So, I
spent last weekend out in the countryside, experiencing the Great Wall
in a quiet and peaceful setting ~ from what i've been told, a far cry
from the touristy sections closer to Beijing. One of Skotty's friends
owns a place in a little village which is literally encompassed on 3
sides by the wall ~ they call it "the shack". Its definately no
palace; therein lies its charm!!!! The main feature of the shack is
the traditional 'kang' ~ a bed which runs the length of the room,
sleeps about 10 comfortably, and is heated from below by a fire. The
heat is transmitted via firestone, which lines the structure. A fire
only needs to burn for half an hour in the morning, and half an hour at
night to keep the kang toasty warm around the clock.
There
were 6 of us up there that weekend, and on my first morning I hiked up
to the Wall with Andrea....it was incredible. Never mind the fact
that, sadly, the hike up was pretty difficult, reaching the top and
being able to look around and see the wall snaking off over the
mountain peaks was pretty amazing.
I've decided to stay on in Beijing until Saturday night ~ I'm staying
with Caitlin and Alex now, and they have an extensive dvd
collection...ahah. I've become addicted to "6 Feet Under" in the past
couple of days, let me tell you. Caitlin has promised to take me
shopping on Saturday, after a dim sum breakfast. She knows all the
best places for dvds, jeans (yeah fake 7s!!, for $12), bags, and
souvenirs. Although, I'm mostly interested in the jeans....I can't
understand why I didn't take Gypsys advice and bring a pair. I'm
definately kicking myself for that.
Yesterday I went out
to an electronics market with Skotty, to get another battery for my
camera, and another memory card ~ I came home with a couple of webcams
and a wireless mouse. Um....maybe I need to buy a computer next.....
The
market was mind-boggling. Literally 8 or 9 buildings, 4 or 5 floors
each, cram-packed with any and everything electronic you could think
of. Its meant to be the largest such market in all of Asia, and I can
believe it. You can easily get lost in there...and you barter for
everything! I think I could get used to Beijing....that is, if the air
pollution problem could be fixed....
Last night was goodbye
party for Skotty, as he leaves China on Friday. Its been prettty neat
experiencing his last 2 weeks here....good timing. The party was held
at Zub, a bar owned by the same guy that owns "the shack". Martinis
were 2 for 1, everyone I've met so far in Beijing was there, and it was
good times. Leaving the bar at 3am, Caitlin, Alex and I stopped for
some street food....a spicy pancake called jianbing. Its my kind of
food...batter is spread out over the griddle, then an egg is cracked
over that - a liberal douse of hot sauce, sprinking of green onion, and
then a crispy cracker is folded into it before being handed over to be
eaten! Total cost ~ Y2. ($1CDN = Y6.7)
I love that the street vendors are out at 3am, with their little
portable kitchens mounted on tricycles....less heart-warming is the
fact that the little flower girls are out at that hour, too. Flower
girls are sold into slavery, for lack of a better word, by their
families who live in smaller villages outside of the city. The girls
work for no money, selling flowers, and are severely malnourished and
overworked. They are not allowed to return to wherever they are
staying until all the flowers are sold....very sad. The girls are very
sweet but definately street-smart; you have to watch your bags and
pockets around them.
I'm just waiting for my new Vietnamese visa to come through, and them
I'm headed back down south, making a few stops along the way, before
making my way to Sapa, and then back to Thailand....Bangkok again! I
still haven't decided whether or not I'm going to go to Myanmar....lots
of time to figure that one out!!
Hope all of you are doing well...I'm still working on getting some photos up if at all possible....
xoxo Laura