The Other Long March (Part 3: The Home Stretch)

So little time left, and so much left for Mum and Dad to do. That’s what was on our minds as we woke up the next morning from our Inner Mongolia/Ningxia trip, having survived the late flight back to Beijing with a ton of souvenirs in tow. On top of that, we were all feeling it from the long weekend of sightseeing, and a more relaxed pace was required if only for a few days to rest the bodies.

Luckily in Beijing there are plenty of things to see which just scream el Rancho Relaxo, and the first port of call (and an absolute necessity when you visit Beijing) was a trip to the Chaoyang acrobats. As we had already seen them on two occasions we thought it would be a good opportunity for Maddy to accompany her grandparents to this one, while I caught up on some serious darts time with friends.

During the first few days back Amy also suggested the possibility of checking out the ancient city of Pingyao while my parents were in town. Having been kept in its original condition and absent of most signs of civilised advancement (roads suitable for cars), this location had been recommended by a number of people as both an interesting, relaxing and convenient place to get to, albeit with a bit of pre-planning. And with Xmas coming up a weekend getaway certainly seemed a good option for a present for Mum and Dad.

The old streets of Pingyao. Many storefronts are in their original condition, just like this one.

So with everyone decided on the trip we booked 5 of the very few remaining seats on the fast train down to Taiyuan, which is only an hour and a bit drive away from Pingyao. Given our absent driver’s licences and the lack of any frame of reference to which way we were meant to go, we organised the hotel to pick us up from the Taiyuan train station and drive us to Pingyao. This is an ancient city that, for the most part (aside from the tourist stands) has been stuck in a time warp. While it didn’t have all the thrills of Xian or the grandeur of the Great Wall, the weekend Pingyao offers a great opportunity to relax and wander around the various historical sites within the walled city. And then there is the walk around the actual wall, which is 6km in length and offers great views down the old alleys where cars are still prohibited from entering.

One of the local Beijing expat rags had recommended a renovated courtyard home called Jing’s Residence as the place to stay in Pingyao, and upon arriving we had to agree. With all the courtyard rooms totally revamped into a modern style yet still showing some of the characteristics of the old Chinese architecture (wooden features) it even included more comfortable western beds.

The fully renovated Jing Residence at Pingyao. Great place to stay, but best to eat elsewhere until they improve their service.

On settling in (along with the wet weather) we headed on out to start exploring the town, and over the two days wandered through a multitude of museums and family compounds. No trip to a Chinese town is without a visit to the local temple so a Taoist temple was thrown in for good measure.

The pick of the spots for Amy and I had to be the 1st armed escort agency in North China (no, not THAT kind of escort, the kind Michelle Yeoh played in Wo Hu Cang Long/Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) which had a dedicated martial arts training area out the back complete with a large array of weapons, wooden dummy and a punching bag. It was actually better than the martial arts facilities in the Martial Arts museum up the road.

Tomfoolery at the Martial Arts Museum in Pingyao.

Dad and I took the opportunity to practice our sword work. Good times.

Dad in a trance of some crazy sword dance.



Maddy doing the Grasshopper.

Being an early centre of finance we also got to check out the first financial institutions in China and the houses of the rich in earlier times. We all agreed it was a very relaxing place to spend the weekend, and although the food service at the hotel needs some improvement it was a great destination for anyone wanting a Chinese experience far removed from the hustle and bustle of the major cities. In between the ordinary weather we also managed a walk around one quarter of the wall section.

Section of wall surrounding the Pingyao Ancient City.




Taking a rest for a moment, while Dad films the City Tower.




Looking down onto the Pingyao main street from the City Tower.

With a bit of time to spare in the afternoon before the train trip back we got our driver to take us back to Taiyuan via the domestically well-known Qiao Family compound (filming location for the famous Chinese movie “Raise the Red Lantern”), a very large family home of a former well off merchant. It was a fast and furious run through, interrupted only by another unpleasant public toilet (mis)adventure when some 300yo Chinese guy with a walking stick tried to accost me for 5 yuan. We had ducked into what looked like (and was) a public concrete shit pit for a leak, and missed the scratchy sign on the wall written in Chinese stating it was a 5 for #1 deal. With a need not to get involved with local law enforcement by knocking down a local we flew the coup thanks to a classic Michael Jordan head fake and headed back to the train station.

The garden courtyard of the Qiao family compound.

With their legs all relaxed it was time for Mum and Dad to grab the Beijing Taxi Book (a must for the non Mandarin-speaking tourist) and cover some of the other spots that were on the must-do list. Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Military Museum were all slotted in, as well as some separate time as Mum headed out to the markets with some of our friends while Dad went on what would have been the longest bike ride of his life doing his own tour-by-bike out to the eastern outskirts of the city (and checking out a few of Beijing’s neat civil structures – CCTV building), and the Michael Jordan statue that resides (oddly) at the northern end of Chaoyang Park.

With my limited weekday time available and my desire to see the Terracotta warriors we made plans to do a trip from Beijing down to Xian and back in a day. It was a long one, with us heading off at 6am in the morning and meeting our guide at the Xian airport. After a side trip to the White Goose Pagoda in the city (which offered GREAT views of Xian from the 7th floor) and an unexpected trip to a statue showroom we finally made it to the Terracotta Warrior world heritage site after a(nother) VERY ordinary tour lunch.

Mum and Dad at the White Goose Pagoda, Xian.

Mum and Dad trying out some of the formal attire at the terracotta warrior and furniture factory, Xian.

The feeling of seeing all the warriors was one of amazement, and our experience was enhanced by the knowledge of our guide who obviously had a good understanding of their history. In addition to the Terracotta Warriors there were also a number of other sites in the area such as the Horses of Qin Shi Huang, inlayed with gold and all made to scale from the original models. Amy had given me only one instruction for the day, and that was to get a book of the warriors and have it signed by the peasant farmer who actually uncovered the warriors. And the fellow wasn’t hard to find, sitting right next to the book store where you can pay extra to have him scratch his name on your book (but not take any photos according to the sign, but I must have impressed him as he was happy to pose for me). On the way back to the airport we spotted a great 5 star resort/spa which I have plans to check out the next time I am there.

Mum and Dad - Excavation pit of the Terracotta Warriors, Xian.

The man responsible for all the Terracotta hoo-haa. This fellow (along with some other farmers) came across the first pit of warriors when digging a well.

Two more organised events lay between our return from Xian and Mum and Dad’s scheduled departure – a rickshaw tour of the hutongs and a planned trip with people from our work to Chengde, located north-east of Beijing and location of one of the dynasty’s summer palaces.
The Rickshaw Hutong tour had been recommended by a colleague of ours, but in the end we found this to be poorly timed for Mum and dad’s visit because by the time we did it they had already seen Hou Hai and the Drum and Bell towers, and these places comprised 3 of the 4 key spots on the tour. The 4th one, Prince Gong’s Palace, was a place we were yet to visit and while it ended up being a place we all enjoyed it was also the busiest place tourist wise we had ever visited. It made our trip to the Summer Palace during Dena’s trip look like the Serengetti. Another little gem on the tour was a visit to a local courtyard home, which although looked very basic and lacked any significant insulation against Beijing winters, has an estimated market value of AU$800,000.

Jumping into our pedicabs for the Hutong tour.

Mum and Dad at Prince Gong's Palace (sitting at one of the few uncrowded spots).

I made a culinary decision that Mum and Dad’s last Saturday in Beijing should be one comprising of my favourite local foods, so for lunch Dad and I dropped into my local market around the corner and purchased a few boxes of roubian for lunch on the way back from booking ourselves in to the Peking Duck restaurant for dinner. Most westerners are aware of or have at least heard of Peking Duck – the fat juicy game bird served with spicy dark soyabean paste and complimented with slivered cucumber and shallots. Roubian, on the other hand, remains a largely hidden treat until you’ve experienced it – the lightly spiced beef or lamb mince cooked between two layers of the think, salty, oily Chinese bread. It’s the pide of the east, and best served with a mix of chilli paste and dumpling vinegar. Mmmmmmmm.

A few hearty meals were certainly required for our plans on Sunday, which was the trip to Chengde. The exact plans had not been agreed upon, but the rough ones involved a first stop at the old Mountain Resort in the city followed by a visit to some of the temples around the town. The Mountain Resort is a very large estate surrounded entirely by a big wall, which was set up for one of the dynasties as a hunting ground for the royal family. The residential sections at the bottom of the hill were the run-of-the-mill Chinese houses and halls, but a last minute decision to take the trolley car tour up and around the mountain areas gave us some awesome views of the town and also highlighted what a great destination it would be if someone was to ever get permission to run mountain bike tours there.

Maddy feeding one of the deers that roam wild in the Mountain Resort in Chengde.

The Beijing-based Guihot family on the wall surrounding the Chengde Mountain Resort (with the Putao Temple in the background).

The mini-Great Wall that surrounds the Mountain Resort in Chengde.

After polishing off our packed lunch in the cold we headed off to the Putao Temple around the corner, which is a replica of the Lhasa Temple in Tibet. It was a great pick by the group, as the wind started to pick up when we reached the top of some very long stair climbing causing the long flags to really show their colours. It was without a doubt my favourite temple experience here in China thus far, and makes me even keener to get to Tibet while I am here (fingers crossed :-). After a quick trip to the smaller Puning Temple we were on our way back to Beijing and to a solid night’s sleep (and the task of having to sort through even MORE photos).

One of the many long stair climbs at the Putao Temple.

With the flags and the large red walls it looked like a picture of Lhasa.

The Putao Temple as seen from the Mountain Resort 'Great Wall', Chengde.

With Mum and Dad scheduled to fly out on the Tuesday morning I was able to get Monday off work and take them on a flyby tour of a few other good spots to check out. Given the traffic congestion around the time we were heading out we decided on the subway, which in Beijing is one of the best ways to get around. We started with a quick tour of Wangfujian and the always popular (and stomach turning) “eat street”, where Mum and I both had to pull Dad away from the BBQ’d scorpions and seahorses on a stick (not). After a bite to eat we headed off to the Olympic Precinct and did a quick walk around the Birds Nest Stadium before heading home for some rest. That night Amy and I finished our first wushu set, heralding a start to the staff set the week after.

Mum and Dad at the Olympic Park. No need to explain this landmark.

As is the way with holidays there were things in Beijing that Mum and Dad did not get to see, which we would have loved to show them. The Temple of Heaven (which I am told is the best temple in town – still to get there myself), The Place (with its 100m long plus video screen), the Panjiayuan Dirt Markets, The Lama Temple, Guyuju Caves, Ming Tombs, and even some of the more domestically-centric parts of our everyday lives like the Angle Market and Grandma’s Kitchen (one of the best western breakfasts). And then there is the Oriental Taipan Massage and free food experience which is something to behold. Oh well, at least we have a good start for the travel plan for their next visit.

It was absolutely marvellous to have my family over here staying with us for 5 weeks, and I am equally looking forward to welcoming Amy’s parents next year and again showing visitors around our ‘home’. From Mum and Dad’s perspective, I know that they definitely left China with a VERY different impression than they came with. They came here with the typical parental concerns for our safety in what they thought would be a place showing all the traits of a developing country capital (as we did), but left feeling safer walking through the dark back alley of a Beijing hutong at 11pm than you would walking down George Street in Sydney on any given day.

The greatest thing that I took away from the visit (other than seeing Mum and Dad) was the fact that both of them had different 'favourite things' about the trip, and neither of them picked the Great Wall. It meant that we had really taken them to places that they probably didn't expect to go or enjoy so much. And for the record, Mum's favourite was the Ningxia trip, and Dad's the Terracotta Warriors.

Next post - what we have been up to in the post-visit period, snow fun and karaoke shenanigans.

Tickets from all the places we visited during Mum and Dad's visit (and there are still some missing).

The Other Long March (Part 2: The Desert Campaign)

If you are planning on coming to Beijing for only a few days or a week then in reality you’ll likely be wanting to focus on the BIG TWO of the Chinese Tourism Machine – namely the Great Wall and the Terracotta Warriors in Xian (which, as we have found, you can do from Beijing in one very long day trip). With Mum and Dad in town for over 5 weeks though we felt there was the opportunity to throw in a few less obvious Chinese gems that the first time sino-explorers wouldn’t usually get to. We would end up covering the buried pottery padres anyway, so why not seek out something very different that would really show them the extremes in terrain and scenery that we have found makes China such an interesting place to see? And boy, did we end up picking a winner.

Desert, Dune Buggies and Dunny Tragedies
All organised and booked in before we left Australia, the epicentre of Mum and Dad’s China visit was a planned trip with the Chinese Culture Centre to Inner Mongolia and Ningxia over the National Day long weekend. While we were initially on the waiting list due to its popularity, we got a guernsey thanks to an overwhelming response and the need for a double tour party. Ningxia, one of the newest regions of China and home to the Hui muslins, would provide a significant contrast to Beijing and its overpopulation. Being located on the edge of the Tengger Desert of Inner Mongolia the province was sparse, and the vegetation even sparser. And while the sightseeing looked good, it was also packed with some real adventure which was sure to test the fine print in Mum and Dad’s travel insurance policy (you mean that WASN’T covered?).
I had yet to explore the desert areas of the country, and with the lunar calendar scheduling a full moon for the weekend it was fingers crossed for clear desert skies to make the most of the amazing landscape.

After a very early trip out to the Beijing airport we met up with the tour group and took a 2hr flight west to Yinchuan, the capital of the Ningxia Autonomous Region. Flying during the day, we were able to see the desert out the plane window, but as we descended into Yinchuan airport the view of the Yellow River bordered by a thin green fertile belt and then into sand dunes really gave it an Egyptian Nile feel. After getting ourselves onto the tour bus we quickly made acquaintances with the other tour group participants, and as is the norm with these things quickly picked out those in the group who would best match our personalities (and be easy to get on with), and those we would be wanting to leave locked in a Chinese public toilet at the first stop. The latter this time ended up being a real narcissist, and had trouble understanding why not everyone wanted to hear about her medical problems in acute detail.

On our trip out to the Mutianyu great wall earlier in the week Mum had expressed a desire to see some of the unrestored ‘original’ great wall, and our first port of call this trip gave her just that. Located just outside of Yinchuan lies an area called Shou Dong Guo and a section of the original Ming dynasty great wall, unrestored for your authentic viewing and meandering pleasure. And while the sections of wall around Beijing look grandiose in their brick construction splendour, you won’t find any such fancy building materials here. This section of the wall was made of rammed earth, yet even with the passing of time and subsequent erosion you can still make out the guard towers along the way and access the tunnels that acted as gates through the defences. And if the great scenery around the wall wasn’t enough of a bonus for the tourist, the area also hosted an extensive cave system used to house the Ming wall guards, a nice little lake (with some actual bird wildlife not in cages) and a Chinese-style sideshow shooting gallery right out of Mad Max II. The area also housed the living quarters of the foreign archaeologists who did alot of the early discovery work on the prehistoric people of the area (there is lots of evidence of this on display in their old living quarters), and although they were European in descent you would have thought they were from the American Wild West, with their little settlement looking like a landscape from El Paso.

Surely this can't be China. Where is John Wayne?

Rammed earth section of the Ming Dynasty Great Wall.

Mum and Dad on the Ming Great Wall - awesome views.

OK, NOW lets start the haggling.

After taking about 5000 photos we boarded the bus and headed back to Yinchuan for what would be the first of a number of ordinary meals for lunch (interdispersed with two good ones, including a great dinner at a local Yinchuan muslim restaurant). Loaded up with chilli and mutton we were then off on the bus again for the trip to the ‘Tengger Terminal’ and then into the desert. The “Tengger Terminal” is essentially a carpark at the end of a bitumen road which marked, well, pretty much the end of the road. From here on in any travel was by 4WD or by camel only - the shifting dues were your road and the quickly disapearing tyre tracks of previous jeep trips to the lake your road signs. With night time fast approaching for us it was no time for Laurence of Arabia, and we prepared to throw all of our things into the back of jeeps organised as part of the tour. Before we got into a potentially s&*t scary situation on the edge of a large dune it was a good idea to rid ourselves of the excess s&^t, so as we looked around the carpark for a toilet we spotted in the distant a couple of hardy looking sheds that seemed to be welcoming our kind of business.

What resulted though was the worst public toilet experience I’ve ever had. The shed didn’t offer a toilet so much as just a hole cut in the wooden floor, and no hole dug underneath to send the packages out of sight of the naked eye. Yep, nothing like being able to check out the days takings while you make your own deposit.

If that business wasn’t enough to highlight China’s often wide deviation from the norm, the trip out to our resort - a 40min jeep drive into the desert over the dunes was to seal the deal. With the tour group allocated a particular set of jeeps in which to jump into, we eyed off a not so new looking one and decided that would be our chariot to adventure. Well, this chariot seemed to have some maintenance issues, which started as soon as the driver flipped the back open to load our bags in. With a strong smell of petrol fumes coming from the back of the truck, it was soon obvious that fuel had actually leaked from a can onto the floor of the luggage compartment. In the usual “she’ll be right, mate” attitude prevalent among the Chinese business fraternity he grabbed a blanket and laid it down, before piling our luggage on top. In we hopped, with Maddy jammed in between Amy and I along with Mum in the back seat sans seatbelt (only 3 for 4 passengers) and Dad in the front. With the car started and ready to roll, the only concerns we thought we had were the chance of a rolling jeep down the dunes, and the not-so-secure top suitcase in the rear which looked like it could hop into the drivers lap on any sudden rise in the bonnet level. But OH-NO, this driver was trained in really testing the nerves of his passengers. Just when we thought all dangers would be met after departure, he pushes the jeep’s cigarette lighter into the dash and a minute later decides to light up a durry. He obviously didn’t like the overpowering smell of the PETROL FUMES, so wanted to get rid of the PETROL FUME smell so decided to replace PETROL FUME smell with cigarette smoke. Now what was that email address for Darwin Award nominations?

This could so nearly have been the last photo of the Guihot family alive. Waiting to board the jeep out into the dunes.

We did make it though, and after settling into our rather basic but comfortable rooms at the 'resort' (with the standard uncomfortable chinese bed) we took the opportunity for some great scenery shots (full moon over the desert dunes) before heading to dinner. Being a predominantly muslim area mutton was big here, but even with mutton there are still good and bad bits. The dishes we got served as part of the deal had us wondering what they did with all the GOOD cuts of the geriatric lamb bag because we seemed to get every knuckle, meatless bone and spinal vertebrae from the animal.

Amy and I on the balcony of our Desert 'resort' room (taken by Maddy, hence the great artistic use of side props).

Full moon over the Tengger desert. Memorable moment, methinks.

Whatever it was in the dishes it didn’t seem to do my blood pressure any favours, as I woke up the next morning to have breakfast interrupted by a persistent bloody nose. Luckily it settled just as we were boarding the camels for the cool morning ride to the Sun Lake, about 1 hr trek away.

This ride over the dunes in the cool hours of the morning was absolutely amazing, as we got to look back at the lake next to our resort and the contrasting nothingness beyond. The terrain of the camel train route mostly involved traversing across the dunes, but every now and then required us to sit right back and hang on (or push down into the stirrups) to save us going over the front of our own camel and into the arse of the one in front.

The camel train goes on, with Maddy up front in the pink.

The front group heading down to the Sun Lake.

While the camel ride was great, the destination ended up being a bit of a fizzer - though the dunes and the lake looked amazing, there seemed to be no real plan for what to do with our group as we waited like shags on a rock for the jeeps to come and pick us up. Mum and Dad had a rawer end of the stick though as they took the jeeps out to the lake and then had to trek over sand dunes for about half an hour to the pick up point for the camels. A bit more organisation from the tour company for this leg of the trip would have been nice. Mum and Dad headed off on the camels to the Moon Lake and our jeeps eventually showed up and took us back to the resort - yep the wrong destination.

Dad and Mum getting set for their camel ride back to the resort.

Family shot at the Sun Lake (in the Nevada desert this could easily be a newspaper headline).

We had to jump on a boat to rendevous with Mum and Dad at the Moon Lake to enjoy some of the other activities on offer including dune boarding, dune buggy riding, desert golf and swimming for those keen on some calcium carbonate therapy (which the lakes were very saturated with). Unfortunately the other 200 resort guests had the same idea, so we used some of our aquired knowledge of 'lining up chinese style' to push in and get across in time to at least have a go of the dune buggies before having to head on back (the dune boarding and desert golf seemed to have been closed down for the season).

A chance conversation on the boat ride back across the lake showed what a small world it is among the expats in China (no six degrees of separation here - try 2 or 3). On talking with one of the tour party families from Shanghai I discovered that the husband worked at Volvo, and that he knew an old aquantence of mine who also works there (boyfriend of an ex Flying Cocktails, now in London). Getting a hello from him in Shanghai through the mobile of a total stranger in the middle of the Inner Mongolian desert was certainly not something I expected.

Putting all the above frustrations aside, we still had a pretty amazing experience. However there was still one more opportunity for the hotel to stick another thorn in my side - as we went to check out, the hotel staff tried to charge me for a washer I had used to clean up the bloody nose from earlier that morning. Sure - I pay 8 kuai to 'replace' something they can go and wash and re-use. Piss off!

Rock Stars
The next stop on the tour (after jeeping our way back to a western road system) was the Xixia mausoleum of previous local emperors. Like huge beehives the size of pyramids (they are known as the "Oriental Pyramids"), they were interesting to checkout but by this stage we really needed something impressive to match the great experience of the desert. The second last stop of the weekend did that, as we went to a local museum and mountain pass in the Helan Shan range dotted with various rock paintings and carvings. The whole group really seemed to enjoy this, with the museum gift shop and the usual souvenir shop doing great business (including our own pick of a charcoal rubbing of a sun god carving - not overly Chinese but something that will always remind us of our visit there). The charcoal rubbings of the carvings were proving to be popular with the group, as was the local stone of the area which had been used to make some great and unique pieces (owing to the nature of the rock which was black with green running through it).

One of the burial mounds at the Xixia Mausoleum.

Maddy seeking inner peace through sublime thought (or Chocolate thought)

Sun God carving (charcoal rubbing of which now takes pride of place in our apartment hallway).

So it was home time, and with most people on the bus verging on homicidal rampages becase of the group's resident P.I.T.A (Pain in the... ) everyone (my folks especially) was looking forward to enjoying their own bed and being served meat that wasn't older than they were or packed with Ningxia's own version of the Guatemalan insanity chillies. Aside from the poor food (which you seem to expect on these trips) and the crazy bus driver it was though a great weekend, and one that I would recommend to anyone visiting China (just be sure to throw some two-minute noodles in your bag).

Next post - weekend at old Pingyao, Chengde, Pottery Warriors and the China Experience wrap-up.

The Other Long March (Part 1: The Warm-up)

WOW! I know I’ve said we’ve been busy before, but the last 6 weeks really have been something else. With Mum and Dad in town for 5 of those weeks and plenty of travel done for both work and play there are plenty of stories to tell. So much so, that we’ve again had to resort to sharing the tales over three posts. Well, onwards and upwards!

Welcome to the Jungle
Even with the 6 months to plan out Mum and Dad’s visit to China, Amy’s work schedule and my as yet unknown new job commitments meant we had to leave the finer planning to just before they flew back with me to Beijing in mid Sept. So while I was galavanting across Canberra in early September Amy was hard at work looking into a few out-of-town trips for us to do while they were on their China sojourn. And didn't she find some winners? But more on that in the next blog. Before we headed off to explore the surrounding provinces we had 2 weeks to fill in, and in China that is plenty of time to see a lot of the treasures around the Capital albeit with a heavy schedule. It was time to get on our feet and start what would be our own 5 week long march, with a few opportunities for chat and cha (tea) in between.

The fact that we landed in Beijing at 6.30 in the morning did not stop us from getting edgy and wanting to get out of the house for a look around as soon as possible. Sleep deprivation was kicking in, but the need to stretch the legs after 13hrs in a plane (albeit with a brief stopover in KL) was greater. Having learnt of the dodgy Terminal 2 taxi drivers during Dena’s visit I had gone to the effort of organising a personal driver to pick us up and get us back to the apartment. Thanks to this we were able to make it home just as Maddy was walking out the door to catch the bus to school, which was a great surprise for her, my parents and Amy.

After a short breath for a coffee we headed on down to our local shopping spot, The Village, to show Mum and Dad the crème de la crème of the Sanlitun tourist spots and the not so crème (crème-less? sour crème?) Yashow Markets. And as with Dena, I gave the folks a quick introduction into the fine art of haggling like your life depended on it. While they didn’t have aspirations of purchasing when we entered the bloodlust soon got to them and a few hours later we walked out of there carrying bags and headed back to the apartment for an early night.

Unfortunately I was back in the office the next day, but that did little to stifle Mum and Dad’s exploration capacity and wanderlust, thanks to an offer from a friend to take them along to a talk put on by the British Club (at the exclusive Capital Club at the Capital Mansion around the corner, no less). By the time I ducked back for lunch Mum was asking me about dates and MY plans with them, having booked themselves to go back out with the British Club to Longqing Gorge a few weeks later. We had visited there soon after our arrival in China to see the ice festival, but had still yet to see it in the warmer weather – that was one thing the folks were already going to have one us. And good luck to them.

With Amy having flown out to Xingjiang on the Wednesday morning for work Maddy and I made the most of the still warm evenings to take Mum and Dad around for a night tour of the nearby area. Mum and Dad were amazed at how vibrant and active the city was, but also how safe it felt especially compared to places like Sydney on any given late night out.


Ships of Fools
While I usually have Fridays off this particular week had me at a planning day for work, so on the Saturday I took Mum and Dad out on their first real sightseeing tour. While Nanlouguxiang and Hou Hai were the only real destinations on the list, we ended up taking in the Drum and the Bell towers along the way and managed to reach the top of the Drum Tower stairs (all 64 of them) just as the local drummers came on for one of their scheduled performances. Having been a big fan of this part of the Olympic Opening ceremony I, and the rest of us, really enjoyed this. Unfortunately the views weren’t all that crash hot with Mum and Dad getting an early dose of the Beijing Benzene Blanket thanks to a heavy top cloud cover keeping the smog trapped low. After a great lunch at the Hutong Pizza and a boat ride that combined sea shanties with a dose of Dodgem Cars (15 boats approaching from opposite directions, trying to fit under a bridge the width of one boat) we headed back having put in a big day.

Mum, Dad and Maddy at HouHai

On the Sunday of our first week back it was my turn to board the jetplane, flying out to Bangkok for work only a few hours before Amy flew back in. Any thoughts that she would need to guide them around though was soon put to rest, with Mum and Dad feeling confident enough to grab the Taxi Book and head off to try out the Beijing Military Museum. Unfortunately it was closed on Monday (as are many China tourist spots - oops, I forgot to tell them) but lucky for them the Beijing World Art Museum around the corner was still taking calls so they enjoyed that for the afternoon before finding their way back safe and sound.

The Extended Birthday
With my work trip shortened thanks to training later scheduled for Beijing I was able to make it back home for my birthday on the Friday, and while Amy was unable to take the day off Maddy, Mum, Dad and I headed out to the 798 Art District for a look at the galleries after a morning tea put on by some friends of mine. Having been out to 798 twice before I was very happy to see a whole new set of exhibits from the last two times I had been. The great thing about the 798 art district is that it DOES change very regularly, making it a great place that you can take visitors without getting bored of the same sights (unlike many of the others, which will soon start to draw a sigh of disinterest). It was a flying trip though, as Amy had booked us tickets to the Kung Fu show that evening for my birthday and we knew we would be running the gauntlet of Friday night traffic on the 2nd Ring Road. After offering the taxi driver a bonus to put the pedal to the metal and being given the rejection head shake I thought the 7pm ETA was looking dicey but thanks to some good luck he managed to get us there dead on time (and as he had knocked back the bonus, I spent it on drinks and icecreams instead – oh well, better luck next time sport).

Mum, Dad and Maddy with a few of the 798 locals.

With a busy end of the work week out of the way we were just warming up for the weekend. The next day we had booked ourselves on the weekly Chinese Culture Club (CCC) trip out to the Summer Palace by boat, via the royal canal and ZiZhuYuan (Purple Bamboo) Park. The Saturday morning weather looked like it was going to put a dampener on things, as the cloud started to come over and the rain starting to fall just as we were leaving the apartment at 8.30am to get to the CCC bus up the road. In the end though it was a blessing, with the cooler damp weather keeping the tourist crowds down at the palace and making the conditions a lot more bearable than the last time we were there with Dena. The fact that the boat was covered in the tour cost and I didn’t have to repeat my barney with the boat operator about his one-way ticket prices was also a good thing.

The Five Pagoda Temple, on our way to Zizhuyuan Park.

For me Zizhuyuan Park has to be my favourite park in Beijing (out of the limited ones I’ve visited) because it has the most action with the locals dancing, singing, tai chi’ing, clapping and diablo’ing themselves through the afternoon without any care of what onlookers think of them (and ALL the power to them – a whole culture who eat, drink and live my motto of “Shame is for those who care”). For me it was the first time I had checked out the northern section of the park, and this is where the serious singing action was REALLY found. A huge singing choir complete with a very charismatic and enthusiastic group-appointed conductor cranked out patriotic songs in preparation for the Oct 1 National Day. Although most westerners are in no way familiar with the propaganda stanza, this group had us cheering and clapping for more at the end.

The VERY enthusiastic conductor of the local park singing group. This guy was a real showman.



How's the serenity?

Mum and Dad at Zizhuyuan Park.

45min and a pleasant boat ride later we were at the southern gate of the Summer Palace, having had the opportunity to tuck into our picnic lunch on the voyage and doing so comfortably after a bit of on deck furniture rearranging (and laughing at two others in the group who had not listened when told on the previous boat “TAKE YOUR LUNCH WITH YOU – WE WILL NOT BE GETTING BACK ON THIS BOAT”). Funny Americans.

Mum in front of the Empress Cixi's infamous Jade Boat. About as useful as the escalator to no-where.

In hindsight the rest of the afternoon called for a big lunch, as there was not only a lot of walking around the flatter lakeside areas of the palace but also the option to climb up and over to the north side of Longevity Hill (BIG hill at the nortern end of the Summer Palace park). While we had bailed on the climb option on Dena’s visit (due in equal parts to the hot weather and the massive crowds), Mum was keen to do it even with sore legs from the 798 jaunt the day before. Dad seemed not-so-convinced, but with Mum continuing on with the ‘Do or die trying’ approach it was kinda given that he was coming along for the stairmaster workout.

Great view from atop Longevity Hill at the Summer Palace.

One of the many great flower displays at the Summer Palace.

What a view though in the end. While the sky was still as grey and ordinary looking as our Bell/Drum Tower visit, the shots of the surrounding buildings from the top and the architecture on the backside of the temple was worth it. Probably the biggest surprise was the discovery of “Suzhou Street” at the very base of the northern end of the palace. Named and designed as a replica of the “Venice of China” just outside of Shanghai, this local version of Suzhou was used by the concubines to dress up and pretend they were ordinary commoners – a place to play dress ups and imaginary games. They supposedly even got the eunuchs to dress up as thieves and rob them so they could really feel “down with the common people”.

Suzhou Street, at the northen end of the Summer Palace.

The northern end of the Summer Palace was alot more interesting architectually than the south side (well, my view anyway).

Summer Palace temple

Maddy with her Empress headgear.

Having earned the long rest back on the bus to the CCC office, we knew we also earned the 9 course dinner we had been invited too that night . Hosted by a local cooking house called the Black Sesame Kitchen, it ended up being a night to remember (or NOT remember, as it happened) of great food partnered with ample Aussie red and white wine. Stories were told, voices were raised and in some cases chairs between people’s arses and the floor became optional as we finally dragged ourselves home to open up another bottle of vino with a few of the neighbours. And come morning the booking we had for Bubbalicious was promptly cancelled as we continued to digest the amount of food and wine from the night before.

The following week was to be a very big test of Mum and Dad’s stamina, as Tuesday saw them head off to Longqing Gorge on their trip with the British Club. Not being able to join them was a bit of a downer, but hearing the great reports on their return of mountain climbs conquered, boat rides and great views it was certainly something they enjoyed. And not surprising to us, the cheesy Hundred Flowers cave that had etched its way into our collection of cheesy memories gave mum her own special memory but from a whole other perspective.

The Thursday of this particular week marked the National day, and to try and time popular tourist spot with popular televised national day celebrations seemed a good idea. While the majority of Beijingers were at home watching the parade at Tiananmen on their TV sets in lieu of making up tour group numbers, we would take the opportunity to visit Mutianyu Great Wall without so many people.

Blue Sky Mine, and Yours
Again though the best laid plans of mice and men were to be thwarted by the powers that be. We weren’t two kilometres from the apartment when Aussie driver/tour guide found the main route out to the Wall blocked by a single local PLA officer. Ends up they were using THIS road to bring all the tanks and vehicles into the city, so going down it would have brought us face to face with the newest in Chinese Military truck-launchable missiles. The necessary detours took as an extra 1.5hrs to make it out there, but in what was actually a case of fortunate luck this gave time for the sky to clear so by the time we got up on the wall it was blue skies as far as you could see. Mum and Dad’s first clear day in China, and they are on the Wall when it happens (I won’t tell them that I organised that free of charge as part of the tour package). The Chinese Bureau of Weather Manipulation had the difficult (and heavily scrutinised) task of seeding the sky of surrounding provinces and sending air force jets out to break up clouds and fog in the days leading up to the National Day in order to guarantee no rain and a blue sky day. This Bureau got it spot on as 10mins before the scheduled start of the parade the fog cleared and a marvellous blue sky was revealed.

On the way out to the wall someone had mentioned the visit some years before of Bill Clinton to the wall, and the fact that the cable car he used is now labelled with a plaque. Well, sure enough as Mum, Dad and my cable car came around in we jumped only to see the plaque above our heads (and Amy and Tim waving like lunatics from the car in front trying to bring it to our attention).

Dad in the Clinton Cable Car, on our way up to the Mutianyu Wall.

From the top of the cable car we walked the stretch down to the chairlift/toboggan, making the most of the clear views and also enjoying the displays of pride by the locals in their country on their national day. The red flag was flying, and everyone was out to enjoy the day off in their own special way whether it be sightseeing with the family, keeping the tourist site operating, or trying to rip people off selling the same trinket shite at the stalls at the base of the wall. We all enjoyed the wall, and with Mum wanting to keep going to experience a section of unrestored wall it took all our combined power of persuasion to hold her back. Good in fact, as her legs needed their reserves for the adventures to come.

Mum and Dad on the Great Wall.

The Guihots on the Great Wall, along with one of the very proud locals (Chines flag and all).

Nice weather and a clear blue sky - what a day to visit the wall.

Our descent from the wall was fast and a lot of fun, with ALL of us using the toboggan and Mum actually getting up some serious speed on her run down and also getting the same message we all got from the luge marshals “SLOW DOWN”. Yeah, OK, after this run.

Having built up a big appetite we were keen to try out one of the trout restaurants at the base of the wall, and it did not disappoint. We had one chilli one and a mild one, and the food was delicious. With bellies full we continued on to a previously unvisited area called Five Pagodas – with the running water and misty mountains it was a place that seemed perfect for Tai Chi and painting. Beijing’s own little Shangrila just outside the city.

The hills and structures at the Pagoda Park, north of Beijing.

One of the nicest spots around Beijing.

With that we headed back and introduced Dad to the German restaurant meat platter as per an earlier blog. With bellies full of BBQ meat and no vegetables we wandered back slowly to get ready for packing our bags for the next leg of Mum and Dad’s China trip – the desert of Inner Mongolia.

To be continued...