Elsie’s visit – part two March 18, 2010
Posted by freda in China.trackback
Mr. Shi picked us up at 6:30 a.m. Saturday morning to get us to the airport for our flight to Beijing. It’s about a two-hour flight from Shanghai. We were met at the Beijing airport by our tour guide, Hallen, and a driver, and they took us first to our hotel to check in and freshen up, and then to a fantastic traditional Chinese restaurant (after checking we liked Chinese food) called Beijing Noodle King Restaurant, (at least, that was the translation), where Elsie and I were the only Westerners! Our entrance (well, everyone’s entrance) was greeted with a shout, and when we left there was another shout – apparently greetings of ‘come in’ and ‘come again.’ We sat on very narrow benches, and ate a feast…. It was a noisy, bustling, fun place.
delicious food!
Then, we were off to tour Tian’an Men Square and Forbidden City for the afternoon. It was freezing in Beijing (the whole weekend), but gloriously sunny on Saturday afternoon.
in front of Mao’s Mausoleum
This picture of Mao, on the wall leading into Forbidden City, is replaced every year, with a new, clean copy. This is where Mao proclaimed, on October 1, 1949, the country was now The People’s Republic of China.
We enter into Forbidden City….
fabulous roofline
in the garden at the back, where the emperors would stroll, and meet their concubines…
Back to the hotel to rest, warm up, change. Elsie and I met in the hotel lobby for a drink before dinner, and then were picked up for our Peking Duck dinner at the Jin Bao Kao Ya Restaurant, which translates to Gold Treasure Roast Duck. Another delicious meal!!
On Sunday morning we awoke to low, oppressive clouds. After breakfast we were picked up and headed first to the airport to pick up Don, coming in from Cairo. Once Don had arrived and changed into warm clothes (it was hot in Cairo, frigid in Beijing), we were off to the Badaling section of The Great Wall. As we got closer it started snowing! We stopped for lunch at the only place tourists visiting the wall can eat – a huge hall with good food, so that’s okay. When you enter you first go through a cloisonne factory and showroom, so we learned about the process of making this fine pottery, and bought a few small pieces, before making our way up to the restaurant. Then, back in the car and to the Wall. We took a cable gar to the top, and then we were there. For the cold, snowy weather, it was still rather busy. Some areas were too icy and steep for a woman with a dodgy knee (me) and a woman with a fairly new hip (Elsie), but we made our way up and down a small section, took pictures, and loved the comraderie of the people visiting the Wall on such a cold and snowy day – people helping each other to get over the icy patches, and shivering together. Hallen told us that the Chinese think of snow as lucky, so maybe a feeling of luck contributed to the joyous mood on the Wall.
Hallen, Elsie and I wrapped up against the cold…
We drove back to Beijing and were on our own for the evening. We decided to go back to the Beijing Noodle King Restaurant for dinner (within walking distance of our hotel) so Don could experience the fantastic food and fun atmosphere. After another huge, delicious meal, we stopped on the way back to the hotel for a foot massage – ahhhh – the perfect end to the day!
On Monday morning it was snowing in the city! After packing up and checking out of the hotel, we were picked up and driven to a hutong – Beijing’s traditional courtyard housing – where we took a rickshaw ride through the narrow alleys, getting out to walk across the bridge of the lake, and through the central shopping area. It was beautiful in the snow (though cold), and a much more interesting hutong area than Don and I had been taken to during out trip in June 2008.
so many doorways, off the alleys, into the homes…
beautiful, colourful displays in the shops –
Next we toured the Olympic Site. The Bird’s Nest Stadium really is spectacular.
We wandered around the grounds a bit, and then had to stop for a washroom break – where these two delightful signs were found! (I love the “Chinglish.”)
Then we had lunch in another Chinese restaurant, where Hallen often eats with her husband and family. We sampled many delicious speciality dishes, including donkey! (We ate so much food during our trip I ended up gaining a pound a day – even with all the walking!)
In the afternoon we went first to a silk factory, where we were given a demonstration on how silk is made, and where we could buy quilts if we wanted (we declined this time)….
and then to a carpet factory, where we saw how silk carpets are hand-woven…
and then Don and I spent a great deal of time deliberating over a carpet, finally buying this gorgeous one for our office…
After that, it was time to head to the airport for our evening flight back to Shanghai.
We were exhausted after our very full weekend in Beijing, and Tuesday was a cold and rainy day in Shanghai, so we had a quiet day – just a little shopping.
On Wednesday, the first sunny day of Elsie’s stay in Shanghai, Mr. Shi picked us up at 9:30 and we went to a nearby “water village” called Zhujiajiao, about an hour’s drive from the city. My Shanghai guide book describes it as “a charming tableau of Ming and Qing dynasty alleys, bridges and old town architecture.” Three are some worthwhile sites, including a Buddhist Temple, a lovely little art gallery, and a fantastic 400-year old, 72m-long, five-arched bridge. Mr. Shi wandered the village with us, and was very helpful in bargaining for a good price on a couple of purchases, as well as finding what was probably the only western-style toilet in the whole town, at the hotel. He also picked a restaurant for our lunch, and chose our food from the strictly-in-Chinese-with-no-pictures menu – everything was delicious! We also hired a little boat, available at several points, for a water-way tour of the town. All in all, a lovely three hours in a quaint little village that feels like a step back to yester-year.
Mr. Shi
scenes by the canal…
and in the town..
Once back in the city, Elsie and I took the ferry across the river to the fabric market to pick up the last of her made-to-measure clothes.
Back on the ferry to home, and then Don arrived (with Mr. Shi) to pick us up and we went to the Shanghai World Finance Centre, to ride the elevator up to the world’s highest observation deck on the 100th floor, where we watched the sun set and the lights come on around the city. The view is quite spectacular, especially looking down on the Jinmao Tower, which is such a beautifully-constructed building.
Don and Freda and Haibei, the Expo mascot
our apartment complex –
On Thursday, we started Elsie’s last day by walking to the Pearl Tower and bought a ticket to the middle ‘bauble,’ where we enjoyed the 360-degree view of the city, and then down to the basement which houses a very good museum on the history of Shanghai. Then we walked back along the river – where Elsie had walked in the cold and fog on her first day. It was so nice to enjoy the walk in the glorious sunshine. We stopped at the riverside Starbucks for a small bite and drink, and then back to the apartment for Elsie to finalize her packing. Mr. Shi picked us up at 2:30, and we drove to Don’s office, where we toured the building, met Don’s Admin Assistant, Vivian, and then we were off to the airport to check Elsie in and say goodbye. Our first visitor, and a successful visit….
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