Mr. & Mrs. Vandebilt + kids

We ended up taking it pretty easy yesterday and just hung around the area close to our hotel. We’re staying at the Candy Inn/1Hai Inn in the Yonghegong district. So far it’s great: the rooms are clean, the beds are comfortable there’s a nice atmosphere, it’s not too loud and it looks pretty cool. Not to mention it only costs $5 a night per person.

We visited the Lama temple which was quite nice. It was quiet and there lots of people praying and burning incense. The temple was quite big and we spent the entire afternoon there. For dinner we wandered up to ghost street where we eventually settled on a restaurant. We sampled some dumplings, fried rice and Kung Pao chicken. All in all a pretty good experience. We hit the hay early as we were both exhausted and wanted to get an early start on today.

Early this morning we set out for Tian’anmen Square and the Forbidden City. One of the first things we noticed about traveling to, and arriving at the square, was the security. You have to scan your bags everywhere in Beijing, before you get on the Subway, before you enter the square, before you enter the lockers for luggage check. I’m pretty sure they have tighter security in this city than in some airports.

We waited in line for an excruciatingly long time to see Chairman Mao’s body inside the Chairmen Mao Memorial Hall. First we had to dump our bags at the lockers across the street (10RMB per bag if you have a camera) then join the line. It took about an hour to wind through almost the entire square before being rushed through the inside. I’m sure it would have been much creepier if we hadn’t been pushed through. His body is lit up inside a crystal coffin with his face kind of illuminated so it looks like it is glowing. Apparently they raise his body from 8am-12pm every day (except Monday) from a freezer so everyone can come gawk at him.

Truthfully, Tian’anmen Square left a bit to be desired. I was expecting something from it, like a feeling or a certain atmosphere that just wasn’t there. I thought it would be a cold and sombre place but instead it was just full of people. Maybe we visited at the wrong time or maybe my expectations were just too high, but I left feeling a bit disappointed.

We crossed the street from Tian’anmen to the Forbidden City (tickets 60RMB). It was actually quite impressive. The grounds are huge and we spent the better part of the day, maybe 3 hours here wandering around (and a quick nap inside the walls). Unfortunately it was a pretty dreary overcast day and so it was difficult to appreciate the full colour and beauty of the buildings without the sunshine but it was still stunning.

After finishing up in the Forbidden City we decided to head down to Dong’anmen Night Market for some dinner. We definitely weren’t disappointed by the selection at all the street stalls, everything from whole roasted baby pigeons to sheep penis to scorpions on a stick were available to try. We decided to be safe and settled on some dumplings, noodles and some pineapple rice.

One of the immediate differences I’ve noticed between China and Korea is that I don’t trust people here. In Korea it would be nothing to follow a stranger or get in the car with them when offered a drive somewhere. Maybe it was because I was living there and dropped my guard, or maybe it’s the guide books that continually warn against scams but it’s a good thing. Throughout the day we were approached by at least 3 people wanting to "practice their English with us". Two of them claimed to be artists wanting to show us their work and the last a teacher who was just in town with her friend. They’re good, and convincing and there’s a large part of me that wants to believe that they genuinely are just trying to show off their art or practice their English, but I’d rather not find out.

And on a completely unrelated but rather amusing note, there are two fashion trends in China that haven’t quite made it to North America yet. I really had thought I’d just about seen all of the fashion possibilities after spending a year in the East but China has come up with two winners: the bare belly and the bare bottom. Apparently, when men find it a little warm they roll up their shirts and somehow roll them in on themselves so that the shirt just stays perched right above their tummy. We saw it all day all over town. The second one we originally mistook as a child who just didn’t have enough money for proper pants, but turns out these are legit. We saw a few little boys running around over the last two days with crotchless pants. The best I can figure is it saves on diapers, either that or they just like a healthy breeze.