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...