China, October 9th

For my final day in Beijing I was on a mission. I had heard from a girl in my hostel that there was a coffee shop set up exactly like the one from the TV show Friends. So I took the Metro and had to go by some very simple directions, which means I had to do a bit of guessing and use common sense to find this place. But after some walking around, double backing, and asking directions I found it! It was so fun and felt like I was sitting on the TV set. They show continues episodes of Friends all day long. I had lunch and drank Blueberry Tea while watching a couple episodes. It felt so normal and I forgot how much I enjoy the show. I have a feeling I will have to start watching my Seasons when I get home!

Sitting on the big Orange Couch!

The door way

Playing the guitar in true Phebe fashion



The counter area

 

Other side of the counter

Outside the front door

Sign above the door

Welcome to Central Perk :)

It was a perfect way to end my break. After leaving I went back to my hostel to buy some tea from one of the ladies on my street. I was encouraged to drink and drink and drink, which I didn't mind. I got to try two different kinds of Jasmine tea and one other kind before I made it out the door. I grabbed my bags and jumped on the Metro to the Airport.

I felt so blessed to have this time off to take a break and the little ways God chose to bless me during my time away. I know that this year is going to be a great year for me!

  Pictures of the flight home.

China, 8th of October

Steamed Dumplings for Breakfast :)

For my final full day in the city I decided to brave the Forbidden City and Tienanmen Square. I had heard earlier in the week of ticket lines being 2 hours long and hoped that by today this would no longer be true. At first I went the wrong way looking for the Forbidden City and knew it couldn't be that hard to find. Tienanmen Square is the largest of its kind in the world...you can't just miss something like that :) As you will notice from the pictures it was very hazy out. This is not Fog but Smog...the pollution is that bad. This was unfortunate because I was hoping for blue sky's like on Monday when I was at the Wall. But if the sky was clear I did not see it in Beijing.

Entrance

First view of the main buildings

Design on the doorways

One of the many meetings rooms

 It was really cool exploring the city and tiring. It was huge! The gardens were amazing and I wished I could somehow make everyone else disappear and stroll through the trees and ponds. I also paid some extra money to get an audio guide, which I was very glad I did. (It is the box hanging from my next in the above picture.) I got to hear stories along with the information about each of the different sections of the city and it has a little GPS type locator's so I just had to go towards the red dots on the box for the next part to start. It did have a little bit of a glitch but worth paying for to get a fuller experience of the city.

In the Royal Gardens

One of the side walkways through the city

One of the rooms for the Empress

Part of the moat surrounding the city

 After seeing the city I went and checked out Tienanmen Square which is across the 12 lanes of traffic in the center of Beijing. They have a cross walk for people that goes under the road.

Tienanmen Square

Flowers in the Square

From the Square I went in search of a Formal Tea house to grab some Tea and lunch. Finding the Tea house was an adventure as I knew a general area and address. Thankfully most streets are in Chinese as well as English so I set off. After walking for 15-20 mins I got some bad directions and decided to trust my gut and turn around. I stopped at another restaurant to ask them and the lady indicated it was closed. Tired and hungry I sat down and ate at her restaurant. I was disappointed but not much that I could do.

After lunch I made my way to the Metro station so I could meet up with one of the girls at my Hostel who is living in Beijing. She was going to show me  a food street. I didn't take pictures of the food street because I was too busy looking at the food and trying to decided what I wanted to eat :) They had tons of choices but we chose flat bread with paprika and some other seasonings, deep fried beans, Chinese donut, deep fried batter rolled in sugar (like little sticks), chocolate PB bread with a slight coffee flavor, a delicious sunflower seed snack shaped like a rice cake but made of sunflower seeds and honey. It was a great way to eat dinner...and everything cost me just over $2. As I was leaving the street I even bought a sweet potato from a street vendor. They have half of a metal barrel flipped upside down with fire inside the barrel and the potatoes sitting on top baking. You eat the whole thing, skin and all. And it was soooo good :) I even saved part of it to eat the next morning.

A guy fishing in the city water way

Returning to the Hostel I prepared to go to the Chinese Acrobat show. I have included a few pictures of the show.

Spinning with three people

Walking on the Wire

Juggling hats

Jumping through hoops

Such good English :)

The Acrobat show was amazing to watch and I got some good video's. I have put one that I hope you enjoy:

China, 7th of October

On the 7th I decided to go explore an area where there was a lake I could walk around. I had been told This area was really great to see and headed out in the morning unsure of what I would find. As I walked the streets I spotted an ancient tower and traveled through a hutong to find where it was. I knew the Drum Tower was in this area and assumed that is what it was. Well I did find the Drum tower but first I had found the Bell tower.

In the Hutong

Bell Tower

These two towers are in the same small area and were used as a way to communicate time. The Bell tower had a huge bell in it and the view from the top could have been amazing except for the smog that hung over the sky. The stairs up were also very steep...this seemed to be a general theme for all of China. A secret plan to exhaust your enemy before they reach the top of the tower :)

In the Bell Tower

Drum Tower

View of the Hutong from Bell Tower

View of Drum Tower

The Drum Tower was used for time keeping and they even had a water clock the Chinese would have originally used. They even gave a demonstration of the drums for us to hear what it would have sounded like. I took a couple video's which are at the end of this post.

One of the drums

Drum Demonstration

Rickshaws outside the Drum Tower

After leading the Drum and Bell Towers I wandered down the road in the area I knew the Lake must be in. After walking through more hutongs I came out on a road that surrounded the lake. It was very picturesque and I wished I had more time to walk around the entire lake. But this would have taken too much time. I was sad that all the smog was making everything look hazy but very excited that I found the lake. Some people were even riding in rickshaws around, which looked charming but I didn't want the hassle of trying to get a fair price for a ride. (Everyone I talked to told stories of being ripped off)

Ally way in a Hutong

Along the street

At the Lake

Shoe rack?

For lunch I walked back towards the main street and found a random restaurant. They didn't seem to speak much English so I simply pointed out which food I wanted. They seemed to find this very funny, which I ignored as I ate the yummy noodles.

Shopping at the Silk Market was an interesting experience. First of all it is set up like a market inside, but is much to nice for me. Plus I felt kind of strange shopping in a Silk Market knowing over half of what they were selling I could get cheaper in Cambodia. I did buy a really cute red wool dress that I can wear when I come home. Being a girl, I already know my brown/black boots will look great with the dress. I also got a tradition Chinese dress, also in read. Unfortunately my none Asian body doesn't quite fit. So I will be going to my tailor to have a few alteration made, but I am excited about wearing this dress here. I also found some really fun earrings made of shells with Chinese artwork on it.

Thought I was going to a show, but it got cancelled. Before finding out I had to wait another night to see the Chinese acrobats I went out looking for dinner with a German girl who had moved into our room a couple days before. As we were sitting on the streets chatting a drunk Chinese man came up and tried to get us to go get a drink with him. This was all done in hand gestures as he spoke no English and we only knew a few words in Chinese. He was rather persistent and so we settled on ignoring him, our continuous head nods of "no" didn't seem to mean much. As soon as he left we got up and quickly walked back to our hostel. We spent the rest of the night chatting and reading books. I also made plans with another girl in our room to go eat on a food street she was telling me about. Here are a couple video's from the Drum Tower:

Here is another Video of the drums...

China, 6th of October

After trying to navigate the crowds at the summer palace I felt it might be best to avoid other popular locations till later in the week when more people would have left to go home. So the next morning I journeyed to a near by park. This was a great way to see how people in Beijing actually live and what they do in the morning. I found these guys playing a which resembled Crockett and pool. There were also large groups doing morning exercise/dancing to music, movements with swords, writing on the sidewalk, a band and choir playing together, and people walking around or through the area. I also found a nice quiet corner to sit and just take in all the green trees and the silence of being in vegetation.

Game time

Following the leader



Heading to work

Writing with water

Who doesn't want to dance in the morning?

Playing cards

After the park I headed to a temple close to my Hostel called the Lama Temple. This temple has one of the largest Buddha statues I have ever seen. It was as tall as this temple. I also was feeling a little tired of all the idol worship going on and I felt really drained. So I snapped some pictures, prayed a prayer of thanks to God that He does hear my prayers. Tons of people where at this temple offering incenses and kneeling down. I felt sad knowing they do it all in vain.

Lama Temple

A building and bell as part of the Lama Temple area

Woman kneeling and the burning container for incense

I still had some time before lunch so I went further into the city to see the Temple of Heaven and also found the Pearl Market. The Temple of Heaven is were the Emperor would come to offer sacrifices during times of draught. The temple and other buildings sit in a huge park, which meant more walking. By this point I was in need of some food so I munched on my peanut MM's. I also sat and listened to a guy playing a guitar and singing (video included at the end). The gardens were lovely and I enjoyed wandering through the endless trees and finding my way into a rose garden as well.

Temple of Heaven

Door of the Gate

Temple of Heaven Park

Things a lady was making and tyring to sell

Rose from the garden

Rose Garden

Wooden dolls for sale

I went to the Pearl Market next and found lovely jewelry everyone wanted to sell to me. They also had other things for me to buy but I wanted a pair of Pearl earings. So I spent some time looking at and trying to buy jewelry, I can't say I know how to barter well in China. They mark the price up 10 times what it should be, which means unlike Cambodia you can't start at 1/2 and work your way up. I tried not to think about how much they were cheating me and focused on enjoying my new earings.

After the Pearl Market I decided I wanted to do something that I can't do in Cambodia so I went to the mall and had Subway for lunch and saw the movie Inception. It felt great to sit and watch a movie. The last time I was able to go to a movie theatre was in April when I was in Vietnam. I also have to include the following video. I sat and listened to him for a while as I rested at the Temple of Heaven.