One Year Away

Joseph

First thing we had to do in the morning of our first day in China was go to the Mongolian embassy to apply for a visa.  The Mongolian embassy is in embassy row, an area just off the center of downtown Beijing.  Since our bodies are still on West Coast time it was easy for us to get up early and walk over.  We arrived just before 10 AM and saw the sign by the door that advertised their hours; 9 AM – 11 AM.    We raced to fill out the paperwork and glue our passport photo onto the application only to be told that we had to pay for the visas upon applying not when we picked them up.  That meant we had to literally run to the bank, withdraw a large stack of yuan and run back to the embassy in order to get our application in on time.

Our hostel is in a  hutong, a narrow alleyway of ramshackle one-storey buildings.  These charming old sections of Beijing are where about a quarter of Bejing’s residents still live.  Some of them are being preserved but whole sections of them are apparently being bulldozed to make way for apartment blocks.  This picture to the right is the street our hotel is on.

With the visa application done and cash in our pockets we set off to find breakfast near Shijia hutong.  The vendor we chose had a window opening on to the street and sold an assortment of things; we chose a thin pancake with egg and scallion on top, and a sort of fried sandwich with some sort of meat inside (we couldn’t tell what it was).  That and two bottles of water set us back 6 yuan or about $0.90 CAD.  The breakfast was great but a bit greasy.

With our bellies full we decided to go to Pearl Market.  This 7 storey building is a well known market with a seafood market in the first floor and a massive pearl market on the top floors.  It is also the best place to get fake North Face jackets and fleeces.  Although the weather here is still quite warm, about 25 C, we figure it will be a lot colder in Mongolia and wanted to pick up a windbreaker fleece.  The market clearly caters to foreigners and the vendors all spoke rudimentary English.  After much haggling I got the jacket and 2 t-shirts for about $85.  I think I could have held out for a better price though.  Penny bought herself a pair of pearl earrings for $5 after some halfhearted haggling.

On the way out I saw an item that my brothers are selling in Canada and being curious as to how much they would cost in China I approached the booth.  As soon as she saw me the 4 and a half foot tall Chinese sales lady pounced on me and literally grabbed me arm in a vise-like grip. 

Me: "I’m curious how much these belts are?"
Saleslady: "You buy two and is 210 yuan."
Me:  "That’s too much.  How about 105 yuan for both?"
Saleslady: (crying in pain) "How can you say this price?!  Too low, too low!"
Me:  (trying to break free of her grip, and failing) "Ahhh, well, it’s not for me."
Saleslady: (pins my arm to her with her elbow she can type the number 150 on a calculator) "This much I do for you because you are a nice guy."
Me:  (still trying to escape, but she’s very strong for her size) "Still too expensive."
Saleslady: "OK, you give me 110 yuan."
Me: (getting worried because I have no intention of actually buying the items.  I just wanted to see how much they were to tell my brothers.)  "Actually, I should call my brother and ask him first.  Bye, I might come back later."
Saleslady: (not even considering letting go of me): "No, why?!!" (Another cry of pain)
Me:  (Manage to slip free with a quick pull of my arm.  I join Penny who’s been laughing from outside the booth.)
Saleslady:  "OK, your price!  105 yuan, come back!"

After the exhaustion of the market we decided to go to the Temple of Heaven park next door to relax.  When we got there we realized it’s less park and more temple.  Here is a 360 degree video of what we saw: 

We wandered around and saw some beautiful temples and squares where the emperors would perform ceremonies to ensure good harvests.

This city is famous for having a lot of bikes.  There are some streets where the bike lanes are actually wider than the car lanes.  This is a shot of people biking during the evening rush hour.