BYE-BYE BEIJING

Day 6, March 27th

Last night was our last night in Beijing.  After all of the walking we have done for the past few days, we decided to stay at the hostel, shower and rest.  It was much needed.  I was so exhausted and stuffed from the Peking Duck, that I only had a cappuccino for dinner.

Today has been nothing but a waiting day, which is nice.  We are all still wiped out from being on the go for three days straight morning to night.  We had talked about going to the Summer Palace today, but after our experience at The Forbidden City we decided it wasn’t worth the trip out there.  It would likely be just as packed.

Mom being "patient".

For lunch we headed out to a place that was recommended by the staff of The Red Lantern.  They said it was traditional Chinese food, cheap and had an English menu.  They were two for three.  Nothing was in English and no one there could speak it.  But, it was definitely the best meal we have had in Beijing the entire time.  I handled all of the ordering, which consisted of a confused look followed by pointing.  They didn’t even understand Coca Cola.  I had to get up and lead the staff to the kitchen and point to the Coke.  But, we ended up with a great meal and were ready to head to the train station.

Three people loaded down with huge backpacks and likely unable to speak Chinese is not an attractive fare for a taxi in Beijing.  And they let us know.  No one would stop for us.  So we walked to try to get to position ourselves better to get a taxi.  We got split up a bit and dad ended up alone, hand out waving down a taxi.  He got one.  And then mom and I emerged out of the madness.  I’m sure it was daunting for this little guy.  We all crammed into the taxi, and despite the traffic, made it to the station in about 20 minutes.

Car #12

The train station was not easy to navigate with both “kids” and our huge backpacks.  But, we kept moving and made it to the huge waiting room.  One question about the train was if food would be available on the train or if we needed to bring our own.  Here is where we broke one of our main rules…Don’t buy/eat anything we can get at home.  We bought a bucket of KFC chicken with drinks, corn and bread.  Mom and dad kept pressuring me about getting these porters that they saw everyone else using.  I gave in, we got a porter.  Initially I thought, and dad thought, and mom worried, that we were being taken to the wrong train.  I kept saying to myself, “this was y’all’s idea!”  All was well and we were soon standing outside Car #12, waiting to climb into beds 13, 14 and 15.

We would soon be saying goodbye to China.

Our news digs for the next 30 hours.

For me, China was an interesting experience.  Actually, I feel as though I didn’t get a good feel of China, but only a snapshot of one tiny aspect.  It would be like spending a few days in Manhattan, NY and saying you’ve seen the U.S.  But, despite being here only a few days and only in one city, a few things left an impression.  I never saw one overweight person.  Not one obese person anywhere.  Not in the city or out in the country when we went to The Great Wall.  That could be a product of the kind of food they eat, the way it is prepared or how they eat it.  I certainly eat a lot less when I am working with chopsticks.

Another thing that stands out is the visible environmental footprint the individual person in China has.  It seems extremely small.  From what they have, to how much they eat to their waste.  It just feels as though, on an individual level, the Chinese people are either conscientious of their consumption or operate with a survival mentality.

I know that if we had seen a lot more of the country instead of staying in the city most of the time we would have had a completely different experience.  But, time didn’t permit this go round and Beijing was a lot of fun.

For those of you wanting to see a comparison version of this adventure and another example of the difference between Patton and Pile, check out TnGOnTheRoad.  That’s Dad’s blog about the trip.  Bare bones.  Information.  Logistics.

Mom has looked at some of my photos from the trip and her exact words were, “Kevin, these are better than good.  It doesn’t even look like you took these.  These look professional.”  Thanks?

Pointingly yours,

Bed #15

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