Day 117 - The stomach of China

If Shanghai is the eye of China, then Beijing is the stomach. Woken at 5.30am. Sat bolt upright in the bed. Ian was sitting up in his, "those fucking builders". The noise of hammering and drilling right outside our door. Absolutely wrecked I lay down and feel back asleep. I woke up next to people moving their bags and moving out. Next thing that woke me was two people talking Chinese loudly and rummaging around. I climbed down presuming it must be late as staff were cleaning the room and changing sheets. I arrived in the canteen to find Ian sitting at his laptop. It was 7.45am. What the hell are they doing coming into the room at that time. The next seven hours I spent online catching up on contacting people I hadn't since I had left. Its weird you think when you are on holidays you have all the time in the world. Its not true. Its so hard to keep in contact people. After posting on 40 or so people's facebook I decided I had enough and needed to get out. First a little nap.

I awoke 2 or so hours later, feeling a tad better. Ian was still working away. I made some tired comment about, lets head out. He was not up for, so off I went. Followed the map and was at the B Exit of Line 2 of the metro in 5 mins. The subway is one of the oldest I had seen since arriving in China. Something from the eighties with big crazy brass lighting. I had no idea where the city centre was so I jumped of at Jianguomen station. Walked out and saw some sort of oldish tourist building. A national astronomy observatory of sorts. 10rmb entrance fee. Bit Meh overall. It is supposedly of enormous signifigance internationally. Wasn't really much to see apart from a big tower like structure hosting a variety of large cast iron observation and measurement tools. I imagine quite something in its day. Had no idea where I was so I justed started walking in a direction that I thought was the right way towards something. Everything in Beijing is super big. The roads are ridiculous going through the city. Four lanes, taxi/cycle lanes and big paths on each side of the road. The further I walked the more it seemed I was getting somewhere. Within a few minutes I was across the road from the Silk Market. It is a collection of shops selling clothes of numerous brands on numerous floors. There is everything from fake D&G to silk, jewellery, cameras and the lot. Great place for the ladies and theres definitely something for the boys.

Next stop I jumped of the metro at was Tian'anmen Square East. Wow, what a site. The best description is vast. It sits overlooking the entrance to the Forbidden City. Another enormous structure. I made way through the underpass and out onto the square. It is quite a sight. Surrounded by gigantic government buildings and motorway wide roads on three sides. soldier in full dress attire stand at attention at different posts throughout. I think back to my memory of the news stories from 1989, what it must have being like on those days. Chinese tourist stood here and there taking snaps. There is so much space it is hard to grasp. Two stunning monuments lit by flood lights stood proud. A new giant electronic board with blue and orange writing on it stuck out like a sore thumb, revolving in the midst of all this. Surrounded by colourful flowers and fountains spurting jets of water in the air. I walked around the square taking it all in and taking a few snaps myself. After crossing under the road, I visited the front of the Forbidden City. One thing I'll say about the Chinese is the really know how to do it. The pavements are as big as an Irish motorway. The cities I have visited so far are so well designed for tourism. It makes it all so bloody easy. Anyone can travel in China. Its a breeze and a pleasure. I can only imagine where it will be in 10 years.

I headed off walking to the east. I took a turn down some road running down the right hand side of the Forbidden City. Low old buildings lined the street. A collection of small local shops, eateries and not much else apart from a photography gallery I briefly visited. Some excellent shots. I kept walking and then headed east. Before I knew it I was back in a brightly lit area with electronic ad boards hanging from the buildings, Without realising I had come upon the infamous Donghuamen Night Market. A crazy long line of foods stall with a crowd walking around infront sprawled out infront of me. I walked down the line taking in the sights of crickets, snakes, lizards and other strange foods displayed on a stick. People stood around smiling as the stall operators called out to them to try their stalls foods. A Chinese woman tapped me and told me to watch my bag. After thanking here, she started up a conversation. Her English was near perfect. Stephanie I was later to find out was her English name. She stayed with me for the next half an hour, chatting about this and that. She was more knowledgeable about Ireland than some Irish people I know. At the beginning I enjoyed her company although after a while I kind of wanted to be walking by myself. Strange thing is I didn't say this to her and lied by walking to the metro station and saying I was going to get one. We swapped emails and phone numbers. I waved her goodbye and I was off. I hung around a few minutes and headed back up, hungry for something to eat. I went back to the food stalls and got a collection of dumplings, a candy fruit stick and a portion of spring rolls. It had being raining for the past half and hour and I was pretty much soaked as I had walked along unconcerned of getting wet. I made my way back around to the metro and headed home. After getting a little confused on which exit to take I was back in PLoft in ten minutes. If you have not travelled on metros before, always take note of the exit letters/numbers. It can make a BIG difference where you come out and whether you get lost or not. Or thats what I have found anyway.
When I got back I met the recently rested Ian, went online and caught up on the blog :)