Thanks to all my friends for uploading my blog! I can’t even access it here.
While being in a foreign country with no money (and no hope of getting any thanks to the bank I argued with) I have to admit today was amazing. I woke up and had a wonderful breakfast of fruit, veggies, and bread. They even served litchi, one of my favorite fruits. Of course I locked myself out of my room, but thankfully the butler let me back in.
I used 800 Yuan to get a taxi to the Great Wall. It was a 2 hour drive, but well worth the money and time. And yes, I did the Great Wall in style! I took a lift (just like a ski lift) up the mountain. Once at the top I climbed the wall as far as they let you go. Note to self* Buy membership to gym before climbing Great Wall*. Talk about putting a stair stepper to shame. The view was breathtaking (and no, it wasn’t just me gasping for air). I can officially say I have now climbed the Great Wall. I could write about it all day, but just take a look at the photos. They were venders selling water and souvenirs at different points along the wall. If they took a photo of you they expected you to buy something from them and weren’t shy to remind you of it. Once I trekked back along the wall (leg muscles twitching) I got to toboggan back down the mountain. How cool! I’ve never gone tobogganing before and it was awesome!!
At the bottom there was a market. I was afraid to even look at things because the venders would get right in your face and not let you pass if you showed the slighted interest. Thankfully I managed to get through the market and find my taxi driver. We stopped at the Bank of China on the way back to the hotel. Let’s just say my opinion of them isn’t very good since they could do nothing unless I had a credit card. Note to future travelers *Bring a credit card*.
After some very careful budgeting, annoying the butler with endless questions about locations and prices, and stealing a map from downstairs I think I have it figured out. I have a tiny bit of money (less than $100) from my emergency fund. If I do a lot of walking and manage to figure out this metro system, I think I can still see everything I was planning on seeing. That isn’t including Ming’s Tombs because the butler asked me why I wanted to see some dead guy’s tomb. He didn’t recommend it at all, and I think I will take his advice. It’s almost 1:30PM and I need to figure out some way to get food for a week with about 50 Yuan.
6:00PM
There is so much to do here! After writing my last blog entry I packed up my things and headed for Tiananmen Square. Here is some background info from http://www.beijingtrip.com/attractions/square.htm:
“Tiananmen Square is the geographical center of Beijing City. It is the largest city square in the world, occupying an area of 440,000 square meters (about 109 acres), and able to accommodate 10,000,000 people at one time.”
Probably should have read how big it was before I started walking. It was a bit much to conquer after climbing the Great Wall. I decided to use my food money to buy Cade a toy soldier that crawls and waves a Chinese flag. After walking through the square I bought a ticket for the Palace Museum. Never was a fan of museums, but if that’s your thing then check this place out. It will take you a full day to see everything. There are miles of buildings filled with artifacts. The museum leads right into the Forbidden City which was pretty cool. It had a lot of ancient architecture that was neat to look at. I never did make it all the way through. I walked until I couldn’t walk anymore, then turned around and started back.
On my way out so Chinese people wanted to get a photo with me. Apparently my blond hair makes me a superstar here. Another girl who was 24 came up to me and started practicing her English. We started talking and she invited me to get some tea with her. I cannot for the life of me remember her name, or her two friends. I agreed thinking how much can tea really cost. Oh boy was I wrong. Since they were from a different providence, they had never been to a traditional tea house before and wanted to check it out. I admit the tea was amazing and the performance to make the tea was very cool. The lady wore traditional clothes and made sure to offer the tea god a cup before we had any. She did this by taking the first tea poured and dumping it over a little idol that looked like a baby dragon/frog/thing. We got to watch her make about 10 different kinds of tea. She taught us the proper way to hold the cup and how to drink the tea in 3 sips (yes, it was a very small cup). Some was made with ginseng, jasmine, fruits, bamboo, and other interesting flavors. They were all very good! We had some tea snacks and sat and talked for a while. The group was very friendly and I learned a good deal about the Chinese culture.
Then the bill came. Ouch. It was almost 4000 RMB for the group. That was almost 1000RMB each. To put it in perspective, the Great Wall cost less than 800RMB. Needless to say I didn’t have enough money to cover it, nor did my friends who were just as surprised by the bill. After some awkward sitting and trying to figure out how not to go to jail my friends told me to go ahead and they would pay the rest. They left their ID cards and cell phones as collateral and went back to their hotel to get the rest of the money. I was very thankful for that, but now I was flat broke. I didn’t even have 1 penny to my name. Now that’s a scary feeling.
As soon as I got back to the hotel (about a 20 min walk) I explained to the desk how I needed my money they took for incidentals. I gave them the credit card info and…thank goodness…they gave me my money back! Talk about relief. I can now eat dinner and visit more of China tomorrow. My plans aren’t set in stone, but I’m thinking of going to the summer palace in the morning and the Chinese opera in the evening.
Now I am off to enjoy dinner at the hotel since I haven’t eaten since this morning. I don’t think I have ever appreciated money so much.
6:40PM
My butler just brought me cookies and a weather report for tomorrow. Wow!
7:47 PM
Dinner was wonderful! Crème pumpkin soup and pink rose tea. The main course was pan seared tofu with eggs. Delightful and affordable! I also set up a reservation for the opera tomorrow. Now I plan on enjoying a shower and bed. Amazing how climbing the Great Wall and walking about 10 miles can do you in for the day.
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