The Great Wall of China - Finally!!!

Wednesday morning Mom and I packed up the kids and headed for the train station.  When I visited Shenyang North station to buy the tickets, I told them I wanted to actually leave from Shenyang station since it's a closer drive and Shenyang North is undergoing a lot of construction.  The ticket booths are out in the parking lot and the place is just generally a mess.  Well, as it turned out, Shenyang station wasn't much better.  There is construction there as well and getting around was not easy.  It took us a bit to find the waiting room for the trains and when we did it was packed.  Of course, everyone looked at us as we came in and rather than try to find a seat right in the middle of all the people, we opted to stand near a wall and let the kids sit on their suitcases.

I went to buy some water and when I returned there were about five men standing in a semi-circle in front of the boys just staring at them.  I had given them their iPods which is a great distraction from all the attention they receive.  I don't want them to be too self-conscious with every staring, pointing, grinning or laughing.  The men were irritating me though as they didn't need to be so close so as I returned I stood between them and the boys.  They got the hint and moved on.  After a wait we got in the line for our train and shortly thereafter they opened the gate.  Like a herd of cattle heading to the field, everyone plowed through.  I thought we'd be going straight to the train but it wasn't quite as simple as that.  Because of the construction, we had to climb, with our luggage, up two flights of stairs, over the track then down the other side.  From there we walked along a platform but since our train was over further, we had to drag everything down another couple flights and back up the other side.  By then we were wiped and the trip had hardly begun.

We found a train car that said First Class Coach on it so we jumped in and tried to get settled.  After a few minutes we had all our stuff stowed and were sitting in some nice seats.  Then a lady who worked for the train came along and I showed her our tickets.  It turned out that we were in the wrong coach.  Perfect!  We had to gather up all our stuff again and walk to the far end of the train.  Once there everyone did a lot of seat switching until finally we had four seats next to each other.  Again we got settled and were ready to go.

  

The trip from Shenyang to Beijing takes almost five hours and it was long.  I brought lots to keep the kids busy but it still seemed to drag on.  When we finally did arrive three of us had to pee and, believe it or not, the Beijing train station had no bathrooms and the restaurants didn't either.  We had to go outside and walk to the far end of the station to find public bathrooms.  Once that was done it was time to find a taxi.  We strolled along and a man approached us and asked if we needed a taxi.  We considered it but he was suspicious so I said no, we'll get a regular taxi.  He said, "No, real taxi!"  Yeah, I don't think so.  Then we saw the line up for real taxis and it was tempting to accept a ride from one of the illegal ones.  We resisted though (so did all the Chinese people who also had to wait) and within about twenty minutes we had a cab and were on our way to the hotel.

Beijing Train Station

Waiting...

When I originally booked our trip to Beijing I had chosen different dates and a different hotel - a regular hotel.  Those dates turned out to be a holiday and one of the busiest travel days of the year.  When I changed the dates I decided to go with a different hotel, one called The Double Happiness Hotel.  How could we go wrong with a name like that?  Also, it was rated as the #3 hotel in all of Beijing (out of 3,000) on Trip Advisor.  This place was located in a hutong - an alley off of a main street that is a traditional type of Chinese living space.  These alleys have corridors off them that are like little mazes.  Within each corridor are several homes or apartments.  With all the high rises being built, the hutongs are disappearing and there is an effort now to preserve some of them.  They are truly unique and to be able to stay in one seemed like it would be a neat experience.  It was! 

As we walked in the hotel we were met by a small fountain with tiny goldfish and two blackbirds that spoke Chinese.  They would often say "Ni Hao" or "Zhaoshang hao" (hello and good morning).  We were taken to our room through a series of hallways and two outdoor courtyards.  The place was absolutely gorgeous and perhaps the nicest feature was the garden swing right outside our door.  We ended up eating several meals on the swing and enjoyed the company of some of the other guests in the courtyard.  The room was beautiful too, with two queen beds, a modern bathroom, minibar, computer and desk and other neat little features.  We were amazed how we could sit in the courtyard and feel like we weren't in the middle of a huge city.  It was quiet and peaceful.

Housekeeper turning down the bed.

We spent most of the first afternoon enjoying our hotel and to be honest, I could have spent several days just doing that.  We went for a stroll down to the main street for bananas and so Mom could get some reading glasses.  On the way back she bought some sort of food from a street vendor.  She said it was good.

One of the public toilets in the hutong.

For supper we ordered from the hotel restaurant, which was very small and cute, and ate in the courtyard on the swing.  The food was delicious!

Thursday morning we left at 8:30 to go see the Great Wall.  I had arranged for a driver, Robert, to pick us up and drive us there.  There are several places around Beijing that you can travel to in order to get access to the wall and I thought the one I chose was quite close.  It was actually a two hour drive.  Really, it wasn't that far away but with traffic, it took two hours.

The site we visited is called Mutianyu and I picked this one for a couple of reasons.  First, there is a chairlift that takes you from the base of the mountain up to the wall.  Second, to get back down the mountain you have three choices. You can take the chairlift, walk, or chose the much more exciting option of sliding down on a toboggan.  I wasn't sure which one we would chose in the end but we bought the ticket for the toboggan.  When we arrived we were surprised to find at the base of the mountain a Subway Restaurant.  Who would have thought?  We got subs and salads before going up so we wouldn't be hungry on what we thought would be a long trek.

Eating at Subway with the Great Wall in the background.

After our early lunch we walked up to the area where you get on the chairlift.  There were vendors all along the way and boy, were they trying to sell their stuff.  I thought the Shanghai sellers were pushy but they had nothing on these people.  They would jump out in front of you with t-shirts and whatever else they might be selling.  We bought some water and hopped on the chairlift - something I never thought I'd do in China.  The safety standards here just aren't as strict as North America.  That being said, the lift appeared to be in fine shape and I felt safe enough.  The kids, not so much.  They weren't expecting the chairlift (mostly because I hadn't told them about it for fear of having to fight with them to get on) but did well on the trip up.  Ryan and I sat in one chair and I held on to him while he clutched my arm.  I had to use one hand to get my iPhone out so I could get a picture of Mom and Nicholas on the chair behind us.  It was tricky but I managed to get it without dropping my phone.

View of the toboggan run from the chairlift.

Once at the top we climbed the stairs and were finally on The Great Wall of China!

Right away there were sellers shoving plastic medals (I've Been To The Great Wall kind of thing) in the kids' faces and after that it was lollipops.  They put their hands out like they are offering them for free but that's not the case.  Even after you say you don't want any they push and push, hoping that the kid will want the thing and starting crying, at which point the parent will give in.  This one thing I've tried to train them for and they know better.  Anyway, luckily there weren't too many of those vendors and we were able to enjoy our stroll along the wall.

We ended up only visiting a couple of towers before heading back to the area where the chairlift and toboggans were located.  It was hot and the views that day weren't spectacular.  Ryan had said he didn't want to ride the toboggan down but Nicholas wanted to so I was going to walk with Ryan while Mom went with Nick.  Well, we got to the area where you get on and Nick changed his mind.  He was scared to ride it.  It did seem a little scary until you saw how the toboggans worked.  They were very simple and looked comfortable.  You pushed forward on a stick to go faster and pull back to go slower.  There were even  larger ones for two people.  So, I hopped on one, Mom grabbed Ryan and threw him into my lap and away we went.  Once we were on our way Nicholas got on with Mom without too much hassle.  Well, it turned out to be a really fun ride.  Ryan was still scared but Nick was having a blast.  He and Mom should have gone first since they kept bumping into us as they wanted to go faster.  The run lasted about five minutes and the scenery coming down the mountain was beautiful.

Once we got to the bottom Ryan said he wouldn't go again but Nicholas couldn't wait so Mom took him back up while Ryan and I walked around.  Their next trip down was disappointing due to a scared woman who was only crawling down the track.  They got stuck behind her and her boyfriend.  Since that one was a bust I agreed to take him one more time.  There were no slow people in front of us for that trip and Nicholas was sailing down the hill.  I had to slow him down a couple times and even one of the people stationed along the track got after us for going to fast.  It sure was fun though!

As Ryan and I were waiting for Mom and Nick I tried to buy some bananas from one of the vendors.  I picked out four and he weighed them and gave me the price - 50 yuan.  That's about $8!  Here at Eastern Venice I would pay about $1 for four bananas.  I just laughed and told him to forget it.  He tried to give me the calculator so I could bargain with him.  I couldn't believe I was actually going to negotiate a price for four little bananas.  I told him 10 yuan and he said no.  So, I walked away.  As I did, he started yelling prices at me but I just ignored him.  Eventually he got down to 10 yuan at which point all the other fruit sellers starting yelling at me too, trying to let me know that he had accepted my price.  I just kept walking.  I hate that he was trying to rip off a foreigner who might not bother doing the conversion.  I understand that sellers do this for a lot of goods, but bananas?  Forget it.

Once the tobogganing was done we were ready to leave for the long drive back to the city.  Since we had the driver anyway we decided to get him to take us to the Silk Street Market.  I had been here when Ryan and I came in September and it was a little overwhelming.  It's not that the place is that big, it's actually smaller than Wu'ai, but the people there are a little crazy.  There are a lot of sellers and they never seem to be busy which leaves them lots of time to pick at the kids.  When I had taken Ryan they were grabbing the stroller and trying to drag him closer so they could paw at him.  This time was a little better since both boys were walking and running around which made it more difficult for people to touch them.  They still tried though.  We had a look around and found some silk material but the prices were much higher then Shenyang.  In the end, I negotiated for a few toys and a new winter jacket for myself.  It's a lot of hassle trying to bargain with these people and the best thing to do is decide how much you are willing to pay and walk away if they won't take it.  Most of the time they will come down to your price.  One guy pretty much chased us out the door before agreeing to the price we had offered.  However, he got upset when Mom wanted to try on the shirt she was looking at.  She did anyway and ended up not liking the way it fit.  When she told him she didn't want it he said she wasn't a nice lady.  With the lady I bought the jacket from, I was walking away when she said she would take my price then when I went back to pay, she asked me to go to the next booth so that the foreigners in her store wouldn't see how much I had paid and try to get the same price.  Crazy!

Outside the market there were people on the sidewalk selling fake purses.  They not only had samples, but catalogs for Gucci and Prada and a bunch of other brand names.  You could look through the catalog, find one you liked, then negotiate the price.  I don't know where they were keeping all these purses because there weren't that many on the sidewalk.  Perhaps they were underground in the sewers:-)

That evening we ordered some food to eat in the courtyard and ended up having some drinks with an Australian couple.  Ryan just loved these people (although earlier in the day he wouldn't even look at them).  Apparently we were a little loud because at 8:45 a lady (I think she was British) came out and asked us to keep it down.  I went in around nine to get the kids to bed but Mom stayed out until 11.  Another couple from Sweden and their five-year-old joined in the fun and I could hear them laughing and having a great time.  When Mom came in she was pretty tipsy and had the giggles.  I fell asleep listening to her tittering from the other bed.

Friday morning we had a lovely buffet breakfast at the hotel then took the subway to the zoo.  It was Ryan's first time on a subway and the first one that Nicholas could remember.

We got off one stop before the zoo rather than having to switch to another line and I didn't think it would be a problem since the woman at the hotel said it was only a five minute walk.  She must be a speed walker because it took us about twenty and we ended up stopping for Baskin Robbins along the way.

Studying the map...

The main reason for us going to the zoo was to see the pandas but unfortunately they weren't doing a whole lot at that time of day.  Instead we went to see the monkeys who were much more lively.  After that everyone was tired and not too interested in the animals so after one more trip to see if the pandas were active (they weren't) we decided to grab a taxi back to the hotel.  It took a map and my best effort at Chinese but we finally made it.

After a nap and a quick supper at a local restaurant we were met by another driver who was taking us to see a Chinese acrobatic show.  It wasn't quite what I expected but it was pretty neat.  The performers were incredibly talented and the highlight was at the end of the show when they brought out a big, round cage and a guy drove his motorcycle around inside.  Soon a second cyclist went into the cage, then a third, fourth and finally a fifth.  I don't know how they all fit in there and managed to not run into one another.  They weren't exactly small motorcycles and the cage wasn't that big.  The other performances were great too showing off the strength and balance of the acrobats.  On the way back to the hotel I asked the driver to take us by Tianamen Square.  It was beautiful and I'm glad we got to see it at night with all the lights.  Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures as we hadn't taken the camera along.  We were getting tired of dragging it all over the place.

On Saturday we were supposed to catch the 2pm train but on Friday I had asked the people at the hotel if it would be possible to catch an earlier one.  They had taken our tickets and very kindly got them exchanged for the 9:15 train.  I always assume we will want that extra morning to make the most of our time exploring another city but I am realizing that once the day has come to leave, everyone just wants to get going as soon as possible.  Especially with kids.  There was a lot Mom and I could have explored had it just been the two of us, but we were happy just to go.  And, it's fun to see things through a child's eyes sometimes.

So, after another trip to the station and five long hours on the train, we made it back to Shenyang.  The train was a pretty nice way to travel, with the exception of the bathrooms.  Even though there was one western toilet the floor was still covered with pee.  Apparently people who are used to the squatties will try to squat on the western toilets and it just doesn't work.  That would explain this sign I saw in the bathroom at the airport when Mom was leaving.

My first thought was that it was to advise people not to wash their feet off in the toilet (like anyone should have to be told that), but Mom and Tim pointed out that it's more likely to keep people from standing on the them.

The last day of Mom's trip to Shenyang was rather low key.  Since it was Mother's Day, I was served breakfast in bed then Mom and I went to Wu'ai market.  Afterwards I took her for lunch at the Thai restaurant.  It was another nice day and a good way to end her trip.  We've missed her this week but are getting back to normal.  I've been busy booking flights for our next home trip in September and the kids have been enjoying some warm weather and sunshine.  We even went kite flying.  The next week is going to be a little busier so today we are relaxing.  Nicholas and I went for a long bike ride and mini-picnic in the park this morning while Tim and Ryan walked to the grocery store.  We saw loads of couples getting engagement/wedding pictures done which I always find amusing.

That's it for now.  If you are in Canada, have a great long weekend and enjoy some tasty barbecue for me!