With the world’s largest population, it is no surprise that China builds big. We experienced this first hand by landing at terminal 3 – the largest airport terminal in the world. Just to transit on from the terminal to the main portion of the airport, we had to take a couple minute tram ride. Finding a taxi was no problem and getting to our first destination a breeze, thanks to our couchsurfing host, Chris, who emailed us his address in student housing using Chinese characters. First thoughts about the country (based off of what we were seeing in Beijing) – orderly, picked up, great infrastructure, very modern, and such poor air quality you can smell the pollution which initially gave me a headache. For the 5 days we spent in Beijing we were graciously hosted by Chris, Ben, and Wes, as well as their friends, all students studying abroad from Oregon & Washington State University. Having them as hosts made things VERY easy for us – they graciously translated menus and ensured we tried a range of local delicacies, they wrote instructions/addresses in Chinese characters so we could present them to taxi drivers/bus drivers, and they answered many of our typical tourist questions – which is the best part of the Great Wall to visit, how do you say “------------ “ in Chinese, where is the best shop to find ripoff DVDs, what is the best price to pay for fake watches, How do we buy train tickets etc. etc. Without them Mike and I may never have left Beijing.

The other part that made traveling in Beijing fun was our continued travels with Blaine and Bethany. By this point they knew Mike and I better than some of our close friends. If 2 heads are better than 1, 4 is definitely better than 2. Although traveling in a group makes things slightly more complicated (more people to force out of bed and harder to stay on schedule), it also means having numerous people to help problem solve through communication or transportation difficulties and slants these experiences towards funny vs. frustrating.

So during the day, when our hosts were in class, the 4 of us ventured out to see Beijing’s main tourist attractions; Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, attempted to buy tickets to an acrobat show, and the highlight – our venture to the Great Wall. All except the Great Wall was disappointing. China, like the USA in many ways, does not do a good job at preserving its history or culture. The development theme, rip down the old to make way for the new. This is in conjunction with China’s history of dictatorial regimes directly attacking and destroying historical and cultural relics. So this leaves the current structures as tourist attractions that are merely shadows of their previous significance or as replicas of the originals– which is why initially interesting places like those mentioned above seriously lack any sort of authenticity.

However, our journey to the Great Wall ended up being a trip highlight. Choosing to stay away from the crowds, we took what turned out to be a 3-hour jaunt each way by taxi and buses to a lesser-known section of the great wall. Our 6 mile hike along the top of the wall started at Jinshanling and proceeded through 30 watchtowers, across hilly terrain with vegetation demonstrating the start of spring, encountering only a hand full of other tourists and touts and ending 3.5 hours later in Simatai. The day climaxed excitingly when we paid our taxi driver to chase down the last bus back to Beijing.

Another must experience in Beijing is the infamous Silk market. This is a multi-level complex sheltering vendors selling every type of “knockoff” good imaginable. A shopping spree here leaches all your energy since one must haggle with every vendor over prices starting at 10x more than a fair rate. One example: Rachel, one of the students studying in China, is Chinese American and speaks Mandarin good enough to fool the Chinese vendors. She was sweet enough to take us shopping. Shopping separately we were both interested in a pair of “Puma” tennis shoes. The initial price quoted to her (meaning she too was expected to haggle a bit) was equivalent to the USA dollar amount $8.50, and my /(quoted starting price was $64.50. The discrepancy demonstrates that the actual cost of these knock off goods is VERY low and that all non-Chinese tourists get completely ripped off (unless you can fool the locals into thinking you are native). I never did get my hoped for rate of $5, and ended up paying $12 for my “Pumas”. The amazing thing is tourists actually believe they are getting good prices because some believe the façade and think they are getting the “real” item. Let me give an example – it is possible to buy a Movado watch, a Prada purse, Gucci sunglasses, Nike shoes, North Face jackets, Canon cameras, well the list goes on and on. All of these things have the correct logos, are based off of current fashion/design, and the vendors will tell you these are of “same quality” or more intelligently “nearly the same quality”. It is a farce, and in the end some items hold up over time and others, well, let’s just say you get what you pay for.

After 5 days in Beijing it was time to get off the couch and head south. Saying goodbye to our Couch surfing hosts and saying a final, sad farewell to Blaine and Bethany as they were heading home to Oregon, Mike and I embarked on a 22 hour train journey south to the province of Jiangxi.

April 17th - May 5th
China

April 17th - 21st
Being Coddled in Beijing

April 22ng - 30th
Tourism in China : Disneyfied & Pricy

April 30th – May 5th
Smiling In Shanghai