and we tried to take full advantage of it. Usually we spend our vacations staying in hostels and backpacking from place to place, but this time we decided to take it easy, stick to one location and one hotel and work outwards from there.
We had a short, two-hour flight from Incheon airport (which we almost didn't make because of terrible bus traffic on the way to the airport.) Who knew that one should leave early on the busiest Korean travel day of the year? We made it into Beijing by 9 and into our hotel room by 10:30. Surprise when we showed up, free upgrade!
The "continental breakfast" at our hotel turned out to be make-your-own salad, assorted breads, and cook-your-own eggs. Interesting. We had to stand in line to get to the pan and hotplate that were for egg-cooking, but I actually prefer to have control over how my eggs are cooked, so it was fine by me. Brendan didn't like the crowded breakfast room and vowed never to return. A vow which he kept.
The first day of sightseeing was the coldest of the trip. And rainy. Not the best way to start a walking tour or Beijing, but great atmosphere for the Lama Temple. It's a huge temple complex near our hotel which originally served as a palace for one of the many princes of the many dynasties in China. It was a great experience. Every time I visit a Buddhist temple and experience the peacefulness and tranquility it's very moving and I kind of wish that I was a Buddhist for a minute. There were many people there doing prayers and burning incense, as well as a myriad of different representations of Buddha, ranging from the reclining and laughing chubby-faced Buddhas to what we think of as more traditionally Indian Buddhas with hundreds of arms and dragon-like faces. Of course the architecture was super-impressive and intricate. It's scrolls on top of gold on top of filigree on top decoration. A little bit mind boggling. There were many impressive statues but the MOST insane was a 3 or four story standing Buddha that was entirely carved from a single sandalwood tree. To give you an idea of scale, it's foot was twice the size of my entire body. It's little toe was the size of a giant suitcase. We weren't allowed to take pictures of it. Depressing.
After a few hours wandering around the temple, and visiting the inevitable gift shop (where Brendan, regrettably, did not buy a jade elephant he was eyeing, we moved on to walk toward Wangfujing street. A "snack street" where they serve everything from grilled scorpion to starfish, to seahorse, even sparrows and spiders. Now there is some alliteration for you!
It was a looooong walk and we got hungry on the way, so we popped into a restaurant that had lots of pictures and English on their menu. We settled on some duck in a black bean sauce. Sounds kind of eh, but tastes AMAZING! It came with some small pancakes to wrap the duck with some shredded cucumber and onion, and tasted better than any Chinese food you can imagine. It was rich, like a dessert and hard to finish one plate between us. We did manage to finish with the help of some tasty Chinese beer to wash it down. Now, onto Wanfujing!
By the time we got to Wanfujing, I was still incredibly full from our lunch and the site of scorpions still squirming on a stick gave me the urge to call PETA. Brendan wanted to try some delicacies, but I wasn't feeling it so we walked around the market a bit and examined their wares. Many stone statues and incarnations of Buddha later, we had bought nothing but a pair of "Ray-Ban"(yeah right) sunglasses for Brendan that I bartered down from 60 to ten bucks. After much walking and talking with a few sets of Chinese "art students" who wanted us to come and see their "exhibitions,"(scam) We decided to head back to the hotel and rest up for the evening. (To be continued.)
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