Book me in for an emergency lung transplant!!! – i need one!!!
We all here about how some places in the world, China to name one, never have the privilege of experiencing a blue sky. Knowing this seems so sad, but seeing it an putting it all into perspective, it was really quite depressing. The pollution in this city is absolutely foul, i don’t know how people could live there....
I did manage to enjoy myself in the cloud of smoke. I didn’t get the chance to see the Great Wall, which i must tick off my list one day, due to the weather. The view wouldn’t have been the best at this time of year apparently. But the 24hrs i was there, was actually long enough. You could taste the pollution in the air, and even your clothing, reeked of dirty smoke.
The adventures of my trip were that i played tourist for the day, spending hours walking around the Forbidden City, which was brilliant!!! The Forbidden City is the home of the Emperor, Imperial Palaces and imperial gardens, of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. I saw Tian’ anmen Square, The Heaven’s Heart Stone, the Temple of Heaven which is the place where the Ming and Qing Emperors came to pray for good harvests and also the Summer Palace, the Echo Wall and the Triple Sound Stones.
There were people everywhere in these places, quite amusing as there were people older than you Daddy, that were playing hacky-sack!!! And there were ladies performing dance and song routines, and it was obvious they have never been to a dance class, even a disco in their lives.... But it was great to see that they loved it, and thought they were brilliant. Card games and checkers was being played by the hundreds, and there is no such thing as placing the card down, they slam it down as if they hae just gambolled their lives away.
The rest of the arvo i spent at the silk and pearl markets. Didn't buy anything there though, cheap fakies, and lots of crap to be honest - nearly got tempted with a bag, but once i left, i didn't regret going home with a wallet full of cash!!! Was quite impressed with that actually. Even the pearls, no matter how cheap and how good the quality was, they are......lets be honest, way to grandma-ish for me thanks!!!
The weirdest thing i found, was that one of my missions was to find a supermarket (more than challenging with the language barrier – i have no idea how this place is going to be able to host an Olympic games – good luck, they’ll need it! – those poor athletes!!!) I wanted to stock up on lots of little goodies, and flavours for my cooking at home. Once i found it however, the selection was most disappointing. There is more Chinese variety found in the local wollies at home, than in a giant super store in the middle of Beijing City??? I also never realized how poor China is, the rich are absolute millionaires, and the poor are poor. We've got it pretty damn' good!!!
Favourite Event:
Went out to dinner and ordered a meal, of.... i have no idea, the language barrier once again! It was far from the best and tastiest meal i have had, but the flavours and i spoze, the mystery of not knowing what we were ordering was both exciting and intriguing. The thick wooden tables has gas stoves in built in the centre, then they bring out a massive bowl, full of different flavoured broths, which u boil, and then out comes the raw, fish, noodles, and tofu. So it was similar to Korean in the way you end up cooking for yourself. It was so much fun, as all the workers of the restaurant were surrounding us around the table, laughing at us, been so motivated about the experience, but having completely no idea at the same time. There were times where we had to be basically spoon fed, with what to do...
Favourite Purchase:
Chocolate Cream and Peanut Butter Oreo’s! They are amazing, and it is typically impossible to open a packet without finishing the pack in one sitting. Glad i bought a few packets for that reason!!! not glad for the waist line but!!! (Not traditionally Chinese either??? Hmmmm????)
