Back in Canada: Pros and Cons

As I sit in the Vancouver airport waiting for my connecting flight back to Montreal, I am missing China already, but there are some great things about being "home"!

Pros:
- Tim Hortons
- Announcements in English, Mandarin AND French
- My mom and cats waiting for me at home
- So many more multicultural faces
- Friends I haven't seen in ages
- I don't need to use VPN anymore
- Being able to communicate again

Cons:
- Expensive stuff
- I miss all my Schoolhouse people
- No street food
- Tax not included
- Scary future ahead

I guess I'll just have to go back someday soon!

Yes, It Really Does Happen...

So a conversation with my Dad this morning went something like this...

Me: I guess we should check-in online this morning
Ter: Okay, let me find my ticket...
Ter: What date is it today?
Me: The 22nd I think, why?
Ter: I think my ticket says our flight is on the 22nd.
Me: No, we're flying tomorrow, the 23rd
Ter: No, it definitely says the 22nd
Me: Okay, hold on a second. Let me look at mine.
Me: Mine says the 22nd too!!!! I guess we had better get packing!

Don't you all worry, we made it onto the flight just fine and there was nothing in particular we had really wanted to do on our last day in Beijing, but we did have a pretty big scare. I think we scared my mom too because we had a few panicky e-mails/facebook messages from her... :p

The Summer Palace, the Zoo Market and Hot Pot

We succeeded in making it to the Summer Palace today even though we didn’t get up any earlier than yesterday. After stopping by our favourite breakfast place for a rolled omelette/pancake thing and some vegetable pakora-type balls, we took the subway over to the giant park and wandered for a few hours, stopping only for a game of chess.

When we finished there, we took the subway over to the zoo market so that my dad could experience real Chinese shopping. I had to explain that it is called the zoo market because it is near the zoo and not because it is a zoo! Picture thousands of stalls crowded together while shoppers drag huge carts and bundles in the aisles. It is a wholesale market so practically nobody buys just one piece. On the upside though, you don’t really need to bargain. I bought a great pair of red cords and my dad got a top and a jacket – I hope he didn’t get them just to get us out of there!

By the time we finished there it was around 4 pm and we were getting quite hungry, since we hadn’t had lunch. So we headed back into the now very crowded subway and over to my favourite hot pot chain – Xiabu Xiabu. They have no English or pictures on their menu, however, so if you recall, I had had Tana write down an order for us ahead of time so I could just hand the waitress a piece of paper and get our food. Our server found this hilarious – and had to show all her friends – but it worked like a charm! We each got our own pot of broth (spicy for my dad, not for me), a huge plate of different types of lettuce and a few other veggies, mushrooms, xiao jiaozi (tiny dumplings), lamb, peanut, coriander and green onion sauce, a mango drink for me and a beer for Ter. I’m not sure I can remember the last time I was so full!

Instead of taking our chances on the subway, we decided to walk back to the hostel. After a quick nap we played another couple of games of chess and now we are making plans for our last day tomorrow!

Museum, Shopping and Edible Bugs

We got quite a late start this morning so instead of heading to the Summer Palace, we decided to wander over to the Chinese National Museum. Museums aren’t my favourite place and this one was no exception, but we got to see lots and lots of bits of clay pots and tools and what not. I spent a while sitting on a bench writing postcards while my dad walked slowly though so it was a productive couple of hours at least. J

 

 

 

After we finished there, we took the subway over to Yashow market to pick up some LeSportSacs that had been requested by my mother. I bargained strategically and we also got a gift for my Grandpa as well as lunch at my favourite hole in the wall behind the building. My dad had never been to a Chinese market before so it was a bit of an experience for him – five floors of “Lady, lady…look, look…you want t-shirt? I give you good price” – but I think he had a good time.

I had read about there being an English bookstore (called “The Bookworm”) near there and had tried, unsuccessfully, to find it a couple times before but last time I went by on the bus, Tana told me exactly where it was so we decided to go check it out. It had a nice selection of books and looked like it would have been a decent place to sit and have a warm drink but the prices were fairly expensive so we headed back onto the subway (during rush hour, another new experience for Ter) toward Wangfujing and the night market.

The night market is different from a regular Chinese market. It has only food, and not your typical food at that. Of course there are noodles and dumplings and what not but we also had deep fried pumpkin, scorpions, silk worm pupas and crab buns. Yum!

We made it back to the hostel for a couple of games of chess and a nice e-mail from Tana saying that she is not dead (since I wrote to ask this morning as she hadn’t answered my last two e-mails).

We’re going to attempt the Summer Palace again tomorrow and hopefully the zoo market as well. Only two days left!

Would You Like a Knife and Fork?

We slept in for a while this morning (to make up for staying up until 2 am at the Brickyard) and headed straight out for lunch. I took my dad to my favourite dumpline place in the back corner of a Wu-mart and we tried all kinds of different fillings. It's always fun to go there because you just point at what you want and they make them in front of you.

 

 

After lunch, we headed towards TianAnMen Square and met Pete on the way. No, you haven't heard of Pete before, so don't worry if you're lost! As you may know, my dad likes talking to strangers and Pete was a stranger who looked lost. So, we headed over and asked if he needed help finding something on his map. He told us he was lost and was trying to get to TianAnMen Square and the Forbidden City. We told him we were going that way and he could follow us if he wanted to. Well apparently he did want to, because he joined us in walking all the way there and then wouldn't leave. "Oh, you're going to walk around for 30 minutes or so. I'll join you," he said. "Were you thinking about going for lunch? I could come..." "No Peter. We ate already!" He also always seemed to have a trail of would-be tour guides trying to sell him tickets to acrobatics shows and great wall trips -- perhaps because he kept answering them!



We finally lost him when we wandered over to Qianmen and he went on to the Forbidden City. My mom wanted a few more knives so we had to go back to the knife store and the street is simply a cool restored hutong to visit. I got some more barley tea as well and we had some noodles for a late second lunch.



We walked back to the hostel for a quick nap before heading back out for dinner. The expats we took the Schoolbus with yesterday had recommended a place on Ghost Street for Beijing Duck so we decided to try that. Unfortunately we set out trying to find a bank on the way and had to go all the way back past the hostel when we got there because there apparently wasn't one on our route. Eventually we sat down and ordered our duck and a vegetable dish. They had 2 different kinds of duck so I figured we should ask the waitress what the difference was. Her answer: "The more expensive one is better." No duh!



She brought over an English speaking waiter, but his explanation wasn't much better. He did ask if we would like a knife and fork though... Eventually we followed their advice as they said it was more traditional. It wasn't quite like any duck I had had before, but it was quite tasty. Instead of hoisin sauce it came with plum sauce and we got fruit (cantaloupe, haw and pineapple) instead of raddish.

We grabbed some amazing smelling angel food cake-type street food on the way home for dessert and are now sitting in bed enjoying the warmth of our room!

As long as the weather stays nice, I think we're off to the Summer Palace tomorrow.

Goodbye!

Thanks to Jim's wonderful generosity, my dad and I got to stay in a room at the Brickyard last night. It was so wonderful to see everyone again but impossibly sad to say goodbye!

 

We headed out to the Brickyard in my usual manner early yesterday morning. We left most of our luggage at the hostel and taking only a daypack with us, took the subway to Dongzhimen bus station (stopping for a quick lunch) and then the hour long bus to Huairou. When we got there, we dropped by the grocery store to pick up and apple and many packs of m&m's (more on this later) and then went to find one of the mini-buses that would take us to the roundabout near the Brickyard. Although this is normally how I get there from Beijing, I should mention that living in China has perhaps distorted my impression of what a mini-bus should be like. It is basically a van with two normal rows of seats plus a little stool and added bench -- thus you can fit about 10 cramped people. I take it because it costs 1/10 of what a taxi would and it usually isn't so squished but we somehow ended up with 10 people + 2 babies + 1 toddler = insanity!

 

Anyways, we made it eventually and walked the 15 minutes or so to the Brickyard. It was very exciting to see everyone was there and lots of hugs were exchanged. We checked in and then decided that since the weather was so nice we should quickly head up to the wall just in case it wasn't today. So, we grabbed a couple apples and hiked over to the Schoolhouse to say hi to everyone else (loads more hugs) and then on to the wall. We took one of the only paths I had yet to try and made it up in about half an hour. We were a bit worried about getting caught up there or walking back after dark so after taking a few pictures we headed back to the Brickyard.

 

 

We were all supposed to go out for dinner at Begalar but it closed at 4pm (what normal restaurant closes at 4pm on a Saturday night?????) so we went to a different local restaurant instead. I had never tried it before, but the food was very good and Gina, Tessa, Mona, Zhan Li Jie, Zuo Yong Jie, my dad and I exchanged stories over a lovely meal!

 

We brought some food back for Thomas and Tana who were on night duty and I hung out with them in the lodge. Eventually Thomas went back to the residence, but Tana and Gina (who joined us at 11:30 and promptly fell asleep in an armchair) stayed and chatted with me until 2 am!

 

Silly me forgot it was Sunday today (which means breakfast ends at 11 am instead of 9 am) got up around 8 so as not to miss breakfast. We lingered around he Brickyard for a few hours and then went out hiking again -- to the Wild Wall this time. The sky wasn't quite as clear but Ter enjoyed seeing a different, unrestored and overgrown, part of the wall. I even convinced him to take a jumping picture!

 

We walked back down to the Schoolhouse for a late lunch (a burger and club sandwich), spent a while looking in the glass shop and watching Jian Jian Mei making small pieces, and spending my last short time with all my friends.

At 6 o'clock it came time to say goodbye as we boarded the Schoolbus which (much more conventiently I must say) took us back to Beijing. We navigated the subway with my heavy suitcase filled with six month's worth of posessions -- with Zuo Yong Jie's help -- and made it back to the hostel. I'm not sure it had clicked yet that I will most probably never see most of the Schoolhouse people again, but Tana is already planning a trip to Canada so I guess I will have to hold on to that!

If any of you are reading this, you are awesome and I miss you like crazy!

Tiger Leaping Gorge, or My Dad the Mountain Goat/Backpack Sandwich

We left Lijiang very early on Wednesday when our bus driver came to collect us to travel to Tiger Leaping Gorge. We left most of our luggage behind, carrying only a small day pack each containing lots of snacks and warm clothes. There were very few of us on the bus – 6 or 7 passengers – and he dropped us off at the part of the trek they call Lower Tiger Leaping Gorge. From there we were able to follow arrows all along for the 7 hours we hiked that day.

It started gradually going uphill until we came to the portion they call the 28 bends. I am convinced there were more like 45 of these turns that seemed to go up and up forever. We took numerous breaks and were very glad we had brought so many snacks. We only took one wrong turn (costing us half an hour or so) and it eventually levelled off for the last 3 hours or so before we reached out hostel around 5:45pm. My dad took pity on me and carried my backpack for a good part of the way (leading to the Backpack Sandwich) and had we wanted to we also could have given in to the incessant cries of the locals pointing at their horses and saying “horse!” but decided against that as a) I didn’t want to smell like horse, b) it didn’t look too safe and c) I figured I could use my money for better things.

The Half-Way guesthouse was beautifully built and the view from our room was amazing, but the staff was less than helpful. The bathrooms were perhaps the most amazing part. Each cubicle had 3 walls and a trough down the middle. Where the 4^th wall would have been, it was simply open onto the mountains! We had a nice dinner of fried rice and noodles before heading to bed around 7:30. We hadn’t brought any games or cards and despite them having both chess and go pieces there were no boards to be found, so there wasn’t much to do after it got dark.

We got a lovely 12 hours' sleep before having pancakes for breakfast and heading back out again towards Tina’s Guesthouse, where we were to catch a bus back to Lijiang. It was a two hour or so hike, downhill on uneven rocks most of the way. If I thought going uphill yesterday was bad, descending was perhaps worse. I lost my footing every minute or so, sidestepped scaring my dad at one point, fell another couple of times, scraping my hands up, and even face planted once. Whereas my Dad’s suggestion was: “Let’s walk faster and pass these people in front of us,” an amazingly nice Korean couple behind us got out their first aid kit, bandaged up my hand and even offered me one of their walking sticks.

When we finally made it to Tina’s, we took a short break for some more snacks and got directions to a path from there that was to take us down into the gorge, as we still had a while before the bus left. The Korean couple must have felt pretty sorry for me because the woman even bought me a cup of coffee and brought it outside for me – I guess all North Americans like coffee…It was a lovely gesture and I pretended to drink it appropriately.

The path we followed next was no less steep but had much better footing and we followed steps (and a short ladder) about 2/3 of the way down. At the spot we stopped, another long ladder continued down and we decided that the climb back up was going to be tough enough already. Also, as a guy who had gone all the way down said: “The view’s about the same…just closer.”

Surprisingly, the walk up was actually faster (I guess I had been watching my footing very carefully on the way down) and we made it back in time to have more rice and noodles at Tina’s before the bus. We both slept for a good part of the way back and went out for another stroll through Old Lijiang and dumplings before bed.

We had a relaxing morning today and headed out to the airport for our flight to Beijing. It has been pretty uneventful so far (apart from being late) and we head up to Mutianyu and the Great Wall tomorrow!