Keep the sleep at Bei...jing!

JULY 6TH, 2018

Despite over 14 hours of travel and a 13 hour time difference when we landed in Beijing, around 10am, we knew we had to power through the day to fight the jet lag and not fall asleep by lunch. We decided to brave the train system immediately and this involved trying to figure out how to by train tickets. We first approached a self-serve kiosk and hit the button for English when an older man rushed in and cancelled our order to start his own. Apparently if you aren’t moving quickly enough people will find their way in front of you. We soon realized this would be a trend along this trip - lines don’t really exist, but while waiting in what appears to be one, people will join from all directions and cut wherever they want. It doesn’t seem to be rude either, it’s just the way it is and everyone is used to it. This is how traffic seems to work too.

The hotel we stayed in during our time in Beijing used to be a courtyard mansion and is located in a hutong neighborhood. Hutongs are narrow roads and alleyways that have traditional Chinese courtyard homes, where families would all share a common courtyard, and kitchen. Unfortunately many of these areas have begun to be demolished to make new roads and more modern buildings. 

After braving the subway system for the first time we walked down several small streets and alleys until we found our hotel. We dropped off our luggage and wandered around to find lunch. It was 96 degrees and nothing is written in English so it took us a while, but we finally found a street with many restaurants and shops. We settled on one of the only ones with pictures on the menu which was what appeared to be fast food, but much better quality than our fast food spots. We proceeded to order our first true Chinese food! Despite pictures and the google translate app, we still somehow ended up with a bowl of mushrooms as a dish, which Chuck was very disappointed by, even though he ate them. 

Next, we made our way to Prince Gong’s Mansion. This became our first interaction with the insane amount of tour groups and mass crowds at each attraction we would visit. There was very limited English signage so we researched what we could and discovered that it is the largest and best preserved mansion from the Qing Dynasty. It was made in 1777 and was the private residence of a court official who was eventually accused of corruption and executed. The property was passed on several times before it belonged to Prince Gong who it is named after. 

The grounds were beautiful and and the architecture was truly unique to anywhere else we have ever visited. 

We then walked to the Bell and Drum Tower, which date to 1272. The bell tower would announce the start of each day and the drum tower would announce the end of the day at dusk. They were also used for music, ceremonies, and announcing events. We walked up an incredibly steep staircase to the top of the drum tower and were able to see one original and several replicas of the watchmans’ drums used to announce the closing of the city gates each evening. We walked on the outside of the building and could see the downtown skyline (despite some smog) and JingShan Hill. We were called inside to see a drum performance which was very beautiful and helped to imagine what it was like when the tower was in full use. 

We wandered around the various hutongs some more. We were in the HouHai Lake area which is very cute but also very touristy. However, we realized that by turning down any hutong you could suddenly be in a quiet and local spot and just wander for a bit. As we relaxed by the lakes we realized how often we were being stared at. We would soon learn that many of the tourists and locals have not interacted with many Westerners. Although we were in China, we found a Vietnamese spot for dinner and enjoyed bahn mi and flatbread-not local but delicious. 

On our first day we realized we would have to get use to using cash which is hard since we’re so reliant on our credit cards. It is also going to take a while to get used to drinking only bottled water, as well as keep our mouths closed in the shower.