My Life In Focus

Great Wall of China - Beijing, China
Local Time: December 25, 2008 - 10:45AM

This was by far the coolest part of this trip so far… even though it was just one section of the wall – of which most has been restored, you can see the other parts of the wall in its original form far in the distance. The section that we were taken to was restored to make it safe for climbing. You can either go left or go right. If you chose to go right, the steps were much more manageable to handle. If you go left, the steps are much more difficult to climb as it is much steeper. Since I am traveling with three relatively adventurous guys, we opted to go left. The climb was much more difficult than we anticipated, but we made it up a good portion of the wall before descending. Keep in mind that the weather there was less than 30 degrees outside and there were patches of leftover snow from the prior week. The air was so cold that it pierced my lungs as I climbed higher and higher. The view was amazing and the construction of the wall was amazing.

Since it was Christmas day, there wasn’t much else going on in the surrounding areas. Usually there are floods and floods of vendors that stand about trying to sell you something – it’s their way of making a living. But this is the off-season and not as much tourism passes through. This kind of makes it nice for those who do because it’s not quite as crowded (but it was still pretty crowded that day – there were at least another 30 tour buses parked outside along with ours). After everyone climbed down the wall, we all boarded the freezing bus to go and have lunch before visiting the last spot for the Beijing leg of the tour.

Olympic Village - Beijing, China
Local Time: December 25, 2008 – 9:00AM

It wasn’t listed on our original itinerary, but we also visited the infamous Bird’s Nest and Water Cube from the 2008 Summer Olympics that was hosted in Beijing, China. These two structures are absolutely breathtaking. The sizes of these structures are massive and sit on a piece of land that faces one and other – which is said to have very good feng shui. The buildings are currently under construction and renovations. I think Beijing intends to fix the facility so that it has a more practical use post-Olympics – unlike Olympic sites of the past that tends to go more towards the neglected side. It’s too bad that our visit was during the day. I wasn’t able to capture the pictures of it at night when the lights are actually on (they turned them on for the holidays), but it’s OK, I got pictures of me being physically be there and that’s all that matters.

Next to the Bird’s Nest and Water Cube is a 7 star (that’s right count them up) hotel – the only one in all of Beijing and possibly this area of China. It consists of 5 separate buildings that when you look at it as whole is in the shape of a dragon. Many of the people who attended the Olympics booked at this hotel despite the cost for its convenience… you are literally within walking distance.

The beauty in the architecture in all of these buildings and facilities are just absolutely amazing and I must say that the Chinese are starting to step up and take their mark in the world in this sense.

Silk Market - Beijing, China
Local Time: December 24, 2008 – 8:00PM

After the Summer Palace and dinner – we decided to skip the acrobatics show and venture out on our own to the Silk Market – which is like an indoor flea market. Many people go here to purchase knock off items or just have some fun with the bartering culture.

There are about 5 floors of just both after booth, many of which carry the same items so you could have a lot of fun trying to negotiate some deals because the vendor next door may carry the same exact thing. A tip for those of you considering visiting any of these vendor like areas in China – more often than not, these vendors mark up the cost by about 100 to 200 percent – so when you bargain with them… a general rule that I have been told is to start by giving them a price that is half of what they are trying to ask of you. Then negotiate to a price that you are comfortable with. Half the fun of it is in bargaining for the items – and even if you don’t come out with the upper hand (because these folks are totally trained in how to barter with you and make you feel good about what you purchased), you’ve helped the local community and you probably haven’t lost all that much to begin with in the first place. I came out with 4 scroll paintings (each for the 4 different seasons) and a fake Burberry wallet to carry all the money from this trip (because their currency is much larger than the US dollar and wouldn’t fit in my wallet).

We took a cab home – and cabs are easy to come by so getting around can be convenient. The only thing is that you don’t know whether or not the driver is trying to rip you off or not by taking a longer route, BUT for the most part it is relatively safe. Just make sure you take your key card with you with the hotel’s logo or better yet, ask the concierge for a business card for the hotel because the phone number is also included. If it’s a newer hotel that you are staying at, you may want to ask them to provide directions for you in the local language on a sheet of paper before you leave. This way, you’ll always make it back to your hotel room safe and sound. Another tip is prior to jumping into the cab, you may want to ask the driver if he knows where the hotel is rather than jump in and already having clocked time on the meter before they tell you no. That was a lesson learned the hard way for us, but it all managed to work out just fine.

Summer Palace - Beijing, China
Local Time: December 24, 2008 - 4:00PM

After lunch and a short visit to the infamous Chinese herbal medicine pharmacy that started it all thousands of years ago (visits to vendors such as this one is quite common on tours) was a trip to the Summer Palace. The Summer Palace was erected by one of the early emperors in China’s history as a home for the Empress and other Concubines to reside during the scorching summers. Surrounding the palace is a manmade lake. The downside to visiting this site during the winter is that the lake is somewhat frozen (parts of it is) so the usual boat tour the palace is closed down and only available during the warmer seasons.

The palace itself was gorgeous. Much like the Forbidden City, much detail went into every nook and cranny of this place. The breeze from the lake provides milder temperatures so the Empress and the Concubines would make the annual trip to the Summer Palace all those many years ago.

One thing I will say now about all of the touristy spots is to be careful when you buy things from the local vendors. Make sure to carry smaller change on you and check your money when change is provided to you. Many of these vendors will try to give you change from foreign currencies that are not worth as much as the Chinese yuan. It happened to Davy as he was trying to purchase some bird whistles from one of the ladies there. He thought he would be supporting the local community and ended up getting cheated. He didn’t lose much money (100 yuan ~ $15 US). She gave him Taiwanese currency as change. He ended up spending $15 on something that should have been worth $0.50. Bummer.