I just came back from a few days trip to Beijing. Now that I’m feeling more hyper than ever (I think I slept at an exagerrated 10+ hours onboard the T104.), I’m just going to blog away here.
First off, I’ve heard a lot about the infamous pollution in Beijing. And because of last month’s sandstorm in the northern capital, I was really itching to see for myself the yellow skies of Beijing. Of course that’s another exagerration. The yellow skies, I mean. Because the dusts have cleared away already. And nothing but sunny Beijing welcomed us when we stepped out of the Beijing Railway Station.
This would have been us if the skies have not cleared up soon.
Oh, but the skies do look a bit yellow in this picture. Or probably because I'm just using a cheap camera.
According to our tour guide, because she is a tour guide after all and tour guides are supposed to share information like these, there are 3 things a laowai (or any other foreign person visiting Beijing for the first time so that includes any non-native Beijinger 中国人 as well) should do while in Beijing.
1. Eat Peking duck.
2. Climb the Great Wall of China.
3. Watch Beijing acrobatics and/or opera.
So tourist-y, don’t you think so? However, when further prodded, our tour guide finally broke down and admitted that there’s only one thing you should do in order to experience Beijing. That is to visit the 胡同 (hutong) or alleys in the area. This is an integral part of local life. Because, as so they say (or just me in fact), this is where a Beijinger’s life begins.
I was able to take pictures of old Beijing while walking to our restaurant. But I also see these images in Shanghai all the time.
This is Beijing after all.
I wanted to visit genuine hutongs. Maybe I’ll do that when I go back on my own.
The whole time I was in the city, I was straining my ears trying to hear glimpses of the cute Beijinghua accent which I am trying to replicate in my little universe. Sad to say, many of the people in Beijing (even our tour guide for crying out loud!!!) is not really from Beijing. How did I know? Well, my journalistic instincts got the best of me.
But I still got our tour guide to teach me a few of the terms only Beijingers use. Hehe. So points for her. Thank you, 小胡!
I can’t really say how it is to be a true blue Beijinger by just staying in Beijing for a few days. Except maybe you know, fake a Beijinghua accent. Just splash some 儿’s here and there. And an untrained ear will never know. Hehe. Try that and let me know what happens!
Another thing I like about Beijing is how extremely cheap their public transport is. Just 1RMB for one bus ride–no matter what the distance is! Just how extremely cheap can you get?!
And the metro is ONLY 2RMB!!! Are you dying of cheapness already??? Shanghai’s metro fares are so darn expensive that my fresh top up disappeared in just a few days.
I could live in Beijng, you know. The lifestyle is pretty much laidback. It’s so suburbia that all the time I was thinking, “This is China’s capital?!”
The Peking duck is good too, by the way. Though the fanfare behind it is more for the laowai as roast duck is actually a common thing (at least where I come from). Still, I’m always for oily, succulent duck dishes.
Why do you think the chef needs to come out of his place in the kitchen?
Up next: Climbing the Great Wall.
