duck hunt

My last couple days in Beijing were interesting – and frustrating. In the end I found Beijing to be quite challenging and felt like I barely even scratched the surface in terms of visiting its neighborhoods. The city is impossibly huge - growing in every direction (including up). I spent most of time getting from one site to another – and not really getting a good feel for the city itself or really understanding any differences between neighborhoods. Tiananmen Square, the Summer Palace, and Beijing tower are all very nice and well worth visiting but I really wished I’d been able to explore the city a bit further. Several things I learned

1. It’s not worth being stubborn and trying to walk from place to place– city blocks here are massive and taxis are much more efficient. That being said, it can also be extremely frustrating sitting in traffic with the cabs meter running. The subway is decent, but doesn’t cover the entire city and the buses are way overcrowded. Pick your poison.

2. The Lonely Planet map is not detailed enough and is hopelessly out of date already (only 1.5 years old). Definitely worth investing in a current map. There’s nothing more frustrating than making it all the way to an area only to find several city blocks have been completely razed and are in the process of being rebuilt.

3. Rudimentary Mandarin does not get you very far. The only people who seem to speak any English are those likely to make some money from knowing the language – in other words they’re trying to rip you off.

4. Speaking of which – bargaining is an art which I have not yet mastered. Regardless of how low I go, I still feel like I’m getting ripped off. For example, I’ve gotten sodas for 25 cents instead of 40 cents, but still feel like I could have saved a few more cents with just a bit more effort. I also got a pair of sunglasses for 1/10 the original asking price, yet once again, I felt like I got ripped off in the end – after all they wouldn’t have sold them to me if they weren’t making a profit…

Anyway, Beijing wasn’t all bad. I met some pretty cool people at the hostel and during the Great Wall trip with whom I hung out on Saturday and Sunday. I also got to have some Peking Duck, which was fantastic – though as it turns out, eating a half duck by yourself is a bit much! On Sunday night I hopped on the overnight train to Xi’an where I am spending a couple of days. The 11-hour train ride was reasonably comfortable and with a little help from Dramamine, I slept for all but the final hour of the trip. Today, I spent a few hours just walking around the city aimlessly and enjoying some of the street food in the Muslim Quarter. I think tomorrow I’ll be headed to the Terracotta Army and then will fly to Kunming on Wednesday to start the more outdoorsy part of the trip. After spending so much time in large polluted cities, I am very much looking forward to that.