Our first morning on our G Adventures Tour starts off early - 06:20am to be exact. We meet in the lobby, all quite the opposite of bright-eyed and bushy tailed, pile into a bus, where most of the group immediately fall back asleep, as we are whisked away to what I can only imagine is one of China's most visited sites - the Great Wall.
Arriving at the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall, we realise that leaving early was a great idea. The area was quiet and serene, the shops lining the path leading up to the wall still shut.
We make our way to the North Entrance and then head up the 454-step North Passage up to Watch Tower #10. The interesting part about visiting the Mutianyu section of the wall is that due to the terrain of the area, the watch towers are located closer to each other, approximated every 300-400m instead of the usual 1-2km.
From #10, we head over to #14 where we meet the folks on our tour who opted to ride up in the cable cars. After some free time to explore the area on our own, we head over to #6. We had intended to walk back down the mountain to get some exercise in, but running late, we decided to make up for lost time and have some fun so caught toboggans down to meet with the rest of our tour group. Ahh history and rubbishy tourist thrills all in one convenient location.
We were very fortunate on our trip out to the Great Wall as there was minimal smog that day, which gave us a chance to really enjoy the immensity of the wall, which really does stretch as far as the eye can see... and then some.
After a break at Subway (as you do at the Great Wall of China), it's back on the bus bound for Beijing. Our guide offers to take anyone who is interested to the Temple of Heaven. Luckily for us, having already checked it off our list, we have a few hours to rest and relax before the evening's festivities - Peaking Duck followed by "Chun Yi: The Legend of Kung Fu".
Perhaps I am a Melbourne snob, perhaps we ended up at the wrong place, or perhaps my palette is not as refined as I like to think it is, but I personally didn't think that the Peaking Duck we had was much different to what we could get a Old Kingdom or Simon's in Box Hill. The pancakes were slightly thicker than we're used to, but the sauce, duck and general experience was pretty much on par with what we could get back home.
We get our fill of duck then head out for the much-anticipated Kung Fu show. For those of you considering attending it when in Beijing, our recommendation would be...don't. The show tries way too hard to incorporate a story-line, which unlike Cirque Du Soleil, takes away from the experience rather than adding to it.
The next morning, grants a sleep in - if a 9am start on a holiday is what one would consider a sleep in. Today we are visiting Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden Palace.
As our tour guide, Charlie, gives us a brief history of Tiananmen Square, our group expands by one or two random Chinese people. Apparently it's common for locals to attach themselves to English speaking tour groups as it gives them a chance to listen to the language, which they don't get much exposure to.
We don't take in much of what Charlie is saying as it's ridiculously cold and maintaining concentration on Charlie's stories poses too much of a challenge. Instead we take photos of the square and the huge portrait of Chairman Mao.
It's interesting to observe that approximately 50% of the guards outside the Forbidden City are in plain clothes. Could this be so that if any protests occur, the plain clothes officers can enforce discipline without fear of "police brutality" videos being uploaded onto YouTube?
We enter the Forbidden City and learn among other things, about the Emperor and his concubines. As one can probably imagine, it is a major privilege to be the concubine that gets selected to spend "quality time" with the Emperor.
Apparently it was a challenge for the Emperor to select from the 5,000 beautiful women that he'd had brought to live with him in the Forbidden City. As such, a system was developed whereby he would ride around the city in a small goat-drawn cart and wherever the goats stopped...so would he. This system was not immune from manipulation however, as the crafty concubines took to washing the floor outside their abodes with brine, which the goats enjoyed stopping to lick.
After walking at a fairly rapid pace through the Forbidden City, once again motivated by the cold, we head to a noodle place recommended by Charlie for our last meal in Beijing. We then head back to the hotel for a well earned rest before heading to the airport for our flight to Xi'an!
 |
| (Click to zoom) |
We make our way to the North Entrance and then head up the 454-step North Passage up to Watch Tower #10. The interesting part about visiting the Mutianyu section of the wall is that due to the terrain of the area, the watch towers are located closer to each other, approximated every 300-400m instead of the usual 1-2km.
From #10, we head over to #14 where we meet the folks on our tour who opted to ride up in the cable cars. After some free time to explore the area on our own, we head over to #6. We had intended to walk back down the mountain to get some exercise in, but running late, we decided to make up for lost time and have some fun so caught toboggans down to meet with the rest of our tour group. Ahh history and rubbishy tourist thrills all in one convenient location.
We were very fortunate on our trip out to the Great Wall as there was minimal smog that day, which gave us a chance to really enjoy the immensity of the wall, which really does stretch as far as the eye can see... and then some.
After a break at Subway (as you do at the Great Wall of China), it's back on the bus bound for Beijing. Our guide offers to take anyone who is interested to the Temple of Heaven. Luckily for us, having already checked it off our list, we have a few hours to rest and relax before the evening's festivities - Peaking Duck followed by "Chun Yi: The Legend of Kung Fu".
We get our fill of duck then head out for the much-anticipated Kung Fu show. For those of you considering attending it when in Beijing, our recommendation would be...don't. The show tries way too hard to incorporate a story-line, which unlike Cirque Du Soleil, takes away from the experience rather than adding to it.
The next morning, grants a sleep in - if a 9am start on a holiday is what one would consider a sleep in. Today we are visiting Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden Palace.
As our tour guide, Charlie, gives us a brief history of Tiananmen Square, our group expands by one or two random Chinese people. Apparently it's common for locals to attach themselves to English speaking tour groups as it gives them a chance to listen to the language, which they don't get much exposure to.
We don't take in much of what Charlie is saying as it's ridiculously cold and maintaining concentration on Charlie's stories poses too much of a challenge. Instead we take photos of the square and the huge portrait of Chairman Mao.
It's interesting to observe that approximately 50% of the guards outside the Forbidden City are in plain clothes. Could this be so that if any protests occur, the plain clothes officers can enforce discipline without fear of "police brutality" videos being uploaded onto YouTube?
We enter the Forbidden City and learn among other things, about the Emperor and his concubines. As one can probably imagine, it is a major privilege to be the concubine that gets selected to spend "quality time" with the Emperor.
Apparently it was a challenge for the Emperor to select from the 5,000 beautiful women that he'd had brought to live with him in the Forbidden City. As such, a system was developed whereby he would ride around the city in a small goat-drawn cart and wherever the goats stopped...so would he. This system was not immune from manipulation however, as the crafty concubines took to washing the floor outside their abodes with brine, which the goats enjoyed stopping to lick.
No comments:
Post a Comment