Sept. 19- The next morning, we headed to the Mongolian Embassy. Let's back up a second for those who haven't gotten the scoop yet...
JJ's former high school teacher in boarding school, Miss Suzanne Duree, has globe trotted to places like Myanmar and now Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, where she is now a teacher,counselor, &administrator. Along our trip, we communicated with her via email and she invited us to visit if we so desired. Well, we had allotted a full 2-1/2 weeks to Beijing for either travel to remote China or Mongolia. We chose to just cover Beijing this trip and use it as a launching pad for a Mongolian trek to the Gobi Desert, since Mongolia is hard to get to and we may never get this close again.
So we were headed to the Mongolian Embassy to get visas for travel to Mongolia. While waiting in line at the embassy, we read a sign that said visas were not required for a select few countries, such as the US and Cuba (huh?). We jetted off after the usual 'should we get one just in case this sign is wrong?' discussion, and headed to dim sum at the Comfort Inn hotel restaurant called "the Deluxe", again recommended by Jerry.
The Deluxe was a bit quiet and formal looking, but the food was great. Of course, it took 45 minutes to find out since it took 30 minutes just to order! This is not the regular dim sum we have in the states, where the overly aggressive women push carts around and throw plates of incredible looking items on your table. Here, the menu was in Chinese only & there wasn't a cart to be found. We asked for someone who speaks English, and of course the demure polite girl explained in broken English that she spoke English (similar to the amount of Swahili that we speak). We didn't have the heart to burst her bubble and ask for someone else, so we just suffered thru the standard ordering procedure of J3 digging into the phrasebook until we just said thinks like "dumplings" and "pork" and hoped we'd get lucky. Well, we did get lucky because it was great food.
After lunch, we were off to a travel agency to talk Mongolian travel stuff, gave the agent our thoughts, and we planned on talking the next day to discuss what he found. We then visited Yashow Market to buy thermal underwear for Mongolia. Yashow is a 5 story building with miles of shops selling clothing, souvenirs, electronics, sunglasses, suitcases, etc. After an afternoon nap, we had a big dinner with Jerry- Peking Duck, crab, veggies, all washed down with some traditional warm rice wine. We then went over to Jerry's to see his place. After finding out the massage shop in his building was closed, we headed home.
Sept. 20- UP AND OUTTA THERE! We left Gongti Hostel and headed to Red House. What a difference a few dollars makes! Obviously we're getting older, and we now have limits on just how much we'll suffer to save a few bucks! Again, the lingering colds definitely had a lot to do with it.
After dropping our things off in the new abode, we headed to the Forbidden City, called Gu Gong in Chinese, the famous walled city which was the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It is the world's largest palace complex and covers 183 ares, surrounded by a six meter deep moat and a ten meter high wall, and consists of 9,999 buildings. We wandered the many different areas of the city trying to follow the bad audio guides we rented, although we only were able to get to 9,998 of the buildings, we still enjoyed it immensely. The weather was rainy & overcast, but that didn't take away from the beauty of the City.
Afterwards, we walked next door to Tienanmen Square, the large plaza named for the Tienanmen (Gate of Heavenly Peace) which sits to its north, separating it from the Forbidden City. It is seen by many as the symbolic heart of the Chinese Nation. Outside of China, the square is best known for the protests of 1989. Built in 1417, the square is 880 x 500 metres, making it the largest open-urban square in the world, much larger than Russia's Red Square, giving it an area of 440,000 square meters.
After turning down a few high priced cabs and catching the economy type (2 dollars cheaper- YES!), we got home and went next door to dinner at the Football Club, a pub/sports bar next to-and connected to- our hotel, which never seemed to have any customers but us and a few random people, although the pub grub was just what the doctor ordered. Burgers and shepherd's pie and 10 quai Tsingtao was the menu tonight.
Sept. 21- Up & at 'em early, and after a 2-3 hour ride we arrive at the Simatai section of the Great Wall.
The Great Wall was originated as separate sections built by 3 different Chinese states as a defensive fortification around 700-600 BC. It didn't become the "Great" wall until the Qin Dynasty, when Emperor Qin Shihuang had all the walls joined together to fend off the invasions from the Huns in the north. It finally took its current form during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). The "great" part is due to the fact that it's approximately 6,700 kilometers (4,163 miles) long, and- if you believe the UNPROVEN rumor- is the only man-made structure on earth can be seen from space.
The Simatai section is the least renovated of the tourist stops at the wall, creating an air of authenticity that has earned it the reputation of being the most beautiful section of the Great Wall. Here, the wall really looks as one would expect it to look some 500 years after it was built during the Ming Dynasty...with sections that have crumbled and are impassable.
We had an awesome day which included a gondola ride and mini-train ride up to the top, hiking around the wall & surrounding area, and even riding a cable swing thing part of the way down....whatever it's called, it was fun. Almost more amazing than the views was the little old ladies that were fit enough to follow us up & around the wall trying to sell postcards, souvenirs, etc.
After 30 minutes of wondering whether or not the bus left us, we found it & the group (whew!). After a nap-happy ride home till 9pm, we went to Serve the People, a great Thai food Jerrecommendation!! Bought some Tsingtao at the shop near the hotel and did some internet before beddy bye.
Sept. 22- We reserved a spot on the Mongolian Airlines (MIAT) flight by phone & headed off to the Summer Palace, the best example of the typical Chinese garden, and is ranked amongst the most noted and classical gardens of the world. It was basically the royal family's "summer house" to get away from the heat & craziness of the Forbidden City. The main area with the most famous buildings was closed for renovations, which we have noticed several times here in Beijing. They were obviously getting ready for the Olympics in 2008. But the parts we did see were impressive- great architecture, jade, theater replica, beautiful garden escapes from the heat, lakes, hills, etc. Yep, a palace fit for an emperor.
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