Jessica and I wanted to sleep in on Saturday morning, but we had many errands to run. We wanted to go to Yashow to complete souvenir/gift shopping, as well as visit the bag man one more time, I wanted to go to Beijing Glasses City again to get new glasses for cheap, and we needed to get a refund on Jess' top-up card from China Mobile. We also planned to have dinner at Morel's one last time.
I got up at 9am and ordered room service--how decadent! The Mariott makes a mean dish of lemon ricotta pancakes! I wanted to get a jin bim for breakfast, but I just didn't have time to run across the street to the hutong. We were on a schedule!
We headed to Yashow first, where I picked up some pretty pearl necklaces for Cheri, who's been watching my cat, as well as a fun coral necklace for her daughter. Jess got a bunch of necklaces for friends of hers as well, in addition to one more pretty translucent blue one that matches her eyes. We used the necklace stall that we always do, and got a good price as per usual. I got one pair of trendy jeans for my brother from my jeans girl (100 RMB per pair). Both the jeans girl and the necklace girl are so funny; they have us pay round the corner because they know they can get higher prices from their other clueless customers. We don't mind because they are just so clever--when we're bargaining they always have very clever counter arguments.
We also visited the bag man one last time. I got a gray leather Louis Vuitton handbag that is absolutely cavernous. It fits my laptop in its case in addition to all manner of things. Jess got a bunch of nice gifts for people, in addition to a gorgeous Hermes wallet. The bag man had gotten a huge new shipment of Hermes Kelly bags as well as a bunch of Ferragamo bags and the Stephen Sprouse graffiti for Louis Vuitton bags too. I was tempted by a pink graffiti bag but figured it was too seasonally dated. While we were in the secret room, there was a commanding sounding knock on the door. Jess and I were worried that the cops were doing a sweep, and that we'd never leave China, but it turned out that it was people looking for the secret room next door (I always wonder what else is up on the 6th floor of Yashow). Regardless, it was a sign for us to finish up our business and get out of there. Better to not tempt fate, you know?
Afterwards we picked up our purchases from the necklace girl and headed south on the 10 subway line to Beijing Glasses City. This is basically a huge market similar to Yashow but the only thing they sell is glasses. You can bargain and try on the millions of frames available, and then have prescription lenses made up in about an hour (much better than Lenscrafters!). The shops can read your existing lenses, so no written prescription or eye exam necessary (although most purchases come with free eye exam should you need it).
The market is a little overwhelming, with 4 floors of all little eyeglass stalls. There's even a 2nd Beijing Glasses City across the street! The first place we tried on glasses refused to bargain, and quoted ridiculously high prices (600RMB for each frame, which is near to US prices). The second shop was much more reasonable, posted 180RMB prices for the kind of frames I wanted (like Buddy Holly) plus 100RMB for the lenses. After some bargaining involving me waving a wad of 400 cash around saying that was all I had, I had my order in for 2 pairs of classes. They told me to come back in one hour.
Jess and I walked around looking for a China Mobile service center, and we found one. After explaining the story, they sent us down the road to another service center a couple of blocks away. They called ahead to warn the service center that we were coming, and I distinctly heard the woman tell them that we wanted a refund, not an exchange, because we were going to the US the next day. Of course, when we got to the 2nd service center, they refused to refund. They said there literally "wasn't a method" to do so. Typical. Jess and I were so sick of fighting that we just took the card. I think she is going to try to sell it at the airport.
The exchange took just the perfect amount of time so we went back to Glasses City (and yes, that's the actual translation of the sign out front) and got my new glasses. I wanted to make sure they were OK before I left, so I asked for a place to remove my contacts. They sent me across the alleyway to the lab where all the lenses were being ground. It was madness in there, people grinding away in the back (and probably plastic dust in the air, too), a hoard of people picking up glasses at the counter, and a tiny sink in the back for hand washing. I couldn't find a contact lens container, so I went back to the shop and had the girl come with me. She had to ask for one from one of the people working at the lens shaping. I removed my contacts and made my way back to the shop, attempting to not appear like I could barely see. Both glasses were great, my vision was clear and now I don't have to look super dorky in 9 year old frames (seriously, I got my old frames my freshman year in college!). Plus, who can complain about $25 glasses?
We took the subway back to the hotel just for kicks. We did some packing and then took a cab to our favorite restaurant in Beijing, Morel's. Monsieur Morel is a Belgian who opened a restaurant that happens to serve the best cheese fondue I've ever had (better than La Fondue Bourginone in LA). Monsieur Morel also likes Jessica and I, probably because he is a mildly lecherous old man who enjoys it when pretty young things come into his restaurant and praise his fondue vigorously. He also caught Jessica scraping the fondue pot last time, and told her that it's the best part of the fondue and sometimes he does it himself in the back, which explains his rotund stature.
The fondue was delicious, as expected, and we cabbed it back to the hotel to finish packing. Luckily we were mostly packed from before our little trip around China, so it wasn't a massive operation.
We woke up later than intended so there was a little bit of crazy running around in the morning. We got a cab to the airport, which of course tried to take the long way (I set him straight) and tried to charge us 50 extra yuan for the bags, which is complete horse$hit illegal and he knew it because he backed off when I laid into him in Chinese. We gave him 10 yuan for the return toll and I told him not to let the door hit his a$$ on the way out. Good times.
My Priority Pass card let me into the Air China 1st class lounge, where I finally watched Slumdog Millionaire, which was really great. I boarded my flight (emergency exit row, woohoo!) and am now in San Francisco waiting for my connection to Phoenix. Stay tuned for entries from Africa this summer!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Saturday, May 9, 2009
All the King's Horses and All the King's Men
Xi'an, according to the guidebook, is "firmly on the tourist itinerary" and I have to say for tourists their public transportation is very handy. To get out to the terracotta warriors of Qin Shi Huang Di (the first emperor of a united China in 221BCE) one only need step off the overnight train and head to the east side of the train station plaza, where minibuses and tourist public buses depart for these destinations regularly. Xi'an's imposing city walls were the first thing we saw when we got off the train and we wanted to walk around them, but at 13km in circumference we didn't have time--the best way is to rent bikes and bike around.
The tourist bus #307 runs right out to the terracotta warrior complex, about 20k outside of town, via some city streets and other attractions such as the Taoist holy mountain Li Shan and various museums and whatnot along the way. The cost is only 7 yuan, which makes it a much better deal than the minibuses that take you straight to the warriors for 26 yuan. Jessica and I hopped onto the tourist bus and it took us about one hour to arrive. The bus was very nice, though, more like a long distance coach, and was air conditioned.
The terracotta army is actually adjacent to the grave of the Qin emperor, which has not been excavated, and was not mentioned in extant historical texts. The army features thousands of life-sized warrior figurines with unique facial features, different poses and uniforms. Horses, chariots, weaponry and other artifacts were also found with the army. It was discovered in 1975 by a peasant sinking a well and has been nicely excavated and was well presented. According to the ancient Chinese historian Sima Qian, the tomb of the Qin emperor has rivers of mercury and treasures untold... as well as booby traps full of spears and arrows waiting to shoot any who trespass. Sounds like a case for Indiana Jones!
The army is housed in three vaults, all partially excavated and roofed. The 1st vault is the largest, with 8000 or so figures arranged in neat rows. The vault is the size of an aircraft hanger, so the scale is immense. Ignoring the throngs of tourists taking photos and posing in front of the figures, Jess and I tried to capture the scope of the view with photos but they don't really do it justice. You can't wander around the figures (since they are fragile terracotta and additionally sections are still under construction) but there are walkways around the entire area so you can get a closer look.
To me the figures were certainly imposing, but also a little sad. They are just standing, waiting for their master who will never come. Some were reassembled but others are lying smashed.
The second vault is fully of mostly broken horses and cavalrymen. This vault also has a fine museum with a close up view of one horse and cavalryman (the detail on both is exquisite, down to the individual lines of hair on both as well as the notched bolts that hold the warrior's armor together. There are also archer figures and a spectacular general, with a fancy hairdo, scarves of glory and a bushy handlebar mustache. You can see the fingernails on all the figures, really impressive.
The third vault is mostly empty, but it does house six beautiful horse figures that came with a chariot, which is being restored. There is also a separate museum that shows two 1/5 scale war chariots with horses and driver, all made of bronze. The museum also features two marionettes that were used in the Beijing Olympic opening ceremonies, which are kind of the most creepy things I've ever seen.
Having had our fill of history, Jess and I caught the bus back to Xi'an and got back on the internet. Unfortunately, the flight was now 200 yuan more expensive! Fighting over the phone with Air China proved fruitless, so we caught the airport bus (which we discovered by luck while wandering around looking for the internet cafe). The bus took about an hour, and it rained heavily. We got quite damp walking over to take the bus.
At the airport, the one staff member at the Air China ticket booking desk was spectacularly unhelpful, raising her voice and interrupting us when we tried to explain our story. We asked to speak to her boss, and she made a phone call, then said "Boss not coming. I no help you." She then proceeded to ignore us and read the paper. No amount of talking loudly in English or Chinese would rouse her. Jessica was so furious she could barely speak. Unfortunately, Air China's flight that I was already booked on was the cheapest. We decided to book the flight, but used a private ticket booking desk provided by the airport itself, which was just 2 booths down from the Air China satan's spawn. Ironically they quoted us a cheaper rate on the Eastern China flight that left a little earlier compared to what we were told when we asked the official Eastern China Airlines ticket booking staff, but Jess opted for Air China so we could fly together. OOPS.
We made it through security and went and sat in a cafe until boarding time... when an announcement was promptly made that our flight was delayed until 10:45 due to "maintenance of the aircraft." To us that sounded like "we're bull$hitting you because we're incompetent idiots." As you can tell we were really down on Air China right now. In what was not a shocker, they delayed the flight again to midnight, and then once more to 12:45. I was not the only person who was infuriated with Air China, local Chinese citizens were arguing with the ground staff and receiving the same crappy service (which made me a little bit perversely pleased).
Finally, another plane arrived around 12:20am and we boarded at 12:45am. They gave us 100 yuan refund, which is about US$12. Thanks a lot, way to rub salt on an open wound! The flight was uneventful, except for a minor altercation with a flight attendant who told me to turn off my iPhone (which was in airplane mode) because it "wasn't allowed in China" which is complete BS because I used it on the Air China flight we took from Guilin to Chengdu AND it's basically an iPod when it is on airplane mode. I stuck to my guns because there was no way I wasn't going to have music and my games during the flight. Eventually another flight attendant came over and knocked some sense into the one berating me. This entire exchange was in a mixture of English and Chinese, all of it probably ruder than I would like but I was at my last straw.
We landed at Beijing Capital Airport at 2:20am, but we had to taxi forever and then once we got off the gate I think we walked about a kilometer to get out. Jessica and I were not happy with the fact that Terminal 3 at Beijing Captial Airport is the world's second largest terminal after Dubai! We took a cab to the Mariott and got to our room at 4am. Thanks a lot, Air China. I'm going to tell everyone I possibly can about how crappy your customer service is.
The tourist bus #307 runs right out to the terracotta warrior complex, about 20k outside of town, via some city streets and other attractions such as the Taoist holy mountain Li Shan and various museums and whatnot along the way. The cost is only 7 yuan, which makes it a much better deal than the minibuses that take you straight to the warriors for 26 yuan. Jessica and I hopped onto the tourist bus and it took us about one hour to arrive. The bus was very nice, though, more like a long distance coach, and was air conditioned.
The terracotta army is actually adjacent to the grave of the Qin emperor, which has not been excavated, and was not mentioned in extant historical texts. The army features thousands of life-sized warrior figurines with unique facial features, different poses and uniforms. Horses, chariots, weaponry and other artifacts were also found with the army. It was discovered in 1975 by a peasant sinking a well and has been nicely excavated and was well presented. According to the ancient Chinese historian Sima Qian, the tomb of the Qin emperor has rivers of mercury and treasures untold... as well as booby traps full of spears and arrows waiting to shoot any who trespass. Sounds like a case for Indiana Jones!
The army is housed in three vaults, all partially excavated and roofed. The 1st vault is the largest, with 8000 or so figures arranged in neat rows. The vault is the size of an aircraft hanger, so the scale is immense. Ignoring the throngs of tourists taking photos and posing in front of the figures, Jess and I tried to capture the scope of the view with photos but they don't really do it justice. You can't wander around the figures (since they are fragile terracotta and additionally sections are still under construction) but there are walkways around the entire area so you can get a closer look.
To me the figures were certainly imposing, but also a little sad. They are just standing, waiting for their master who will never come. Some were reassembled but others are lying smashed.
The second vault is fully of mostly broken horses and cavalrymen. This vault also has a fine museum with a close up view of one horse and cavalryman (the detail on both is exquisite, down to the individual lines of hair on both as well as the notched bolts that hold the warrior's armor together. There are also archer figures and a spectacular general, with a fancy hairdo, scarves of glory and a bushy handlebar mustache. You can see the fingernails on all the figures, really impressive.
The third vault is mostly empty, but it does house six beautiful horse figures that came with a chariot, which is being restored. There is also a separate museum that shows two 1/5 scale war chariots with horses and driver, all made of bronze. The museum also features two marionettes that were used in the Beijing Olympic opening ceremonies, which are kind of the most creepy things I've ever seen.
Having had our fill of history, Jess and I caught the bus back to Xi'an and got back on the internet. Unfortunately, the flight was now 200 yuan more expensive! Fighting over the phone with Air China proved fruitless, so we caught the airport bus (which we discovered by luck while wandering around looking for the internet cafe). The bus took about an hour, and it rained heavily. We got quite damp walking over to take the bus.
At the airport, the one staff member at the Air China ticket booking desk was spectacularly unhelpful, raising her voice and interrupting us when we tried to explain our story. We asked to speak to her boss, and she made a phone call, then said "Boss not coming. I no help you." She then proceeded to ignore us and read the paper. No amount of talking loudly in English or Chinese would rouse her. Jessica was so furious she could barely speak. Unfortunately, Air China's flight that I was already booked on was the cheapest. We decided to book the flight, but used a private ticket booking desk provided by the airport itself, which was just 2 booths down from the Air China satan's spawn. Ironically they quoted us a cheaper rate on the Eastern China flight that left a little earlier compared to what we were told when we asked the official Eastern China Airlines ticket booking staff, but Jess opted for Air China so we could fly together. OOPS.
We made it through security and went and sat in a cafe until boarding time... when an announcement was promptly made that our flight was delayed until 10:45 due to "maintenance of the aircraft." To us that sounded like "we're bull$hitting you because we're incompetent idiots." As you can tell we were really down on Air China right now. In what was not a shocker, they delayed the flight again to midnight, and then once more to 12:45. I was not the only person who was infuriated with Air China, local Chinese citizens were arguing with the ground staff and receiving the same crappy service (which made me a little bit perversely pleased).
Finally, another plane arrived around 12:20am and we boarded at 12:45am. They gave us 100 yuan refund, which is about US$12. Thanks a lot, way to rub salt on an open wound! The flight was uneventful, except for a minor altercation with a flight attendant who told me to turn off my iPhone (which was in airplane mode) because it "wasn't allowed in China" which is complete BS because I used it on the Air China flight we took from Guilin to Chengdu AND it's basically an iPod when it is on airplane mode. I stuck to my guns because there was no way I wasn't going to have music and my games during the flight. Eventually another flight attendant came over and knocked some sense into the one berating me. This entire exchange was in a mixture of English and Chinese, all of it probably ruder than I would like but I was at my last straw.
We landed at Beijing Capital Airport at 2:20am, but we had to taxi forever and then once we got off the gate I think we walked about a kilometer to get out. Jessica and I were not happy with the fact that Terminal 3 at Beijing Captial Airport is the world's second largest terminal after Dubai! We took a cab to the Mariott and got to our room at 4am. Thanks a lot, Air China. I'm going to tell everyone I possibly can about how crappy your customer service is.
This is Not the Hogwarts Express
Jessica and I were pretty excited to take the overnight train to Xi'an, until we sat down in our 4 bunk soft sleeper compartment and realized we might have to share with two strangers. We also discovered we had been given a top and bottom bunk but on diagonal sides of the compartment (i.e. top bunk not over the bottom bunk). Additionally, after some quick mental calculations, we realized the train was about 16 hours. Luckily, I had a pack of cards.
Our train departed Chengdu exactly on time to the minute. The conductor in charge of our soft sleeper car came and checked our tickets, and then switched them out for a plastic red tag (which we had to return at the end of the train ride, in order to have our original paper tickets handed back to us--not sure why this rigmarole was necessary). She also recorded our passport numbers (all foreigners must register all the time in China!) and asked if we had the swine flu. We of course said, "mei you!" (which means don't have!). Really, why would you ever say "Yes, I have the swine flu!" You'd probably get carted off somewhere never to return. Upon our departure from Chengdu, our compartment was still empty, however we realized that someone might still get on the train at a subsequent stop.
We looked out the window, which was pretty gray and dreary as it was raining in Chengdu, and then played cards. After a while we got hungry and visited the dining car. They didn't have a picture menu, but they did have pinyin next to the characters. After a lot of back and forth where I explained again and again that Jessica did not eat meat (and was Buddhist), the waitress finally recommended a stir fried tomato dish. I got a pork belly fried rice dish that was really yummy. It had these light green peppers (reminded me of like Slovak papriky) that were a tiny bit spicy, but not too much to detract from enjoyment of the dish. Jessica's tomato dish was actually really yummy, I don't know what they do to the eggs here to make them so good but this was quite tasty.
We got back to our car and played more cards. Around 7:30pm, our compartment door was opened by a Chinese gentleman, who looked like he was about 45-50 years old. He had the bottom bunk and seemed a little surprised, but not in a bad way, to find two young white girls in his compartment. Jessica was very surprised to find a man sharing our compartment, so I had a quick chat with the conductor (who was also female). She understood our predicament, and offered us the chance to switch into a compartment with a young couple traveling with a toddler. That seemed worse than sharing with an unknown man, so I asked if I could just take the top bunk in our compartment. She said the last stop for the night was at 10pm, so she could tell me if that bunk was taken then.
As it turned out, the guy in our compartment was pretty cool, we had some chats in Chinese (with me translating). He was an engineer working for Ericsson in Baoji, which is about 2 hours outside of Xi'an. He said he had many German friends through work, but didn't speak any English. We talked a little about what Jess and I were doing in Chengdu and Xi'an and how we were at Beida. He endeared himself to Jessica by commenting that Chinese are terrible drivers. He also at one point got into bed and removed his pants (which scared the crap out of both of us), but was wearing a pair of flesh tone and white striped long johns for modesty's sake, which we certainly appreciated.
At the 10pm stop the conductor told me it was fine to sleep in the top bunk, so we all got into our respective bunks. Our companion went to sleep, as his stop was at 7am, and Jessica and I continued to play cards until around midnight. Sleeping on the train took a little getting used to, as you are swaying and bumping a little, but I did get to sleep eventually, waking up early in the morning, perhaps 6am. The bunk was just long enough for me to sleep, but anyone else taller would have to curl up on their side like a shrimp.
Our train arrived in Xi'an just on time as well, but Jess and I were a little grumpy after being in a small space for 16 hours with a stranger. We decided to find an internet cafe so we could check flights from Xi'an to Beijing. Emerging from the train station was a bit of a shock too, as it was typically packed with peasants staring, the city was cloudy and grimy and it was humid and warm. We wandered around fruitlessly looking for an internet cafe, getting directions from people who kept saying we were near one, but we just couldn't find it. Finally we stopped in a hotel and I kept asking them to draw a map until they sent a bellhop to show us the place. As it turned out, the sign (I know the characters for internet cafe) was wayyyy up top and you couldn't see it from eye level.
As it turned out, the tickets for the plane trip were only 100 yuan more expensive than the overnight train, so we decided to book the tickets through Air China. This is where things got really, really messy.
Online reservation services in China appear to be unable to handle US credit cards, so the purchaser must go through a ridiculous rigmarole of sending copies of both sides of the credit card, a copy of your passport and a signed authorization form authorizing the agent to use your credit card. Luckily Jess and I had all the copies of everything in our emails from purchasing our flights on eLong a couple of days before. When we tried to book the tickets online, I got an error message from Air China so I called their online booking service. The booking service told me that I had to send in the above information, which I did. I had Jessica do the same. They then sent me a new authorization form, because the one I wrote myself (which they told me to do) was not good enough. We resent. My ticket was confirmed, however, they didn't process Jessica's because of various conflicting and stonewalling stories. The two versions we got the most were 1) we took more than 30 minutes to send in the payment information (this information is not posted anywhere of course) or 2) they don't accept debit cards; since Jessica's card is a debit/credit card that says debit on the front they rejected it outright.
We didn't find out that they canceled her reservation until we were on the bus heading to the terracotta warriors, which are about 20 km outside of town. We tried fighting with them on the phone but we were stonewalled with typical crappy communist customer service (or lack thereof). We decided to check back at the internet cafe after getting back from the warriors.
Our train departed Chengdu exactly on time to the minute. The conductor in charge of our soft sleeper car came and checked our tickets, and then switched them out for a plastic red tag (which we had to return at the end of the train ride, in order to have our original paper tickets handed back to us--not sure why this rigmarole was necessary). She also recorded our passport numbers (all foreigners must register all the time in China!) and asked if we had the swine flu. We of course said, "mei you!" (which means don't have!). Really, why would you ever say "Yes, I have the swine flu!" You'd probably get carted off somewhere never to return. Upon our departure from Chengdu, our compartment was still empty, however we realized that someone might still get on the train at a subsequent stop.
We looked out the window, which was pretty gray and dreary as it was raining in Chengdu, and then played cards. After a while we got hungry and visited the dining car. They didn't have a picture menu, but they did have pinyin next to the characters. After a lot of back and forth where I explained again and again that Jessica did not eat meat (and was Buddhist), the waitress finally recommended a stir fried tomato dish. I got a pork belly fried rice dish that was really yummy. It had these light green peppers (reminded me of like Slovak papriky) that were a tiny bit spicy, but not too much to detract from enjoyment of the dish. Jessica's tomato dish was actually really yummy, I don't know what they do to the eggs here to make them so good but this was quite tasty.
We got back to our car and played more cards. Around 7:30pm, our compartment door was opened by a Chinese gentleman, who looked like he was about 45-50 years old. He had the bottom bunk and seemed a little surprised, but not in a bad way, to find two young white girls in his compartment. Jessica was very surprised to find a man sharing our compartment, so I had a quick chat with the conductor (who was also female). She understood our predicament, and offered us the chance to switch into a compartment with a young couple traveling with a toddler. That seemed worse than sharing with an unknown man, so I asked if I could just take the top bunk in our compartment. She said the last stop for the night was at 10pm, so she could tell me if that bunk was taken then.
As it turned out, the guy in our compartment was pretty cool, we had some chats in Chinese (with me translating). He was an engineer working for Ericsson in Baoji, which is about 2 hours outside of Xi'an. He said he had many German friends through work, but didn't speak any English. We talked a little about what Jess and I were doing in Chengdu and Xi'an and how we were at Beida. He endeared himself to Jessica by commenting that Chinese are terrible drivers. He also at one point got into bed and removed his pants (which scared the crap out of both of us), but was wearing a pair of flesh tone and white striped long johns for modesty's sake, which we certainly appreciated.
At the 10pm stop the conductor told me it was fine to sleep in the top bunk, so we all got into our respective bunks. Our companion went to sleep, as his stop was at 7am, and Jessica and I continued to play cards until around midnight. Sleeping on the train took a little getting used to, as you are swaying and bumping a little, but I did get to sleep eventually, waking up early in the morning, perhaps 6am. The bunk was just long enough for me to sleep, but anyone else taller would have to curl up on their side like a shrimp.
Our train arrived in Xi'an just on time as well, but Jess and I were a little grumpy after being in a small space for 16 hours with a stranger. We decided to find an internet cafe so we could check flights from Xi'an to Beijing. Emerging from the train station was a bit of a shock too, as it was typically packed with peasants staring, the city was cloudy and grimy and it was humid and warm. We wandered around fruitlessly looking for an internet cafe, getting directions from people who kept saying we were near one, but we just couldn't find it. Finally we stopped in a hotel and I kept asking them to draw a map until they sent a bellhop to show us the place. As it turned out, the sign (I know the characters for internet cafe) was wayyyy up top and you couldn't see it from eye level.
As it turned out, the tickets for the plane trip were only 100 yuan more expensive than the overnight train, so we decided to book the tickets through Air China. This is where things got really, really messy.
Online reservation services in China appear to be unable to handle US credit cards, so the purchaser must go through a ridiculous rigmarole of sending copies of both sides of the credit card, a copy of your passport and a signed authorization form authorizing the agent to use your credit card. Luckily Jess and I had all the copies of everything in our emails from purchasing our flights on eLong a couple of days before. When we tried to book the tickets online, I got an error message from Air China so I called their online booking service. The booking service told me that I had to send in the above information, which I did. I had Jessica do the same. They then sent me a new authorization form, because the one I wrote myself (which they told me to do) was not good enough. We resent. My ticket was confirmed, however, they didn't process Jessica's because of various conflicting and stonewalling stories. The two versions we got the most were 1) we took more than 30 minutes to send in the payment information (this information is not posted anywhere of course) or 2) they don't accept debit cards; since Jessica's card is a debit/credit card that says debit on the front they rejected it outright.
We didn't find out that they canceled her reservation until we were on the bus heading to the terracotta warriors, which are about 20 km outside of town. We tried fighting with them on the phone but we were stonewalled with typical crappy communist customer service (or lack thereof). We decided to check back at the internet cafe after getting back from the warriors.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Chengdu Redeemed, Sort Of
Last night Jess and I met up for drinks with our new British friends Matthew and Nathan. We met them at the panda reserve while we were waiting for Jessica's turn to cuddle the baby panda. They are working on a 5 part documentary on Chengdu and the pandas, for this presenter named Nigel Marvin. They are in Chengdu for 2 weeks and then are off to the wilderness at Bifengxia to try to find wild pandas.
We took a cab to their hotel and walked down the street a little ways to find a restaurant that was open. In China, especially in smaller cities, there are very few bars and pubs, if you are going to drink and socialize, you do it at a restaurant. We found a place and popped in. The proprietors were very excited to have some foreigners and recommended many Sichuan style dishes. I got some spicy beef and potatoes foe Jessica. Everythig came on a stick, it was spicy and very good! They also gave us lots of yummy tea and we got some Snow Beer for the guys, who had already eaten dinner.
It seemed that the guys didn't know anything about China; they didn't know you had to bargain (!!!!!!!!!) or about the concept of face so we immediately set them straight on that. We just had a nice time chatting about what we had done in China and I gave them tips on cultural scenery they could use to pad their documentary. Nathan told us about the cottage he owns in England, it's in a tiny village with no streetlight and only one lane and one road. Jess and I wanted to go there immediately!
The proprietors of the restaurant chatted with us a bit and asked to take photos with us; like I said, I don't think they got any foreigners popping in often... Or ever! We didn't mind the photos though, as they asked very nicely and posed in the pictures with us.
We knocked off around midnight; the guys had 6:30am photo call and we were tired from our day at the panda reserve.
The next morning we slept in and then took the bus to a big China Mobile store that we had seen the day before. Jessica had bought a top-up card in Beijing, but it ripped when she tried to scrape the foil off the pin number. She had been told by a China Mobile branch in Beijing that exchanging the card would be easy, she just had to go to a main headquarters. Serves us right for thinking anything in China would be easy!
Things were going fine until they realized the card was purchased in Beijing. Aparently the Chengdu and Beijing branches are separate subsidiaries and cannot exhange cards between systems. One hour later of escalating claims to supervisors and making people call the Beijing branch we left sans new card or refund. We will have to go in Beijing and demand a refund. So annoying! My Chinese is better from the arguing, however.
Jess and I are currently in a Starbucks checking email, then we will check out the Tibetan quarter nearby and then we catch the train to Xi'an! I'm excited for Terracotta Warriors!
We took a cab to their hotel and walked down the street a little ways to find a restaurant that was open. In China, especially in smaller cities, there are very few bars and pubs, if you are going to drink and socialize, you do it at a restaurant. We found a place and popped in. The proprietors were very excited to have some foreigners and recommended many Sichuan style dishes. I got some spicy beef and potatoes foe Jessica. Everythig came on a stick, it was spicy and very good! They also gave us lots of yummy tea and we got some Snow Beer for the guys, who had already eaten dinner.
It seemed that the guys didn't know anything about China; they didn't know you had to bargain (!!!!!!!!!) or about the concept of face so we immediately set them straight on that. We just had a nice time chatting about what we had done in China and I gave them tips on cultural scenery they could use to pad their documentary. Nathan told us about the cottage he owns in England, it's in a tiny village with no streetlight and only one lane and one road. Jess and I wanted to go there immediately!
The proprietors of the restaurant chatted with us a bit and asked to take photos with us; like I said, I don't think they got any foreigners popping in often... Or ever! We didn't mind the photos though, as they asked very nicely and posed in the pictures with us.
We knocked off around midnight; the guys had 6:30am photo call and we were tired from our day at the panda reserve.
The next morning we slept in and then took the bus to a big China Mobile store that we had seen the day before. Jessica had bought a top-up card in Beijing, but it ripped when she tried to scrape the foil off the pin number. She had been told by a China Mobile branch in Beijing that exchanging the card would be easy, she just had to go to a main headquarters. Serves us right for thinking anything in China would be easy!
Things were going fine until they realized the card was purchased in Beijing. Aparently the Chengdu and Beijing branches are separate subsidiaries and cannot exhange cards between systems. One hour later of escalating claims to supervisors and making people call the Beijing branch we left sans new card or refund. We will have to go in Beijing and demand a refund. So annoying! My Chinese is better from the arguing, however.
Jess and I are currently in a Starbucks checking email, then we will check out the Tibetan quarter nearby and then we catch the train to Xi'an! I'm excited for Terracotta Warriors!
So Over Guilin, Chengdu is Tamada
Jess and I caught the minibus back to Guilin after my last post and then spent a fruitless half an hour trying to find the airport bus departure station. We got incorrect directions from several people, and then someone offered to take us there on foot but then after a block said he didn't actually know where it was. Finally we hailed a cab, who took us directly to the airport, but he claimed we needed to pay him an extra 20 yuan for the 10 yuan toll both ways!! We were pissed. Clearly he was trying to rip us off. I just told him we would give him 10 extra to cover the one way toll and he could find some one else to take back to Guilin. There was some heated discussion, but we had exact change so we won out in the end. Overall we felt as of Guilin was a touristy rip off town, which reinforced my conviction that next time I will go straight to Yangshou.
The flight was on Air China, it was uneventful although a little turbulent. I sat next to a young man whose upper arms were, no joke, smaller than my wrists! I used it as a chance to tell Jessica about the "you call that a man??" phenomenon.
We landed in Chengdu at 11pm and took a cab to the hotel, which was recommended by the book as a basic, clean budget option. We picked it because it was right in front of the departure point for the bus to the panda research center. As advertised, it was clean and cheap, although the room is a bit worn around the edges. I did my laundry, and fell into bed, exhausted.
We got up and had a breakfast, then hopped the bus to the panda reserve. In typical fashion, the bus lurches around corners and everyone crammed in like sausages. Luckily we had seats, so we were spared the worst of it. The ride took about an hour or so, the reserve is about 8km outside of town. This is different from the Wulong Research center, which is about 200Km away and was damaged in the 2008 earthquake. This place is more of a tourist zoo type place.
The weather was damp and dreary, so it made us sad to not be in Yangshou. The pandas were mostly sleeping, although they were cute and I've never seen so many pandas is one place! They also had about 5 adorable and playful panda cubs. Jessica paid 1000 yuan to cuddle one for about two minutes. I got to play photographer for this, so I didn't have to pay anything to be within 5 ft of a panda cub! He was big, about 7 months old and weighing maybe 80lbs. Jess said he was heavy and not soft, his fur was coarse. You have to put on a disposable surgical gown, booties and gloves to hold the panda and the staff just come and rather uncerimoniusly dump the cub in your lap, and then feed it a apple so it stays busy. Still really cute, though!
We wandered around, seeing both red and white pandas. The red pandas look like little raccoon foxes, not so much like the giant pandas. We planned to go back to the hotel early, but we met a Brit who was filming a panda documentary for this presenter named Nigel something. He's on Discovery and BBC so you've probably seen him before. We chatted for a while, they are going to film here I'm Chengdu for 2 weeks and then to Bifengxia reserve in the country to try to find wild pandas. Sounds like fun!
We went back to town and bought our soft sleeper tickets for the overnight train to Xi'an tomorrow night. The railway station has convenient booths scattered around town so you don't have to brave the crowds at the main station. The soft sleeper berths were 300 yuan each, a good deal. My Chinese dialogues really came in handy!
We're in a cafe across the river from our hotel, and will meet the documentary guys for a drink a litle later. We're at the point where we're a little oversaturated with China so a little western dialogue is welcome.
The flight was on Air China, it was uneventful although a little turbulent. I sat next to a young man whose upper arms were, no joke, smaller than my wrists! I used it as a chance to tell Jessica about the "you call that a man??" phenomenon.
We landed in Chengdu at 11pm and took a cab to the hotel, which was recommended by the book as a basic, clean budget option. We picked it because it was right in front of the departure point for the bus to the panda research center. As advertised, it was clean and cheap, although the room is a bit worn around the edges. I did my laundry, and fell into bed, exhausted.
We got up and had a breakfast, then hopped the bus to the panda reserve. In typical fashion, the bus lurches around corners and everyone crammed in like sausages. Luckily we had seats, so we were spared the worst of it. The ride took about an hour or so, the reserve is about 8km outside of town. This is different from the Wulong Research center, which is about 200Km away and was damaged in the 2008 earthquake. This place is more of a tourist zoo type place.
The weather was damp and dreary, so it made us sad to not be in Yangshou. The pandas were mostly sleeping, although they were cute and I've never seen so many pandas is one place! They also had about 5 adorable and playful panda cubs. Jessica paid 1000 yuan to cuddle one for about two minutes. I got to play photographer for this, so I didn't have to pay anything to be within 5 ft of a panda cub! He was big, about 7 months old and weighing maybe 80lbs. Jess said he was heavy and not soft, his fur was coarse. You have to put on a disposable surgical gown, booties and gloves to hold the panda and the staff just come and rather uncerimoniusly dump the cub in your lap, and then feed it a apple so it stays busy. Still really cute, though!
We wandered around, seeing both red and white pandas. The red pandas look like little raccoon foxes, not so much like the giant pandas. We planned to go back to the hotel early, but we met a Brit who was filming a panda documentary for this presenter named Nigel something. He's on Discovery and BBC so you've probably seen him before. We chatted for a while, they are going to film here I'm Chengdu for 2 weeks and then to Bifengxia reserve in the country to try to find wild pandas. Sounds like fun!
We went back to town and bought our soft sleeper tickets for the overnight train to Xi'an tomorrow night. The railway station has convenient booths scattered around town so you don't have to brave the crowds at the main station. The soft sleeper berths were 300 yuan each, a good deal. My Chinese dialogues really came in handy!
We're in a cafe across the river from our hotel, and will meet the documentary guys for a drink a litle later. We're at the point where we're a little oversaturated with China so a little western dialogue is welcome.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Bicycle Tour of Yulong River Scenic Area
Jess and I woke up a little late after our late night of shenanigans, but after a restorative breakfast (featuring a large American style spread plus glorious coffee) we were ready to try to find the swimming hole the Americans reccommended to us the day before. We rented bikes from our hostel (10 yuan) and got a local area map. We had been shown where the place was on a different map so I figured out where we needed to go and off we went. We headed southwest out of town about 5km and turned north on a one lane paved road that followed the Yulong River. The river winds through rice parties and villages, with mini Yijiang style dramatic scenery. We saw rice patties, peasants farming, water buffalo and the like. It was gorgeous. The bike ride took us about an hour and a half and we were getting pretty sweaty. The map was ok but not exact and we got mildly lost at one point when we discovered the paved road takes you most of the way but actually leads to a bamboo rafting launch point that had a lot of touts.
Retrekking to a dirt road led us to another paved road that was the right one and also went back to Yangshou! We decided to try that one on our return.
The directions told us to turn left at the sign for the Outside Inn and head through the rice patties to the river. We passed several cute little Western-owned guesthouses that looked really pleasant. The directions were good and we found the sign, turned left and bikes through the fields past a farmer leading her water buffalo. The swimming hole was idyllic, with a nice, clear river, a ruined archway and a small outcropping of rock on the other side.
There was one other person there, an American who owned some stone factories in China and was touring around. He chatted with us and gave us some great tips for what to do in Chengdu. The water was perfect, cool and refreshing! We could see many kinds of fish in the river, kinds I have never seen before. The bottom was a bit mucky with some plants, but there were large, flat rocks to stand on. We could see farmers working the fields beside us and a man across the river letting his buffalo graze. It was ridiculously scenic and we took many pictures.
The bike back was much quicker, only 45 minutes. We took the other road back and it was more direct. We've just finished eating a snack and will catch the bus back to Guilin and then to the airport. We're very sad to leave, this place is pretty magical.
Retrekking to a dirt road led us to another paved road that was the right one and also went back to Yangshou! We decided to try that one on our return.
The directions told us to turn left at the sign for the Outside Inn and head through the rice patties to the river. We passed several cute little Western-owned guesthouses that looked really pleasant. The directions were good and we found the sign, turned left and bikes through the fields past a farmer leading her water buffalo. The swimming hole was idyllic, with a nice, clear river, a ruined archway and a small outcropping of rock on the other side.
There was one other person there, an American who owned some stone factories in China and was touring around. He chatted with us and gave us some great tips for what to do in Chengdu. The water was perfect, cool and refreshing! We could see many kinds of fish in the river, kinds I have never seen before. The bottom was a bit mucky with some plants, but there were large, flat rocks to stand on. We could see farmers working the fields beside us and a man across the river letting his buffalo graze. It was ridiculously scenic and we took many pictures.
The bike back was much quicker, only 45 minutes. We took the other road back and it was more direct. We've just finished eating a snack and will catch the bus back to Guilin and then to the airport. We're very sad to leave, this place is pretty magical.
Mini UN at Monkey Jane's
Last night Jess and I tried a pizza place recommended by a classmate of ours who spent a lot of time in Yangshou. The place was called Karst Pizza and it also featured rock climbing tours. We wanted to get a half cheese, half Hawaiian pizza, but we were told that we would have to pay MORE than the cost of the Hawaiian pizza (normally this request is accommodated but we usually have to pay the higher cost of a full Hawaiian) "because the cook has to do extra work." This sounded very fishy to us, since he still would have to put cheese down for a Hawaiian pizza, hence the incremental cost is negligable, and we knew from managerial accounting that this would resut in a favorable direct materials and direct labor efficiency variances. On principal we refused and just got a margarita pizza. Jess and I have great plans to special order everything when we get back to the states. The pizza was good, but not as good as the Kro's Nest in Beijing.
We met an American couple, young and just out of college, who had been teaching English in China. They reccommended a bike ride to a swimming hole as well as a rooftop bar at a nearby hostel called Monkey Jane's. We decided to check the place out. The guy said a lot of westerners hung out there and we were ready for a little western company. He wasn't kidding with the rooftop descriptor, we had to climb 6 flights of stairs to get up there! The bar was pleasant and airy and featured a beer pong table! Jess and I were very excited for beer pong.
The patrons were a typical mishmash of internationals, with Scots, Swedes, Danes, French and Brits. We defeated some Swedes and the Brits in rapid succession, and then lost in a nailbiter to different Swedes. Later on I teamed up with one of the Brits to defeat some of the same Swedes again. Truly global cross cultural communications!
Everyone was just kind of traveling around China, the Brita were hitting all the countries in Southeast Asia and then heading to Australia to find work and live on the Gold Coast. They invited us to join them and I was seriously tempted to join them! Alas, I have things like summer jobs and responsibilities to keep me from tio-ing off.
We met an American couple, young and just out of college, who had been teaching English in China. They reccommended a bike ride to a swimming hole as well as a rooftop bar at a nearby hostel called Monkey Jane's. We decided to check the place out. The guy said a lot of westerners hung out there and we were ready for a little western company. He wasn't kidding with the rooftop descriptor, we had to climb 6 flights of stairs to get up there! The bar was pleasant and airy and featured a beer pong table! Jess and I were very excited for beer pong.
The patrons were a typical mishmash of internationals, with Scots, Swedes, Danes, French and Brits. We defeated some Swedes and the Brits in rapid succession, and then lost in a nailbiter to different Swedes. Later on I teamed up with one of the Brits to defeat some of the same Swedes again. Truly global cross cultural communications!
Everyone was just kind of traveling around China, the Brita were hitting all the countries in Southeast Asia and then heading to Australia to find work and live on the Gold Coast. They invited us to join them and I was seriously tempted to join them! Alas, I have things like summer jobs and responsibilities to keep me from tio-ing off.
Monday, May 4, 2009
A Host of Funny-Shaped Mountains
Jess and I had our Lijiang River cruise today and I must say it is spectacular. We caught our bus at 8:30 am and were driven to a location downstream. We were the only two non-Asian people on the bus (there was one Japanese guy as we found out later). In typical Chinese style, there was a guide blabbing into a microphone the whole time. Everyone seemed to ignore it. We got off at the ferry terminal, which of course included a huge jewelry store (because when you go boating, you should get jewelry too) as well as some stalls where I got a cheap bucket hat and a sticky rice steamed thing that had beans and chestnuts. Pretty good.
The tour guide made me explain to the Japanese guy that the boat did not include a return bus to Guilin and that if he wanted to he could take bus #36610 to get back or he could call her. I was not too pleased at being roped into being translator, since the comprehension was slow going. Luckily someone else spoke some Japanese so I got off the hook.
The cruise boats are flat bottomed ferries with a lower deck where you eat lunch, and then an observation deck with no sun shade and no chairs. Some boats (like ours) have a small room up top with a few tables and chairs. The downstairs area kind of sucks because it's crowded, smoking is allowed and of course, Chinese people fear the sun like vampires so a bunch of people immediately closed the window curtains! When I complained that we couldn't see, they opened it slightly but it still sucked.
Jess and I headed up to the observation deck as soon as the boat pushed off. We took some chairs out of the room up top and sat at the front, underneath a roof overhang to get a bit of shade. The weather was sunny and pleasant again but we didn't want to spend 4 hours in the noonday sun. We were having a nice time until one of the boat staff came and kicked us off the chairs. The reason given was that some people were coming up to eat in the room. I argued a bit but they were adamant so we acquiesced and spread out my sarong in the same spot.
The scenery was of course fabulous, with fantastically shaped limestone karst formations lining the river, crowned with leafy green tops. We could see farmers tending the fields, fishing cormorants, grazing water buffalo and smaller boats as well as bamboo rafts. Several enterprising fellows even tied up to the side of the boat and hawked "jade" pigs and cows through the window! Another ferry got a food delivery via small moterboat.
We were mostly left alone except periodically, whenever a famous formation came up, a passel of Chinese passengers would rush in and crowd our area, taking the requisite portraits with the V for victory sign. I swear they must have gotten the same photo at least 50 times! They reacted to our presence much like the rest of China, ranging from bemusement to outright blatant staring. We just stare back and that solves the problem. Lunch was served about 2 hours in, so the crowds left after that.
Jess and I agreed that if we had to do it again we'd just take the bus straight to Yangshou, where the ferries terminate, and just hire a small bamboo raft with a roof and a simple outboard motor and take us upstream. The cruise is lovely, but sharing a boat with 30 other passengers who don't appreciate the beauty of nature in the same way is considerably less lovely.
We are spending the night in Yangshou, which is a small village on the bank of the river with gorgeous peaks surrounding it. The air here is fresh and pleasant and Jess and I can't help but feel refreshed after 7 weeks of Beijing pollution and smog. We're staying at a hostel/hotel called Riverview; we have a view of the river, a balcony and air conditioning in our private room. The owners are pleasantly un-pushy.
Yangshow is kind of a westerner hang out so I have promised Jess pizza for dinner. We plan to go for a quick hike and then maybe hit the pub later. We hope to rent bikes and go for a bike ride tomorrow morning before taking the bus back to Guilin.
The tour guide made me explain to the Japanese guy that the boat did not include a return bus to Guilin and that if he wanted to he could take bus #36610 to get back or he could call her. I was not too pleased at being roped into being translator, since the comprehension was slow going. Luckily someone else spoke some Japanese so I got off the hook.
The cruise boats are flat bottomed ferries with a lower deck where you eat lunch, and then an observation deck with no sun shade and no chairs. Some boats (like ours) have a small room up top with a few tables and chairs. The downstairs area kind of sucks because it's crowded, smoking is allowed and of course, Chinese people fear the sun like vampires so a bunch of people immediately closed the window curtains! When I complained that we couldn't see, they opened it slightly but it still sucked.
Jess and I headed up to the observation deck as soon as the boat pushed off. We took some chairs out of the room up top and sat at the front, underneath a roof overhang to get a bit of shade. The weather was sunny and pleasant again but we didn't want to spend 4 hours in the noonday sun. We were having a nice time until one of the boat staff came and kicked us off the chairs. The reason given was that some people were coming up to eat in the room. I argued a bit but they were adamant so we acquiesced and spread out my sarong in the same spot.
The scenery was of course fabulous, with fantastically shaped limestone karst formations lining the river, crowned with leafy green tops. We could see farmers tending the fields, fishing cormorants, grazing water buffalo and smaller boats as well as bamboo rafts. Several enterprising fellows even tied up to the side of the boat and hawked "jade" pigs and cows through the window! Another ferry got a food delivery via small moterboat.
We were mostly left alone except periodically, whenever a famous formation came up, a passel of Chinese passengers would rush in and crowd our area, taking the requisite portraits with the V for victory sign. I swear they must have gotten the same photo at least 50 times! They reacted to our presence much like the rest of China, ranging from bemusement to outright blatant staring. We just stare back and that solves the problem. Lunch was served about 2 hours in, so the crowds left after that.
Jess and I agreed that if we had to do it again we'd just take the bus straight to Yangshou, where the ferries terminate, and just hire a small bamboo raft with a roof and a simple outboard motor and take us upstream. The cruise is lovely, but sharing a boat with 30 other passengers who don't appreciate the beauty of nature in the same way is considerably less lovely.
We are spending the night in Yangshou, which is a small village on the bank of the river with gorgeous peaks surrounding it. The air here is fresh and pleasant and Jess and I can't help but feel refreshed after 7 weeks of Beijing pollution and smog. We're staying at a hostel/hotel called Riverview; we have a view of the river, a balcony and air conditioning in our private room. The owners are pleasantly un-pushy.
Yangshow is kind of a westerner hang out so I have promised Jess pizza for dinner. We plan to go for a quick hike and then maybe hit the pub later. We hope to rent bikes and go for a bike ride tomorrow morning before taking the bus back to Guilin.
Greener Pastures (and Mountains) in Guilin
Jess and I finally set off for our junket to southeastern China with great anticipation. We took a cab to the airport and checked in for China Southern Airways flight to Guilin. The flight was about 2 hours 40 minutes and the service was fine. They even had announcements in English.
Upon arriving in Guilin, we could already see some funny shaped mountains. The sky was noticably clearer compared to Beijing and the weather was pleasant in the high 70's. We took an airport bus for 20 yuan, foregoing the approximately 80 yuan taxi ride in. The bus dropped us off on the south edge of town so we decided to walk to the area where there were a few hotels recommended by the guidebook. The tourist map we had gotten was just terrible, with no recognizable landmarks. The fact that there are very few street signs compounded the problem. Finally we got a bike rickshaw driver to take us, he said it would be 10 yuan. However, the jerk only took us about 2/3 of the way and then said it would be an extra 40 yuan to keep going! I was so pissed we just gave him 10 yuan and got out, but I gave him a piece of my mind first. He was unconcerned.
We walked the rest of the way but it was pleasantly shaded and by the riverbank so it wasn't too bad. We had planned to look at a hostel behind the Sheraton, but I saw an Eva Inn right next door that looked nice. Eva Inn is a Taiwanese chain and I figured we would get decent rates. Their posted standard rate was 688 yuan (ha!), they quoted us 488 yuan, and then when we did the old walkaway trick they went down to 280. The room was spacious, clean and was on the top floor so we were happy.
We booked our riverboat cruise through a travel agent next door. The river is still a bit low so you have to be bussed downstream about 20k and then the boat journey begins. The price is 250 for Chinese language boat, 450 for English language boat (includes lunch). I'm sure I don't need to tell you which one we picked (Chinese boat)!
As the sun was setting we hiked up Elephant Rock, a large rock formation by the river that looks like an elephant taking a drink. The entry fee (25 yuan) included a little park too. It was pleasant by the river, watching people fish and punt by.
We were super hungry, so we walked around looking for a good place to eat. We found a street with a bunch of restaurants with great big buckets of live fish, crabs, crayfish and turtles, as well as cages with chickens, rabbits and ducks. I felt bad for the turtles (who kept blindly trying to push through the netting covering their baskets) and Jess felt bad for the rabbits and ducks so we kept going. We walked down a hutong with more restaurants, almost all featured outdoor seating. We picked one place that was hopping, but they didn't have English menu or a big picture menu so we pressed on. We then came upon a cluster of restaurants with plates of fresh ingredients out front that you could point at to choose. They had crayfish (what I really wanted plus Jess eats fish and shellfish) as well as tons of fresh veggies. We got the crayfish, along with eggplant and broccoli. When the food came we were so happy; it was delicious! The crayfish were fried in a garlic soy sauce, the eggplant was sauteed so it was kind of squashy and the broccoli was nicely steamed. Yum!
Our neighbors were a group of Chinese who were playing a Cantonese drinking game that involved toothpicks, hand signals and shouting numbers (which was how I knew it was Cantonese). Jess and I just could not figure out the rules! Interestingly, they were not Cantonese because when speaking otherwise they used Mandarin. Odd!
After eating, we strolled along the town's main drag checking out the night market. I had foolishly left my hat in Beijing so I was hoping to find a hat of some kind (preferrably Boston Red Sox to match Jessica's) but was out of luck. There weren't even any Yankees hats to be found (not that I would have bought one), surprising since they are the world's most recognizable sports brand. Jess did find some fake Kappa socks, however.
We stopped at a supermarket to get some food for the boat ride the next day and then walked back to the hotel.
We weren't that tired so we stayed up playing playing cards (we were mildly entertained by a sort of Iron Chef competition, but for manicurists). We played Crazy Eights, poker and blackjack, wagering with my collection of perfume samples), it was pretty fun. We went to bed at midnight, since we had to catch the bus to the boat at 8am.
Upon arriving in Guilin, we could already see some funny shaped mountains. The sky was noticably clearer compared to Beijing and the weather was pleasant in the high 70's. We took an airport bus for 20 yuan, foregoing the approximately 80 yuan taxi ride in. The bus dropped us off on the south edge of town so we decided to walk to the area where there were a few hotels recommended by the guidebook. The tourist map we had gotten was just terrible, with no recognizable landmarks. The fact that there are very few street signs compounded the problem. Finally we got a bike rickshaw driver to take us, he said it would be 10 yuan. However, the jerk only took us about 2/3 of the way and then said it would be an extra 40 yuan to keep going! I was so pissed we just gave him 10 yuan and got out, but I gave him a piece of my mind first. He was unconcerned.
We walked the rest of the way but it was pleasantly shaded and by the riverbank so it wasn't too bad. We had planned to look at a hostel behind the Sheraton, but I saw an Eva Inn right next door that looked nice. Eva Inn is a Taiwanese chain and I figured we would get decent rates. Their posted standard rate was 688 yuan (ha!), they quoted us 488 yuan, and then when we did the old walkaway trick they went down to 280. The room was spacious, clean and was on the top floor so we were happy.
We booked our riverboat cruise through a travel agent next door. The river is still a bit low so you have to be bussed downstream about 20k and then the boat journey begins. The price is 250 for Chinese language boat, 450 for English language boat (includes lunch). I'm sure I don't need to tell you which one we picked (Chinese boat)!
As the sun was setting we hiked up Elephant Rock, a large rock formation by the river that looks like an elephant taking a drink. The entry fee (25 yuan) included a little park too. It was pleasant by the river, watching people fish and punt by.
We were super hungry, so we walked around looking for a good place to eat. We found a street with a bunch of restaurants with great big buckets of live fish, crabs, crayfish and turtles, as well as cages with chickens, rabbits and ducks. I felt bad for the turtles (who kept blindly trying to push through the netting covering their baskets) and Jess felt bad for the rabbits and ducks so we kept going. We walked down a hutong with more restaurants, almost all featured outdoor seating. We picked one place that was hopping, but they didn't have English menu or a big picture menu so we pressed on. We then came upon a cluster of restaurants with plates of fresh ingredients out front that you could point at to choose. They had crayfish (what I really wanted plus Jess eats fish and shellfish) as well as tons of fresh veggies. We got the crayfish, along with eggplant and broccoli. When the food came we were so happy; it was delicious! The crayfish were fried in a garlic soy sauce, the eggplant was sauteed so it was kind of squashy and the broccoli was nicely steamed. Yum!
Our neighbors were a group of Chinese who were playing a Cantonese drinking game that involved toothpicks, hand signals and shouting numbers (which was how I knew it was Cantonese). Jess and I just could not figure out the rules! Interestingly, they were not Cantonese because when speaking otherwise they used Mandarin. Odd!
After eating, we strolled along the town's main drag checking out the night market. I had foolishly left my hat in Beijing so I was hoping to find a hat of some kind (preferrably Boston Red Sox to match Jessica's) but was out of luck. There weren't even any Yankees hats to be found (not that I would have bought one), surprising since they are the world's most recognizable sports brand. Jess did find some fake Kappa socks, however.
We stopped at a supermarket to get some food for the boat ride the next day and then walked back to the hotel.
We weren't that tired so we stayed up playing playing cards (we were mildly entertained by a sort of Iron Chef competition, but for manicurists). We played Crazy Eights, poker and blackjack, wagering with my collection of perfume samples), it was pretty fun. We went to bed at midnight, since we had to catch the bus to the boat at 8am.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
天壇 - Most Auspicious Harvest Prayers at Temple of Heaven
Today dawned fair and sunny, so Jess and I decided to go to the Temple of Heaven with Ben Malki. Because of the Labor Day weekend, we were worried that it would be crazy packed with people, but it was pleasantly spacious inside the temple park.
Jess and I took the subway, because the temple was pretty close to our hotel and Ben was coming from Haidian (pretty far away). Jess and I saw that the pearl market was right next to the temple, so we went in to browse around while we were waiting for Ben. I had been wanting to get a big, long strand of black pearls for a long time, so I was able to find a stall with some pearls I liked. They sell them on these pre-strung strands, and then when you pick the ones you want they knot them for you. The girls are so fast at knotting, it's really impressive. Jessica makes her own jewelry, so she got the girl to teach her how to knot the pearls. Knotted pearl necklaces are preferred because if the strand breaks, you'll only lose one pearl instead of the whole lot.
I got what I consider to be a good deal on the necklace, 225 yuan. For a giant long strand of 11 mm baroque pearls that's a pretty good price (divide by 6.8). Jess and I will likely go back to get gifts for friends, and Jess wants to get some loose pearls for herself.
Ben arrived just when my necklace was finished, so we went into the temple. We thought it would be nutty crowded, but it was actually not. I guess everyone decided to leave Beijing for the weekend--the better for us!
There were lots of people just hanging out in the park doing all kinds of stuff, chess playing, singing songs, dancing, etc. It was really interesting to see what people were getting up to on their days off.
The temple is kind of interesting, not as spectacular as the Forbidden City I would say. I'm glad I went, as I didn't see it the last time I was in Beijing. It has an interesting style of architecture. We enjoyed just being outside in the park, which didn't feel polluted as the rest of Beijing, plus it was a nice clear day.
After wandering around the temple grounds, we exited from a different gate than where we entered. We saw a little hutong (a REALLY little one--only wide enough for bikes to pass) and Ben wanted to check it out. We found a niu rou mian dealer, who was making the noodles fresh and cooking them right there. I knew I wanted a bowl right away, I love niu rou mian! The noodles were predictably delicious. The cook would take the dough and swing it up and down like a jumprope, and then twist it up. He would keep doing that until the noodles were skinny enough (like spaghetti). The broth was really good, too, almost minty, with lots of fresh parsley on top along with dried beef on top. Delicious! Ben had a kind of meat sandwich thing that he enjoyed. Jessica tried these deep fried sweet potato balls that she loved, so everyone got something good.
We went back to the hotel and Jess and I went swimming in our FABULOUS 25m lap pool. It's very posh, of course. The pool is more like a fancy spa, with a gorgeous locker room, separate sex jacuzzi, sauna, etc. The pool was empty, like the rest of the hotel. The jacuzzi even has a big screen TV in it so you can surf channels while you soak. Over the top!
Jess and I took the subway, because the temple was pretty close to our hotel and Ben was coming from Haidian (pretty far away). Jess and I saw that the pearl market was right next to the temple, so we went in to browse around while we were waiting for Ben. I had been wanting to get a big, long strand of black pearls for a long time, so I was able to find a stall with some pearls I liked. They sell them on these pre-strung strands, and then when you pick the ones you want they knot them for you. The girls are so fast at knotting, it's really impressive. Jessica makes her own jewelry, so she got the girl to teach her how to knot the pearls. Knotted pearl necklaces are preferred because if the strand breaks, you'll only lose one pearl instead of the whole lot.
I got what I consider to be a good deal on the necklace, 225 yuan. For a giant long strand of 11 mm baroque pearls that's a pretty good price (divide by 6.8). Jess and I will likely go back to get gifts for friends, and Jess wants to get some loose pearls for herself.
Ben arrived just when my necklace was finished, so we went into the temple. We thought it would be nutty crowded, but it was actually not. I guess everyone decided to leave Beijing for the weekend--the better for us!
There were lots of people just hanging out in the park doing all kinds of stuff, chess playing, singing songs, dancing, etc. It was really interesting to see what people were getting up to on their days off.
The temple is kind of interesting, not as spectacular as the Forbidden City I would say. I'm glad I went, as I didn't see it the last time I was in Beijing. It has an interesting style of architecture. We enjoyed just being outside in the park, which didn't feel polluted as the rest of Beijing, plus it was a nice clear day.
After wandering around the temple grounds, we exited from a different gate than where we entered. We saw a little hutong (a REALLY little one--only wide enough for bikes to pass) and Ben wanted to check it out. We found a niu rou mian dealer, who was making the noodles fresh and cooking them right there. I knew I wanted a bowl right away, I love niu rou mian! The noodles were predictably delicious. The cook would take the dough and swing it up and down like a jumprope, and then twist it up. He would keep doing that until the noodles were skinny enough (like spaghetti). The broth was really good, too, almost minty, with lots of fresh parsley on top along with dried beef on top. Delicious! Ben had a kind of meat sandwich thing that he enjoyed. Jessica tried these deep fried sweet potato balls that she loved, so everyone got something good.
We went back to the hotel and Jess and I went swimming in our FABULOUS 25m lap pool. It's very posh, of course. The pool is more like a fancy spa, with a gorgeous locker room, separate sex jacuzzi, sauna, etc. The pool was empty, like the rest of the hotel. The jacuzzi even has a big screen TV in it so you can surf channels while you soak. Over the top!
Friday, May 1, 2009
Wain Wain for Wii
In our Insider's Guide to Beijing, there's an article about the Japanese businessman scene in which they describe a bar called Wain Wain, where you can drink beer and play Nintendo Wii. This sounded like quite possibly the best place in the entire world to us, so we bundled into a cab and set off for Wain Wain. It's in a complex of buildings called Soho, so we got dropped off by the cab and had to wander around looking for building A. Once we found it, we got off on the 35th floor (35!!) and found the place. It's very small, with a bar and two rooms for Wii (with traditional tatami mats and low tables, although they did have the sink well underneath for your feet. The cost was 100RMB per hour in the room and you can order drinks and food.
It was so much fun. We had an amazing view of the city from that height (although the windows in the room opened two ways, a wide way that you could DEFINITELY fall out of and a narrow way that was safe--we opened them the narrow way of course) and had a great time playing Wii sports.
The place closed at 2 so they very politely asked us to leave, but not before we used their Japanese style toilet, with heated seats (very odd and slightly uncomfortable, I felt as though I were sitting on a griddle) and mysterious buttons with unknown functions, such as bidet (designated by a picture of a butt with water spraying on it) and a warm air fan to dry your bum (picture of air blowing). I found it hilarious. Jess used it too and took forever; when she came out she explained that she couldn't figure out how to turn off the bidet function and had to wait it out (she could have pressed the button again).
We cabbed it back to the Mariott and hit the sack; Panos and Ben went back to the FX area in Haidian. Panos managed to leave his phone in the cab and some guy named Luca picked it up. He found this out when his girlfriend called him and got Luca instead. I then texted Luca and got his number. Panos called him, but he lives way in the southeast corner of the city so Panos probably won't get the phone back before he leaves tomorrow. He bought it in Saudi Arabia (his parents work for Aramco) so it's not a huge loss.
I wish we had discovered this place earlier! What fun! Oh, I forgot to mention the Wii was set to Japanese, so we had fun guessing what the buttons meant. There were some inadvertently hilarious moments.
It was so much fun. We had an amazing view of the city from that height (although the windows in the room opened two ways, a wide way that you could DEFINITELY fall out of and a narrow way that was safe--we opened them the narrow way of course) and had a great time playing Wii sports.
The place closed at 2 so they very politely asked us to leave, but not before we used their Japanese style toilet, with heated seats (very odd and slightly uncomfortable, I felt as though I were sitting on a griddle) and mysterious buttons with unknown functions, such as bidet (designated by a picture of a butt with water spraying on it) and a warm air fan to dry your bum (picture of air blowing). I found it hilarious. Jess used it too and took forever; when she came out she explained that she couldn't figure out how to turn off the bidet function and had to wait it out (she could have pressed the button again).
We cabbed it back to the Mariott and hit the sack; Panos and Ben went back to the FX area in Haidian. Panos managed to leave his phone in the cab and some guy named Luca picked it up. He found this out when his girlfriend called him and got Luca instead. I then texted Luca and got his number. Panos called him, but he lives way in the southeast corner of the city so Panos probably won't get the phone back before he leaves tomorrow. He bought it in Saudi Arabia (his parents work for Aramco) so it's not a huge loss.
I wish we had discovered this place earlier! What fun! Oh, I forgot to mention the Wii was set to Japanese, so we had fun guessing what the buttons meant. There were some inadvertently hilarious moments.
The Most Inconvenient Online Travel Company in the World
Now that our semester has wound down in Beijing, Jessica and I have some time to travel around China before we go back to the US. We had planned to spend a couple of days in Beijing with our friends before taking the overnight train to Xi'an, then the overnight train to Chengdu, then flying to Guilin and then flying back to Beijing. Unfortunately, this weekend is "Worker's Holiday", so EVERYONE in China (all 1.4 billion of them) is trying to take the train to go back to their country village and the train station is a complete nut house. I went by last night to purchase tickets and there were mobs of people running around, waiting, squatting and sleeping outside. Since there are a lot of real peasanty types taking the train, everyone cuts in line and you have to be really aggressive. Several people asked me to help them purchase tickets to get home, I said no thanks. I noticed that they pestered other local Chinese too, not just me, so I guess I don't mind as much. I would have been more annoyed had they targeted the only foreigner in the train station.
There were only soft sleeper tickets available on Monday night to go to Xi'an, so I elected not to purchase. We are checking out of our hotel on Sunday so we didn't want to extend for another day--we've been in Beijing for 7 weeks and wanted to get out of town! Jessica was back in the hotel and is out of minutes on her phone (Again! She and her boyfriend talk so much she goes through a 100RMB card every two days. Yes. Two days!) so I couldn't call her to confirm. Soft sleeper from Beijing to Xi'an is about 420RMB.
I went back to the hotel and suggested to Jessica that we go the opposite way, and fly straight from Beijing to Guilin. I looked up the tickets using an online reservation site, www.elong.net. They have searchable functions in English and allow you to book online (some Chinese websites don't, you have to come and pay for the tickets in person). We had looked at flights earlier in the week and they were a little pricey, about 1000RMB for the flight from Guilin to Beijing. As it turned out, the flights were now half the price! Beijing to Guilin was only 540RMB and Guilin to Chengdu (to see the pandas) was only 510RMB! What a deal! We booked the tickets immediately, planning to buy the train tickets when we get to Chengdu.
Elong has quite possibly one of the worst systems for buying tickets online: you input your credit card and hit confirm, but then you have to scan or fax a signed credit card use authorization form AND copies of front and back of your credit card AND a copy of your passport (if you are a foreign credit card holder). What a pain! Jess and I spent about 2 hours taking photos of our passports and credit cards and emailing them, and elong kept calling us back saying stuff like "your electronic authorization is not good enough, we need fax" and "we cannot see the signature on the back of Miss Tartell's credit card". We finally solved the problems by sending out electronic authorizations to Jessica's boyfriend in the US, and having him e-fax the authorizations back to elong. They were insistent that they needed either a scanned copy or a fax--which was ridiculous because it's the SAME goddamn thing. Anyway, right about midnight we got everything sorted out, which was annoying because Panos and Ben came over to our hotel room to have a drink before we went out. We had planned to go to Fez Bar, which is this cool outdoor bar overlooking the city, but it closes at 1pm so we couldn't go at midnight. Instead, I had a better idea...
There were only soft sleeper tickets available on Monday night to go to Xi'an, so I elected not to purchase. We are checking out of our hotel on Sunday so we didn't want to extend for another day--we've been in Beijing for 7 weeks and wanted to get out of town! Jessica was back in the hotel and is out of minutes on her phone (Again! She and her boyfriend talk so much she goes through a 100RMB card every two days. Yes. Two days!) so I couldn't call her to confirm. Soft sleeper from Beijing to Xi'an is about 420RMB.
I went back to the hotel and suggested to Jessica that we go the opposite way, and fly straight from Beijing to Guilin. I looked up the tickets using an online reservation site, www.elong.net. They have searchable functions in English and allow you to book online (some Chinese websites don't, you have to come and pay for the tickets in person). We had looked at flights earlier in the week and they were a little pricey, about 1000RMB for the flight from Guilin to Beijing. As it turned out, the flights were now half the price! Beijing to Guilin was only 540RMB and Guilin to Chengdu (to see the pandas) was only 510RMB! What a deal! We booked the tickets immediately, planning to buy the train tickets when we get to Chengdu.
Elong has quite possibly one of the worst systems for buying tickets online: you input your credit card and hit confirm, but then you have to scan or fax a signed credit card use authorization form AND copies of front and back of your credit card AND a copy of your passport (if you are a foreign credit card holder). What a pain! Jess and I spent about 2 hours taking photos of our passports and credit cards and emailing them, and elong kept calling us back saying stuff like "your electronic authorization is not good enough, we need fax" and "we cannot see the signature on the back of Miss Tartell's credit card". We finally solved the problems by sending out electronic authorizations to Jessica's boyfriend in the US, and having him e-fax the authorizations back to elong. They were insistent that they needed either a scanned copy or a fax--which was ridiculous because it's the SAME goddamn thing. Anyway, right about midnight we got everything sorted out, which was annoying because Panos and Ben came over to our hotel room to have a drink before we went out. We had planned to go to Fez Bar, which is this cool outdoor bar overlooking the city, but it closes at 1pm so we couldn't go at midnight. Instead, I had a better idea...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)