Thursday Sept 18

Weather

• Another hot one – 30 degrees. The humidity just keeps rising during the days.

Silk Street with JC

• Heidi’s workmate has a brother, JC, that lives in Beijing. We had arranged to meet him and today was the day. He took us to a market, Silk Street. Apparently it used to be a street market but has been moved into a six story building. The main floor is mostly clothing. It seemed pretty chaotic. The vendors are pretty aggressive- “hey lady looky, looky” It was nice to have JC with us. As we moved up the floors the goods changed, posters, tea sets etc. JC bought Gerry an abacus, I bought a Mao poster. The top floors had higher end jewelry stores and seemed to be only frequented by foreigners. We then went down to the basement which sold shoes, handbags and belts. The vendors in the basement made the others seem downright polite. They were all touching and grabbing you to come into their stalls. I tried on a pair of shoes and the clerk got a bit pissy when I didn’t want to buy them.

• JC then took us to a newly opened restaurant close to his work in the NorthWest. Very close to the Beijing Botanical Garden and the Summer Palace. JC ordered far too much food – 7 dishes – so we could try some different items. Some was great and others were just a bit outside our comfort zone! It was very good and we felt bad that we had left so much. We aren’t certain but we think JC had it packaged up and sent to his office so we felt a little better.

Botanical Gardens

• After lunch JC dropped us off at the Botanical Gardens. Very nice and guess what – large! The time of year was not the best for the Gardens. The trees look great in a few weeks when they turn color and the flowers from May to August look the best. There was a wide variety with loads of water features and a conservatory – which we avoided since it was hot and humid enough outside! Check out the spiders we spotted while walking around. They look scary.

The Place

• We were feeling a little beat but decided to go for a quick tour of a mall called The Place. Just a mall as with other brand new malls but this one has a huge LED screen over top the street 40 or 50 feet above. They have all kinds of fantasy like videos going on it.

Wed Sept 17

Weather

• Cloudy 27 degrees, not as hot as other days but still up there with the humidity

Walk to JingShan Park and around Beihai Lake Park

• Stop at a pharmacy type store and get a tensor bandage for my ankle. So far so good. Thought it would be hard to find. The concierge offered to get one but we figured we would try it ourselves. We found the store, right around the corner from the hotel and across from a hospital. There were several tensor bandages right there. Easy peasy!

• We then walked to Jingshan Park. Along the way we walked through a street where the middle is like a wide boulevard with trees and flowers and a nice path. This is a large hill man made from the material from Beihai Park and the moat around the Forbidden City. At the entrance to the park there were many huge water filled vessels with water lilies. At the top is a temple which is along the center line of the city. We got a beautiful view of Beijing. The city is very flat so even a small hill gives a great view. A sweet little old lady stopped to talk to us and asked us about our trip to Beijing. This was a good test for Gerry’s new ankle problem – going down steps was a challenge but overall SUCCESS.

• and around Beihai Lake Park. Just outside the park there was a small market. These seem to be all over outside of the hutongs. One guy had a couple of birds in cages and a cricket in a cage. This is another beautiful park. This one surrounds a lake where you can rent a boat and paddle around. There are also some old buildings with lots of history. People were playing music and dancing and playing with their hacky sacks just like at the temple of heaven.

Paralympic Closing Ceremonies

• After our last visit to the Olympic Green we decided to leave early and rely on the subway. We left the hotel at 4:00 and made it into the Olympic venue at about 5:00. The security to get into the venue was quite strict, everyone was photographed and ticket scanned. It seemed the locals had to show ID as well.

• We went to McDonald’s for supper. Yes, I know going to McDonald’s seems like a lame thing to do but it really the only food available on the Green. There was only one McDonald’s outlet on the Green but it’s huge, someone said 2000 seats, the biggest in the world! When we were eating our supper out on the grass I’m sure I saw some undercover agent guy taking pictures of the crowd. What will the government do with all this data they collect?

• We made the long trek back to the Bird’s Nest. Getting in was easy, no lineups what a treat!

• The Closing Ceremonies were absolutely terrific. Everyone got a bag with a bunch of stuff in it to use during the ceremony. Paralympic Flag, Chinese Flag, flashlight, whistle and other nic nacks. The stadium was quite warm but the time seemed to fly by. People were cheering and doing the wave before the ceremony started. Everyone was in a terrific mood and the energy filled the stadium. We were in the top tier only two rows from the edge. This gave us a great vantage point to see the whole field and see the overall movement. We really owe Pat for getting us these tickets as it may be a once in lifetime experience. (later in the week we had a chance to buy him a beer or two!).

Tuesday Sept 16

Weather

• Another day of about 27 degrees but very, very humid and the sky is the worst we have seen. In fact, so far it has been quite good. Huge thunderstorm at 6:30 with plenty of lightening.

Temple of Heaven

• Again the size of the place is amazing. The buildings are all old and most have burned down more than once. The Chinese seemed to have a thing for making numerous buildings along a straight line that can go for a long ways! It is very evident that these sites, like the Forbidden City, are important in Chinese history. Although this was the first time we saw a wider range of other nationalities our and about.

• A couple of Chinese girls were eager to have their picture taken with us. They were from northern China, where I guess foreigners are still a bit of a novelty

• They have a lot of green space around the Temple of Heaven but, alas, no one is allowed on the grass except for a few exceptions. I suppose it would all get trampled. It also explains why some 2 – 3 year olds we saw the other day at the Olympic Green seem quite fascinated with the grass.

• There were many people doing various activities in the park. Some were in a group singing. Right next to them some were playing music with interesting instruments. Some were dancing. Some were playing with a hacky sack like object (we bought one). This park seems to get used quite a lot by the locals.

798 Art District

• We took a taxi from the hotel to the 798 district, about a 25 minute drive 32Yuan, can’t beat the price. We stopped in at the info center and bought a map. The map turned out to be sort of useless as so many new galleries have recently opened. Like everything else in Beijing growing very quickly. The young lady at the info center recommended we start at the Ullens Art Centre, boy was she right! To enter the main gallery you went up some steps then into a big tube, the end was a slide into the gallery space. The whole thing was a big mixed media artwork! The main gallery contained about 30 pieces of contemporary art.

Walk around Wangfujing Street

• Went to the Foreign Language Bookstore and Gerry twisted or popped something in his ankle! Ouch.

Monday Sept 15

Weather

• 27 degrees in the morning. High near somewhere in the low 30’s. Sunnier than Sunday and you can feel the heat when in the sun. Happy to not be on the Olympic Green today.

Wangfujing Shopping

• Heidi needed more comfortable shoes after a lot of walking over the past couple of days. Started at Oriental Plaza, a two floor western style mall. After looking at the usual Nikes, Adidas etc. found a nice pair of Chinese brand runners for about $10, I think they’re supposed to be for men but I think my feet are way too big for ladies shoes here. We moved on to a department store that was connected to an absolutely humongous mall. Gerry managed to find a couple of golf shirts, size XXL! I think the Chinese would be aghast at size XXL in Canada. We also walked around a food court in one of the malls. I think I know one reason the Chinese are slimmer, their fast food is far, far healthier- no fries, no enormous drinks, fruit as the sweet etc.

Lunch and Relaxing

• We took the subway to Beixingqiao to find a restaurant listed in one of our guide books. We easily found Hua Jin Yi Yuan, a restaurant set in an old courtyard house with a roof over the middle bit. We had beef with green vegetable, prawns with broccoli and of course dumplings. We also had two beers which was a mistake. In restaurants they serve enormous bottles of beer, I think you’re supposed to order one beer for sharing.
• Just a block from our hotel there are a couple of car dealerships. We didn't go in and see how much they cost!

Sunday Sept 14

Weather

• 21 degrees in the morning. Sunny with high humidity in the afternoon and evening with a high of 31.

Cab to Olympic Green and Getting In

• It was early on Sunday so we thought we would take a cab instead of the subway. In just 20 minutes we were within a couple kilometers but it took another 10 to finish the ride. The cabby nearly killed us and others along the way.

• It took one hour to get through the Security Gate! We were constantly moving at a very slow rate. At times people were a bit pushy but overall it was pretty civil. Apparently there are only three entrances to the Olympic Green and there had to be 150,000 people there at least. Well, 90,000 at the Bird’s Nest, 20,000 at the Water Cube, unknown number at the other venues and then many, many more that just were going to The Green (which is not very green!) for the day.

Water cube

• Very cool building. The races go off in quick succession. I imagine this is the case for all Olympics but it is pretty cool to see it happening. The crowed was almost entirely Chinese with a few pockets of other nationalities cheering on. We were near some other Canadians and together we cheered like crazy for our athletes. We could not even make a dent in the cheers for Chinese athletes! Interesting to watch the various athletes get in and out of the pool and some get help at the start. The athletes with no arms have to touch the pad with their head which seems a bit cruel.

Try Locate Wheelchair Tennis

• After the swimming we wandered around the Green by the Cube and Nest. We weren't in a hurry to get to the wheelchair tennis thinking we had loads of time. Then we wandered north to get to the venue. Along the way we asked for directions and got bad advice. We ended up at the north end across the street from a large park. I knew the venue was in the park (turns out we were still at least 2 km from it). At the gate we were denied access to the park and told we needed to catch a bus near the Cube! We were assured we didn't need to go through security again. At this point we were getting hot (but thank goodness it wasn't as hot as Monday turned out to be) so we took the subway back down.
  

• Time was beginning to be a factor as it was now nearing 2 pm. We got back to the Cube and went west only to find that we did have to leave the Green to get to the bus. Then we watched many buses pass that were packed with people like they were trying to set a record for the number of people that could fit in a VW Bug! We thought about the fact that we would then have to re-enter the Green at the peak time when the Athletics came on and gave up on the Wheelchair Tennis :( I feel rather bad about missing it.

Bird’s Nest

• We then went back in to the Green and waited a bit for the Bird’s Nest to open. Once in we had a two hour wait for the events to start. In that time we watched them prepare the field. A little army of volunteers making sure the discuss throwing field was set, the high jump was ready, the podium set properly and many other tasks. Then the events began. This was definitely the highlight. Again the events are going off with precision of an army. Wheelchair athletes were getting ready while the 100 m dash preliminaries were happening.

• There was javelin and discuss going on for quite a while but these events took a back seat to the track events. The track events were definitely the highlight. We watched Chantel Petitclerc win two races! We thoroughly enjoyed it and were bagged at the end. We left a tad early to avoid the crush of 90,000 plus leaving at once and it was still packed getting out.

• The sun had set and the whole place was lit up like Christmas! The Cube glowed with changing colors as did the Broadcast Pagoda and even lights in the ground.

• At the end of the day we got back to the hotel via the subway and ate across the street at a Korean restaurant. It was a great end to the day.

Saturday Sept 13

Forbidden City

• A short walk from the hotel directly west gets us to the Forbidden City. Waiting for the doors to open we saw some army guys running in formation in a smallish circle. All the army guys are very very slim. Some are quite tall but all are slim.

• The first thing you notice is the impressive size of the City and you really can only see parts of it at one time. We arrived at the opening at 9 am so it was not as busy as I am sure it would be later on in the day. Still lots of people. Lots of the side rooms have artifacts from the days when the City was built and also from ancient times. Museum like but spread out in all the buildings surrounding the main north-south arrangement of the main halls.

Tianamen Square

• Leaving the Forbidden City we were going against the flow of people. Many thousands were heading to the City. We really dodged the major crowds there. Or not! There were many more people in the square. Probably 90% or more are Chinese people on holidays or just getting out on Saturday – really hard to tell. With such a large population it could be either or.

• The Square is also large – a recurring theme in Beijing. More army guys but this time they were marching to the Mao’s Mausoleum in the center of the square. I damn near got run over by them and I saw them coming from a ways away. Also repeated nearly everywhere are army guards standing at attention. Usually two by a gate but sometimes in the middle of nowhere.

Beijing Planning Museum

• At the south end of the Square is the Beijing Planning Museum. This is a very nice museum that isn’t too large but packed with great info about Beijing. There is a 4 by 4 foot bronze showing the surrounding hills and Beijing itself. Then there is a huge bronze of the City of Beijing on the wall – three floors tall – visible from the floors and the escalators.

• The best part is the model of the city occupying half the building on the third floor. It is completely up to date with the Olympic Venues and new buildings like the CCTV building as well as buildings being completed now. You can view it from the fourth floor as well. They have a show that lights up the streets with LED lights and colors. Kind of like a night view. There is also a larger model of the district where the CCTV building is.

• Part of the building was occupied by the British Columbia Tourism Board complete with The Bay store. We didn’t go in! On the walk back we came across a large mall not far from the hotel and ate in a food court.

Local Hutong

• From our hotel we went to a Bank of China to see about tickets for the Paralympics. Got some for Tuesday just in case Pat couldn’t get us any. From there we went for a walk through a Hutong just north of our hotel. We kind of felt like we where walking in someone’s backyard. At one point we did wander into a private place and woman was trying to tell us that. We got the message and moved on. Quite a contrast from the Peninsula to the Hutong.

• We then walk around the block – that is, the major roads back to our hotel

CCTV Building

• We wanted to go for dinner and found a Thai restaurant near the CCTV building in the Wanda Center. Took the subway for the first time. The stations where you transfer are not all that close together. The stations located at major intersections means it can be quite a hike to get to the exit you want as well. It was bright out when we left but the hotel but getting dark when we came out of the subway. We couldn’t find the Wanda center! We then decided to walk to the CCTV building. Too dark for photos and the area seemed unconnected to streets with places to eat. This made us a little sad as hunger was setting in.

• We decided to go back to the hotel and ended up eating across the street. We would have eaten anything by then!

Tour de Beijing

Our first two days have included the Forbidden City, Tiananmain Square, local Huotang, City Planning Mueseum, CCTV Building (in the dark - oh well), Large Shopping Mall, Paralympic Swimming at the Water Cube, an attempt at Paralympic Wheelchair Tennis and Paralympic Athletics at the Bird's Nest! That amounts to over 20 km of walking..........

It is 10 pm on Sunday night, tomorrow is a rest day in the Tour de Beijing 2008. I will use this day to update the photos and such. Only one blister each - not bad.

Arrive in Beijing

We made it trouble free! The flight was pretty long but we had movies to help pass the time. Heidi slept about an hour and I didn't sleep at all.

The Airport is HUGE. To get to the baggage claim we had to walk a long way, then take a train for a couple kilometers. We arrived at the baggage claim without waiting at any point to get there and, get this, OUR LUGGAGE WAS ALREADY COMING OFF THE CAROUSEL!!! They are efficient.

The cab ride was also interesting. About and hour and some times the freeway was reduced to one lane for no apparent reason and then suddenly it is opened up again. No barriers, just cops directing traffic to one lane!

I am having trouble loading data to my webspace on shaw so for now I will just put on links to Picasa.

Here is the cab ride in.

Our hotel is terrific. Here is a look at the room before we made it our home away from home.

Even without sleep we went out and went to the Donghuamen night market and had some snakes... I mean snacks!

Hiking West of Bragg Creek - Ford Creek

September 1 and yes that is snow in the mountains. It actually snowed yesterday - AUGUST!!!


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For bigger pictures you can view the album in Picasa.