Sightseeing

On June 10th Jesse arrived in Beijing, and our adventure began! It started when the airlines lost Jesse’s bag. This prompted a string of phone calls to four different countries (China, Japan, U.S.A., Singapore) in three different languages. Eventually a stork dropped the bag off at Sara’s house, two days later.

Our first outing in Beijing was to the Forbidden City. This is the former palace of the emperor during the Ming and Qing dynasties and lies at the center of Beijing. The day was full of walking, subway riding, old sights, and great food. It also marked the start of our search for the elusive zigzag popsicle. In the evening Sara’s mom Annie treated us to traditional Peking duck.

On Saturday, June 12th, Sara’s dad Jon took us on a Great Wall hike. Unlike the popular portions of the wall, which have been artificially rebuilt, the section where we hiked is secluded and unrestored. Despite a foggy day, we had a fun hike with great views, and enjoyed homemade fried rice on top of one of the towers. This particular stretch of the wall is located in the town of Gubeikou, where the wall is part of the daily scenery. Historically, this town is an example of the Great Wall’s futility since it is where the Manchurian army swiftly bribed their way past heavily guarded gates. This marked the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of Qing rule. Zigzag popsicles were still nowhere to be found.

As loyal American citizens, we woke up at 2:30 a.m. to watch the U.S. play England in the World Cup, despite being tired from our hike. Soccer has always been very popular in China, even though they never qualify for the World Cup. It really is an international sport. We have also been watching the NBA finals. While racism towards black people is prevalent among Chinese, basketball starts like Kobe Bryant and Lebron James have huge fan bases here. At the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games, Kobe received the loudest cheers from the crowd, even more than the most famous Chinese athletes.

A visit to Beijing would not be complete without sippin’ Tsingtaos on a pedal boat in Houhai. While we didn’t meet any mermaids, there were plenty of Speedo-clad old men swimming to and fro. Houhai is a lake in downtown Beijing. It is surrounded by bars and restaurants and is popular among locals and foreigners alike. At the end of the day, with an apocalyptic storm brewing, we went to Sara’s friend Annie’s house and finally consumed some zigzag popsicles with delight.

Caption: David, Annie and Sara at a pool bar in Houhai

Thanks to Sophie for the yummy butterscotch cookies. We enjoyed watching Sara’s mom devour them with a spoon. Also, thanks to Jon and Lucy for showing us a good time and for letting us play the most amazing arch top guitar ever sculpted. Finally, thanks to Annie for her hospitality and gourmet cooking, and for helping us plan and organize our trip.

Next up: 24-hour train ride!