The first course of Peking Duck
PEKING ROAST DUCK No 115,130,940 (China 2005)
Sunday September 11th 2005
June and Eric Andrews had looked after our dog Chloe when we had been to Melbourne for a couple of weeks. June and Eric said that they had enjoyed having Chloe and volunteered to have Chloe again while we were overseas. They also asked us to dinner the night before we left to save us having to cook and clean up again before we left on Monday morning. It was a great night June and Eric are very generous and entertaining hosts, though Sheila and I did overdose on Gin and Tonic’s plus a fine red wine. June did comment that she thought Chloe was ‘favouring’ one eye. I said that it was probably as a result of my shampooing her the day before, and getting some into her eye and not to worry.
Monday September 12th 2005
We were up at 0600 to finish the packing as we were a little unsteady on our feet last night when we walked home.
June telephoned at 0830 to say that Chloe’s eye had worsened, I suggested that June keep and eye on it for a couple of days and then if necessary take Chloe to the vet. (We did check once via e-mail, while we were away, and all the reports on Chloe’s condition were fine, and proved very accurate when we picked her up on our return).
Ian Manock, had again offered to take us to the airport, and as usual arrived one minute before we were scheduled to leave the house at 0859. The temperature was 7 degrees centigrade accompanied by icy winds and rain. We were keen to be heading off to the northern hemisphere and warmer climes. At the door I asked Sheila if she had remembered our tickets, she scoffed and said that she knew that I had them in my rucksack. Ian had recently bought a Mazda 6 so it was a luxury trip to Bathurst airport getting there about 0925. At the check-in counter I offered the check-in clerk my e-ticket information, to which he responded “photo-id, please mate”. I reached in my jeans back-pocket for my wallet containing my driving licence. “Bugger” no wallet. I started searching through my rucksack and took out our passports. The check-in clerk said that the passports were fine as ‘photo-id’, and produced our boarding cards for the flight to Sydney. However I knew that my credit cards were in my wallet, and were going to be needed at various times during out trip. Meanwhile as I scattered the contents of my rucksack on the floor hoping that my wallet would magically appear, I frantically searched my mind for a record of any actions that morning that might indicate the whereabouts of my wallet. Memory one: I had gone to the loo just before we left so perhaps it had fallen out of my pocket and was still on the floor of the bathroom. Memory two: I had put a house key in my wallet for use when we got back from our trip, then at the last moment I had decided to put the house key back on a key ring, and give them all to Ian as he would be picking us up at the airport when we returned on the 1st October. Memory two seemed to ring a bell in my mind; anyway whichever way I thought about it my wallet was still at home.
“Ian would you mind taking me back to our house to pick up my wallet that contains cash credit cards etc?”
“No worries mate, what time does you flight leave?”
“1005 we’ll be right,” I said with a nonchalance that did not match my concern, but accurately reflected Sheila’s facial expression.
Ian drove quickly to our house, and my wallet was on the table in the family room. I thought that it was great that I did not have to initiate a ‘man’ search, as these are usually fruitless.
On the way back to the airport we passed a traffic cop who had pulled someone over on the other side; Ian’s made the observation “phew, I’m glad that luck was on our side.”
We got back to the airport at 0955, and so had a few minutes to spare before scheduled take–off. Sheila was very relieved to see us and find out that I had my wallet ok. As the tension dissipated, Sheila told me that our flight was delayed as westerly winds had caused some problems at one of the Sydney airport runways. Our plane arrived in Bathurst at 1030 and we took off for Sydney at 1045, with just eight passengers on-board our SAAB 340. I was pleased that we were not flying on the Metro-liner, (flying pencil). Despite the reports of problematical westerly winds we had very little turbulence until we were parked in a ‘holding pattern’ when we felt a little queasy. We were not half as sick as a few of the other passengers who were going to miss their connecting flights, not a concern for us as our flight to Bangkok was not scheduled until late afternoon. We landed at 1145 and for a nice change we were first to get our bags off the carousel. We got straight into a taxi and were happy to pay the $12.50 for the short trip to the international terminal; it is a lot easier than the train trip and about the same cost.
We were seated by the ‘check-in ‘ race at 1230, Sheila went and got us both a meal while I saved our seats, they are rare as hens teeth in airport waiting areas. Sushi for Sheila and Beef and Black bean sauce with noodles for me, all going down very well and making us feel better after the flight from Bathurst. The meals were washed down with hot chocolate for me and a ‘flat-white’ coffee for Sheila. Sheila also bought a book: ’44 Scotland Street’ to read while we were away. We finished our drinks at 1310 waiting for the ‘check-in’ desk to open at 1330 so we could check our luggage in, three hours before the flight, and hopefully get our seat preferences, then relax prior to take-off at 1630. About ten minutes before the check-in opened a group of five back-packers arrived and took up position at the tape across the front of the ‘race’ for ‘economy’ passengers. Another couple about the same age as us, who had been seated nearby glared at the back-packers, and rose to take up their place in the queue. Just before they did so another couple arrived and they stationed themselves next to the back-packers. We sauntered over, and took up our place on the starting grid behind the competitive couple. The female half of the couple made some comment about the back-packers, which I could not hear clearly, and I responded by saying “Yes the youth of today.” It seemed to be appropriate for her, as she missed the irony in my voice, she responded “Of course we don’t really need to worry about seat allocation as we always pre-book them.” I was very tempted to say “whoopee, bully for you,” when I received the warning glance from Sheila, and bit my lip. When the race was on at 1330, the competitive couple manoeuvred their cases and themselves to edge out the other couple who had stationed themselves next to the backpackers. As the neck of the funnel narrowed I stood back and let the other couple go in front of us, and enjoyed the loud comments from the husband, directed at the female, (she was not, a lady) in front of the them. The gist of which was about the fact that he always tried to demonstrate good manners and expected the same of other people. I was crossing my fingers and hoping that they would be seated next to each other providing some in-flight entertainment.
At check-in I asked if it were possible to get our seating preference i.e. the exit line over the wing, the aisle seat and the one next to it. We were told that all those seats were ‘held’ by the supervisor and we would need to go to her desk and check with her. We did that and we were told that as it was not a busy flight we could have a look at the seating plan for that plane and choose the ones we wanted. This we did and said our thanks in the few words of Thai that we knew. We were very quickly through immigration and into the wine shop to get a nice bottle of red, which is Rosalind’s preference. Sheila selected a Henschke Abbotts Prayer Merlot Cabernet Franc. We finally arrived at our boarding gate at 1410, Sheila then went off to browse the shops and get me a paper. After Sheila returned I went for a wander and picked up a couple of Eoin Colfer books: ‘The Supernaturalist’ and ‘Artemis Fowl the Opal Deception’; I have become a fan of Eoin Colfer and have read all his ‘Artemis Fowl’ books and enjoyed them very much. They feature a fairy called Holly who has petrol driven wings and a ‘kick ass’ attitude, with Artemis Fowl being a fourteen year old Irish genius who is a master criminal. They are very amusing.
The flight to Bangkok was uneventful, though after six hours I thought that was enough and the words kept flashing through my head: “are we there yet?” But another three hours to go and they seemed to take a lot longer than the previous six.
I was very amused to see the competitive couple seated directly across the plane from us, in the exit line over the wing, but the seats that they had organised prior to check-in were the window seat and the middle seat. He was about six foot three inches tall, and in that particular plane the window seat has very restricted leg room because of the escape chute. I was not surprised to see that he had ‘won’ the window seat, and his legs were angled out across his wife’s feet to try and gain some leg space. Every few hours I would glance across and have another little chuckle, “what goes around comes around”. It was made even more amusing as the aisle seat next to them was free for the entire flight, but they were determined to stick with the seats they had pre-booked.
The films were ‘Mr and Mrs Smith featuring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, in a word CRAP, with the second film being something like ‘The Sisterhood and the Tale of a Pair of Pants’, rubbish is a polite appropriate adjective.
We arrived in Bangkok on-time at 1035 local time, three hours behind Sydney time. The plane stopped at the domestic terminal and we were transported by bus to the international terminal to transit immigration etc. We got through immigration quickly despite me having to look for the other halves of the immigration forms (‘departure’ for when we left next) that I had been ‘helpful’ by removing and using as bookmarks.
The luggage was slow getting to the carousel and it was an hour after landing before we were able to meet up with Adam and Rosalind in the arrival area. It took us about two minutes to get through the pay point in the car park as Rosalind had dropped the ticket on the floor under her seat and despite Adams encouragement it took a little while to locate the errant ticket. It was a quick trip to Adam and Rosalind’s apartment as Adam appears to be well adjusted to Bangkok traffic, or perhaps the traffic has adjusted to him.
We settled down to a few rounds of G & T and a chat until Adam mentioned that it was 0200 Bangkok time and that we might like to get some sleep. Adam was also keen to get some rest as he had an early start, finalising a draft agreement on some acquisition matter for which he was acting on behalf of a large Australian company.
Sheila mentioned that our bodies were telling us that it was 0500, and as we had been up since 0630 Sydney time, we went to sleep very quickly.
One of the new sculptures in the entrance area of Adam and Rosalind’s apartment in Bangkok
Tuesday 15th September
Sheila and I got up about 1000 local time and after breakfast Sheila was keen to go down to the pool for a swim. I did not share her enthusiasm, but I was glad we went, as after we swam about 1530 metres I was convinced that it helps one get over jet lag.
After lunch Sheila and Rosalind were taken by Kuhn Boon Chuay, the driver, to their dressmaker, this is not my scene, and instead I went for a walk along Soi Suan Plu and wander around the local markets. I say local in the sense that they are usually only frequented by the local population and not ‘farangs’ like myself. It is a far more interesting experience than just walking through the touristy areas that are geared to appeal to the foreigners. I got back to the apartment about 1500 after getting geographically embarrassed a couple of times and having to back-track. I then just settled down to read my books and relax a little until Kuhn Noy, the housekeeper, presented us all with another Thai feast, that is her speciality. We watched BBC World news and CNN for a while until Adam’s potent G & T’s took effect and we rolled off to bed.
Wednesday 14th September
Sheila woke early with a ‘wobbly tummy’, that she thinks was a product of a beef satay that she ate while on the plane. I really do try to be suitably sympathetic, but was relieved when Sheila got up about 0730 to have some breakfast to try and settle her tummy. Sheila brought me a cup of tea about 0830, that was still a little early for me, and I woke with a start, a little later with half a cup of tea balanced on my chest; I didn’t spill a drop. I got up and stayed under the shower until I was awake, and then had breakfast with Adam and Rosalind while Sheila went back to bed feeling a bit ‘green around the gills’. I thought that undisturbed sleep would be the best remedy, and decided that I should forgo the opportunity to play Nurse Ratshit, going down to the pool, and doing another 1700 metres. It was pouring with rain and some of the apartment complex staff who were cleaning the area around the pool indicated that I was getting my hair wet in the rain. It is ‘funny’ how many people express concern about getting wet while swimming in the rain, “duh one does get wet while swimming”. Rosalind’s response to me was, “I think that the cleaning staff is all Burmese;” that explained a lot, I think.
After swimming I thought I should check on the patient, and the camomile tea that I provided seemed to help a bit, as Sheila was able to shower, dress, and go through to the sitting room and read, while munching a couple of pieces of dry toast.; great blotting paper for ‘crook’ stomachs.
I took the time to wash a couple of pieces of clothing that we had worn over the last few days, so that they would be clean to take with us to China. We don’t like asking Kuhn Noy to do all of our washing, all the time.
I used a Thai/English phrase book to ask Kuhn Noy to sing me a Thai song. Kuhn Noy laughed and went to her room with her lunch. I am still not sure if she understood my Thai, and then ignored my request, or whether I had actually said something else. I think the latter is more than likely. After a light lunch Sheila and I sat down in the sitting room with our books and some magazines to just ‘chill out’ for the afternoon before leaving for China in the morning. It was a bit of a bummer that I finished both of the latest Eoin Colfer books; you know the feeling I guess, you are keen to finish a book to see how it ends, and then you are disappointed that it is finished and you have to look for the next book.
Another new sculpture of Adam and Rosalind’s, with some ‘bird of paradise’ flowers that they grow on one of their balconies, and a bronze ‘ring’ mounted on stone.
Thursday 15th September
We left the apartment at 0830, with Kuhn Boon Chuay driving us to the airport for a 1030 take-off and four and a half hour flight to Beijing. China is one hour ahead of Thai time so we landed at 1600 local time, and were met by the translator/guide and driver that Adam had organised. It took us two hours through ‘rush’ hour traffic to get to the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Why on earth it is called the ‘rush’ hour is beyond me, I think it should be called the ‘slow’ or ‘crawl’ hour. It was also raining a bit and I guess that does not help. We were very impressed with the wide, straight, flat road from the airport to the city. The roads are tree-lined almost all the way to the city, and we think part of the beautification process prior to the 2006 Olympic Games in Beijing.
At the check-in desk, we were told that if we liked we could be up-graded to the Presidential suite, sharing a large sitting room, though still having separate bathrooms and bedrooms. “Yes no worries mate, ‘up-grade’ sounds fine to me.”
Adam had paid for the trip back in July and had been told that no standard rooms were available at the time we wanted so he paid for up-grades at that time to deluxe rooms.
We took our electronic key cards for the rooms, and took the lift to the 14th floor. We wandered around the corridors looking for our rooms that were listed as 1452. It was a bit of a labyrinth, and I felt a little twinge of concern as an arrow on the wall pointing to the numbers that featured our rooms was pointing in the opposite direction to another arrow that indicated ‘The way to the hotel’. We opened the door, and it became quickly apparent to Adam and Rosalind, that these rooms were not up to the standard they were expecting, and have experienced as seasoned travellers around the world. We went back down to the check-in desk and Adam explained that he was not satisfied with the rooms and expected us to be transferred to the rooms that he had booked, i.e. deluxe rooms. The desk clerk apologised, and issued Adam and Rosalind, Sheila and I with keys for rooms on the 15th floor. Back up the lifts and we quickly found Adam and Rosalind’s deluxe room facing the front courtyard of the hotel, and it was of an appropriate standard. Sheila and I went on the hunt for our room listed as 1554, my spirits sank a little as we followed the corridor out of the hotel again into what proved to be ‘serviced’ apartments. We went inside and waited for our luggage which duly arrived, closely followed by Adam. “No, this is not what I booked for you, you’re not staying in this room.” Adam rang the ‘check-in’ desk and ‘requested’ that Frankie Wong, the desk supervisor, come to the 15th flor and sort the correct room out for us. Frankie arrived and tried to do a ‘whitewash’ job on us, but Adam had developed a full head of steam, and left Frankie in no doubt as to what our concerns were and Adam’s keenness to have them resolved. Frankie looked more and more perplexed as the volume of Adam’s comments increased with the promise that the comments and volume would continue to rise until the whole hotel knew of our opinion of the hotel and its service. Adam then asked to talk with Frankie’s boss who turned out to be a young man called, Mark Lloyd, from Sydney. Mark agreed that the hotel had made a mistake and overbooked the deluxe rooms and he would solve it. To cut a longer story short, after a total of two hours from when we arrived Sheila and I were ensconced in a deluxe room number 1522, facing the front courtyard. We felt some concern that we were outside the room while the staff, extracted a Frenchman, who had just arrived, and turned the room over to us. Adam also insisted that the hotel would pay for our dinners, a ‘Peking Duck’ banquet, that evening as compensation for the trouble we had been caused; a ‘request’ with which they complied.
We sat down to dinner in the hotel’s restaurant, ‘Made in China’ about 2115, after some pre-dinner drinks in the Red Moon bar. Just a word of warning, it is a great bar with very subdued lighting, and an automatic glass sliding door that is not easily seen against the dark background, and if you do not give the door chance to open you will end up with a sore nose. Adam told us that a large number of patrons had made the mistake on the way out after quite a few drinks. The banquet included ‘sharks fin’ soup and a multitude of other dishes, followed by the duck and accompanied by a couple of bottles of French wine, that Adam insisted he would pay for and not the hotel, as that was not part of the compensation he had sought. We finished dinner at 0015, absolutely full to the brim, in fact, bloated it was a great first night in China, once the rooms had been sorted out.
The fountain in the forecourt of the Grand Hyatt in Beijing, at night.
A view across to the main street during the day from our room. We were told that the ‘main’ street in Beijing is 40 kilometres long, flat and straight, though of course it changes its name from the Beijing Expressway to the following as one heads West: Jian Guo Rd, Jianguomenwai Dajie, East Chang’an Avenue, West Chang’an Avenue, Fuxingmenwai Dajie, and then Fu Xing Road.
Friday 16th September
Sheila woke at 0545 and was very keen to go for a swim, “yes fine love I might join you later”, I mumbled as I circled my pillow and dived back into it and decided that quiet repose was necessary to finish digesting the huge meal from the night before.
Sheila came back at 0750 having done about 2000 metres. We met Adam and Rosalind in the dining room at 0830, having decided that dinner had been digested, and there was a need to refuel. Breakfast was rather protracted as it offered very many options from many international cuisines, and I felt it was my duty to explore all the opportunities of this cultural experience.
Over breakfast we made some plans for the day, that basically were to visit: The Forbidden City, referred to on maps as the Palace Museum, and also famous or infamous Tian’anmen Square, that is directly opposite the southern entrance to the Forbidden City.
I prefer to call it the Forbidden City as the name sound far more exotic, and it makes one all the more interested in tasting the previously forbidden fruits of the site
Incidentally the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Beijing was not named on our tourist map, it is in a complex called the Oriental Plaza, which includes a number of high rise office buildings; Adam’s firm has an office in one of the towers.
After breakfast we met up in the lobby, walked down to the main street straight in front of the hotel, and turned right, walking west along a very broad boulevard that impressed us all with the cleanliness and beauty. It was great ‘people watching’ as we walked, and we were immediately surprised by the ethnic diversity of the Chinese. There used to be an occidental belief that ‘all Chinese look the same’, but the reality is very far from that.
It was about a two kilometre walk, on the way we passed the very imposing Beijing Hotel and the Imperial library. The Beijing Hotel looks to be an interesting combination of ‘colonial style’ and functional ninety sixties. As long as your rooms are in the colonial looking bit I think it would be great, but make sure you are not in rooms in the ‘serviced apartment’ wings next door. I could have quite happily promenaded for hours along this boulevard as many of the people were just fascinating to watch, many of them I guess tourists from other parts of China.
Some young girls near the front of the Meridian Gate (front door) of the Forbidden City, I think fashions have changed a mite since the Cultural Revolution.
Picture featuring Sheila, in lemon coloured top and black trousers, near the Meridian gate to the Forbidden City (Palace Museum).
Picture featuring Sheila, Rosalind, Adam, and the ‘young lady in pink’ who also captured my attention.
Overview of the Forbidden City:
The Imperial Place in Beijing was known as ‘The Great Within’ in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the ‘Purple Forbidden City’ in the Qing official records. During the Ming and Qing periods, altogether 24 emperors ruled China from this site. After the downfall of the Qing, it was renamed the Palace Museum in 1925. In 1961, the State Council of the People’s Republic of China listed it as a major historical and cultural site under state protection. In 1987, the UNESCO listed it as a World Cultural Heritage site; a decision that I agree with completely, not that my opinion will carry much weight I guess.
The Forbidden City, Imperial Palace or the Palace Museum, whichever you prefer, is the largest and best preserved palatial complex in China. Its splendid buildings are laid out, with a strict imperial hierarchy, symmetrically along the central axis, that is intended to reflect and reinforce the supreme authority of the Emperor.
The Forbidden City is also the largest museum in China. There are 8,700 ‘bays’ of imperial architecture, with over 1,000,000 objects in the collection representing the Ming and Qing dynasties. Over 8,000,000 visitors each year imply that is very crowded, but it is such a large complex that we did not feel hemmed in at any stage and there was always plenty of space to move into if one wanted to get away from everyone else.
Some more specific detail:
The Forbidden City is located in the centre of Beijing, the front entrance on Chang’an Avenue, and the back gate on Jingshan Qianjie. When we left it appeared to me that local tourists tended to us the back gate to get access to the complex, and tourists from further away using the front gate.
Zhu Di (1360-1424), the fourth son of Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming dynasty, ordered the construction of the imperial palace in Beijing. Its construction began in the fourth year of the Yongle period (1406), and finished 14 years later. It is 961 metres long from south to north, with the front door, the Meridian Gate being at the south end; the Gate of Spiritual Valour in the north, the Eastern Flower Gate in the East and the not surprisingly the Western Flower Gate in the west. The Forbidden City is 753 metres wide from east to west, surrounded by a 10 metre high wall, and 52 metre wide moat, guarded by architecturally beautiful watchtowers at the four corners. The total area is 720,000 square metres and accounts for one fiftieth of the city of Beijing. After walking through the Forbidden City, just the thought that the city of Beijing is forty-nine times bigger made my feet ache a lot more. The 980 buildings on the site cover 160,000 square metres. A ‘virtual’ tour may be taken at the following site: http://www.drben.net/ChinaReport/Beijing/Landmarks-Hotspots/DongCheng/Gugong-Palace_Museum/PalaceMuseum-OnlineSources1.html
The plan of the layout follows the vertical schema that started with the Sui and Tang imperial architecture, i.e. the main buildings lie on the central axis consistent with the four points of the compass. In what is described as the ceremonial quarters known as the Outer Court; the Meridian Gate, before which imperial prisoners were paraded in front of the Emperor, the Gate of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Middle Harmony, and the Hall of Preserving Harmony on the central axis are flanked by the Hall of Literary Brilliance in the east and the Hall of Military Glory in the west. It did not take me long to figure out that hyperbole was not an issue when titles were chosen for the various buildings.
I think that access to the various parts of the Forbidden City, in historical times, was strictly governed by status, enforced by the place guards and courtiers.
In the residential quarter known as the Inner Court; the Palace of Heavenly Purity, the Hall of Union and Peace, (not ‘Trades Hall’ for sure) the Palace of Earthly Tranquillity, and the Imperial Gardens on the central axis, are flanked by the Hall of Worshipping Ancestors and the Eastern Palaces in the East, and the Hall of Mental Cultivation and the Western Palaces in the west. The Complex of Tranquil Longevity for the supreme sovereign and the Complex of Benevolent Tranquillity for the empress dowager (the mother of the sovereign) are located in the far east and west of the Forbidden City.
From 1420 until 1912, the Forbidden City was the political centre of China. Many historic events took place here: on April 25, 1644, the head of the peasant insurgents, with the rest of his body still attached,, Li Zicheng entered the Palace, ending the Ming dynasty that ruled China for 276 years. On February 12, 1912, the Empress Dowager Longyu announced the abdication of the last emperor, and handed the Outer Court to the Republican government, thus ending the monarchy created in 221 B.C. by the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty. In 1914, the Outer Court was converted into the National Gallery. On November 5th , 1924, the abdicated Emperor Puyi, was forced to leave the Inner Court, which became the Palace Museum, i.e. the Outer Court and Inner Court of the Imperial Palace, were united into a complete Palace Museum.
Rosalind and Sheila near the front of the Meridian Gate
Adam in front of the Meridian Gate
Mao Zedong over one of the archways of the Meridian gate
A close-up of Mao Zedong, who we were told is no longer considered to have been a God, but just a man. I found the thought of anyone considering a Chairman of the Communist Party in China as a God a strange oxymoronically contrived concept.
Because of the perspective it is hard to get a grasp of the scale of the buildings, and it is only when one watches people move around the various buildings does one start to get a feel for how big are the buildings, and whole complex.
This picture indicates the gender lanes to be taken prior to a gentle frisking, and baggage check prior to admittance to the next sanctum.
Sheila at the top of the Meridian Gate, with Tian’anmen Square behind her. The square covers an area of 440,000 square metres and can accommodate 1,000,000 people, and is said to be the largest square in the world. The square is flanked by the national Museum of China on the east, the Great Hall of the People on the west, and the Monument to the People’s Heroes and the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall on the south. Sheila thought that the square in front of Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum in Hanoi is larger, but I am not sure.
In this picture you can see the ‘haze’ that was present most of the time, we were not sure if it was heat haze, moisture or pollution, but I think that the later is most probable.
On the next few pages I will include pictures showing the unique Chinese architecture.
This next picture demonstrate that the world over parents are keen to have photographs of their children, reminding us that in addition to cultural differences there are as many similarities. Again with Tian’anmen Square in the background.
Sheila in one of the ‘Supreme’ buildings, sorry about the ‘light’ faces I was also trying to capture some of the detail inside the building.
Adam and John, with one of the gates ‘light’ behind them.
I could not resist this picture of two young girls at a shop on top of the Meridian Gate, once again showing that Chinese fashion has moved on a tad.
The next couple of pictures give one a sense of the sizes.
This picture features Adam and a couple of ladies who were cleaning up. China was the first place I had came across people keen to get one’s empty plastic drink bottles. As soon as anyone was close to finishing their bottle of water there was someone next to you indicating that they wanted to have your bottle. I don’t know if the motivation is recycling or keeping the city clean.
This next picture features some of the army corps that is stationed in the Forbidden City. The smiling soldiers were another contradiction to my expectations.
This shows one of the many examples of the colour and form that one associates with Chinese architecture.
At almost every gateway/doorway are stationed two lions, one with a ball under its paw and this is meant to represent the male lion controlling the world, this one outside the Gate of Mental Cultivation.
The other with a cub under its paw representing the female lion controlling the children, this one in front of the Gate of Character Cultivation and the Tower of Pleasant Sounds.
Concubine Pearl (1876-1900)
Concubine Pearl was the beloved concubine of Emperor Guangxu (reigned 1875-1908). Pearl sympathised with and supported the Emperor’s views on constitutional reform and modernisation. After the reforms were suppressed by Empress Dowager Cixi in 1898, the Emperor was taken into custody in Yingtai while Pearl was confined under house arrest. When the Eight-Power Allied Forces attacked Beijing in 1900, Pearl was thrown into a well and drowned by Eunuch Cui Yugui at the order of Empress Dowager Cixi. It put another perspective of the nursery rhyme: ‘ding dong dell pussy is in the well’.
Empress Dowager Cixi
Cixi, (1835-1908) is remembered as one of China’s most powerful women. Having borne the Emperor Xianfeng’s son as an imperial concubine; Cixi later seized power as regent to both the Tongzhi and Guangxu emperors, her son and nephew respectively. Cixi prevented Guangxu from implementing his proposed state reforms through her alliance with the Boxer Rebillion, which ultimately brought about the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911.
Eastern Part of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, where Cixi effectively held court from behind a curtain, so that ‘appeared’ as if the Emperor, in front of the curtain, was ruling. Perhaps this has something to do with the origin of the phrase ‘Chinese Whispers’.
Emperor Pu Yi (The Last Emperor)
Aisin Gioro or Pu Yi ascended the Qing throne at the age of three after the death of his uncle Emperor Guangxu. His brief reign as Emperor Xuantong was brought to an end on 12th February 1912, when he was obliged to abdicate his throne while living in the Forbidden City to make way for the new Republican Government. The powerless Pu Yi continued to live in the palace until 1924, before escaping to live in the Japanese concession in Tianjin. He was later installed as a ‘puppet’ emperor, by the Japanese, of Manchukuo, residing in his palace in Changchun. At the end of World War II, and the end of Japanese occupation, he was handed over to the Chinese Communists, who imprisoned him in 1950. In 1959, Mao granted him amnesty. Pu Yi never returned to the Forbidden City, and he died of cancer, childless and living in anonymity, in 1967, after working for seven years as a gardener at the Beijing Botanical Gardens.
The Hall of Supreme Harmony, the largest hall in the palace, this was used for major occasions such as the enthronement of an emperor. In side the hall the ornate throne sits beneath a fabulously coloured ceiling.
The ceiling of the Hall of Supreme Harmony
The next few pictures feature some free standing artefacts including the bronze dragon/tortoise.
A fire bucket
A grain measure
The Hall of Middle Harmony; in the Qing dynasty, the Emperor would come here during important ceremonies to accept the felicitations of his courtiers, before he went to the Hall of Supreme Harmony to preside over the celebrations
‘Just’ some detail from one of the doors
After walking through the Gate of Spiritual Valour (Shenwu), it was from this gate that the Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu went out of the Imperial Palace in the early morning of 15th August 1900, just before the Allied forces entered Beijing; we walked east along Jingshan Qianjie and then south along Nanchizi Dajie until we got back to the main road. On the way we past a lot of barber’s shops, but the short flimsy skirts worn by some of the girls in the shop windows made me think that they were selling more than haircuts. I found out later in the trip that when ‘barbers shop’ appears on your hotel account it can be a euphemism for a number of different services. After reaching the main road we headed back east towards our hotel. It was fairly warm and humid, Sheila and Rosalind were feeling a bit foot sore so wandered north up Wangfujing Dajie, ( I think ‘jie’ means street so conclude that ‘Dajie’ is a big street), in search of a coffee and somewhere to sit. Wangfujing Dajie is a famous shopping street, we sat in an outdoor café for a while just people watching and resting our feet. Our drinks were fine except that they piqued the girl’s appetite, so we then had to grab a quick bite to eat. Beijing McDonalds was the quickest and easiest choice as we did not want to have too large a lunch. Adam walks quickly and I try to keep up but on the way back to the hotel we lost the ladies. Meanwhile Adam walked into a ‘Smile’ dentistry centre and got some ‘wax’ to protect his cheeks from some braces he was wearing, that were chaffing the inside of his mouth. Rosalind and Sheila, had diverted to get some tweezers from the very large shopping mall under the Oriental Plaza, and our hotel, and lost there way a bit trying to find the entrance to our hotel. They were not fazed at all, in fact quite pleased at the number of shops that they discovered. Adam was a bit concerned when we could not find them as retraced our steps, and tried to telephone Rosalind on her mobile, their usual way of finding lost lambs, but it was switched off. When we were reunited Adam and Rosalind decided to have a rest while Sheila and I went down to the Fitness Centre in the second basement. Apparently it is the largest hotel swimming pool in Asia. It is a huge underground grotto that is decorated to look like a rock strewn oasis. It sounds a bit ‘kitch’, but in fact it is very well done and is most impressive. After our swim we also booked a half-day tour to the Great Wall through the concierge, leaving at 0900 the next morning, http://www.grayline.com/franchise.cfm/action/details/id/53 is a web site for Gray Tours and we recommend them very highly.
On the recommendation of one of Adam’s fellow partners, Seamus, we went to a district called Ho Hi (I think) and a string of night clubs, restaurants and bars down a lake side pedestrian road called Lotus Lane. Just before we entered ‘the crush’ at the start of Lotus Lane, we saw a large group of dancers strutting their stuff in a small paved area between the lake and the main road. I counted about two hundred of them, about one hundred and eight-five were women. At first we thought they were just doing ‘tai chi’ exercises, but when the music and tempo changed they moved from line ‘dancing’ into the ‘Macarena’ and many other dance forms, with most of them in immaculate time. The recalcitrant ones proved to be the men, who were in it to have a good time, despite being ‘urged’ to “sit down you silly old bugger you are showing me up.” We were told, “the young people go to karoke bars, and we come out here every night.” It was fascinating watching these senior citizens of all shapes and sizes out enjoying themselves with obvious humour and dedication to getting their timing and the steps correct.
We walked up and down Lotus Lane a couple of times as Adam and Rosalind debated about which outdoor restaurant would be the most appropriate. A glance at the meals of other diners made it clear that the food was very authentic ethnic Cantonese, and not even Adam could identify many of the things being eaten. Adam has told us that the Chinese having a perception about appropriate ‘food groups’, “if it moves then you can eat it.” Eventually a selection was made and we sat down to a meal that Adam ordered. We did identify some small dried fish in one dish, and some green chilli in another but the rest remained anonymous. Adam told us that type of green chilli was usually not very hot and he ate quite a large one whole. It appears as always that the exception proves the rule and that particular chilli was very, very hot Adam’s eyes were streaming, and I think his ear wax steaming. Sheila and I accepted Adam’s challenge to ‘try one’ as he poured copious quantities of local beer down his throat. Sheila and I smugly chewed on our chilli, relieved that ours belonged to the ‘not very hot’ variety. We think that Adam’s was in fact a ‘crook’ chilli as it had a scarifying effect on his bowels later. After dinner, of which we did not disturb many courses, we wandered back to the main road, and watched the dancers for a while who were still hard at it, and enjoying it immensely.
Saturday 17th September
We had an eight ‘o’ clock breakfast before going down to the lobby to meet our guide at nine ‘o’clock Michelle from Gray Tours (tel: 13911393585) was waiting for us and proved to speak perfect English and had an excellent car and driver waiting for us. Adam was a little late coming down as he was still dealing with the effects of the ‘crook’ chilli. It was only a ninety minute drive to the Great Wall at Badaling we were very surprised at how quickly we got to green and pleasant countryside along wide tree-lined freeways, with no apparent rubbish anywhere.. We had clear blue skies with the ambient temperature about 28 degrees centigrade with little or no pollution. Our guide, Michelle, asked if we would mind calling in at a ‘Cloisonne’ factory on the way; we were under no obligation to buy, and it would only take about fifteen minutes. Travellers are warned about these ‘side trip’ shopping traps, but we were more than happy to have the diversion and watch the whole production process of the ‘Cloisonne’ wares. It was fascinating to watch the girls glue copper wire in designs onto the base copper vases etc. The ‘holes’ between the wire was then filled with enamel paste of various colours and fired to bake the enamel. The better pieces are buffed up to a smooth finish, then another coat of enamel added to the previous layers that shrink in the firing, followed by another buffing. After seeing the craftsmen and women at work we were ushered into the showroom that was like an Aladdin’s cave. We keep wandering from cabinet to cabinet, saying “oh yes I like that, and I like that.” Adam was particularly taken with an antique ‘Ming’ vase about a metre tall, but Rosalind and the logistics of taking it back prevailed, and Adam settled on an excellent bowel and plate. Sheila picked out a few ‘nick knacks’ for friends, and a small plate for ourselves.
Our Cloisonne plate.
The very green tree lined roads on the way to the Great Wall, reminded us of the tree lined roads in Lombardy, and it was great to see the rural scenes of farmers tending their maize and children washing horses in the streams, not scenes one would associate with the waking industrial giant that is China. We back-tracked about a kilometre, then within another ten minutes we were parking in a car park at the bottom of a short steep walk to a chairlift station. On the way to the chairlift I bought another memory card for our camera, which subsequently caused a concern as I did not format it for our camera, and at the time of writing I might have ‘lost’ all my photographs of the Great Wall and Xian. Sheila bought some bags of semi-dried apricots, small almonds, also what was new to us and proved a great delight: semi-dried strawberries. The concentrated flavour of strawberries was superb and it was easy to eat them by the handful. We had a little debate about whether we would walk up the hill to get to the wall or whether we would take the chairlift. Sheila’s knees and feet were sore from the day before, plus it was warming up a bit so we all took the Japanese chairlift up the hill to the wall. On the way to the Great Wall I was telling myself not to have any great expectations, after all, a wall is a wall, is a wall. This was so I did not feel disappointed. Well I have to report, it exceeded any great expectations I might have harboured, and I kept saying “wow look at that”, “that view is just fantastic”, “just look at that”. Sheila, Michelle and I headed North West along the wall and Adam and Rosalind headed South East. After Adam and Rosalind had explored the wall they were headed for a sled ride down from the hills on which the wall is located. The terminus for the sled ride was near the chairlift station so we bade them farewell and told them we would see them later at the bottom. We wandered along just appreciating the beauty of the countryside, marvelling at the Great Wall, and the effort its production represented. A number of mountain peaks in the near distance reminded us of some of the ragged ranges in the South West Wilderness of Tasmania.
A wall is not a wall in all circumstances, and to visit the Great Wall of China is a ‘great’ experience. There are a lot of steps to negotiate when walking ‘along’ the wall and after a while we decided that we would ease the load on our knees and headed back to the chairlift and the trip down. The chairlift is very modern with gondolas that hold about eight people seated on comfortable seats, the trip is not at all scary, and provides the opportunity for some great vistas to the outskirts of Beijing.
At the bottom of the sled ride wile we were waiting for Adam and Rosalind, Michelle bought us some savoury Chinese pancakes, they were great eating with just a hint of chilli. I mentioned to Michelle that I was keen to buy a book of pictures of the Great Wall and I started to look at some books that various touts were keen to show me. Michelle whispered to Sheila that the price was 30 Yuan (A$5.00) for the book I wanted. Sheila wandered over and whispered the message to me, with the rider that I must not mention that Michelle had told us or she would get into trouble with the touts next time.
I focussed on a jolly looking lady who seemed to have the biggest range, and most stock to sell. I don’t like haggling normally, but she seemed to want to ‘play’. When I pointed to the book I wanted she indicated that she wanted 250 Yuan (approx A$41.00) When I said “no thank you” (or “Bu yow cher cher”, my favourite useful phrase) she asked me to write my price. I wrote 25 Yuan, and she laughed very loudly. I picked up the book and indicated that it was creased from being handled many times. No worries she brought out a pristine copy, and wrote 200 Yuan. I then wrote 23 Yuan
Sunday September 11th 2005
June and Eric Andrews had looked after our dog Chloe when we had been to Melbourne for a couple of weeks. June and Eric said that they had enjoyed having Chloe and volunteered to have Chloe again while we were overseas. They also asked us to dinner the night before we left to save us having to cook and clean up again before we left on Monday morning. It was a great night June and Eric are very generous and entertaining hosts, though Sheila and I did overdose on Gin and Tonic’s plus a fine red wine. June did comment that she thought Chloe was ‘favouring’ one eye. I said that it was probably as a result of my shampooing her the day before, and getting some into her eye and not to worry.
Monday September 12th 2005
We were up at 0600 to finish the packing as we were a little unsteady on our feet last night when we walked home.
June telephoned at 0830 to say that Chloe’s eye had worsened, I suggested that June keep and eye on it for a couple of days and then if necessary take Chloe to the vet. (We did check once via e-mail, while we were away, and all the reports on Chloe’s condition were fine, and proved very accurate when we picked her up on our return).
Ian Manock, had again offered to take us to the airport, and as usual arrived one minute before we were scheduled to leave the house at 0859. The temperature was 7 degrees centigrade accompanied by icy winds and rain. We were keen to be heading off to the northern hemisphere and warmer climes. At the door I asked Sheila if she had remembered our tickets, she scoffed and said that she knew that I had them in my rucksack. Ian had recently bought a Mazda 6 so it was a luxury trip to Bathurst airport getting there about 0925. At the check-in counter I offered the check-in clerk my e-ticket information, to which he responded “photo-id, please mate”. I reached in my jeans back-pocket for my wallet containing my driving licence. “Bugger” no wallet. I started searching through my rucksack and took out our passports. The check-in clerk said that the passports were fine as ‘photo-id’, and produced our boarding cards for the flight to Sydney. However I knew that my credit cards were in my wallet, and were going to be needed at various times during out trip. Meanwhile as I scattered the contents of my rucksack on the floor hoping that my wallet would magically appear, I frantically searched my mind for a record of any actions that morning that might indicate the whereabouts of my wallet. Memory one: I had gone to the loo just before we left so perhaps it had fallen out of my pocket and was still on the floor of the bathroom. Memory two: I had put a house key in my wallet for use when we got back from our trip, then at the last moment I had decided to put the house key back on a key ring, and give them all to Ian as he would be picking us up at the airport when we returned on the 1st October. Memory two seemed to ring a bell in my mind; anyway whichever way I thought about it my wallet was still at home.
“Ian would you mind taking me back to our house to pick up my wallet that contains cash credit cards etc?”
“No worries mate, what time does you flight leave?”
“1005 we’ll be right,” I said with a nonchalance that did not match my concern, but accurately reflected Sheila’s facial expression.
Ian drove quickly to our house, and my wallet was on the table in the family room. I thought that it was great that I did not have to initiate a ‘man’ search, as these are usually fruitless.
On the way back to the airport we passed a traffic cop who had pulled someone over on the other side; Ian’s made the observation “phew, I’m glad that luck was on our side.”
We got back to the airport at 0955, and so had a few minutes to spare before scheduled take–off. Sheila was very relieved to see us and find out that I had my wallet ok. As the tension dissipated, Sheila told me that our flight was delayed as westerly winds had caused some problems at one of the Sydney airport runways. Our plane arrived in Bathurst at 1030 and we took off for Sydney at 1045, with just eight passengers on-board our SAAB 340. I was pleased that we were not flying on the Metro-liner, (flying pencil). Despite the reports of problematical westerly winds we had very little turbulence until we were parked in a ‘holding pattern’ when we felt a little queasy. We were not half as sick as a few of the other passengers who were going to miss their connecting flights, not a concern for us as our flight to Bangkok was not scheduled until late afternoon. We landed at 1145 and for a nice change we were first to get our bags off the carousel. We got straight into a taxi and were happy to pay the $12.50 for the short trip to the international terminal; it is a lot easier than the train trip and about the same cost.
We were seated by the ‘check-in ‘ race at 1230, Sheila went and got us both a meal while I saved our seats, they are rare as hens teeth in airport waiting areas. Sushi for Sheila and Beef and Black bean sauce with noodles for me, all going down very well and making us feel better after the flight from Bathurst. The meals were washed down with hot chocolate for me and a ‘flat-white’ coffee for Sheila. Sheila also bought a book: ’44 Scotland Street’ to read while we were away. We finished our drinks at 1310 waiting for the ‘check-in’ desk to open at 1330 so we could check our luggage in, three hours before the flight, and hopefully get our seat preferences, then relax prior to take-off at 1630. About ten minutes before the check-in opened a group of five back-packers arrived and took up position at the tape across the front of the ‘race’ for ‘economy’ passengers. Another couple about the same age as us, who had been seated nearby glared at the back-packers, and rose to take up their place in the queue. Just before they did so another couple arrived and they stationed themselves next to the back-packers. We sauntered over, and took up our place on the starting grid behind the competitive couple. The female half of the couple made some comment about the back-packers, which I could not hear clearly, and I responded by saying “Yes the youth of today.” It seemed to be appropriate for her, as she missed the irony in my voice, she responded “Of course we don’t really need to worry about seat allocation as we always pre-book them.” I was very tempted to say “whoopee, bully for you,” when I received the warning glance from Sheila, and bit my lip. When the race was on at 1330, the competitive couple manoeuvred their cases and themselves to edge out the other couple who had stationed themselves next to the backpackers. As the neck of the funnel narrowed I stood back and let the other couple go in front of us, and enjoyed the loud comments from the husband, directed at the female, (she was not, a lady) in front of the them. The gist of which was about the fact that he always tried to demonstrate good manners and expected the same of other people. I was crossing my fingers and hoping that they would be seated next to each other providing some in-flight entertainment.
At check-in I asked if it were possible to get our seating preference i.e. the exit line over the wing, the aisle seat and the one next to it. We were told that all those seats were ‘held’ by the supervisor and we would need to go to her desk and check with her. We did that and we were told that as it was not a busy flight we could have a look at the seating plan for that plane and choose the ones we wanted. This we did and said our thanks in the few words of Thai that we knew. We were very quickly through immigration and into the wine shop to get a nice bottle of red, which is Rosalind’s preference. Sheila selected a Henschke Abbotts Prayer Merlot Cabernet Franc. We finally arrived at our boarding gate at 1410, Sheila then went off to browse the shops and get me a paper. After Sheila returned I went for a wander and picked up a couple of Eoin Colfer books: ‘The Supernaturalist’ and ‘Artemis Fowl the Opal Deception’; I have become a fan of Eoin Colfer and have read all his ‘Artemis Fowl’ books and enjoyed them very much. They feature a fairy called Holly who has petrol driven wings and a ‘kick ass’ attitude, with Artemis Fowl being a fourteen year old Irish genius who is a master criminal. They are very amusing.
The flight to Bangkok was uneventful, though after six hours I thought that was enough and the words kept flashing through my head: “are we there yet?” But another three hours to go and they seemed to take a lot longer than the previous six.
I was very amused to see the competitive couple seated directly across the plane from us, in the exit line over the wing, but the seats that they had organised prior to check-in were the window seat and the middle seat. He was about six foot three inches tall, and in that particular plane the window seat has very restricted leg room because of the escape chute. I was not surprised to see that he had ‘won’ the window seat, and his legs were angled out across his wife’s feet to try and gain some leg space. Every few hours I would glance across and have another little chuckle, “what goes around comes around”. It was made even more amusing as the aisle seat next to them was free for the entire flight, but they were determined to stick with the seats they had pre-booked.
The films were ‘Mr and Mrs Smith featuring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, in a word CRAP, with the second film being something like ‘The Sisterhood and the Tale of a Pair of Pants’, rubbish is a polite appropriate adjective.
We arrived in Bangkok on-time at 1035 local time, three hours behind Sydney time. The plane stopped at the domestic terminal and we were transported by bus to the international terminal to transit immigration etc. We got through immigration quickly despite me having to look for the other halves of the immigration forms (‘departure’ for when we left next) that I had been ‘helpful’ by removing and using as bookmarks.
The luggage was slow getting to the carousel and it was an hour after landing before we were able to meet up with Adam and Rosalind in the arrival area. It took us about two minutes to get through the pay point in the car park as Rosalind had dropped the ticket on the floor under her seat and despite Adams encouragement it took a little while to locate the errant ticket. It was a quick trip to Adam and Rosalind’s apartment as Adam appears to be well adjusted to Bangkok traffic, or perhaps the traffic has adjusted to him.
We settled down to a few rounds of G & T and a chat until Adam mentioned that it was 0200 Bangkok time and that we might like to get some sleep. Adam was also keen to get some rest as he had an early start, finalising a draft agreement on some acquisition matter for which he was acting on behalf of a large Australian company.
Sheila mentioned that our bodies were telling us that it was 0500, and as we had been up since 0630 Sydney time, we went to sleep very quickly.
One of the new sculptures in the entrance area of Adam and Rosalind’s apartment in Bangkok
Tuesday 15th September
Sheila and I got up about 1000 local time and after breakfast Sheila was keen to go down to the pool for a swim. I did not share her enthusiasm, but I was glad we went, as after we swam about 1530 metres I was convinced that it helps one get over jet lag.
After lunch Sheila and Rosalind were taken by Kuhn Boon Chuay, the driver, to their dressmaker, this is not my scene, and instead I went for a walk along Soi Suan Plu and wander around the local markets. I say local in the sense that they are usually only frequented by the local population and not ‘farangs’ like myself. It is a far more interesting experience than just walking through the touristy areas that are geared to appeal to the foreigners. I got back to the apartment about 1500 after getting geographically embarrassed a couple of times and having to back-track. I then just settled down to read my books and relax a little until Kuhn Noy, the housekeeper, presented us all with another Thai feast, that is her speciality. We watched BBC World news and CNN for a while until Adam’s potent G & T’s took effect and we rolled off to bed.
Wednesday 14th September
Sheila woke early with a ‘wobbly tummy’, that she thinks was a product of a beef satay that she ate while on the plane. I really do try to be suitably sympathetic, but was relieved when Sheila got up about 0730 to have some breakfast to try and settle her tummy. Sheila brought me a cup of tea about 0830, that was still a little early for me, and I woke with a start, a little later with half a cup of tea balanced on my chest; I didn’t spill a drop. I got up and stayed under the shower until I was awake, and then had breakfast with Adam and Rosalind while Sheila went back to bed feeling a bit ‘green around the gills’. I thought that undisturbed sleep would be the best remedy, and decided that I should forgo the opportunity to play Nurse Ratshit, going down to the pool, and doing another 1700 metres. It was pouring with rain and some of the apartment complex staff who were cleaning the area around the pool indicated that I was getting my hair wet in the rain. It is ‘funny’ how many people express concern about getting wet while swimming in the rain, “duh one does get wet while swimming”. Rosalind’s response to me was, “I think that the cleaning staff is all Burmese;” that explained a lot, I think.
After swimming I thought I should check on the patient, and the camomile tea that I provided seemed to help a bit, as Sheila was able to shower, dress, and go through to the sitting room and read, while munching a couple of pieces of dry toast.; great blotting paper for ‘crook’ stomachs.
I took the time to wash a couple of pieces of clothing that we had worn over the last few days, so that they would be clean to take with us to China. We don’t like asking Kuhn Noy to do all of our washing, all the time.
I used a Thai/English phrase book to ask Kuhn Noy to sing me a Thai song. Kuhn Noy laughed and went to her room with her lunch. I am still not sure if she understood my Thai, and then ignored my request, or whether I had actually said something else. I think the latter is more than likely. After a light lunch Sheila and I sat down in the sitting room with our books and some magazines to just ‘chill out’ for the afternoon before leaving for China in the morning. It was a bit of a bummer that I finished both of the latest Eoin Colfer books; you know the feeling I guess, you are keen to finish a book to see how it ends, and then you are disappointed that it is finished and you have to look for the next book.
Another new sculpture of Adam and Rosalind’s, with some ‘bird of paradise’ flowers that they grow on one of their balconies, and a bronze ‘ring’ mounted on stone.
Thursday 15th September
We left the apartment at 0830, with Kuhn Boon Chuay driving us to the airport for a 1030 take-off and four and a half hour flight to Beijing. China is one hour ahead of Thai time so we landed at 1600 local time, and were met by the translator/guide and driver that Adam had organised. It took us two hours through ‘rush’ hour traffic to get to the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Why on earth it is called the ‘rush’ hour is beyond me, I think it should be called the ‘slow’ or ‘crawl’ hour. It was also raining a bit and I guess that does not help. We were very impressed with the wide, straight, flat road from the airport to the city. The roads are tree-lined almost all the way to the city, and we think part of the beautification process prior to the 2006 Olympic Games in Beijing.
At the check-in desk, we were told that if we liked we could be up-graded to the Presidential suite, sharing a large sitting room, though still having separate bathrooms and bedrooms. “Yes no worries mate, ‘up-grade’ sounds fine to me.”
Adam had paid for the trip back in July and had been told that no standard rooms were available at the time we wanted so he paid for up-grades at that time to deluxe rooms.
We took our electronic key cards for the rooms, and took the lift to the 14th floor. We wandered around the corridors looking for our rooms that were listed as 1452. It was a bit of a labyrinth, and I felt a little twinge of concern as an arrow on the wall pointing to the numbers that featured our rooms was pointing in the opposite direction to another arrow that indicated ‘The way to the hotel’. We opened the door, and it became quickly apparent to Adam and Rosalind, that these rooms were not up to the standard they were expecting, and have experienced as seasoned travellers around the world. We went back down to the check-in desk and Adam explained that he was not satisfied with the rooms and expected us to be transferred to the rooms that he had booked, i.e. deluxe rooms. The desk clerk apologised, and issued Adam and Rosalind, Sheila and I with keys for rooms on the 15th floor. Back up the lifts and we quickly found Adam and Rosalind’s deluxe room facing the front courtyard of the hotel, and it was of an appropriate standard. Sheila and I went on the hunt for our room listed as 1554, my spirits sank a little as we followed the corridor out of the hotel again into what proved to be ‘serviced’ apartments. We went inside and waited for our luggage which duly arrived, closely followed by Adam. “No, this is not what I booked for you, you’re not staying in this room.” Adam rang the ‘check-in’ desk and ‘requested’ that Frankie Wong, the desk supervisor, come to the 15th flor and sort the correct room out for us. Frankie arrived and tried to do a ‘whitewash’ job on us, but Adam had developed a full head of steam, and left Frankie in no doubt as to what our concerns were and Adam’s keenness to have them resolved. Frankie looked more and more perplexed as the volume of Adam’s comments increased with the promise that the comments and volume would continue to rise until the whole hotel knew of our opinion of the hotel and its service. Adam then asked to talk with Frankie’s boss who turned out to be a young man called, Mark Lloyd, from Sydney. Mark agreed that the hotel had made a mistake and overbooked the deluxe rooms and he would solve it. To cut a longer story short, after a total of two hours from when we arrived Sheila and I were ensconced in a deluxe room number 1522, facing the front courtyard. We felt some concern that we were outside the room while the staff, extracted a Frenchman, who had just arrived, and turned the room over to us. Adam also insisted that the hotel would pay for our dinners, a ‘Peking Duck’ banquet, that evening as compensation for the trouble we had been caused; a ‘request’ with which they complied.
We sat down to dinner in the hotel’s restaurant, ‘Made in China’ about 2115, after some pre-dinner drinks in the Red Moon bar. Just a word of warning, it is a great bar with very subdued lighting, and an automatic glass sliding door that is not easily seen against the dark background, and if you do not give the door chance to open you will end up with a sore nose. Adam told us that a large number of patrons had made the mistake on the way out after quite a few drinks. The banquet included ‘sharks fin’ soup and a multitude of other dishes, followed by the duck and accompanied by a couple of bottles of French wine, that Adam insisted he would pay for and not the hotel, as that was not part of the compensation he had sought. We finished dinner at 0015, absolutely full to the brim, in fact, bloated it was a great first night in China, once the rooms had been sorted out.
The fountain in the forecourt of the Grand Hyatt in Beijing, at night.
A view across to the main street during the day from our room. We were told that the ‘main’ street in Beijing is 40 kilometres long, flat and straight, though of course it changes its name from the Beijing Expressway to the following as one heads West: Jian Guo Rd, Jianguomenwai Dajie, East Chang’an Avenue, West Chang’an Avenue, Fuxingmenwai Dajie, and then Fu Xing Road.
Friday 16th September
Sheila woke at 0545 and was very keen to go for a swim, “yes fine love I might join you later”, I mumbled as I circled my pillow and dived back into it and decided that quiet repose was necessary to finish digesting the huge meal from the night before.
Sheila came back at 0750 having done about 2000 metres. We met Adam and Rosalind in the dining room at 0830, having decided that dinner had been digested, and there was a need to refuel. Breakfast was rather protracted as it offered very many options from many international cuisines, and I felt it was my duty to explore all the opportunities of this cultural experience.
Over breakfast we made some plans for the day, that basically were to visit: The Forbidden City, referred to on maps as the Palace Museum, and also famous or infamous Tian’anmen Square, that is directly opposite the southern entrance to the Forbidden City.
I prefer to call it the Forbidden City as the name sound far more exotic, and it makes one all the more interested in tasting the previously forbidden fruits of the site
Incidentally the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Beijing was not named on our tourist map, it is in a complex called the Oriental Plaza, which includes a number of high rise office buildings; Adam’s firm has an office in one of the towers.
After breakfast we met up in the lobby, walked down to the main street straight in front of the hotel, and turned right, walking west along a very broad boulevard that impressed us all with the cleanliness and beauty. It was great ‘people watching’ as we walked, and we were immediately surprised by the ethnic diversity of the Chinese. There used to be an occidental belief that ‘all Chinese look the same’, but the reality is very far from that.
It was about a two kilometre walk, on the way we passed the very imposing Beijing Hotel and the Imperial library. The Beijing Hotel looks to be an interesting combination of ‘colonial style’ and functional ninety sixties. As long as your rooms are in the colonial looking bit I think it would be great, but make sure you are not in rooms in the ‘serviced apartment’ wings next door. I could have quite happily promenaded for hours along this boulevard as many of the people were just fascinating to watch, many of them I guess tourists from other parts of China.
Some young girls near the front of the Meridian Gate (front door) of the Forbidden City, I think fashions have changed a mite since the Cultural Revolution.
Picture featuring Sheila, in lemon coloured top and black trousers, near the Meridian gate to the Forbidden City (Palace Museum).
Picture featuring Sheila, Rosalind, Adam, and the ‘young lady in pink’ who also captured my attention.
Overview of the Forbidden City:
The Imperial Place in Beijing was known as ‘The Great Within’ in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the ‘Purple Forbidden City’ in the Qing official records. During the Ming and Qing periods, altogether 24 emperors ruled China from this site. After the downfall of the Qing, it was renamed the Palace Museum in 1925. In 1961, the State Council of the People’s Republic of China listed it as a major historical and cultural site under state protection. In 1987, the UNESCO listed it as a World Cultural Heritage site; a decision that I agree with completely, not that my opinion will carry much weight I guess.
The Forbidden City, Imperial Palace or the Palace Museum, whichever you prefer, is the largest and best preserved palatial complex in China. Its splendid buildings are laid out, with a strict imperial hierarchy, symmetrically along the central axis, that is intended to reflect and reinforce the supreme authority of the Emperor.
The Forbidden City is also the largest museum in China. There are 8,700 ‘bays’ of imperial architecture, with over 1,000,000 objects in the collection representing the Ming and Qing dynasties. Over 8,000,000 visitors each year imply that is very crowded, but it is such a large complex that we did not feel hemmed in at any stage and there was always plenty of space to move into if one wanted to get away from everyone else.
Some more specific detail:
The Forbidden City is located in the centre of Beijing, the front entrance on Chang’an Avenue, and the back gate on Jingshan Qianjie. When we left it appeared to me that local tourists tended to us the back gate to get access to the complex, and tourists from further away using the front gate.
Zhu Di (1360-1424), the fourth son of Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming dynasty, ordered the construction of the imperial palace in Beijing. Its construction began in the fourth year of the Yongle period (1406), and finished 14 years later. It is 961 metres long from south to north, with the front door, the Meridian Gate being at the south end; the Gate of Spiritual Valour in the north, the Eastern Flower Gate in the East and the not surprisingly the Western Flower Gate in the west. The Forbidden City is 753 metres wide from east to west, surrounded by a 10 metre high wall, and 52 metre wide moat, guarded by architecturally beautiful watchtowers at the four corners. The total area is 720,000 square metres and accounts for one fiftieth of the city of Beijing. After walking through the Forbidden City, just the thought that the city of Beijing is forty-nine times bigger made my feet ache a lot more. The 980 buildings on the site cover 160,000 square metres. A ‘virtual’ tour may be taken at the following site: http://www.drben.net/ChinaReport/Beijing/Landmarks-Hotspots/DongCheng/Gugong-Palace_Museum/PalaceMuseum-OnlineSources1.html
The plan of the layout follows the vertical schema that started with the Sui and Tang imperial architecture, i.e. the main buildings lie on the central axis consistent with the four points of the compass. In what is described as the ceremonial quarters known as the Outer Court; the Meridian Gate, before which imperial prisoners were paraded in front of the Emperor, the Gate of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Middle Harmony, and the Hall of Preserving Harmony on the central axis are flanked by the Hall of Literary Brilliance in the east and the Hall of Military Glory in the west. It did not take me long to figure out that hyperbole was not an issue when titles were chosen for the various buildings.
I think that access to the various parts of the Forbidden City, in historical times, was strictly governed by status, enforced by the place guards and courtiers.
In the residential quarter known as the Inner Court; the Palace of Heavenly Purity, the Hall of Union and Peace, (not ‘Trades Hall’ for sure) the Palace of Earthly Tranquillity, and the Imperial Gardens on the central axis, are flanked by the Hall of Worshipping Ancestors and the Eastern Palaces in the East, and the Hall of Mental Cultivation and the Western Palaces in the west. The Complex of Tranquil Longevity for the supreme sovereign and the Complex of Benevolent Tranquillity for the empress dowager (the mother of the sovereign) are located in the far east and west of the Forbidden City.
From 1420 until 1912, the Forbidden City was the political centre of China. Many historic events took place here: on April 25, 1644, the head of the peasant insurgents, with the rest of his body still attached,, Li Zicheng entered the Palace, ending the Ming dynasty that ruled China for 276 years. On February 12, 1912, the Empress Dowager Longyu announced the abdication of the last emperor, and handed the Outer Court to the Republican government, thus ending the monarchy created in 221 B.C. by the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty. In 1914, the Outer Court was converted into the National Gallery. On November 5th , 1924, the abdicated Emperor Puyi, was forced to leave the Inner Court, which became the Palace Museum, i.e. the Outer Court and Inner Court of the Imperial Palace, were united into a complete Palace Museum.
Rosalind and Sheila near the front of the Meridian Gate
Adam in front of the Meridian Gate
Mao Zedong over one of the archways of the Meridian gate
A close-up of Mao Zedong, who we were told is no longer considered to have been a God, but just a man. I found the thought of anyone considering a Chairman of the Communist Party in China as a God a strange oxymoronically contrived concept.
Because of the perspective it is hard to get a grasp of the scale of the buildings, and it is only when one watches people move around the various buildings does one start to get a feel for how big are the buildings, and whole complex.
This picture indicates the gender lanes to be taken prior to a gentle frisking, and baggage check prior to admittance to the next sanctum.
Sheila at the top of the Meridian Gate, with Tian’anmen Square behind her. The square covers an area of 440,000 square metres and can accommodate 1,000,000 people, and is said to be the largest square in the world. The square is flanked by the national Museum of China on the east, the Great Hall of the People on the west, and the Monument to the People’s Heroes and the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall on the south. Sheila thought that the square in front of Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum in Hanoi is larger, but I am not sure.
In this picture you can see the ‘haze’ that was present most of the time, we were not sure if it was heat haze, moisture or pollution, but I think that the later is most probable.
On the next few pages I will include pictures showing the unique Chinese architecture.
This next picture demonstrate that the world over parents are keen to have photographs of their children, reminding us that in addition to cultural differences there are as many similarities. Again with Tian’anmen Square in the background.
Sheila in one of the ‘Supreme’ buildings, sorry about the ‘light’ faces I was also trying to capture some of the detail inside the building.
Adam and John, with one of the gates ‘light’ behind them.
I could not resist this picture of two young girls at a shop on top of the Meridian Gate, once again showing that Chinese fashion has moved on a tad.
The next couple of pictures give one a sense of the sizes.
This picture features Adam and a couple of ladies who were cleaning up. China was the first place I had came across people keen to get one’s empty plastic drink bottles. As soon as anyone was close to finishing their bottle of water there was someone next to you indicating that they wanted to have your bottle. I don’t know if the motivation is recycling or keeping the city clean.
This next picture features some of the army corps that is stationed in the Forbidden City. The smiling soldiers were another contradiction to my expectations.
This shows one of the many examples of the colour and form that one associates with Chinese architecture.
At almost every gateway/doorway are stationed two lions, one with a ball under its paw and this is meant to represent the male lion controlling the world, this one outside the Gate of Mental Cultivation.
The other with a cub under its paw representing the female lion controlling the children, this one in front of the Gate of Character Cultivation and the Tower of Pleasant Sounds.
Concubine Pearl (1876-1900)
Concubine Pearl was the beloved concubine of Emperor Guangxu (reigned 1875-1908). Pearl sympathised with and supported the Emperor’s views on constitutional reform and modernisation. After the reforms were suppressed by Empress Dowager Cixi in 1898, the Emperor was taken into custody in Yingtai while Pearl was confined under house arrest. When the Eight-Power Allied Forces attacked Beijing in 1900, Pearl was thrown into a well and drowned by Eunuch Cui Yugui at the order of Empress Dowager Cixi. It put another perspective of the nursery rhyme: ‘ding dong dell pussy is in the well’.
Empress Dowager Cixi
Cixi, (1835-1908) is remembered as one of China’s most powerful women. Having borne the Emperor Xianfeng’s son as an imperial concubine; Cixi later seized power as regent to both the Tongzhi and Guangxu emperors, her son and nephew respectively. Cixi prevented Guangxu from implementing his proposed state reforms through her alliance with the Boxer Rebillion, which ultimately brought about the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911.
Eastern Part of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, where Cixi effectively held court from behind a curtain, so that ‘appeared’ as if the Emperor, in front of the curtain, was ruling. Perhaps this has something to do with the origin of the phrase ‘Chinese Whispers’.
Emperor Pu Yi (The Last Emperor)
Aisin Gioro or Pu Yi ascended the Qing throne at the age of three after the death of his uncle Emperor Guangxu. His brief reign as Emperor Xuantong was brought to an end on 12th February 1912, when he was obliged to abdicate his throne while living in the Forbidden City to make way for the new Republican Government. The powerless Pu Yi continued to live in the palace until 1924, before escaping to live in the Japanese concession in Tianjin. He was later installed as a ‘puppet’ emperor, by the Japanese, of Manchukuo, residing in his palace in Changchun. At the end of World War II, and the end of Japanese occupation, he was handed over to the Chinese Communists, who imprisoned him in 1950. In 1959, Mao granted him amnesty. Pu Yi never returned to the Forbidden City, and he died of cancer, childless and living in anonymity, in 1967, after working for seven years as a gardener at the Beijing Botanical Gardens.
The Hall of Supreme Harmony, the largest hall in the palace, this was used for major occasions such as the enthronement of an emperor. In side the hall the ornate throne sits beneath a fabulously coloured ceiling.
The ceiling of the Hall of Supreme Harmony
The next few pictures feature some free standing artefacts including the bronze dragon/tortoise.
A fire bucket
A grain measure
The Hall of Middle Harmony; in the Qing dynasty, the Emperor would come here during important ceremonies to accept the felicitations of his courtiers, before he went to the Hall of Supreme Harmony to preside over the celebrations
‘Just’ some detail from one of the doors
After walking through the Gate of Spiritual Valour (Shenwu), it was from this gate that the Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu went out of the Imperial Palace in the early morning of 15th August 1900, just before the Allied forces entered Beijing; we walked east along Jingshan Qianjie and then south along Nanchizi Dajie until we got back to the main road. On the way we past a lot of barber’s shops, but the short flimsy skirts worn by some of the girls in the shop windows made me think that they were selling more than haircuts. I found out later in the trip that when ‘barbers shop’ appears on your hotel account it can be a euphemism for a number of different services. After reaching the main road we headed back east towards our hotel. It was fairly warm and humid, Sheila and Rosalind were feeling a bit foot sore so wandered north up Wangfujing Dajie, ( I think ‘jie’ means street so conclude that ‘Dajie’ is a big street), in search of a coffee and somewhere to sit. Wangfujing Dajie is a famous shopping street, we sat in an outdoor café for a while just people watching and resting our feet. Our drinks were fine except that they piqued the girl’s appetite, so we then had to grab a quick bite to eat. Beijing McDonalds was the quickest and easiest choice as we did not want to have too large a lunch. Adam walks quickly and I try to keep up but on the way back to the hotel we lost the ladies. Meanwhile Adam walked into a ‘Smile’ dentistry centre and got some ‘wax’ to protect his cheeks from some braces he was wearing, that were chaffing the inside of his mouth. Rosalind and Sheila, had diverted to get some tweezers from the very large shopping mall under the Oriental Plaza, and our hotel, and lost there way a bit trying to find the entrance to our hotel. They were not fazed at all, in fact quite pleased at the number of shops that they discovered. Adam was a bit concerned when we could not find them as retraced our steps, and tried to telephone Rosalind on her mobile, their usual way of finding lost lambs, but it was switched off. When we were reunited Adam and Rosalind decided to have a rest while Sheila and I went down to the Fitness Centre in the second basement. Apparently it is the largest hotel swimming pool in Asia. It is a huge underground grotto that is decorated to look like a rock strewn oasis. It sounds a bit ‘kitch’, but in fact it is very well done and is most impressive. After our swim we also booked a half-day tour to the Great Wall through the concierge, leaving at 0900 the next morning, http://www.grayline.com/franchise.cfm/action/details/id/53 is a web site for Gray Tours and we recommend them very highly.
On the recommendation of one of Adam’s fellow partners, Seamus, we went to a district called Ho Hi (I think) and a string of night clubs, restaurants and bars down a lake side pedestrian road called Lotus Lane. Just before we entered ‘the crush’ at the start of Lotus Lane, we saw a large group of dancers strutting their stuff in a small paved area between the lake and the main road. I counted about two hundred of them, about one hundred and eight-five were women. At first we thought they were just doing ‘tai chi’ exercises, but when the music and tempo changed they moved from line ‘dancing’ into the ‘Macarena’ and many other dance forms, with most of them in immaculate time. The recalcitrant ones proved to be the men, who were in it to have a good time, despite being ‘urged’ to “sit down you silly old bugger you are showing me up.” We were told, “the young people go to karoke bars, and we come out here every night.” It was fascinating watching these senior citizens of all shapes and sizes out enjoying themselves with obvious humour and dedication to getting their timing and the steps correct.
We walked up and down Lotus Lane a couple of times as Adam and Rosalind debated about which outdoor restaurant would be the most appropriate. A glance at the meals of other diners made it clear that the food was very authentic ethnic Cantonese, and not even Adam could identify many of the things being eaten. Adam has told us that the Chinese having a perception about appropriate ‘food groups’, “if it moves then you can eat it.” Eventually a selection was made and we sat down to a meal that Adam ordered. We did identify some small dried fish in one dish, and some green chilli in another but the rest remained anonymous. Adam told us that type of green chilli was usually not very hot and he ate quite a large one whole. It appears as always that the exception proves the rule and that particular chilli was very, very hot Adam’s eyes were streaming, and I think his ear wax steaming. Sheila and I accepted Adam’s challenge to ‘try one’ as he poured copious quantities of local beer down his throat. Sheila and I smugly chewed on our chilli, relieved that ours belonged to the ‘not very hot’ variety. We think that Adam’s was in fact a ‘crook’ chilli as it had a scarifying effect on his bowels later. After dinner, of which we did not disturb many courses, we wandered back to the main road, and watched the dancers for a while who were still hard at it, and enjoying it immensely.
Saturday 17th September
We had an eight ‘o’ clock breakfast before going down to the lobby to meet our guide at nine ‘o’clock Michelle from Gray Tours (tel: 13911393585) was waiting for us and proved to speak perfect English and had an excellent car and driver waiting for us. Adam was a little late coming down as he was still dealing with the effects of the ‘crook’ chilli. It was only a ninety minute drive to the Great Wall at Badaling we were very surprised at how quickly we got to green and pleasant countryside along wide tree-lined freeways, with no apparent rubbish anywhere.. We had clear blue skies with the ambient temperature about 28 degrees centigrade with little or no pollution. Our guide, Michelle, asked if we would mind calling in at a ‘Cloisonne’ factory on the way; we were under no obligation to buy, and it would only take about fifteen minutes. Travellers are warned about these ‘side trip’ shopping traps, but we were more than happy to have the diversion and watch the whole production process of the ‘Cloisonne’ wares. It was fascinating to watch the girls glue copper wire in designs onto the base copper vases etc. The ‘holes’ between the wire was then filled with enamel paste of various colours and fired to bake the enamel. The better pieces are buffed up to a smooth finish, then another coat of enamel added to the previous layers that shrink in the firing, followed by another buffing. After seeing the craftsmen and women at work we were ushered into the showroom that was like an Aladdin’s cave. We keep wandering from cabinet to cabinet, saying “oh yes I like that, and I like that.” Adam was particularly taken with an antique ‘Ming’ vase about a metre tall, but Rosalind and the logistics of taking it back prevailed, and Adam settled on an excellent bowel and plate. Sheila picked out a few ‘nick knacks’ for friends, and a small plate for ourselves.
Our Cloisonne plate.
The very green tree lined roads on the way to the Great Wall, reminded us of the tree lined roads in Lombardy, and it was great to see the rural scenes of farmers tending their maize and children washing horses in the streams, not scenes one would associate with the waking industrial giant that is China. We back-tracked about a kilometre, then within another ten minutes we were parking in a car park at the bottom of a short steep walk to a chairlift station. On the way to the chairlift I bought another memory card for our camera, which subsequently caused a concern as I did not format it for our camera, and at the time of writing I might have ‘lost’ all my photographs of the Great Wall and Xian. Sheila bought some bags of semi-dried apricots, small almonds, also what was new to us and proved a great delight: semi-dried strawberries. The concentrated flavour of strawberries was superb and it was easy to eat them by the handful. We had a little debate about whether we would walk up the hill to get to the wall or whether we would take the chairlift. Sheila’s knees and feet were sore from the day before, plus it was warming up a bit so we all took the Japanese chairlift up the hill to the wall. On the way to the Great Wall I was telling myself not to have any great expectations, after all, a wall is a wall, is a wall. This was so I did not feel disappointed. Well I have to report, it exceeded any great expectations I might have harboured, and I kept saying “wow look at that”, “that view is just fantastic”, “just look at that”. Sheila, Michelle and I headed North West along the wall and Adam and Rosalind headed South East. After Adam and Rosalind had explored the wall they were headed for a sled ride down from the hills on which the wall is located. The terminus for the sled ride was near the chairlift station so we bade them farewell and told them we would see them later at the bottom. We wandered along just appreciating the beauty of the countryside, marvelling at the Great Wall, and the effort its production represented. A number of mountain peaks in the near distance reminded us of some of the ragged ranges in the South West Wilderness of Tasmania.
A wall is not a wall in all circumstances, and to visit the Great Wall of China is a ‘great’ experience. There are a lot of steps to negotiate when walking ‘along’ the wall and after a while we decided that we would ease the load on our knees and headed back to the chairlift and the trip down. The chairlift is very modern with gondolas that hold about eight people seated on comfortable seats, the trip is not at all scary, and provides the opportunity for some great vistas to the outskirts of Beijing.
At the bottom of the sled ride wile we were waiting for Adam and Rosalind, Michelle bought us some savoury Chinese pancakes, they were great eating with just a hint of chilli. I mentioned to Michelle that I was keen to buy a book of pictures of the Great Wall and I started to look at some books that various touts were keen to show me. Michelle whispered to Sheila that the price was 30 Yuan (A$5.00) for the book I wanted. Sheila wandered over and whispered the message to me, with the rider that I must not mention that Michelle had told us or she would get into trouble with the touts next time.
I focussed on a jolly looking lady who seemed to have the biggest range, and most stock to sell. I don’t like haggling normally, but she seemed to want to ‘play’. When I pointed to the book I wanted she indicated that she wanted 250 Yuan (approx A$41.00) When I said “no thank you” (or “Bu yow cher cher”, my favourite useful phrase) she asked me to write my price. I wrote 25 Yuan, and she laughed very loudly. I picked up the book and indicated that it was creased from being handled many times. No worries she brought out a pristine copy, and wrote 200 Yuan. I then wrote 23 Yuan
posted by John Lunn at 11:07 PM
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