Author: Lindsay and Igor

Day 165: Zhangye – Day 2

Our taxi driver met us outside our hotel punctually at 8AM, and drove us to our first park of the day: the Binggou Scenic Area which is a less-visited section of the Zhangye Danxia Geopark. While we were among the first ones at the ticket counter, we did not have to wait long before tour buses loaded with Chinese tourists overflowed into the park. However, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that this park practically empties out around lunchtime. Our DIY itinerary for the day was, after all, based on a standard photography tour that Igor found online, and most groups seem to leave at 11AM sharp to have lunch at the next location. Since we brought our own snacks, we got to enjoy an alfresco lunch in peace!

 

Once we have our tickets to the Binggou Scenic Area of the Danxia Geopark, we enter and hop on the shuttle trolly into the park

 

After a 20min ride, we are dropped off inside the park where there are several trails to explore

 

The park was very Utah-ish, with beautiful sandstone formations

 

All of the formations had names, based on what the Chinese parks department thought they looked like. Not sure we see the “turtle and snake face each other across a river” in this one, but we’ll take their word for it

Walking trail in the Binggou Scenic Area

 

The trail had plenty of ups and downs, which helped thin the crowd of other tourists

The stunning landscape of the Binggou Scenic Area

 

A huge line of tourists for the shuttle – we’d walk to the next stop if we could, but the road is too narrow and the shuttle drivers take the corners at breakneck speed

 

Stunning scenery at the Binggou Scenic Area

 

Clouds roll in just before lunchtime and bring a brief, unexpected shower. Luckily, we had our dry bag, so once our cameras were safe, we just continued our walk. The timing turned out to be perfect, as most Chinese tour groups seem to leave the park for lunch, the rain cleared them out a bit early and we had the place practically to ourselves after 11:30AM!

Empty pathway after a passing rain shower

 

We take advantage of the solitude to have an early lunch before heading back to meet our taxi

 

Chinese Big Brother – Wifi in the park for the many security cameras (we tried to log on to the Wifi as well, to see if we could post pics from the park, but the network didn’t show up), and cheeky signs in the toilet

Right next to the Binggou Scenic Area is another oft-overlooked attraction: The Kangle Grasslands. (Lindsay’s Lonely Planet didn’t even list it) After driving through winding, rocky mountain roads for about 45min, the landscape opened dramatically revealing a beautiful, lush high-altitude grassland. A range of snowcapped mountains sparkled in the distance. And best of all, the place was practically deserted! We must have just missed the lunch crowd – great timing!

 

Igor tells our taxi driver when/where we will meet him before we head out to explore the Kangle Grasslands

Vast green pastures in the Kangle Grasslands, with snow-capped mountains far in the distance

 

When we notice random Chinese tourists surreptitiously taking pictures of us, we start to pose, which makes them bold enough to come and pose with us!

 

The Kangle Grasslands seems to be off the radar for most tourists, as we have the place to ourselves! Never did we expect to find “New Zealand” in China!

 

Strolling the boardwalk in the peaceful Kangle Grasslands

 

Artsy photo ops in the Kangle Grasslands

 

Colorful prayer flags adorn a stupa at the top of the hill

 

As we walk around the “Holy Lake” we notice some ominous clouds rolling in

 

That is definitely rain heading towards us! We hastily snap a final few pics before storing the camera and running back to the taxi

 

We escape the rain as we leave the Kangle Grasslands, with only a minor sheep-induced traffic jam slowing us down

Our final attraction for the day was the biggest and the best – the “rainbow rocks” of the Zhangye Danxia Geopark. This is the main attraction in Zhangye, as every taxi driver and hotel has immediately asked us if we were planning to visit. Indeed, this rock formation is the whole reason we planned a trip to Zhangye in the first place! We had allocated a good 4 hours to visit the park, which ended up being exactly enough time, as clouds rolled in almost immediately after our arrival, ruining the light for our pictures. We almost gave up and left, but thankfully we persevered as the clouds parted just before sunset, giving us some glorious shots.

We had a bit of a delay exiting the park as we jumped on the wrong bus and ended up at the East entrance instead of the West entrance, where our taxi driver was waiting. It took us a good 15min to explain to the off-duty bus drivers that we needed to get back into the park to return to the other exit, and for them to tell us in return which bus was still running. Funny enough, after we were reunited with our driver, he actually drove us to the East entrance anyway, asking us if he could pick up an additional fare.

 

A helicopter passes over the Danxia Geopark as we get our first view of the rainbow rocks

The “rainbow rocks” of the Danxia Land Formation

 

Checking out all the viewpoints for the Danxia “rainbow rocks”

 

A nice touch – the park used red gravel for the road which made it blend into the background. Another similarity to Utah – the only other park we’ve seen do this is Zion!

 

Flaming monkeys?!? Once again, we don’t really see the images the Chinese name the formations after.

 

Brilliant white and yellow streaks create a “layer-cake” effect in the mountains

 

The viewing platform is bursting with people, but we muscle our way to the fence to take our own selfie

 

Poor camels – no one seemed interested in a ride this afternoon, so they looked really bored

 

Luckily for us, the sun comes out from behind the clouds for a few minutes before setting behind the mountains. The light is spectacular, making the Danxia rocks warm and vibrant for our final shots

Sunset at the Danxia Land Formation

We don’t get back to Zhangye city until 8:30PM, by which time we are starving. Before we can head out in search of food, however, we spend a good 15min in the taxi, negotiating the next day’s itinerary and price. While we didn’t plan to visit the Mati Temples (we had just been to the Mogao Grotto a few days prior, and figured it would be more of the same), our taxi driver insisted via Baidu, “If you don’t go, you will regret it.” We finally caved and agreed, planning to meet him at 7:30AM the next day.

By the time we dropped off our bags in the hotel, it was after 9PM. We were too tired and hungry to try and find “authentic” Chinese food or even search for a grocery store – call us lazy Americans, but we stumbled over to the nearest KFC and ordered fast-food chicken and fries. You know what? IT WAS DELICIOUS. And our poop wasn’t runny the next day, so there.

 

We pass by an exercise dance group on the corner opposite our hotel as we run out for dinner. God bless the Colonel, this hits the spot

Day 162: Zhangye – Day 1

Since we had an early train to catch, we asked the hotel to pack us a breakfast. We arranged for their free shuttle to take us to the Dunhuang Train station at 6:30AM – plenty of time for our 7:40AM train to Zhangye. This is the most luxurious train ride of our trip – soft sleeper seats for a 6hr ride. While it is impossible to book an entire 4-person car, we closed the door to the compartment so that people would fill up other seats before joining us as a last resort. Luckily for us, this route doesn’t have high demand for sleeper berths (most people probably save their money and just book seats for the daytime trip), so we had the entire compartment to ourselves! We loved the privacy, and enjoyed the peace and quiet to work on our laptops and even take a little nap before reaching our stop.

 

At the Dunhuang Train Station for our first train ride in China

 

Waiting to board our train – even though everything is in Chinese, it’s surprisingly easy to confirm our departure time on the schedule (luckily numbers are in Western characters)

 

We lucked out – we have a sleeper compartment all to ourselves! We breakout our packed breakfast from the hotel and enjoy the privacy

 

It’s a 6hr ride from Dunhuang to Zhangye – plenty of time to work on the blog and even take a nap

 

Barren desert landscape outside the train window – not much scenery to distract us

When we got to Zhangye, we quickly found a taxi driver at the station to take us to our hotel (although we had to insist that he use his meter). Using his Baidu Translation App, he asked us what our plans were for the next day. “You go to Daxia?” he asked. We were on the fence regarding hiring a taxi driver verses figuring out buses for the various places we wanted to visit during our three days in Zhangye, so we started negotiating with him. He pulled out a booklet of attractions in Zhangye and we finally got his best price for a full day exploring two sections of the Daxia Geopark as well as the Kangle Grasslands for RMB 350. We wanted to ask hotel for advise before committing, so we took his phone number and promised to call him that night.

Turns out, our hotel ended up being useless when it came to providing any kind of help in organizing travel plans. Despite their listing on Booking.com – which states that the employees SPEAK ENGLISH – neither of the receptionists nor any of the staff we encountered during our 3-night stay spoke any English. Insead, they either pointed to a card with common phrases or used Baidu online. Later that night when we discovered that the other hotel guests were flagrantly disregarding the many NO SMOKING signs, we tried to switch rooms to one further away from the elevator, where they all liked to loudly congregate around the ashtray (WHY does the hotel provide ashtrays when they have a NO SMOKING POLICY?!?), but after 20min of trying to explain the problem we gave up. Lindsay resorted to repeatedly moving the ashtray into the stairwell, much to the consternation of the hotel maid.

 

Checking into the Liangmo Hotel, where (despite their Booking.com advertisment) they DO NOT speak English, and instead use Baidu online translate or point to a card with common phrases. We are really pissed off as the ONLY reason Igor booked this hotel is because they claimed to speak English. LIARS.

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring Zhangye city on foot, checking out the main attraction – the Great Buddha Temple – before looking for take-out dinner on the way back. For some reason we had bad luck finding a grocery store, or even a mini-mart with a decent raman selection, so we ended up with a sad dinner of overly spicy and greasy noodles and sweet bread. However, we did wander into the Youyou Youth Hostel and discovered that the receptionist there spoke fantastic English! Not only that, but he had written instructions for how to catch buses to each of the major attractions in the area as well as a price list for hiring taxis. We shamelessly took photos of all his information, promising to leave him a glowing TripAdvisor review – for once, Igor admitted that a hostel would have been a superior accommodation.

Once we compared the hostel’s prices to the quote our taxi driver had given us earlier, we decided the taxi driver’s price seemed fair, so we texted him (in Chinese, using some tricky Copy & Paste skillz!) confirming the itinerary and pick-up time for the next morning.

The Great Buddha Temple in Zhangye

 

Fancy incense burning outside the temple

 

The unrestored exterior of the Great Buddha Temple

 

Beautiful Qing-dynasty murals and freaky statues inside the temple

 

The huge, 35m-long sleeping Buddha inside the Zhangye temple

 

Walking around the temple grounds just before closing, we get a quick glimpse of the Ming-dynasty white clay stupa in the rear of the complex

 

Prayer ribbons cover a rope at the rear of the temple grounds

 

Distracted by an adorable puppy on our back to the hotel. We made much needed stop at the pharmacy to try and replenish our stock of Imodium. A hilarious interaction ensues, where Igor and Lindsay try to use a combination of Google translate, hand gestures and poopy noises to explain we need anti-diarrhea medication (we are going to kill it at Charades when we get home). Unfortunately, they don’t have any medication with the same active ingredient – they only have some Chinese mystery-ingredient remedy. Even though we doubt it will be effective, we buy it anyways.

 

We’re still trying to save on meals where we can to make up our budget, so we pick up some ramen and (what we think is) garlic bread for dinner

A sadly unsatisfying meal of raman and sugar bread. We desperately need a real grocery store

Day 163: Dunhuang – Day 2

We woke up to a rare, overcast morning in the desert. After a quick breakfast, we hopped back on to our camels and rode back to the road, where our transfer car was waiting to take us to our hotel for the next night. Lili had called the hotel the day before to see if we could get an early check-in, which was awesome, as we desperately needed a shower. Once we were clean, we met up with Lili in the lobby an hour later and headed out to the Singing Sands Mountain Park – a Disneyland-esque desert park with tons of activities for the hords of Chinese tourists: ATV rides, camel-rides, sand sliding, paragliding, etc.

Igor unfortunately had his heart set on sand-boarding (riding a snowboard down the dune), as we had skipped this in Namibia. We paid for the ATV ride to the dune (which was super unpleasant as we weren’t allowed to ride the buggies alone – we had to sit behind guides and hold on to the back of the ATV while they sped across the sand at top speed), only to find out the park only offered tubing or sledding. We were feeling cranky and ripped off by the end of the activity, especially when we discovered that the only English words our drivers understood was, “Tips! Tips!”

 

Waking up in our tent in the desert outside Dunhuang. Our outhouse may be prettily painted on the outside, but inside is still full of shit and flies.

 

Lindsay tries milk tea for breakfast (she really likes the little gummies inside!), then everyone hops back on our camels to ride back to the paved road

 

Checking in to our hotel – The Silk Road Hotel – at 9AM so that we can take a much needed shower before our final activities of the tour

 

Entering the desert-Disneyland of the Singing Sands Mountain

 

The entire town of Dunhuang has been gearing up for a major travel industry convention – The 1^st Silk Road International Cultural Expo. Tour guides are practicing their English nonstop (Lili was teaching herself new vocabulary words each day) and the Singing Sands Mountain park was building a series of elaborate sand sculptures to impress the delegates

 

Igor had his heart set on sand boarding down a dune, and was super disappointed to find out all they offered was sand sliding (which we did the night before on a plastic sled) or sand tubing. He was even more disappointed when he climbed all the way to the top of the dune only to find out he had to share a tube with a stranger – he wasn’t allowed to tube down alone! NOT recommended

We walked the rest of the park, which was actually not that crowded (for China), which rose our spirits a bit. Igor convinced Lindsay to climb the dune to see the bird’s eye view of the famous Crescent Lake, and she was really glad she slogged to the top. The 2,000+ year old natural spring is pretty cool, especially when you imagine what it must have been like to discover it hundreds of years ago on the Silk Road. Its unique positioning between the dunes protects it from getting covered by sand, so this little pond had been an oasis of freshwater in the desert for centuries. Up until a few decades ago, the depth of the lake stayed constant around 21ft, however when the water level started to decline in the last few decades, the local government had to artificially fill it to maintain its original level. So it’s a semi-real natural attraction – still pretty.

 

Tucked within two dunes is a fertile oasis, lush with flowers and tall grasses, blowing in the wind

 

WHERE’S WALDO? We give up on trying to get a clear shot of the Crescent Lake pagoda – there are just too many people. As we look at the nearby plaque, we are amused to see even the Chinese Tourist Board can’t even get a clear shot without someone photo-bombing their picture!

 

A traditional pagoda next to the lake

 

Views of the Crescent Lake Pagoda

 

Climbing to the top of the dunes to admire the view

 

From the top of the dunes we can see the Crescent Lake to the left and the oasis to the right

 

Running down the dune on our way out of the park. Since we had overcast skies that morning, the sand was cool enough for Lindsay to run down barefoot (trying to keep sand out of her socks & boots)

 

Walking back through the oasis where we find a mother dog and a litter of days-old puppies hiding in the grass! We would have LOVED to pick them up and cuddle them, but as we didn’t pay the $700pp fee for rabies shots before leaving the US, the risk isn’t worth it. So cute tho.

For lunch, Lili gave us the option of either going to another restaurant, or exploring the various food stalls in the marketplace. We chose the latter and felt like Anthony Bourdain, sampling all sorts of exotic goodies. Hours later, unfortunately, Lindsay paid a bit of a price for her culinary adventures, so we decided to stop experimenting in China – even with a guide bringing you to reputable places, we still get food poisoning!

 

Lili takes us for a foodie tour through the market, introducing us to the various street foods of the area. Igor falls in love with “Chinese hamburgers” – wok-fried, chopped up pork and bell peppers in a traditional flatbread. I swear, this could be the next hipster food-craze, if we could just bring it to NYC!

 

Sweet potato-fries and apricot juice (tasted like peach-iced tea) were big hits. However, Lindsay regretted trying the dumpling soup when she got her second bout of traveler’s diarrhea later that night. We are learning that experimenting with food in China can be dangerous! Especially when we are running out of Imodium…

For our last evening in Dunhuang, Lili convinced us to get tickets to the desert cultural show, which was held in a theater just behind the hotel. She recommended it very highly, so we decided to splurge. It was…interesting. If we could do it again, we’d spend the money on a better quality show (one with acrobatics!), but there were aspects of the show that were pretty cool to watch. The special effects were undeniably top-notch – the show was performed outside on 5 different stages and the entire audience platform rotated during the show to face each new stage. There were cool lighting effects and fireworks – too bad the plot of the show was lame (some kind of love story, but the lovers are separated in the end in the name of duty, I dunno…) and the dancing was piss-poor. And DON’T get me started on the manners of our neighbors in the audience…

 

Walking behind the hotel to the theater for our evening desert show

 

It’s a spectacle of lights and real camels onstage!

 

Light projects onto some mist to create a “holy vision” of a buddha, before real fireworks explode to change the scene

 

Sadly, there weren’t many acrobatics – just some poorly sychronized dancing. There was a short aerial silk performance, which was the most talent we saw all night

 

The audience was TERRIBLE. Mobile phones constantly taking photos, and the guy behind Igor kept hitting him in the head with his telephoto lense. One couple allowed their BABY to cry and scream for a good 20min before *finally* getting up and leaving the show. And no less than 3 people not only let their phones ring, but THEY ACTUALLY TOOK THE CALL during the show!

 

The grand finale – so glad this thing is finally over – what a waste of USD $100

 

As soon as the show was over, the crowd ran out of their seats and onto the stage to take pictures with all the actors

 

Chinese theater. Now that we’ve experienced it once, NEVER AGAIN

Day 162: Dunhuang – Day 1

Today was JAM-PACKED with activity. We got up in the middle of the night in order to catch a 4AM Uber taxi to the airport (which our friendly receptionist ordered for us – poor guy slept in the lobby and had to wake-up to let us out!). Our Air China flight was on time, and we landed in Dunhuang around 10AM.

Igor had arranged a 2-day, 1-night camping trip in the desert with Silk Road China Tours, so when we arrived at the airport we were met by our English-speaking guide, Lili. As the driver brought us into town, Lili was very chatty, introducing us to the area and explaining our itinerary. Since our flight arrived so early in the day, she planned to have us walk around downtown and check out some of Dunhuang’s famous silk carpets before heading over to a traditional Chinese restaurant for lunch.

 

We meet our guide, Lili, at the Dunhuang Airport and drive into town where she picks up our tickets for the Mogao Caves for later that afternoon before taking a walk through downtown

 

Strolling through downtown Dunhuang

 

Window-shopping at Dunhuang Carpet

 

A sample of traditional silk carpet weaving (although the owner admitted all of his carpets are actually factory-made nowadays)

 

The silk carpets were stunning, with amazingly intricate details. However, at USD $1,000 for a 2’x3′ carpet (a wall decoration – NOT meant to be stepped on!), they were way out of our price range, not least because we would be terrified of ruining such an expensive souvenir during our travels

 

Lunch stop at a traditional Chinese restaurant

 

Three-courses, plus rice! So much food, but it was good!

 

Lindsay is having trouble with chopsticks – this is the second grease stain she’s gotten on her pants from dropping food in her lap. Igor can’t take her anywhere.

 

Admiring the restaurant’s garden – lots of sunflowers, fresh dates and table grapes

 

Chinese grapes vines – each bunch of grapes is wrapped with paper for protection

After lunch, Lili brought us to the Mogao Research Center for our tour of the Mogao Grottos, AKA the “Thousand Buddha Caves”. Another of China’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Mogao Grottos are a collection of 492 small temples and caves carved into the mountain side at the edge of the desert. The oldest caves date from 366 AD, while the youngest were produced over 1,000 years ago. The caves contain some of the most spectacular examples of Buddhist art in China and feature a range of styles, reflecting the different artistic tastes of the Wei (Indian inspired) and Tang (the golden age for the Mogao Grottos) Dynasties.

Our tour started with two separate videos at the Research Center – the first was a surprisingly high-quality reenactment of the history of the settlement of Dunhuang as an important outpost on the crossroads of the Silk Road, and the birth of the Mogao caves. We were provided with a hand-held audio guide which dubbed the video into English for us. After the first video, our group (about 100+ people, enough to fill a small stadium!) was guided into an auditorium with a 360⁰ screen which showed a second video of close-ups of many of the caves we were about to see. We realized later that this would have been our only opportunity to take photos of the Buddhist art, as cameras are strictly forbidden inside the caves (they claim it’s to preserve the paint from flash photography, but it reality it’s to protect their copyright to the images).

After the videos, we returned our audio guides and caught one of the many shuttle buses that escort the tourists to the caves. Access to the caves is tightly controlled – it is impossible to visit them on your own, as everyone is required to join a group leader. Lili made sure we got into the English group (which surprisingly only had 2 other Westerners – we suspect the others may have been from Singapore or Malaysia – they must not offer Bahasa-language tours). While 20 caves are open for viewing, each guide only takes his or her group to 10 caves, depending on the traffic flow of the day, making sure to at least hit the most famous caves: #96 with the 35m Giant Buddha and #17 the Library Cave, which contained a treasure trove of ancient manuscripts when it was rediscovered in 1900. The caves were absolutely amazing – it was a bit heartbreaking that we couldn’t take our own pictures to remember them.

 

After 2hrs of informational films at the Mogao Research Institute, we were bussed over to see the Mogao Grottos in person

The Mogao Grottos – a collection of almost 500 individual temple caves carved into the Echoing-Sand Mountain in the desert

 

Visiting the Mogao Grottos, in Dunhuang

 

Of the 492 caves, only 20 are open to tourists – the rest are carefully sealed with temperature and humidity controlling monitors in order to preserve them for research and posterity

 

The Giant Buddha in Cave 130 was closed, but we got to check out the huge reclining Buddha in Cave 26 (Wikipedia Image here). Due to the tight restriction on photography (actually enforced at Mogao!) the only paintings we could take a picture of were the few frescos of flying apsaras

A few stupas dot the horizon outside the Mogao Grottos

We finished touring the caves around 5PM, and met up with Lili for our transfer out to the desert. When we arrived at the sand dunes, we squealed with delight when we saw our team of camels! Proper, 2-hump Bactrian camels, decked out with carpets as saddles – they were AWESOME! Lindsay and Igor fell in love with them immediately – Igor’s had so much personality (he kept making noises as if Igor was too heavy!), while Lindsay’s was a pretty, prissy princess that would shoot glances at Igor’s camel as if to tell it to shut up.

We rode into the desert for about an hour until we reached our camp, hidden between the dunes. After dismounting, our hosts gave us plastic sleds and encouraged us to climb the highest dune so we could watch the sunset than slide down. Once it started to get dark, we sat at the table and got to know the other three girls on our tour – a small group of young Chinese women (early 20s), two of whom spoke enough English for us to get to know each other a bit. To our horror we found out that the Chinese actually get even *less* annual vacation than Americans – while the standard in the US is a pitiful 2-weeks (which is why we had to quit our jobs to visit the faraway, remote place on our Year Trip), the poor Chinese only get ONE WEEK! We raised a bottle of beer to our new friends and conceded that they had it worse.

After dinner, our hosts turned on the generator for power and we were introduced to the unique entertainment of Chinese camping – instead of reveling in the peace and tranquility of the empty desert, our hosts turned on a karaoke machine, which kept our group up until about midnight! If you’ve ever been out to a karaoke bar, you know “just listening” isn’t usually allowed. Lindsay tried to convince everyone that she’s a terrible singer, but after searching through all the English songs (a very small selection) and threatening to play Adele, Lindsay finally caved and tried to belt out “American Pie”. It might have been an OK choice in the States, since others would have sung along, but when it was just Lindsay…no, just no. The Chinese girls stopped asking Lindsay to sing after that.

 

Heading into the desert outside Dunhuang on camelback

 

Lindsay and Igor fall in love with our camels immediately! Igor’s dark camel at the end had so much personality, but Lindsay’s blond camel was just so pretty!

 

Recreating the Silk Road experience via camel caravan in Dunhuang

 

After we arrive at camp, our guide leads the camels over the hill so they can rest the night in peace

 

Climbing the sand dune above our camp (really grateful for the helpful ladder at the top!), we are rewarded with a breathtaking view of the desert

The desert outside Dunhuang – a major frontier settlement of the ancient Silk Road

 

After admiring the view, the quickest way down the dune is via sand sled!

 

A teeny little lizard hides in the sand near our camp, nestled within the dunes

 

As the sun goes down, our hosts cook up some spicy pork and chicken on the open fire

 

After dinner (and a few Chinese beers) our hosts kick on the generator so there’s power for the karaoke machine!

 

Our fellow Chinese tourists were very comfortable belting out tunes. Lindsay hoped to get away from the mic, but the girls searched the few English-language songs until she agreed to sing “American Pie” – yeah, they stopped asking her to sing after that…

Day 161: Beijing – Day 4

Igor had originally planned for us to take a day-trip out of Beijing to visit the red sea beach in Panjin today, but when we looked into the logistics, it proved to be more of an overnight trip. We decided to stay in the city and wander around some of the temples before finishing up our outstanding errands and calling it an early night, as we had a 6:40AM flight the next day.

Sucking down some local flavor for breakfast: Beijing Yogurt! For the last few days we have seen these little white jars sold in all the corner stores. Lindsay’s curiosity got the better of her and she just had to try one to find out what it is. While she prefers her yogurt with muesli, drinking it with a straw is not bad.

 

Wandering around the Lama Temple – the most renowned Tibetan Buddhist temple outside Tibet

 

The Lama Temple is an active place of worship, with many people lighting incense, praying and even prostarting themselves in front of the various altars and statues of Buddha. There was one statue in particular that was magnificent – at 60ft in height, each of the Buddha’s toes was the size of a pillow! We would have *loved* to take a picture, but there were “No Camera” signs at the entrance to all of the halls, so out of respect we resisted. Of course, all the Chinese tourists were snapping photos without a qualm.

 

Each of the halls had at least one incense burner outside, and the temple provided a free box of sticks with admission

 

Lindsay tried lighting three of her sticks, but she dumped them into the burner before watching everyone else – looks like there are a bunch of rituals that go along with the incense burning. She gave up burning more, since she was clearly missing something

 

Wandering around the Lama Temple in Beijing

 

Gnarly old cypress trees at the rear of the Lama Temple

 

Just down the street from the Lama Temple is the quiet and studious Confucius Temple

 

A beautiful glazed archway at the entrance the temple, a stone dragon, and a colorful altar (with a few fruit & flower offering!) at the Confucius Temple

 

There is a museum recounting the life and teachings of Confucius which was pretty interesting. Of course the museum felt the need to brag that Confucianism is even practiced in the States. We would have loved to get our hands on the gold book.

 

190 stone tablets recording the 13 Confucian classics and the names of everyone who passed the Confucian government examination tests (or at least, that’s what Lonely Planet says they are – there were no plaques in English)

 

On our way back to the hotel, we wandered into a mall, looking for an air-conditioned place to eat. Pineapple-fried rice and pork pancakes – not bad for the mall!

 

Oh darn, we just ate! Otherwise we would *totally* try the LIVE scorpions on a stick. Seriously, WTF China?!?

When we returned to the hotel, we asked our receptionist, Andy, to call SF Express and see if we could ship back all of our excess gear, minus the zoom lens (which was too valuable to risk sending with a non-American company). Andy found us a box and got an agent to come over to the hotel to pick up the package. Well, the agent arrived all right, but when he started inspecting the contents of the box he started freaking out. One by one he removed innocuous items (like our water purifier, the jar of menthol shavings, the GoPro User Manual) insisting that the Chinese customs agent would find EVERYTHING suspicious and would potentially confiscate about 85% of what we wanted to ship! Apparently, most people go to an authorized customs agent *prior* to packing their boxes to have the contents verified and certified before shipping! As it was 5PM by this time, we certainly didn’t have time to go through that process, so we’ll just have to lug around the extra weight for another two months. Nice of the SF Express agent to be honest with us, though.

Day 160: The Great Wall of China

Of course, the biggest “must-do” of our China trip was to visit the Great Wall of China. It did not disappoint, and this was easily the highlight of our time in Beijing. While many sections of the wall are accessible by train & bus, we wanted to avoid the crowds (especially after a day like yesterday in the Forbidden City!), so we booked a day trip with China Hiking to visit the Jiankou section – one of the unrestored, “wild” parts of the Wall.

We arrived at the meeting point in front of the Lama Temple subway station a little before 8AM, where we were soon joined by a dozen other Westerners (we all stick out like a sore thumb). We soon learned that two separate groups were heading out – day-trippers like us (all couples), and multi-day campers (all single backpackers). We were more than a little envious of the campers…wish we had thought about that option. But our day trip ended up being fantastic, and left nothing to be desired.

The couples hopped into a minivan for the 2hr drive to the starting point. We had a fantastic Chinese-food lunch at a small farmhouse at the base of the trail, before hiking a good 500m ascent to the Zhengbeilou Watchtower where we clambered atop the overgrown and crumbling wall. We hiked for about 2hrs, with LOTS of stops for pictures, before descending at the edge of the Mutianyu section, where the wall switches from wild to restored.

 

Stopping at a local farmhouse for lunch before our Great Hike

 

Five courses – plus rice! – with fresh ingredients from the owner’s garden made a delicious and very filling lunch

 

Ignoring the signs that say this section of the Wall is closed

 

Our first glimpse of the Great Wall is absolutely magical!

The Jiankou section of the Great Wall China

 

After a steep climb we finally reach the Zhengbeilou Watchtower, and scramble up a shaky pile of rocks to climb onto the Wall (seriously, it’s *that* easy? This wall wasn’t a very tough barrier to cross…)

 

Views from the Great Wall of China

The Yanshan Mountain Range, north of Beijing

 

The overgrown and lichen-covered Zhengbeilou Watchtower

Where are all the crowds? Visit the “wild Wall” and you’ll have the place practically to yourself!

 

Hiking one of the unrestored, “wild” sections of the Great Wall of China

 

It’s not the easiest hike – the watchtowers are crumbling, and the wall can get *very* steep and slippery (in fact, our tour company cancels this route on rainy days, as it is too dangerous to walk on while wet)

 

We conquered the “wild” Jiankou section of the Great Wall of China!

 

Red prayer ribbons – a Buddhist tradition – adorns a tree at the edge of the wild Jiankou and restored Mutianyu sections of the Wall

 

See the different colors of the bricks? The Mutianyu section of the Wall is partially-restored, with repaired parapets and weed-free steps along the walkway

 

Ending our Great Wall hike at the Mutianyu section

When we returned to Beijing, we decided to treat ourselves to the official dish of the city: Peking roast duck! Igor’s former co-worker put us in contact with his dad, who was unfortunately travelling on business during our visit – but he was able to recommend an awesome restaurant along the moat of the Forbidden Palace. After we were dropped off at the Lama Temple, we got on the subway and went directly to the Siji Minfu Restaurant, as they do not take reservations and the popular place can have long lines.

When we arrived around 7:15PM we were given a ticket with our number in line…only problem is the numbers were called in Chinese! We knew we were #28, but we don’t know how to say 28! Terrified of missing out on her meal, Lindsay bugged the hostess every 15min to see where we were in line. After a moderate 45min wait, we were seated next to the kitchen where we had a great view of the chefs preparing duck after duck.

So, how was the duck? The second best duck Lindsay has ever eaten in her life! (The first place spot must still go to the $800 meal Lindsay, her mom and Bo had at La Tour d’Argent in Paris) We ordered the half duck, along with the cauliflower, some fried rice and a bottle of South African Shiraz. The duck was carved, tableside, and served with thin pancakes and a range of condiments. Luckily for us, a waitress stopped by our table and demonstrated the proper way to fill the pancakes with a few slices of duck, scallions, cucumber and red bean sauce, and roll it into a bite-sized serving.

Not sure if I can ever eat duck again…nothing will top this experience.

 

Waiting patiently at Siji Minfu Restaurant for our duck dinner

 

We worried over the Chinese menu during our wait, only to be relieved when we got a huge, English-language menu at the table

 

Front-row seat to the duck preparation in the kitchen.

 

One of the cooks comes over to the table with a carving station to carefully and methodically slice the bird before our eyes

 

This dinner is everything Lindsay dreamed it could be…

 

Our friendly waitress helpfully demonstrates the proper way to eat Peking Duck

 

Finishing our bottle of wine outside on the veranda of the Siji Minfu Restaurant, along the moat of the Forbidden City, which is calm and peaceful for once

Day 157: Beijing – Day 3

Today is our real sight-seeing day in Beijing – we knew we had some must-sees that we couldn’t miss while in Beijing, so we took a cab to the Temple of Heaven Park and planned to walk back to our hotel, hitting Tian’anmen Square and the Forbidden City on the way.

As much as we loved Beijing the day before, and found constant similarities to New York, we were disappointed to find out that all the parks in Beijing require admission. (Well, Lindsay was disappointed – Igor thought it was a great idea and argued that Central park should do the same) However, even with and admission fee, the Temple of Heaven Park still had a fair share of tourists, especially around all the historical buildings. We tried to roll with it, taking advantage of the sea of people to play “Where’s Waldo?” with our pictures! Once we wandered into the trees-lines walkways and flower gardens, however, we found a little peace and quiet.

 

A morning walk through the Temple of Heaven Park, where Beijingers can be seen practicing tai-chi, ribbon dancing, and singing patriotic songs. Westerners were not a common sight in the park, which may be why a group of photographers went nuts snapping Lindsay’s photo as she walked by.

 

WHERE’S WALDO? Weaving inbetween the crowds to try and admire the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, and working up an appetite for breakfast. Slim pickings in the park leave us with a packet of Oreos and a bottle of Coke as a great way to start the day!

 

So much crowd.

 

There’s a trick to photographing historical buildings in China without tourists: point your camera behind the builds, or at the roof!

 

Checking out the Echo Wall inside the Temple of Heaven Park – either it’s busted or there are just too many loud tourists for it to work

 

Honestly, I can no longer remember why Igor is hugging that big pot.

 

We finally got away from the majority of the crowds by backtracking through the cypress groves and throught the Rose Garden, where only a handful of flowers were still in bloom

After leaving the park, we headed north towards Tian’anmen Square, where the landscape switched from whimsical Confucian gardens to practical, stoic Soviet-style blocks. Igor looked around fondly and said it reminded him of his childhood in Russia. Lindsay had to admit, Qianmen Street, just south of the square, was pretty cool to walk around, especially since one hutong over from the hard gray buildings were lively and colorful alleys full of roast duck restaurants and overflowing souvenir stands.

Tian’anmen Square is carefully monitored, due to its political history, and entrance to the square is tightly controlled. We had to walk around several barricades and got turned around by at least one police officer trying to find the entrance. It was free of change to enter the square, but you had to present your passport or ID card. We expected to have a hard time, holding American passports, but it seemed the officers didn’t seem to care about foriegners, just Chinese nationals.

Since there is no where to sit within Tian’anmen Square, we didn’t linger long. We joined the hundreds of fellow tourists taking picure of the uber-patriotic statues, Communist stars and the huge portrait of Chairman Mao – no doubt, we are in the Capital of Communist China!

 

Strolling through the super Soviet Qianmen Pedestrian Mall, just south of Tian’anmen Square

 

Inside a small shop, Igor finds a little museum with figures celebrating China’s workers

 

Several hutongs run parallel to the Qianmen Street, with many roast duck restaurants and delicious-looking food stalls

 

Igor heads down an alley full of souvenir stalls, searching for a selfie-stick for the GoPro. While we find hundreds of self-sticks for mobile phones (plus some really pretty lanterns and dozens of pet crickets), nothing with the correct attachment for the GoPro.

 

Tian’anmen Square is super secure, with only a few, security guarded entrances, so it took us a good 15min to find our way in. Once inside the “largest pedestrian square in the world,” we could admire the Soviet-style statues that surround the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall. Igor felt like he was back in Mother Russia.

 

A bright red communist star adorns the National Museum of China

 

At the northern exit of the square, Mao’s visage gazes on the crowd from the Gate of Heavenly Peace. We pass under his omniprescent stare as we enter the Forbidden City

Our final obstacle – I mean attraction! – between us and a much needed rest in our hotel was the Forbidden City. Now known to the Chinese as the Palace Museum, the Forbidden City is another UNESCO World Heritage Site. Built during the 1400s during the Ming Dynasty, it is the oldest collection of wooden buildings in the world. Luckily, it survived the Cultural Revolution intact, although the spirits of the dozens of emperors who once ruled there must be turning over in their graves seeing it open to the public! Long ago, the punishment for entering the Forbidden City without the permission of the emperor was DEATH – now, around 60K “commoners” swarm the palace each day! We arrived at the Forbidden City at 3PM, an hour before it closed. We hoped that by coming near closing time we would avoid some of the crowds…no such luck.

 

We forbid you to go to the Forbidden City. Unless you go first thing in the morning, in the off-season, on a weekday. An hour on a Sunday afternoon in September was just too crowded

 

Crossing the moat that surrounds the Forbidden City

 

Lindsay pushing and shoving fellow tourists in order to get a view inside one of the many “Halls of Harmony” – even when she gets to the front, it’s hard to get a clear photo without someone’s cell phone or selfie stick in the way!

 

The only way to get pictures of the Forbidden City without tourists in it, is to point the camera at the sky or at the wall!

 

The glizt and glamor within the halls of the Forbidden City

 

WHERE’S WALDO? We finally enter the last section of the Forbidden City – the Garden of Tranquility, which is anything but!

 

Poor Igor is so done with the Beijing crowds – he is overjoyed when Lindsay finally lets him head back to the hotel

We have been on our feet for a good 8 hours (without a lunchbreak!) by the time we hobble back to the Jianshan Garden Hotel. We barely have enough energy to stop at the mini-mart for more ramen for dinner before crashing on the bed. We kick up our feet and make sure to call it an early night, as we will need all our strength for our adventure tomorrow…The Great Wall!

Day 156: Beijing – Day 2

Now that we had several days in a big city, we decided to take care of some outstanding errands before we heading into the remote Western parts of China. We made a check-list of tasks to complete by the end of the day so we could spend the next 3 days sight-seeing. We had accumulated several pounds of excess weight in our bag (a few souvenirs, redundant electronic items, our scuba dive books and the zoom lens), which we wanted to ship back to the United States in order to lighten our load. Since Beijing is a MASSIVE city (with 22 million residents it is almost 3 times the size of NYC), we figured it wouldn’t be too hard to find a FedEx, or some other international shipper.

Yeah, not so easy. Google Maps (and everything Google-related) is blocked in China, so we couldn’t run a simple search on our phone. We asked our receptionist at the hotel, Andy, who did his best to help us track down addresses, but had never seen or heard of a FedEx / DHL / HotExpress / UPS store front. “There are lots of SF Express – they are very good!” A Chinese shipper might be fine for a Chinese resident, but if our package gets lost / damaged, we didn’t feel confident that an international call to the SF Express customer service line would result in successful tracking or reimbursement – not least because their staff probably doesn’t speak English (why would they?). The closest FedEx location seemed to be in the Chaoyang District, near an artsy neighborhood – Andy suggested we go there, as it would be a nice area to visit regardless. He called an Uber cab for us, and we took off.

The cab dropped us off at a hospital. We were super confused, and tried to use our Google Translate app (which Igor luckily had the foresight to download as an offline version before we left Dubai) to confirm the address with the driver. He insisted we were at the right location, so we got out and started wandering around the hospital complex. After a good hour, we gave up – FedEx may have an office or warehouse somewhere in Chaoyang, but not a store front. Instead, we found lunch and started walking south towards the Forbidden City.

 

WTF? We were looking for a FedEx store, not a hospital! After an hour of searching the building complex for a storefront, we gave up and found a pizza place for lunch

 

Artsy sculptures in the Beijing neighborhood of Chaoyang

As we were walking down the street, Igor noticed a camping store – hey! – maybe we could scratch-off item #2 on our list: buying a new backpack! While Lindsay still maintains that her duct-tape & stitch job would have lasted the rest of the trip, Igor insisted on a big, durable new backpack that we could abuse without worry. We found a strong Deuter bag with convenient zippers at the bottom for around USD$250, which was a fair price. We had to run to an ATM as the store owner didn’t take foreign credit cards (as we would soon discover, a recurring problem for us in China). When we asked her for a receipt, she started handwriting the name of her store and the price of the bag on a piece of paper…at least we think that’s what she wrote. As it was in Chinese, we couldn’t really tell. Not sure if Deuter will accept this as proof of purchase if we need to invoke the warranty…

 

Buying a new backpack in Beijing

 

Hopping on the Beijing Metro – another glittering and spotlessly clean subway system, just like Dubai

After dropping off our new bag at our hotel, we walked around the corner to the local train ticket office – we had 2 train trips planned during our trip, but foreigners aren’t allowed to buy tickets online, so we had to purchase them in person ASAP to make sure the good seats weren’t sold out. Despite the fact that the office’s sign was translated into English, the guy at the “TRAIN TICKET OFFICE” didn’t speak a word, nor did he seem very open to using our translator app.

According to the Lonely Planet, the train stations in major cities speak at least some English, so we hailed a taxi for the train station. English-speaking? Erm, yes and no. When we got to the ticket counter, we tried to ask the guy if he spoke English. He smiled nervously and called for one of his co-workers came out to try and serve as an interpreter. He didn’t speak much English either, but with the help of our translator app and another customer in line we eventually managed to book two sleeper seats on one leg of the journey, and 1^st class seats on another.

Buying train tickets at the Beijing North Railway Station

It was only an hour long walk back to the hotel, and we were feeling very pleased about our productive day (despite the FedEx failure), so we decide to head back on foot. Beijing can be very pretty in places, with several little gardens and canals here and there. As the sun set, we passed a TripAdvisor & TimeOut recommended Vietnamese restaurant, so we decided to stop for dinner at Little Saigon – YUM!

 

Walking along the pretty canals in Beijing

 

The weather in Beijing reminds us so much of New York, we feel like we are at home

 

Dinner at Little Saigon – a highly rated Vietnamese restaurant where everything on the menu looks good

 

Excited for a real dinner!

 

Vietnamese noodles and vegetarian curry – IT TASTES SO GOOD

 

Heading back to the hotel along the lit-up canals with full bellies, and in a good mood. Loving Beijing!

Day 155: Beijing – Day 1

Considering it was a last-minute booking, our flight to Beijing wasn’t that bad. After watching a few movies, we were so exhausted we actually got a little sleep. We arrived in China around 3PM, and by the time we strong-armed our way through the madness of Immigration and caught a taxi to the city, it was already sunset. We stayed awake just long enough to find ourselves some store-bought dinner before crashing. The real adventure starts tomorrow.

 

There is no gentle introduction to the massive crowds of China – the “lines” at Immigration are a chaotic mass of people, where cutting is as natural as breathing. Lindsay soon decides there is no point to being polite in China, and starts cutting in line as well. After a good 2 hours of shuffling slowly through the roped queue, we finally get our passports stamped, and catch a cab into the city

 

A rainbow and a beautiful sunset from the cab seem to be auspicious signs for the beginning of our China trip

 

Our hotel is tucked inside one of the narrow hutongs (alleys) that surround the Forbidden City. We fall in love with the charming and spotlessly clean neighborhood immediately

 

We wander around the hutongs for a half an hour looking for dinner, when we find a 24hr mini-mart. We’re still very bummed about our $1,000 flight to Beijing, so we decided ramen dinner is a good way to start saving on our budget. Though we have to forego the luxury of wine for tonight, Lindsay does note with pleasure that Concha y Toro has fine distribution in China

 

The electric kettle from our hotel room is all we need to cook up a delicious ramen dinner – no really – it was actually *very* tasty! The Chinese take their ramen far more seriously than we do in the States – our bowls came with dehydrated veggies, herbs and even slices of meat in addition to the typical sauce packets. Quite satisfying.

 

Enjoying a picnic dinner in our hotel courtyard

 

After a quick dinner, we fall into bed, absolutely exhausted. It took an extra 7 hours and $1,000 to get here, but we are happy to be in Beijing at last