The drive out of Beijing gives you a real sense of just how huge the city it. It has a population of about 50 million and the sprawl seems to continue endlessly.
Our first stop was at a Jade museum. We were shown a couple of workers who were carving the jade and were then shown some of lumps of different types of jade. It was a somewhat shallow introduction to the stone, but by comparison the souvenir shop was comprehensive! We were given about an hour to peruse the shop which sold just about anything you could ever desire, in green jade. A couple of people in our group parted with some pretty serious cash to buy some jade before we departed for the Ming Tombs.
The Ming tombs, as the name would suggest, is the location where the emperors from the Ming Dynasty are buried. Feng Shui is very important in life and death, and the location of the tombs is perfect by Chinese standards, so the emperors can rest happily.
After visiting the jade museum/souvenir shop and Ming Tombs there was just enough time to visit a mosaic vase factory before lunch. The vase factory had the same set up as the jade one (funny that). We had a brief walk through a production line before we entered a huge shop where people tried (unsuccessfully) to sell us vases and everything you could ever want, made of mosaic. We then had a quick lunch and at last it was time for the Great wall!
And it was great! We were left to our own devices for an hour and a half and we climbed the wall as far as we could. The section of wall we visited had been renovated for tourists and so was in impeccable shape, but still you have to watch your footing because the steps are uneven in depth and width. Every so often there is a beacon tower, which is where flares would be lit to warn of advancing danger (when the guide told us about these, Christian and I both heard “Bacon” tower and so were somewhat disappointed that they were made of stone), and these give you fantastic views.
I really wasn't expecting the views to be as good as they were, you could see for miles and could see bits of the wall in the distance. When we had got to the highest point we were bombarded by Chinese tourists asking to have their picture taken with us. This is also something we encountered in Beijing. The Chinese in Beijing are just not used to seeing Westerners and they either become very shy and stare at you from a distance, or they come straight over and ask for a picture with you. It gave us a taste of celebrity (which we kind of enjoyed!).
We could have spent a lot longer at the Wall and for anyone else visiting I would implore you not to go with a guided tour, but instead just get a taxi to drive you to the wall and pick you up hours later. Forus the day was not over yet! We still had a silk museum and tea factory to visit! Before getting to these we were given the tempting off of a free massage in the Olympic Village. As you can imagine, we were all torn by this offer, firstly it was a foot massage, secondly it was in the Beijing Olympic Village and thirdly it was free. It was the last part we didn't quite believe, and we all pondered over whether to accept the offer or not. I guess it was curiosity that made us accept, and we were all glad we did because we got such a giggle out of it.
The Olympics had a huge effect on Beijing and it was all to the benefit of future tourists to the city. The city was transformed for the event. All signs had English translations, the metro system and all the stops were also translated, measures were taken to combat the smog (not that we noticed) and the Olympic village was built. The Birds Nest is a great piece of modern architecture and the whole village is well organised and clean (can we ever compete?). We were welcomed to the village and taken to a room where we were all given arm chairs and told to roll up our trouser legs. We all then put our feet into individual basins, each with a tea bag in it. Whilst we relaxed in our foot tea, a Tibetan doctor came in and told us about the art of reflexology. His English wasn't great and we only just managed to keep a straight face as he earnestly told us about the need to push and pull your feet every night, in fact his wife pushes and pulls him every night. When the intro was over a bunch of young students dressed in Beijing Olympics outfits came in and started massaging our feet. While this was happening, the little Tibetan man read our palms and decided that there was something wrong with the sexual organ of our friend Dan. After this revelation a top reflexologist came in, he was suited and booted and had been hyped by the little Tibetan man. And here is where the scam began...
Our friend Dan had had a big night the night before and had been complaining of a hangover that day (until he started drinking beer again). The top reflexologist made a beeline for Dan and after touching his feet for no time at all, he announced that Dan had a problem with his liver and that it needed treatment. So poor Old Dan had a bad liver and something wrong with his penis! Luckily for Dan, the top reflexologist had some magic tea bags for his liver, and they could save his liver for the bargain price of 60 pounds. As Dan sat in disbelief, the top reflexologist moved on to his next victim. This Swiss man had something wrong with his kidney and it needed treatment. Luckily for him, there were feet tea bags available for him also. Phew – what a relief, their organs could be saved!
We left the Olympic village with pickled feet and no money spent, so it really was a free foot massage after all. Christian and I later worked out that the only two people who were targeted by the top reflexologist were the two who had parted with money at the jade museum. Now, you can call us cynics... but we think this is more than just coincidence. Our theory is that our guide tipped off the guy before he came into the room, on top of this he could probably smell the fumes from Dan!
After the Olympic village we visited a Silk Factory/souvenir shop and managed to decline the tea shop . It had been quite a day on the Great Wall of China tour, and because we were forced to spend more time being sold to than actually at the Wall, I am renaming it the Great Gall of China tour. They really do have a nerve!
That evening we went for dinner before finding a local bar with a live band. The band were singing English songs like the Beatles, Coldplay and Red Hot Chilli Peppers. However, we only knew this from the guitar melody and not the words – since the singer was basically singing sounds that fitted with the music, and would just sing “la la la la” when he ran out of sounds. It was very amusing and surprisingly good.
When they took a break we tried to have a chat with the singer, but the only English he knew was “Hey man!” Christian had videoed one of the songs and tried to articulate to the singer “can I put this video on Youtube?” The singer seemed very nervous by this suggestion as if youtube were a dangerous place to be – and perhaps it is for the Chinese. After this thwarted conversation, Dan took to the stage and played drums for the band and also sung some songs (with actual words) just to show them how the British really do it. It was a bizarre ending to a bizarre day, but we were beginning to get our heads around China and the Chinese. With only one day left in Beijing we decided to head to the Summer Palace.
Christian and Fiona
Location:Beijing, China
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