China is a unique place, especially Beijing.
Overall Beijing was not what I expected it to be. I was thinking it was going to look and feel like most large cities: Hong Kong, Atlanta, New York City, Chicago, Riga etc, covered in skyscrapers. Beijing is a large than life sprawling city with areas of tall building and massive hotels that all surround historical part of the city….The Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, etc. Here are some highlights from the city:
1. Driving. From what meets the eye, China has good structure: paved roads, stop lights, large bike/tuck tuck/moped lanes, etc. But somewhere along the way driving in an orderly manner got thrown out the window. If you were going slow, they were not hesitant to pass you in the bike lane, or just drive between two lanes. When it came to making left hand turns at a stop light there was a constant battle of chicken because people turning left had a green arrow and the people coming from the other direction also had a green light majority of the time. So it was a full on dash to make a left hand turn. I also came to the conclusion that most people don’t check their mirrors before changing lanes, they just assume the other car will get out of the way. Do to all the extra driving habits by others, it made crossing the street at a stop light like the game frogger gone bad….cars came at you from every direction despite the fact you had a green man telling you it was safe to cross.
2. Fire Cups. This was a highly memorable experience and grateful that I partook. During one of our debrief days in Beijing a group of us decided to go get massages. Brilliant idea! I started off with a 30 minute local deep tissue massage on my back, shoulders, and neck. Needless to say that lady was able to insert her thumb between bones that I didn’t even realize existed and massaged a muscle beneath. When she was working on my neck, I thought for sure she was going to separate my spine.
Then came about 20 minutes or so of fire cups for my back and shoulders. Basically they take round glass cups and heat up the inside with a flame. Once it is hot, they quickly place it on your back which creates a suction and your skin wells up inside. Yes, it is like getting a hickey. The lady would put one cup on the right side of my back, then on the left side she would place another then move it up and down my spine. Regularly re-heating the cup and using different diameters too. Overall the entire process felt very good and only hurt when the cup was placed on a sore spot that was created during the first massage. In the end you came up feeling kind of sore but well worth it…..and you got a back that looks this….
3. Pearl Market…insert crazyness. An indoor 5 story building filled with vendors and bargaining to be done. The place is known for its pearls but they definitely sold anything and everything from watches, handbags, jewelry, clothing, knick knacks, etc. It was kind of fun to negotiate prices on fake Rolexes or anything really to see how low you could go. I determined that if you paid more than 10-15% of the initial asking price then you way over spent. So if you find yourself in Beijing, looking for name brand items be sure to check out the Pearl Market and whatever you do…don’t pay full price.
4. Public Transportation. The bus system seems to be the biggest known mystery in Beijing. The buses run, you can see them often but good luck in figuring out when the next bus arrives or trying to find an overview bus route map. Those things just don’t exist. In Europe there was a bus schedule and they showed up every time within a minute or two or the schedule….somehow China did not get that figured out when designing their system. We had the pleasure of taking 2 buses one way to get to Roundabout each day so we got to fully experience the craziness. Some days your bus would show up in a couple minutes but majority of the time it was a 30 minute to 45 minute wait. The funny thing is while you waited at one stop, say for the 942 bus, bus number 26 will come 4 times in a row and sometimes at the exact same time as another bus 26. Patience is definitely tested while riding the buses.
5. Fast Food. Overall I was surprised by the lack of fast food throughout Beijing. You could find an occasional Subway, KFC, McDonalds but they were few and far between especially compared to Hong Kong. The good thing was there is plenty of delicious local places to eat and it was always a treat. Some of my best dining experiences came from wandering into a local place that did not have pictures on the menu so I literally just pointed at things on the menu within my price range and enjoyed whatever came out.
Oh…I did partake in Snack Street too. A place where you could get about any insect you desired. I went with a group of people and tried: star fish, snake, scorpion, lamb testicle.
