bye bye, beijing, bye bye

[6th october]

we arrived on 2nd october in a very busy beijing. monday had been national day and the whole week is a holiday for most chinese. 1 1/2 million had passed through t. square last monday if the china daily is to be believed! :)

beijing was sunny and blue and it was liberating to be able to walk in dappled shade along the streets under the trees. we'd been under hazy skies since mongolia! i hope the trees survive the renovations here. not just two rows of trees along the roads but four as the bicycle lanes are edged with treelined pavements too.

tuesday evening was roast beijing duck organised by the agency to compensate for losing us a day in hong kong (the shanghai hotel had been cheaper than hk). a good meal at a buffet restaurant, only one glass of wine provided so we bought a bottle of 'free' wine! :)

wednesday we went out to the summer palace, a must see sight according to lonely planet. us and that 1 1/2 million! after an hour or more of slow shuffling we abandonned the buildings along the lakeside, beautiful though they are, and took to the hill. lovely paths under ancient fir trees with room to stretch our legs. we passed the hall of serenity (sic), a quirky building housing some exquisite wooden furniture (the empress didn't stint herself). you entered a small courtyard and after passing through an l-shaped gallery you found yourself looking down into another courtyard two floors below. (see pic above) cunning garden designers these chinese!

thursday we returned to the temple of heaven, only two blocks from the hotel. we'd done some of it with macy but the place is huge, we sussed how to avoid the worst of the crowds and idled away the morning watching ladies doing a very sinuous dance class, pensioners doing tai chi and a man spinning a top to applause, not putting out the hat but just for the pleasure of exercising his skill :)

we braved the hordes to do the round altar and the echo wall and scuttled back under the cypresses where we tried to glimpse the parrots we could hear. sitting in an arbour in the rose garden a young girl indicated she would like her picture taken with us. so with lots of grins and gestures several were taken by her boyfriend on his mobile phone. no names were swapped as no common language but a further confirmation that the ordinary chinese, out of uniform, are a friendly and cheerful people!

friday morning was very wet so i googled an art exhibition mentioned in the china daily and off we went to a building called variously the bejing world art museum or the china millenium monument. rampant patriotism in the exterior design and some of the exhibits although i liked the frieze of chinese history downstairs. julian schnabel left us cold but the spanish design exhibition of poster, chairs and lights was exhilerating. once more cameras flashed despite signs to the contrary and ever present attendants...very odd.

back to the hotel and lunch at a place lou had spotted the day before. nice staff, good food and tea full of daisies. smelled of chrysanths. and tasted lovely. lots of giggles when i asked them to write down the chinese name. i found some in the merry mart later. cup of tea, petal? :)

today has been wet all morning so we loitered in the hotel room till check out time when it had dried up a bit and went off to the lake area lou likes. we wandered happily around and had a pizza in one of the myriad restaurants. then another wander through the hutong area and to the drum and bell towers. back to t. square (i can't spell it) and a long walk back to the hotel...train at 11 o'clock.....

talk to you in a week, god willing!