As we put our backpacks through security Jueun overheard one of the Korean officers say to the other, "these are what you call real backpackers." Shortly after the compliment they took my Swiss army knife with the promise of returning it once we arrived in China.
Once we climbed the "Northern Ranger (Labrador coastal ferry) style" gangplank and boarded the boat we were directed to the information desk where a guy was rounded up to speak with us in broken English. He gave us the meal times and pointed in the direction of our cabin.
It was noon on November 15th when the Jinchon ferry left the port of Inchon on the west coast of Korea. It was a sunny but cool day as we made our way through the port locks and past Walmido where we stayed the night before.
At first it appeared that we were the only non Chinese on the boat. We later found a Korean mother and child and one older American gentleman. Being very much in the minority it became obvious our China trip had begun as soon as we got on the boat.
At meal time we walked into the very chaotic dining room where we observed people given trays and a plate full of food. Although there were no places to sit we were glad to find out the meals were included in the price of our ticket.
At about 2pm the next day we arrived in Tanggu, China. After disembarking we made our way outside, found a city bus stop and waited for a bus to take us to a train station that would take us to Tianjin.
While heading to the bus stop we had to wave off numerous taxi drivers who seemed to see us as an easy target. At the bus stop an interesting old man started to talk to us. At first I thought he might have been an old homeless guy who just wanted to practice his English. Then he started taking out various objects from his over sized bags. His toys included a dancing Santa Clause and a singing parrot.
This eccentric old man and one of the taxi drivers who was still trying to get our business got in to a heated debate about how we should go to wherever it was we were going.
The old man kept saying to the taxi driver, "You..too expensive.. they go...bus with me..." The taxi driver got more and more frustrated as the old man continued to put his toys on display for us both at the bus stop and again on the bus to the amusement of the other passengers.
From Tianjin we were able to get a 30 minute express train to Beijing East Station. From there we took a taxi. The driver dropped us off at what looked like the most quintessential little Chinese alley you could ever imagine.
We had made it to the Dashilar area of Beijing and with the help of the addresses written in Chinese and a kind lady along the way, at about 9:30 pm, we made our way to the Far East International Hotel.
I was absolutely amazed that we had made it to our hotel with such little difficulty. I was actually amazed that we made it there at all that night. I guess we had good Chinese fortune working in our favour. Sometimes things just go your way.
The next morning we headed out to explore the area where we were staying. The little ally seemed to contain buildings and shops that looked as though they had been there for hundreds of years.
First we poked around Dashilar, the century old shopping street and made our way to Qianmen Dajie where we walked north towards Tian'anmen Square.
After going through numerous security check points we made our way onto the famous Square where we stood in awe for awhile amongst the massive crowds. Here we took a few pictures of the area including the Gate of Heavenly Peace with the giant picture of Mao Zedong.
In the afternoon we walked to the Temple of Heaven. The Temple of Heaven is a tranquil oasis of peace and calm within the huge over crowded city. Here we explored the Hall of Prayer for good Harvests, The Imperial Vault of Heaven and the Echo Wall where Jueun and I were able to stand on opposite sides of the temple and somehow have a conversation with each other speaking normal volume into the unusual wall.
After our fill of this place we made the long walk back up Qianmen Dajie towards the Dashilar area where we stopped in a little hole in the wall noodle shop and took advantage of the handy photo menu to pick out what we wanted to eat.
The next day we got an early start on the Forbidden City. It is actually known in Beijing as the Palace Museum. It is China's largest and best preserved collection of ancient buildings and the largest palace complex in the world so we wanted to devote most of our day to this incredible place.
Once through the Meridian Gate we wandered around the three great halls. With images from "The last Emperor" and "Farewell my Concubine" going through our heads, we searched for some key places like the location of the guardian lions, the kneeling elephants and the huge nine dragon wall.
After stopping for lunch we continued on taking pictures of the different buildings and various mythical beasts before moving on to the imperial gardens where we finally exited through the North Gate.
We then moved on to the very beautiful Beihai Park which is very close to the North Gate of the Forbidden city. Here we enjoyed another break from the huge crowds and climbed up the peaceful quiet path to the White Tibetan style Dogoba on the hill.
We then made our way back to our hotel by followng a lonely planet suggested walk which took us through some of Beijing's most historic alleyways called Hutong Nanluogu Xiang.
By the time we finally got back to the hotel it was late in the evening, we were beyond exhausted and hungry; however, felt completely satisfied with our day in one of the world's greatest historical cities.
The next day we left the hotel shortly after 7:00 am. It took us about two hours to get to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall of China.
Years ago I visited the Badaling section of the wall. Due to its reconstruction and accessability it is considered the most touristy part of the wall. This time I really wanted to visit a different section, something a little less touristy a little more wild.
Anyway, it was great to make it back to China's most famous constructive triumph and what must certainly be on most travelers bucket lists. According to Mao Zedong, "He who has not climbed the Great Wall is not a true man."
The Mutianyu section of the wall provided us with a great day of wall hiking and some incredible views. It's amazing to think that this wall that winds haphazardly along the mountain tops was originally built more than 2000 years ago. This certainly gives you something to think about as you gaze off into the distance and try to follow its path as far as the eye can see.
Weather wise our day at the wall couldn't have been any better. We had been getting tired of the gray Beijing haze so to see the clear blue sky again was an added bonus. At the end of the day we had sore muscles but that night slept well knowing that we had put the Great Wall of China under our feet.
The next day we visited the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall. Probably the most impressive mausoleum I've been to. It is larger than Lenin's and more orderly than Ho Chi Ming's. It was interesting to see so many Chinese line up and place flowers at the site. It is easy to see how revered the man still is according to their reaction and behaviour while visiting the site.
The rest of our day was spent at Zhongshan Park and around Tian'anmen Square. We moved indoors and spent a few hours of the afternoon in the National Museum of China. It was good to get out of the cold damp air. The temperature dropped to a level below what we were actually prepared for.
With our time in Beijing quickly coming to an end at around 6 pm we picked up our bags and made our way to the train station to catch our night train to X'ian. The station was busy and chaotic; however, we managed to figure out where our waiting area was and how to find our track number.
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