Beijing - Times Three - Pt 2

A Day Trip to the Sausage Palace!
 Saturday, June 27, 2009

Monday dawned clear. However, it soon started turning foggy. Rain was forecast. Work was work. The day went by in the usual manner. I had dinner back in my room. I was getting to hate this hotel’s in-room dining menu. A salad is about all I could eat and a dessert. Gotta have dessert.

Tuesday dawned smoggier than the day before. I had an email from Kevin, his flight was delayed due to a volcanic eruption near Japan. They would be re-routing to San Francisco, and then on to Beijing. He didn’t think he would make it in that day. Later in the day, another email from him, sitting in the San Francisco airport. Poor chap. It would be a long day for him. I didn’t hear from him, but I was certain if anything untoward happened, or he didn’t make it out of Japan that night, I would hear from him.

The next morning, I saw him on IM – he was in Beijing, and funnily enough, right next door to me! Evidently, they had held up the Beijing flight so he could get on it! Nice service!! Jay was also here, and I would be meeting him for the first time at breakfast. And Siraj would be arriving late on Friday. It was worth all the heartburn to have the whole group there.

But the weather was getting ugly. The smog had gotten thicker and thicker. We could barely see the hotels across the park. The Pan Gu was invisible from my window. See the pics for yourself.

http://picasaweb.google.com/madhumita.routh/BeijingOutAndAboutInBeijing#

Once in the street you could smell the smoke in the air. It was very unpleasant. Wonder what they would have done if it had happened during the Olympics! I was starting to feel uneasy with the smog. It felt like I was in a c-grade horror movie and some guy or THING was going to jump out of the smog at me… some horribly mutated THING! By Friday the smog finally lifted.

We dined well that week – finally!

I had also brought with me two bottles of ice wine along with a box of maple cookies, which I was digging into along with my morning coffee. That first night with all of us there, we chilled a bottle of ice-wine and had it during our 10pm status call. Cheers! (gotta learn how to say Salud in Mandarin).

So let me talk about Jay. He is hilarious and so very American. While Eric is always trying to be culturally correct, and Kevin is somewhere in between, Jay makes no apologies for who he is. Not that he is rude or obnoxious – far from it. He is very careful that way. But otherwise, he loves his ‘concubines’ or the hostesses at the Palm Gardens bar in the hotel. They are all pretty girls and know these guys and their drinks pretty well.

So this one night, we are at the lounge (see pics), and the girls all have new outfits on. Their summer uniforms, as they explained to us. A sleeveless full-length maroon outfit, with a slit up the side – a very high slit, hair piled up high, and a broad silver armband on their right arm. Kevin and Jay and Bob were all excited. They wanted those armbands – for their wives or ….. So I played wingman. As one cute girl did her stir-once-stir-twice-pause-tap-tap routine with Jay’s drink, I complimented her on the armband. It’s so beautiful! I said, is it silver? Yes, she replied smiling prettily. And those are your name tags! I exclaimed – for each arm band is inscribed with the name of the girl wearing it! I looked over at the guys, who were doubling up with laughter by now. When she left, I just raised my eyebrows at them – did they still want those armbands? I could not stop laughing at their chagrined expressions. I don’t think their wives would appreciate it if they brought back name tags inscribed with ‘Una’ or ‘Helena’… oh no! I don’t think it would be appreciated at all!

In between, we met Bob’s latest girl friend. A Chinese woman in her 50s named Li, who had hair down to her knees, and dressed like a twelve-year-old American girl, extremely short skirts, see-through blouses, and tights! In 90 degrees heat! I guess the language constraints made it hard for her to converse with us beyond the ‘ni hao’ and ‘xie xie’. I did not know what to make of her.

We had decided to go to the Made in China on Friday. Peking duck is now officially a tradition for me. I have to have it in China. And the next time I do, I am hoping Sam will be there to join me. It will be fun to introduce her to it. I did have Peking duck at another restaurant the other night, but there’s something about a duck cooked specifically for you, that appeals way too much to me. Or maybe I am just a snob! Sitting in the intimate and not so inexpensive atmosphere of the restaurant appeals to my sense of … shall we say… well being? At least, it made up for a day that had gone horribly wrong from early in the morning, and which I don’t want to record here. After all, this blog is to remind me of the good times, not the bad ones!

Siraj arrived on Friday night, so Saturday morning we let him sleep in. Eric had left on Friday. So that left Jay, Kevin and I to go to the Summer Palace. I had already been here before, but knowing how vast the complex was, I was eager to explore some more. I knew where I wanted to go, across the 17-arch bridge to the South Lake Island, across the lake in a boat, and to the Temple, and finally the theatre. We left early, and were there by 8:15 – though crowds had already started coming in. The day was beautiful – sunny, bright, and no sign of the ugly smog though a slight haze lingered in the breeze. We bought tickets and maps and strolled through the gates.

Now Kevin forgot his camera, and Jay’s was out of battery. I had my two cameras with me – the little Cannon and my big-ass Sony alpha both loaded with 4GB memory cards, enough to go around. I handed one to each of them and said ‘run away and go play, boys!’ They were so happy with the toys, it was funny. I’d already done a whole bunch of pics here with Jane, but this was a different walk. Along the lake, by the paddle boats, and lotuses along the edge of the Kunming Lake, weeping willows swooping into the waters along the walk. We headed to the 17-arch bridge. A bronze statue of a Sitting Bull stands next to a pavilion. We took pictures beside the bull and then noticed that there was this woman, rubbing her back up and down the railings – was she doing a ‘cow’ thing – scratching her back? An old man sat on a bench nearby with his wife. His bearded face was a composition in serenity and Kevin captured it perfectly. I watched people playing with ribbons, and a big screen – a movie screen – in front of which men and women practices T’ai Chi with fans. We could hear the sound of music from the pavilion leading to the 17-arch bridge. We headed to the pavilion. There was an old man narrating the story, a man playing a flute. I could hear a singer. I walked around the pavilion and noticed this woman who was singing the songs, sitting on the railing around the pavilion, her back to her audience. I whipped out the Canon and started filming her, pretty rudely I might add, as I was right in her face. The flautist turned around and played for me as I filmed him. It was beautiful. Sitting the in shade of the pavilion, the breeze blowing through my hair, the lake in front of me, I could have sat their for a while. Kevin noticed a man filming us – Tourists!! How strange it is to be inside the cage instead of outside. I suggested we give him something to film. But Kevin and Jay wouldn’t play along, so that idea died. Scaredy cats!

We walked over to the bridge. People were flying kites. The clear skies above the lake are perfect for flying kites and there were dozens of them floating over our heads, in bright colors and shapes and sizes. Strolling across the bridge we came to the Temple of Extensive Rain. Not much to see there, so we headed around the island to where the boats went across the Lake to the other side. Kevin and I chose to sit on the inner row, while Jay chose to sit on the sunny outer side.

Suddenly, there was a tap on Kevin’s shoulder. Our trio had caught the attention of a family of tourists from inner China. The lady wanted to speak to Kevin. ‘Will you speak to me?’, ‘Of course,’ he replied; and soon there was a tap on my shoulder. Now I am used to the white folks getting the tourist treatment. With my short height, dark hair and skin, I blend in with a lot of Chinese people (especially with a baseball hat on), unless you look at my face. So I was surprised at the tap on my shoulder. It was the daughter. She asked me where I was from, and I said ‘Canada’, she looked puzzled and I said it slowly ‘ Ca-na-da’. And them? She wanted to know. ‘They are from America’ . A few more questions later, they asked us if we would take pictures with them. So Kevin and I posed with them. I looked at the pictures and said ‘hung how!’ (very good!) they were delighted that I could actually say two words in Mandarin - literally!! We ‘xie xie’-d and ‘Qai tzen’-ed our way off the boat. It was a surreal experience for me to be really treated like a tourist. Of course, Jay got a big laugh out of it. So I had to tell them about Jane’s fan club after that. (See my note on Girls’ Day Out).

We walked along the Long corridor, and I got a little disoriented. The boat had actually dropped us off a little further north than I thought it would. But it was all good. A kindly stranger with a map told us where we were. So we walked along till we came to the Temple of the Fragrance of the Buddha. The last time I had climbed those stairs I’d been on treadmills for a few days and was in a little better shape. This time though, I was back to my old level of non-fitness. So I was a little worried that I would not be able to make it all the way up. Kevin offered to carry my big camera bag, and I gladly gave it to him. We climbed to the top, stopping to take pictures along the way - lots and lots of pictures.

http://picasaweb.google.com/madhumita.routh/BeijingSummerPalaceDay2#

Around the back of the temple, I decided to sit for a while. Jay was busy playing with exposures and apertures. Kevin wanted to explore further, why were the people walking up the hill along THAT path? I told him it was the toilets. He was not convinced. So he had to go explore. From my vantage point on the railing, I could see him walking up the path. I waited for him to reach the top and then called him. He had reached the Hall of Supreme Feces, he said – it WAS the toilets. Jay had followed him up, and I went to join them. We walked along a winding path under the trees, heading downhill. A dirt path took us to a little turret with a magnificent view of the lake. Siraj called then, he was up and about! Down the path, exploring a little cave that had been used as an improvised bathroom, yuk! Finally we reached the Hall of Harmony and Longevity (I think that’s what its called). And sometime in between, Jay asked us where we were in the Sausage Palace (how does summer palace become SAUSAGE palace??). and then… were we in the Hall of Harmonious Incest? I will never look at those pictures again without think of Sausage Palaces and Incest… YIKES!!

Then we reached the Grand Theatre – I was determined to get some video footage of the inside of that hall. So I set the camera and walked around, providing a commentary along with it. Not the best video, but it will do.

We headed out, and lo and behold, none of the taxis would go on the meter. A lot of bargaining later, we finally found a cab that would take us back to the hotel for 40 RMB. We headed to the Palm Lounge, and Siraj joined us for lunch. The rest of the after noon we worked. That night we were going to a Chinese restaurant with Allan and Yaw.

Sunday morning, Siraj and I headed to the Silk Market. And now may I announce the king of bargaining, my friend Siraj! We had little time in which to shop and I had a list of things that I wanted to buy. So we ran around picking up silk robes, sunglasses - a pair of Prada and a pair of Oakley for 100 RMB or about 7USD each, - scarves. I was thrilled. Siraj was able to bargain very effectively with them. Plus the fact that we would speak to each other in Hindi and they could not understand what we were speaking about, gave us the edge. I was so pleased with my purchases. And we were back at the hotel by 12:30. Lunch and then we headed back to work.

That night we had decided to have dinner at the Tandoor, but first drinks at the Pan Gu – the 7-star hotel that looks like a dragon. I wanted to pay tribute to my Indian heritage, so I donned a sari – much to everybody’s amazement I might add, and I think it had the desired effect :-P Mostly shock and awe!! Big earrings, a slight touch of make up and my shit-kicker shoes completed the outfit. To our disappointment, the restaurant in the Dragon’s Tail was closed, so we had to make do with sitting in the Karma lounge and having drinks there. Then off we went to Tandoor. Chetan, Bob and Li would be joining us there. It was a wonderful evening. The food was good, the conversation was excellent, the company outstanding. I couldn’t have asked for a better outing. Later that night I had to pack, I knew, for now, I was just going to enjoy myself. And I did.

That was my last night in China for a while. The next day, I flew back to Canada. I’ve packed so many memories into these trips. I hope to have a few more. I know I am not going there this month. Who knows where my next trip will lead me?

The 17-Arch Brige at the Summer Palace

Drinks at the Karma Lounge in the Pan Gu Hotel

Beijing - Times Three - Pt 1

"And I shall call my snake, Harvey" - Eric Lindenberg - 6/14/2009
 Friday, June 26, 2009
And no... its not what you think.

This time Beijing is HOT!! I arrived on a Tuesday evening on an Air Canada flight direct from Toronto. What a difference being up in the air for only 12 hours makes. The time almost flies. It was an excellent flight, and very comfortable, and the food was actually quite good! It says a lot about me when I can call airline food good. However, the movies were still the same, and I decided to spend my time watching 'A Night at the Museum' - pretty funny movie.

It was a typical evening. I got to the hotel thankfully missing all the rush-hour traffic. Change, a quick shower, and I was ready to go have some food on the Club Lounge. I took my laptop up with me, and while munching on some food, and a cold glass of Bailey’s Eric appeared. He’d been on vacation, the lucky so-and-so and was all tanned and his hair even looked lighter!

The past few weeks had been a stressful one for me; unfortunately I decided to take it out on Eric. No, I did not yell at him, because Eric makes it very hard for anyone to yell at him. But I did get my point across and he understood my angst pretty well. The next two days went by in typical Beijing fashion.

However, on Saturday, after a late lunch, we decided to head to the Electronics Market. We’d passed the place quite often on our way to the office – never realizing that this was THE Electronics market. I was going to browse and pick up something for my nephew, so was Eric. We walked into the usual cacophony of vendors wanting to sell us everything from cameras, computers, flash drives, lenses, PS3s, you name it – if it’s electronic – you can find it there. But how much of it was real and how much... fake? We didn’t know. After going up and down the escalators to every floor, we decided that Eric needed a camera. A Chinese girl in broken English offered to show us some more stuff. Now this building is 17 stories high and we had only seen about 7 of them. The rest of the floors were not accessible by escalator. At the top floor we had noticed a restaurant and people coming out of it with packages in their arms. ‘There must be something there’ Eric said. I just dismissed it as people having lunch and heading down. But now this Chinese girl beckoned us into an elevator tucked into the back of the floor.

We followed her onto it and were whisked away to a higher floor. The floor plan was open with tables set around the floor. There were groups of people at some of the tables, and this we discovered, was the bargaining area. The serious bargaining area. We were looking for a DSLR camera for Eric. I thought he should get a Cannon Rebel EOS. A Chinese gentleman sat down across from us and the bargaining began. Now Eric quite fancies himself as the bargainer. The man quoted us 36,000 RMB for the camera body. I wanted a different one. We scribbled on paper to decide on the model. Then came the price. Eric wrote 250. The man looked at it and went – 250 Dollar? No, said Eric, RMB. He looked so affronted it was hilarious. Then he got up and pointed at the door. ‘You go, now! You are joking.’ And that was my first experience of getting thrown out of a store. We left in hysterics. This was too funny. We finally left the store after buying a small WII steering wheel.

That night I got a call I had been waiting for. My best friend, since sixth grade was married to Titu. Titu incidentally was in China, and was supposed to be in Beijing over that week. He called me on Saturday evening. We planned to meet up the next morning at 10 after breakfast.

The next day, I asked Eric and Allan – another of our colleagues - if they wanted to go to the Temple of Heaven with Titu and I. We met up at 10 in the lobby. Having Allan along was a huge plus. He is Chinese, from north of Beijing, though he lives in Canada now. But he speaks Mandarin. No more pointing to the menu and little cards for cabs. Allan told the driver where we wanted to go (though the night before I found out that the Temple of Heaven is called Tien Tan in Chinese – so I could have said ‘chyow tien tan’ to go there!)

I met Titu in the lobby and we hit it off really well. I hadn’t really conversed with him before. And I could see why Sam would have liked him so much. He is a complete hoot to be with. We set off for the Temple of Heaven, bought our tickets and started walking into the complex. It’s a huge park-like place. The emperor would come here to offer prayers. The whole complex would be closed off and the emperor would pray to the Gods for the rains or harvest or whatever. Sacrifices of animals would be offered and huge firewood burning stoves would be used to burn all wood and everything used in the sacrifices. Somehow I never thought of the Chinese of being pantheistic; or as having any other gods than Buddha. But it seems that they did pray to different gods! But there are no pictures or deities of the gods; just the intricately carved, richly painted interiors of the temples and the five vessels in front of each of the altars signifying the five elements: earth, water, fire, air, and space. The whole complex is surrounded by lush gardens, and we realized that this was a place that people often came for picnics. And the flowers – Beijing in summer is a city of flowers. There were flowerbeds completely covered in flowers of all colors. Just gorgeous. It was a gorgeous day, hot, clear skies with a hint of smog only. Lovely!

As we walked through the tree lined paths, the cupola of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest was visible between the two lines of trees. The North Celestial gate towered over us. A group of Chinese musicians were singing some song and playing some really strange instrument. I took a video of it, and I have not uploaded it yet. But the rest of the pictures are here

http://picasaweb.google.com/madhumita.routh/BeijingTempleOfHeavenMadhuSPics?feat=directlink

We walked through the gates and I realized that while the Forbidden City was all about squares, the temple of Heaven is all about circles. There were terraces that led up to each of the temples. All of them were built along a central meridian. Each of the temples are circular, the terraces are circular. All the roofs are a dark blue (religious significance?) and gold – signifying royal. Inside the temple all the pillars are painted rich red background with glittering gold paint. There is richness here, and a sense of pomp and grandeur. Maybe this place is just better maintained. We walked to the next temple – The Imperial Vault of Heaven. Surrounding this one is a wall. If you stand on the meridian facing the altar and clap – it echoes. The wall is quite appropriately called the Echo Wall. The strange thing is if you stand on the first stone – it echoes once, on the second stone, it echoes twice. I went up to three… because there were people all standing around trying to get on those stones and clap.

A woman caught my eye. She was dressed in the colourful traditional costume of her South East or west Province. I followed her around taking a few shots. She stopped and gave me a pose – quite without realizing it.

Following our nose Southward, we came to the Circular Mound Altar. This is a flat terraced circular mound! And in the center was a little mound. We all stood on it and took pics – but of course. We are such tourists!

Leaving the temples behind, we started walking towards the gardens hoping to reach the gates. The shady trees making walking easy, but I realized we’d probably walked a couple of miles easily if not more. We sat for a while in a little area to rest my back that was uneasily painful by now. Then we walked on and on, until we came to a gate and finally outside. We hailed a cab, and came back to the hotel.

Eric and Allan decided they wanted to go for full body massages. I wanted to download my pictures and just spend some time with Titu – actually getting to know him a little. So we went up to my room, and spent a pleasant few hours chatting. Around 6 we went up to the club floor. There over drinks, Eric proceeded to explain what body massage is in China. I will leave that explanation for my next note. I promise you its R-rated!

Dinner was going to be at the Hot pot restaurant that Eric and I had found. We walked over to the restaurant. Having Allan around is fun, because he can speak the language, and takes away the pain of pointing to items on restaurant menus when we want food. Eric and he consulted over the menu. Eric wanted snake. UGH!!! I wanted fried rice. Everything else was optional. When we ordered the snake, they said they would bring the snake out for us to see. And so they did. A big, fat snake coiled in a translucent bag. Ewwww… At which point Eric said, “And I shall name my snake, Harvey”. The double-meaning on that one cracked me up. Stupid snake jokes followed – like why Harvey? Why name your SNAKE Harvey? Does he feel like a HARVEY? And so on and so forth. So dinner came, and we tucked in. Hot, Hot Hunan cuisine. Lovely! The donkey’s meat was so spicy; we kept pulling tissues out of the little dispenser placed conveniently on the table. We’d finished eating all the other food before they brought the snake out. It was a big platter – on the edge of which were the chunks of meat pieces. In the center was a mound of dried red chillies. I could not even look at it. In my head I could see the split vertebrae of the snake’s skeleton. But the guys tucked in licking their chops and wiping their faces.

Dinner over, I had to call it a day. I needed to provide Eric some information, and so while he and Allan and Titu took off to the Olympic park, I went back to the hotel to work!

Thus it ended, an absolutely wonderful weekend with a little touch of home. Tomorrow was another day. Kevin was due back in town this week. It would be his last trip to China as he wrapped up on the project. We had some fun planned.

In the Temple of Heaven

Beijing - Second Time Around - Pt 4

Girls' Day Out
 Friday, May 29, 2009 
This is my last weekend on this trip. Can't believe I've been here three weekends.. Way too long for a person to be in another country. I am homesick already.

This week I have Bob and Jane with me. Bob and Jane are great people to work with - sharp, fun, witty and totally over the top. Eric and Kevin - my other two friends have gone back to the US. Kevin left with a bad case of bronchitis, Eric - well I think Eric got some ear-chewing from me. Haven't heard back from him, though I have talked to Kevin since. He's on antibiotics and in the loving arms of his family... he'll be alright!

Bob decided to go solo this Saturday, so Jane and I met for a leisurely breakfast. We decided to go to the Summer Palace. This was one place I'd been told was a must-see. I was holding it back for my next trip, but then, what was I supposed to do all day? I was waiting on some production runs to happen in the afternoon. Figured I could take the morning off.

So Jane and I headed out to the Palace. It lies to the West of the city of Beijing and covers over 290 hectares and surrounds the Kunming Lake. The word Palace is a misnomer. The whole thing is what in the US/Canada would have been called a state park. Acres of land, with walks, and palaces and theaters and pagodas. We took a taxi to the Summer palace. Now, if you want to go sightseeing in Beijing, plan on reaching there by 8:30 am. It’s a lot less crowded. As we came up to the palace, we saw hordes of people - tourists, like us - headed towards the gate. A full access ticket costs about 60 RMB or $9-and-change, because certain parts require special tickets to enter. We bought the full-access tickets and moving along through the hordes of clicking tourists, Jane and I entered the park. We'd bought a map at the ticket counter too. It was an artistic map that marked all the different palaces and temples and bridges, painted in the light, delicate brush strokes of Chinese artwork. All the names were poetic and a little 'fumbly' - they don’t flow fluently off the tongue. If you go to the numerous pictures of the summer palace on the web, you will see that the whole area is architected to blend in with the lush, rolling landscape. There are tree-covered hills, and long covered corridors, and pavilions and temples rising majestically over them all.

The first place we wanted to visit was the palace of Happiness and Longevity. As we entered the courtyard, Jane explained to me what those curious door stops meant - it was to stop the goblins from entering, because they couldn’t bend their knees! – I thought it was to stop anyone from rushing the emperor… hmmm…live and learn. The palace of Happiness and Longevity contains the Grand Theatre. The theatre is a central building surrounded by a courtyard, surrounding which were the “inner” apartments. The central building itself is three stories high. The theatre itself is dim and gloomy, even a little musty. Even with a high quality DSLR, I couldn’t get good pictures, until I turned on the flash, and had my back to the light. We wandered into the main apartments. A rich bed covered in a silk spread faced the stage. Behind it was a gorgeous yellow hand-painted silk screen. I took a picture of Jane as she entered, quite failing to see the “No Photo” sigh on the bed. This room was gorgeous, with intricately carved partitions, and mirrors. I took a picture, and then not quite satisfied with it, I deleted it. Big Mistake. As I aimed for the next shot, I heard a voice behind me go, “No photos” – blech.. Now I didn’t even have a half-satisfactory shot of it. The camera hung from my neck as we went around a highly carved wooden screen. Holding it at my waist, keeping the flash off, I clicked. And go one of the best pictures I could have. It was beautiful!

Check out the pictures from my trip to the Summer Palace at
http://picasaweb.google.com/madhumita.routh/BeijingSummerPalaceMadhuSPics#

Something struck me as we wandered around. There is a sameness to the architecture of these ancient palaces and forts and cities. They all tend to look the same after a while. While the intricate details hold meaning, it still ends up looking the same. We saw some fabulous pottery and some very tacky ones. But you know what? Despite the way these places are decorated - despite the use of lush fabrics like silk and satin; and the intricate detail of each artistic brush stroke or carving - there seems to be a distinct lack of sensuality to it all. There is almost an austerity and strictness to it, that is... cold! I don't know, maybe its just me. Its beautiful, but there is a frigidity, an iciness to this beauty. There is no sense of debauchery or over-indulgence that one would associate with royalty and nobility in most cultures. Compare it to the sculpture of Khajuraho and you will know what I mean.

And one more thing – while wandering around the Forbidden City both Eric and Kevin told me essentially the same thing – I would have gone mad if I had been living in that time and place. Those constrictions would have killed me. Jane and I both agreed, that if we had to live that life – yes, we would have gone mad for sure.

Wandering out, we followed the map to the Tempe of the Fragrance of the Buddha. We went through a doorway, and in front of us was the long corridor.

Okay, yes, it IS called the Long Corridor. An awning covered long walk to protect the people from the elements. Intricate wood carvings on the roofs, and two pagoda style gazebos marked this walk. To our left lay Lake Kunming. It was a leisurely stroll through the hot summer day. We decided to walk beside the corridor instead of inside it – just too many tourists with too many bullhorns! The lake was beautiful, and the tall trees afforded some welcome shade in the hot humid weather, as the day was horrendously smoggy. There were all kinds of boats on the lake. In the distance was the 17-arch bridge, and it connected the mainland to the South Island. I decided it was time to bring out the zoom lenses. So Jane and I sat down by the corridor, as so many people were doing, while I pulled the big lenses out. Switching lenses, I walked over to the parapet, and took a few snaps. A group of tourists were sitting on the corridor railings right above Jane. They were surprised to see a ‘foreigner’ with as big a camera as mine was. See, mostly it’s the Chinese and the Japanese that have these big-ass cameras (Eric… this one is for you). The tour guide asked Jane in broken English where we were from and so a small conversation started. We started to leave and someone said, ‘I love you!’ to Jane. It cracked us up. I took a photo of them for Jane and posterity.

We followed the crowds until we reached the entrance to the Temple of the Fragrance of the Buddha. It is said the Empress Cixi would offer prayers at this temple. Once again, we needed to present our tickets for access. Which would mean a lot fewer crowds. The Temple rises high into the hill-side and a veritable complex is around it. Stairs led up to the base of the temple – lots of stairs. I was worried that I would not make it. Jane of course, works out daily as a rule, so she is much better shape than I am. We started up the stairs. They are shorter than regular stairs and I found that I could easily walk up them. 2, 3, 4 stories high and we reached the base of the temple. There were still more stairs to climb, forming a pattern that is visible from afar – as we saw later. Taking a breather, we started up the next set of stairs. It was easier this time around. We climbed to the top, Jane encouraging me for the last few yards. Then before us was a vista that was Beijing to the left and mountains to the right. Gorgeous. We walked into the temple. Its octagonal shape invites you to walk around. Inside was a 12’ tall Buddha – called the Buddha with a 1000 arms. The head was almost like a Trimurti – except there were 12 heads, in four levels and 12 pairs of arms. Thought the hands do not hold any artifact – the Vishnu-like aspect of this Buddha was not lost on me. People walked in and prayed. It was almost like being in a Hindu temple! No pictures allowed here either, although we could take pics from the corridor outside. So we did.

Then we climbed back down taking the other set of stairs. Outside I was feeling de-hydrated, and we found some vendors selling water. A cold bottle of water, and we were on our way to our boat ride. We found one that went to South Island and back, and 15 minutes on the water cooled us down.

As we headed back out of the Summer Palace, we decided to go to Silk Market. I still needed to shop for gifts.

Silk Market was all I remembered it to be, the usual haggling for stuff, and asking for outrageously low prices was fun and soon loaded down with purchases, we stepped out for some food. We didn’t have margaritas this time. But we found a place that did some excellent burgers – an ‘Australian’ place! Then it was back to the hotel. I had needed a shower, and I was burned and tanned. Ah yes, we Indians DO tan – and I have the tan lines to prove it! Besides I had to pack. I had a plane to catch the next day. I was finally homeward bound. 

The temple of the Fragrance of the Buddha from Kunming Lake

Beijing - Second Time Around - Pt 3

Beijing Times Two: "The closer you get, the bigger it gets" - Eric Lindenberg, May 10th, 2009

 Friday, May 15, 2009

I will explain that quote in a minute.

Saturday night - we'd done our favourite thing - Peking Duck at the Made in China! For me this will be the essence of my Chinese trips. 
But first I need to find my way to the Mutianyu Great Wall of China. Sunday dawned a little muggy. Saturday night we had decided to meet for breakfast at 6:30 and head to the Great Wall by 7:00 am. Having been to the Badaling section of the Great wall before, Kevin wanted to start out early to beat the hordes of tourists we knew would be on their way to see the wall. So at 7:00 am fortified with breakfast and take away cups of coffee, Eric, Kevin and I headed to the Great wall. The concierge negotiated a cab for us, that would take us there, and stay there until we finished and bring us back to the hotel.

The ride was beautiful. As soon as we left Beijing behind, we were in farmland. Trains, a few cars, little towns that strangely reminded me of little towns in India - we passed through all of them.

Me at the start of the Great Wall at Mutianyu.

The km long journey brought us closer and closer to the fog covered hills. We could see how lush and green they were. The ride up to the bottom of the hill was surprisingly short - we didnt climb much. We got out, got our tickets and then then started the uphill climb to the cable cars. Let me tell you this: that climb is not easy. I was breathing very heavily and had to lean on both of them to pull me up the very steep incline. And then we were at the cable cars. They didnt open till 8:30 am.. so we were some of the first people up in the cars. Both the men suffer from sea sickness... I was totally fine with letting them both sit facing uphill while I faced downhill. The car rose above the lush green foliage all around us, that was a strange mix of some tropical trees that I recognized and some that were clearly from a more temperate climate. The sun had just started to rise up above the hills to our right - the east. We could make out the crenelled outlines of the wall along the spine of the mountain. It was an amazing sight! I was actually here - at the Great wall of China!

Both Kevin and Eric always call their families first thing in the morning. I told Kevin I had a plan. I was going to call my parents from on top of the Great Wall. Eric laughed at me - would I get enough bars there? The cable car swung to a halt. We got out and headed out. A few steps up - steep steps, those, we turned a corner - and lo and behold, the first thing you see as you step on the Great Wall of China is....a row of Port-a-potties.. I just had to take a pic!  

That day is posted on my picasaweb page at  http://picasaweb.google.com/madhumita.routh/BeijingGreatWallOfChina20090510#

I will be adding snaps that both Kevin and Eric took later into this collection - so look out for it.

The view from that point on was breathtaking. We could see the wall snaking away to the east and to the west. This section of the Wall actually stopped marauders from the North. It was OLD!! The three of us whipped out our phones. Sure enough - enough bars! - and started dialing. It was such a great feeling to be standing there on the Great Wall and calling my mother on a cell phone! I took pictures of Eric and Kevin calling their families - they could give it to their kids and say - look, Daddy was calling you here!

We started walking towards the North. The air was a bit cool - not jacket inducing, though. We walked down steps worn down by thousands of years of people traversing them. They were not even, and the edges were the best places to walk. The centers were sometimes an inch think to three-inches thick. Even with the constant jibing-joshing-insulting relationship that is there between the three of us, at some point, we had to stop in awe and just stare. To the right, jagged peaks rushed up to the sky. To the left the hills rolled away to the bottom to a small valley. We walked through tiny doors, and tinier rooms. Kevin's big frame filled every doorway we went through.

I let my imagination free. Leaning against a battlement, I looked out. I could almost see the hordes of soldiers rushing the wall. Trying desperately to claw their way up - maybe using ladders. Behind me on the wall, I could see the soldiers leaping and running across the battlements, some of them lying on their stomachs shooting arrows out of the little vents onto the unprotected enemy below. Others rushed around protecting one segment of the wall and then another - dressed in gaudy robes, little white and black shoes, with their pigtails flying in the wind. What a life it must have been! What must it have meant to be a soldier in those days?

We continued on, to a little turret. Inside it was dark, and the Chinese must have been very small people. Kevin had to bend down to get through some of the doorways. One of the turrets was like a little maze. We wandered off, and then I could hear them calling me. I couldnt find them - until I noticed a steep flight of steps leading to the roof. Steep as in 3' high steps. They had found those steps and decide to explore. I helping hand later, and I was up there. Pictures all around. However, the aforementioned hordes of tourists had started arriving. Loud, loud tourists, mostly Chinese, but also quite a few white people! At one point, we exchanged pleasantries with a middle-aged American (or was that Canadian?) couple. Isn't the great wall amazing? its the one place in China that you can go to and speak to perfect strangers in English!

We continued on, but I was tiring. Besides I wanted a little 'me' time. So the guys dumped their jackets with me, and continued on to the next turret. I leaned against the wall and just relaxed. The sun was on my skin, I could hear bees buzzing and birds chirping. It was growing a little hot and I was feeling a little drowsy. Tourists were coming fast and thick now. For some reason they came downhill to 'my' corner and nearly bumped into me, all the while their eyes on the jackets at my feet. It was WEIRD!! But I had some time to kill and I was amused. Almost forty minutes went by, and then they returned. We were tired, but happy. It had been a wonderful day.

But it wasn't over yet.

Returned to the hotel, a quick freshen up and lunch. I was hungry for some good ole American food - so a burger it was for me. Then we decided to go to the Olympic Village. Our hotel is almost next to the Bird's nest. Evidently, NBC had booked the entire hotel during the Olympics! Who knew - maybe Brian Williams had my room? or Matt Lauer - ohhh yeahh!!  

It was time to see the Bird's Nest - up close and personal http://picasaweb.google.com/madhumita.routh/BeijingOlympicVillage#

We walked along the street up to the Bird's nest. That structure of iron grids criss-crossing gives you such a feel for the organic nature of the architecture of Beijing. There are buildings shaped like swans, and dragons, and bird's nests... well its amazing to say the least. As we walked closer to the stadium we realized just how large it was. It was at this point, that Eric dropped his profoundly irrelevant comment 'The closer you get, the bigger it gets'... however the double entendre in this sentence wasn't entirely lost on Kevin and myself - and we just cracked up. Until Eric dropped another one - this time it was his wallet. But again, as he puts it - 'I didn't drop it, gravity took it!' I wont have enough space on these notes to write about his other profoundly absurd witticisms, but .. I'll give it my best shot.

We went inside the Stadium and wandered around the gift shops. Kevin needed to buy stuff, and buy stuff he did! Back to the hotel for a tall glass of brew, and our day was over. Another beautiful day gone.. but wonderfully.  

Kevin returned back to the US this week. I will miss his big beary presence as he rolls off this project. But.. I think I will be seeing him again, and we'll laugh about these days in China.