Day Four – Beijing

The express train arrived in Beijing at around 0650. Leaving the train station was a little more chaotic that i had anticipated. Apparently, multiple trains arrived almost simultaneously and everyone, really everyone, was trying to leave the train station at the same time as well. It took me more than 10 minutes just to get out of the Beijing train station. There was an international youth hostel across from the train station and that’s where i was headed.

Efficiency was one thing seriously lacking at the Youth Hostel. Even though there were only two people in front of me, it took them about 30 minutes before they finally got to me. Of course, i was sweating like a pig while waiting to see if there was any rooms available. There was not. According to the front desk lady, they were fully booked for today. After going across the streets and risking being run over multiple times by vehicles which did not seem to care about my right of way, i found out that the Howard Johnson hotel had some availability but it would cost me at least RMB 600 to spend a night there. I went back to the youth hostel, paid for about 2 hours of internet use, connected my powerbook to the internet and managed to get a free night stay at the nearby New World Courtyard hotel for only 15,000 points.

I was planning to take a cab to the Courtyard hotel because it was getting pretty hot outside and i did not want to walk under the blazing sun with a heavy backpack. So i hailed down a cab and told him to take me there. Damn it! He refused my request. He told me that it was just “around the corner.” Yes, it was “just around the corner” and he conveniently left out the part about it being at least a kilometer away. You won’t believe how hot and sweaty i was when i was trying to check into the Courtyard. The first thing i did when i got into my room was to take a shower !

In the afternoon, i went to a nearby fast food style beef noodle place for lunch. The bowl of beef noodles i ordered was extremely cheap, only RMB 6. I guess i got what i paid for. There was really not much beef in the beef noodles. And to make matter worse, the air-conditioner at the restaurant was broken. I felt like i was in a sauna while i was eating my bowl of beef noodles.

From the map i got at the train station, it did not appear to me that Tiananmen square and the Forbidden City were all that far from where i was. I thought they were just a few blocks away. They were. But the city blocks in Beijing are humongous. It took me more than 45 minutes to walk to Tiananmen square. The midday walk to Tiananmen square was incredibly hot, including the tour of the Forbidden city, i drank at least three bottles of water/tea. I believe all of them came out as sweat. I did not have to go to the bathroom even once for the whole afternoon.

I had wanted to go to the Confucius Temple, so i went down to the subway station near Tiananmen square. According to the lady at the subway ticket booth (there was no automatic ticket dispensing machines, unlike in Shanghai), i should get off at the Guomao (國貿) station. Either she did not know what she was talking about, or she intentionally made me got off at the wrong station – the Guomao station was nowhere near the Confucius Temple. By the time i realized that, it was already too late. I had to take a cab back to the hotel

In the evening, i had dinner at the Bian-yi-fang (便宜坊) restaurant. I thought since i am in Beijing, i might as well try the Beijing duck. Normally when i think of Beijing (or Peking) duck, i think of just the skin of the duck. Apparently, the Beijing duck at this restaurant is not just skin – the chef cut the skin with meat. After finishing my meal, i have to say that i have had better Peking duck elsewhere.