So where did I go and what did I do? Here’s the lowdown:
I woke up at 5.15am, got ready and went to the hotel cafe to have breakfast at 6 before meeting Mr Xie (谢师夫), my company’s driver, at 6.30am. We then set off for MuTianYu (慕田峪) which is one of the spots to get up the Great Wall of China (万里长城). Mr Xie’s advice to start the day early was an extremely good one as I found myself having the Great Wall all to myself, being one of the first few tourists there for the day. I had everything belong to me–the greenery, fresh morning air, and the wall winding its way along the hills like a giant serpent in the misty morning. It was surreal to be standing on the Great Wall as it’s somewhere that I’ve always wanted to go to.
Seeing the magnificent structure for myself, I was in awe of it and the history surrounding it. It’s a real architectural phenomenon. Incredible. And I also imagined the battles depicted in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms (三国演义) taking place in those hills and passes.
Before the bus loads of tourists made their way up, I had already made my way down. Mr. Xie then drove me to Hong Lo Temple (红螺寺) which is situated not far from MuTianYu. This is a temple named after the two daughters of the Jade Emperor. They were said to have descended from heaven and taken the form of red snails, hence the name of the temple. Hong Lo Temple is set amidst lush greenery and one can climb up to two pavilions and a Goddess of Mercy Temple at the very top of the hill (the two pavilions are actually pretty far apart and each pavilion requires you to take a different route to get up).
Mind you, we’re not talking puny hills here. Man, these hills were bloody high. I wanted to give up halfway but decided that I should stick it out and climb all the way to the top where one of the pavilions sits. Thankfully the weather was good and it was still cool (as it was still only about 9 plus in the morning) and thank god for my regular exercise. Or else I would have had a much harder time. The walk up, though physically tough, was a lovely one with breathtaking views of the surrounding hills. After reaching the top, I lingered for a short while, taking in the view, before making my way down.
By which time, it was already about 11am. We then made our way back towards Beijing. Halfway, we stopped and had lunch at this local eatery. Thanks to Mr Xie, I had some very delicious local food and ate some dishes I had never tried before. I will write about this in a separate entry with photos to substantiate!
After lunch, he dropped me off at 798, an area which was previously occupied by factories but is now turned into a rather arty farty area filled with many small art galleries, studios and cafes. Not all the factories have been properly done up and there are still lots of construction going on. But it’s still a fun place to walk around as one appreciates the photography and artwork of Chinese contemporary artists. Factory 798 is situated on No. 4 Jiu Qian Qiao Lu, Chaoyang District.
From Factory 798, I took a taxi to Yonghe Lamasery (雍和宫) which is the oldest and biggest lamasery in Beijing. Built in 1694, it isn’t very big, but the highlight of the place is this huge 18m high statue of the Maitreya Buddha in one of the halls called WanFuGe (万福阁). This statue was carved out of the trunk of a sandalwood tree. It stands at 18m but in actual fact there’s another eight metres of it below ground. It’s an amazing structure. I tell you, that was a bloody big tree! The statue’s one of the tallest wooden statues of Buddha in China and possibly in the world! The Yonghe Lamasery is located near the heart of the city centre hence it doesn’t have the kind of lush greenery and hills surrounding it like Hong Lo Temple does. But still, seeing that big statue was pretty awesome.
As if I hadn’t already done enough walking by then, I walked to Wangfujing (王府井). I had thought the walk wouldn’t take that long, but I was wrong. It took me a good one hour. But walking along the streets of Beijing was interesting too. I got a glimpse of shops and eateries which tourists don’t frequent. By the time I reached Wangfujing, I didn’t really feel like entering the shops. Instead I hailed a taxi and made my way back to the hotel.
I got back around 5.30pm and was resting and vegeing out in front of the TV when suddenly I heard someone opening my room door!!! I was getting up from my chair when this lady from housekeeping asks, “打扰一下,请问房间打扫了吗?” (Excuse me, but has your room been cleaned yet?)
I mean, how appalling is this? How can the cleaner enter without knocking first??? What if I had been in a state of undress, or worse, if it were a couple and they were engaging in, um, something intimate? And surely that’s not the way to go about checking if you’ve had the rooms cleaned. In any case, there should have been a proper system in which such information should be compiled. I’m going to have to mention this to the manager. It’s a pretty serious matter in my opinion.
Anyway, now I’m exhausted. It’s going to be an early night for me!