So, on our final day in Beijing we headed to the Summer Palace, which was well worth it! Although not necessarily for the buildings themselves. It was beautiful simply as a park that was full (although not too full) of locals and Chinese tourists enjoying the outdoors. We had a lovely time just kind of meandering along looking at the beautiful architecture and the blooming trees. Perhaps what made it so lovely was the green space--the trees and the water, which there just isn't a whole lot of in Beijing.
We really enjoyed Beijing and were sad to leave. Our second hotel was really what made our experience so special--we stayed in a courtyard hotel in a hutong (a small alley) off of another hutong that has been transformed into a hip strip with shops, restaurants, bars, and even a hostel. As such, we enjoyed it for both its historical value and it's modern convenience. It was simply a charming place, including the hotel employees who were there at all hours practicing their English with us, offering us tea, guiding us to restaurants, or writing out our dumpling order. There was a resident cockatiel, which Reid of course loved, and a small dog who liked to jump up on us when we walked in the door.
One of the most interesting things about Beijing is that despite the number of people living there, it is a very clean city (as far as I could tell). I did not see a single rat, pigeon, squirrel or bug the whole time we were there. I don't know the real cause, but I did observe a few things that probably contribute to this oddity: (1) People are always cleaning--from those who are employed to do it, to those who seem to be earning money by collecting garbage or recycleables; (2) Reid attributes the lack of pigeons to the fact that baby bird is one of the specialties you can get on a stick in Beijing; (3) Concrete--the buildings along the hutong all had concrete floors and concrete foundation which helps to keep the bugs down; and (4) Bug spray--not sure what they treat with, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to stay too long if I knew. As annoying as our urban pests might be, it was far eerier to be in a city completely bereft of these dwellers (because it we're making it inhabitable for them, is it really so habitable for us?).
Although I wouldn't say that we've really thrown ourself into experiencing Chinese cuisine, we have had some really good Chinese food. Unfortunately, it has mostly been at places without an English menu, so without a Chinese speaker its hard to have confidence to order much. So far, we've had really good Peking Duck (but the spicy garlic green beans were better), great boiled dumplings, awesome hot pot last night for dinner (we'll have to post pictures--although we got "medium" there were more red peppers in there then the vegetables we actually ordered), and really good egg crepes for breakfast from a street vendor (it's basically a crepe with an egg broken over it and cooked onto it that they top with sauce and fill with various things like lettuce, hot dogs, and scallions--we've skipped the fillings and still enjoyed it enough to get them twice). I think we're doing pretty well :)
We are really excited that we will get to explore more of China, but for myself at least, Shanghai and Yangshuo will have to do a lot to top Beijing.
Picture on 4/20 Beijing Wall is up!
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