Beijing

Flying from Shanghai to Beijing is easy and totally different from what it was in 1995.  China Air is thoroughly organized and pleasant. Once in Beijing, we realized that we would be crisscrossing the city, a huge undertaking in traffic, so we did not go to our hotel until after we went to Tiannamen Square and the Forbidden City.  It was rainy and chilly, and we were pretty exhausted, so it was hard to listen to every word of the travel guide.  When we indicated that we would like to go to the hotel sooner, SiSi said, "But I have to give you my informations."  So we trucked on through the visitor parts which are much more restricted than they were in 1995.  The vastness of the square and the Forbidden City are awsome, and the City with descriptions of the emperor and all his concubines makes us understand revolutions.

 

Our guest house is very difficult to find and our hearts dropped when we arrived at its door down an alleyway.  Soon we found out that we were at the main house and that our room was at the west yard about 7 minutes walk away.  Our driver took us up the street after a lengthy check in process while our bags were loaded onto a bicycle cart and hauled to the west yard.  Inside the gates of this restored hutong is a different world, cut off from the noise and bustle of the outside world.  The courtyard garden is serene, and the common room has a fish pond and small water fall.  The open courtyard is beautifully landscaped while the inner, covered common space is covered with glass.  We are enjoying sitting in the group space and talking to people and watching the family who owns the place go about their daily tasks.  The room is simple and small, but adequate. Staying here provides a completely different experience from what we've had on the trip...a thoroughly enjoyable change of pace and scenery.

 

Friday....we had breakfast at the inn and then went to the Great Wall.  Took a cable car up the steepest part, then landed at a plateau above which was a steep set of stairs to get onto the wall itself.  It was a cloudy period of the day, so the very distant parts of the wall weren't visible, but we saw enough to gasp.  It is so massive, period.   On the way back to our inn, we went to Olympic Park...just what we all saw on tv during the games.  The Birds' Nest simply looks bigger than what we've seen , and the Water Cube is weird....literally a cube that has sort of water bubbles as sides. 

 

Back at the inn, we are about to go out on our own to explore the neighborhood. 

 

Home tomorrow...what an adventure this has been.  We're sure that if we were to come back in 10 years it will be a completely different country just as it seems to be completely different from 1995.  We are SO glad we've come and we feel that we had enough time to get used to many things that seemed daunting in the first days.