China - the last few days

China was one of the most tiring "vacations" I've ever taken, and so after 10 days I couldn't keep my eyes open long enough at night to write about the days happenings. So now, almost two months later I am going to try to recount the last few days we spent on the other side of the world. The day after the Great Wall adventure we went to an art museum and then to the art district. The main exhibit was technology as art, and had some pretty fun interactive pieces. An image searching program that brought up faces similar to yours (or just random images from the looks of it) after taking a scan was in the first gallery. Anna had a couple matches, but no matter how hard I tried I always got the "no match found" message. I gave up, and let the kids have a turn.

We moved on to my favorite exhibit: Nemo Observatorium. The plaque did a good job explaining the purpose of this transparent space with flying Styrofoam balls whirling about an armchair in the center.

"White particles are blown around in a big transparent cylinder. Visitors can take a seat on the armchair in the middle of the whirlpool or observe from the outside. In the eye of the storm, it is calm and safe. In this spectacular meditation machine one can follow the patterns, focus on the layers of 3D pixels or listen to its waterfall sound. One could call it a training device, challenging the visitor to find peace in a fast changing environment."

Relaxing in the "eye of the storm"

It was good, nerdy fun. As was the greenhouse exhibit upstairs next to a piece that created a windmill of sorts out of water bottles and LED lights. The sculptor used bottles filled with sand to focus attention on the fading availability of clean water. On the other side of the gallery was a quirky tent filled with growing garden vegetables (tomatoes mostly if I'm remembering correctly) that invited guests to dance inside with the plants. So, we did. Briefly.

We had Pizza Hut for lunch, which I should have known was a bad idea since even in the states I usually get sick from eating there. But, just like it didn't stop me from going to the buffet on weekends (especially for the dessert pizza) in college, it didn't stop us in Beijing. After our stomachs were sufficiently coated in grease, we made our way to the art district. I didn't get to go with Anna and Lei Ti to the art district in Shanghai, so I was excited about this trip. It actually reminded me of the third ward in Milwaukee, an industrial area taken over and reinvented by artists and gallery owners. The taxi ride there got me a little car sick, and combined with the Pizza Hut, my stomach never really recovered. But, other than my stomach hating me for the evening, it was a good time. It was refreshingly less crowded than we were getting used to, and there was a ton to see.

"Floating" Bikes

Love is a work of art. Aren't they cute?

"Wall art"

That night I went to sleep hoping my stomach would stop loathing me, and luckily when I woke up the next day I felt nearly 100 percent better. It was time to go back to Shanghai, High Speed Rail style. We made it back that evening to the same hotel we left a few days prior to go to Beijing, but Lei Ti wasn't feeling too well. Anna and I left him to his Chinese peaches and bed and we went to the French Concession where we had had the amazing fried bananas. This time we stumbled upon a Mexican place, after buying fabulously large, colorful lens-free glasses. It's amazing how walking away can get a vendor to really bring down his prices. For Mexican in China, it was a really great place, and the margaritas were 2 for 1 (something we didn't know until we got the bill, which was probably for the best). This was the most expensive meal we had eaten in China, and with a margarita my total couldn't have been more than $13 USD. I really could get used tot he restaurant pricing here.

Our last day in Shanghai was low key. We slept late, went souvenir shopping and watched our last night of Chinese dating shows. We were getting excited for our return trips home, though it was a bit bittersweet considering I wouldn't get to see Anna again for months.

We woke up packed and ready to go, but the weather would have something else in store for me. It would be another 72 hours before I made it home, after rerouting and airport overnights. More on that crazy weekend soon.

Beijing - Day 10

Day 10 (Tuesday) - Beijing

The Great Wall was an amazing feat showing the strength of China throughout centuries, and for a traveler in the 21st century it offers beautiful mountain views even in the foggy morning. But, after seeing the treacherous mountains it was built on, I would have thought the mountains themselves would have served as a strong enough barrier against the Mongols. I've been told it was more of a symbol of power, which makes sense. You'd have to have a lot of power to persuade your people to build the wall. Thousands of people died during it's construction. As you may have guessed, the great wall is packed with visitors. We went to the the second most popular entry point at Jinyong park and there were people everywhere making it nearly impossible to navigate the steep steps. I pressed on among the crowds to Beacon Tower 9.

Before the climb.

So many people!

Anna, Lei Ti and I made it to 8, but on the way up Anna remembered she was afraid of heights so they made their way back down and I pressed on. Right when I thought I made it to another tower, it was just a platform leading to more stairs. I climbed on. By this point my clothes were soaked through, my face was dripping and I could tell my legs would be burning the next day. The wall is a great place to remind you of your fitness level, for better or worse. I, for example, need a little work. The view from the beacon tower I made it to was beautiful, and would have been peaceful, maybe even spiritual, had I been able to climb alone instead of with herds of other people. I took in the view, took a few deep breaths of the fresh mountain air and carried on back down the stairs stopping periodically to look out among the landscape of green peaks and valleys.

Mountains

It was almost scarier on the way down considering one shove could have taken down so many people, and people are known to do their share of shoving here. I thought of buying a t-shirt to change into, but the only ones they really had were cheesy "I climbed the wall" shirts. According to Mao, if you come to China and don't climb the wall, you are not a man. Only true men make the climb. I would have bought a shirt that said "Mao thinks I'm a man," but had no luck.

These locks are attached to the wall. They are put there to ensure a couple's love will last.

To get to the great wall we took a tour van from the hotel. It wasn't the cheapest, but it was the easiest, even though we were shuttled to three factories on the way to the wall, Ming Tombs, and Olympic bird's nest. And it also included lunch, which wasn't bad. Veggies with a good sauce, rice and hot Jasmine tea. The first factory was jade, expensive jade. We saw a carved jade boat worth something outrageous like $57,000 USD, and learned the difference between real and fake jade during the elaborate sales pitch. I hate being followed around by salespeople, and so when after looking at some chotchkies I was swarmed by saleswomen I shut down and decided that even if I had the money I would save it to buy gifts elsewhere. The Ming Tombs aren't far from the wall, there are 13 Ming Emperors burried on the grounds. We only saw the tablet of one, and his three concubines. It was marked with a turtle symbolizing long life, and is supposed to bring luck if you rub it, and good health if you rub it's butt. I did both, but my cold was still hanging around, so I'm not sure it worked. The next factory was silk. Anna and Lei Ti went rogue right away from boredom. I listened for a little longer, until she tried to sell us quilts and then went back downstairs. We had to stay there 20 minutes, I'm pretty sure they get kick backs for bringing foreigners there to spend money. Again, we bought nothing. And then there was the tea house. I was happy to have some hot tea samples and even the pu er was drinkable. The pu er I remember from my days at the tea shop wasn't close to tolerable. The oolong is always my favorite, but Dr. Tea was too expensive. I almost wish I would have picked up a pee pee boy though, which is a ceramic or terracotta baby that when you put in water hot enough for tea it, pees. It was pretty funny. Next was pearls in a shop that seemed to be under the Olympic grounds, it was a weird location for a jewelry shop. They also had pearl anti-aging cream that Anna and I jumped on, considering our pushing 30 status. I woke up the next morning with an allergic reaction to it. Luckily I didn't spend any money on the two for one bargain cream. The last stop was the bird's nest. A cool building, sure, but I think it would have been cooler in color. It seems odd how much China is still banking on the 2008 Olympics. We took pictures in front of the nest like giants. It was a lot of fun and the pictures are pretty hilarious.

Anna winning the 400 meter dash!

And from there the van drove us back to the hotel. Lei Ti picked an awesome dumpling place for dinner. They had like 50 different choices, including vegetarian. And the cook was cool. When a woman told him she thought he needed to cook the dumplings different, he said he didn't think so, and told her to leave, that he didn't need her money. I'm sure it sounded better in the original Chinese, some probably got lost in Lei Ti's translation, but that is pretty cool to feel so confident in your cooking that you don't take anyone's gruff. These restaurants have been some of the best Chinese experiences so far, and having Lei Ti translate is like being a fly on the wall, which is fun.

Beijing - Days 8 and 9

Day 8 (Sunday) - Beijing

Our plan was to go to the Forbidden City by way of Jin Shan Park, but like any good plan it only gets better with alteration. The taxi dropped us off at the park and from the start the butterfly theme smacked you in the face. Usually I'm not a fan of butterfly houses (too many bugs flying too close to my head), but this one wasn't so much a butterfly house as a big net with a few butterflies flying around. I even took a photo as a butterfly princess. Proof I may be over my phobia soon enough, which would mean I could quote things like "just when the caterpillar thought it's life was over, it turned into a beautiful butterfly" without concern. In addition to the butterflies were temples, and nicely landscaped greenery. One of the temple's was tall enough to provide a view of the yellow rooftops of the Forbidden City's. Before even going inside, it was obvious this would be one more thing in China that would be classified as too big.

By the time we pushed our way through to a good photo spot and then down a less traveled path that I almost slipped down, we made it to the gate about an hour before they let the last people in. But, they changed the entry gate from the north to south in the beginning of July which meant we really wouldn't have had time to get through after walking around the moated city. Instead, we went to Bei Hai Park. Bei Hai Park is one of the largest Chinese gardens with grand structures, pathways and scenery. It was built in the 10th century. Even though there were still a lot of people there, it seemed quieter and a little more peaceful (I give credit to the lake). And we didn't just look at the water, we eventually rented a pedal boat. That was after climbing to the White Dagoba through a few other temples where there was ghost food and ghost accommodations for the afterlife and prayer placards outside on trees that I imagine are like lighting a candle in the catholic church. After coming down from the highest point in the park (the Dagoba) and taking a rest looking out onto the lake we decided to rent a pedal boat. I was like a princess being pedaled around by Anna and Lei Ti.

My pedalers

We spotted jumping fish, joked about the other "lazy" foreigners in a motor boat who seemed to be always catching us, and closed in on a couple obviously trying to make out. There were also lotus boats we could have gotten if we only walked down the way a little more before opting for the pedal boat. The lotus might have looked cool, but ours was just as good, and wasn't as pretentious.

Other foreigners in the Lotus Boats. Fancy pants.

For dinner Lei Ti made another solid choice. We had food from the northern region. Square noodles that could have been put together like ravioli, tomato sauce and peppers. The veggies were potatoes and peppers that were like a Chinese breakfast potato and there was flat bread. Fresh bread with pizza-like herbs with a spicy kick. It was worth the wait for a fresh loaf. After dinner we walked down passed turtles in a suitcase and checked out the WuMart, which we're pretty sure is Wal-Mart in China. If it wasn't Wal-Mart, it was a great copy, and if China does anything well, it's make copies of brand name items for less. We walked back through a Hutong (a Chinese neighborhood down an alley) that I would have turned back out of if I was alone, but carried on with the senses hightened until we made it back to the main street on the way to our hotel.

Day 9 (Monday) - Beijing
We got up early with hopes of making it to two sites in one day. First, the Forbidden City. Like all of the tickets and talking, Lei Ti was nice enough to stand in line for us and buy our entry tickets. While we were waiting a Chinese girl asked to take our picture, and as we posed a group of about ten 12-year-olds gathered round with the cameras. If only we could have capitalized on this short bought of "fame" we could have made our money back for the tickets. We walked through the gate with what seemed like thousands of other people and began to look around. The Forbidden City is where the emperor, his wife and concubines used to live. A sprawling city inside a city. They had few small museums of paintings and jade, and a building displaying typical ceremonial wedding attire and items. Then buildings all had air conditioning, so we sought out each one. The history there is quite amazing, but with so many people and it being so hot, it's hard to get excited over temples and buildings that start to look the same after a while, even if they are beautiful and took great feats to build hundreds or thousands of years ago. It's the kind of place that would be awesome to get lost in after closing when you could pretend to be emperor and sit in his big chair. Then you could look over his kingdom from the highest point in the Forbidden city in the temple with the turtle dragons, cranes and iron vats out front. Anna and I did have a fun mini photo shoot with the yellow roofs of the city as the backdrop. I think I have like three poses and I'm spent, but it's always fun. We took a few breaks in the city to hide from the sun, but the best spot we found was by an "ancient garbage can" or a pagoda-covered hole in the ground people started throwing bottles into. I hope they have a special tool to get all the trash out, because it is going to get real gross real fast if they don't. From the Forbidden City we went to the Bejing Zoo. I love going to the zoo. The number one animal on my list to see was the panda, and it was the first exhibit we saw. Their houses aren't the best zoo cages I've ever seen, but the pandas didn't seem to mind too much. The first one, an adult, was just lounging around in the heat, but the second two were cubs and were playing with eachother. It was adorable. One took a tumble out of the short tree, but bounced back quick and climbed back up to bat at his playmate again real quick. We walked through and saw more animals, all laying around because of the heat, probably all thinking we were crazy for walking around that day. We saw a very regal looking eagle, and a bird with feathers that looked like he was wearing tiger animal print. He was Pulling. It. Off. There was a baby nursery with small monkeys and a chimp. The chimp was curled up napping close to the glass. The tigers, a ways away, were up and pacing though, I think it was close to dinner time by the time we found them. We got to hear one let out a growl, probably to get all the people to quiet down so it could rest in the heat. People weren't satisfied with hearing just one growl, and were trying to get him to do it again with their ridiculous attempts at animal noises, it didn't work. One kid even through a water bottle into the cage to try to get a response, and the only one he upset was me. Jerk kid throwing stuff into the animals cage! We took a rest after the tigers and called it a day at the zoo. We found the MRT, transferred and were back in our neighborhood in time for dinner. It was another good eastern food experience. Jasmine scrambled egg, Chinese brocolli, and sweet brown rice with bits of pineapple served in a pineapple.

Jasmine eggs.

Even though the broccoli really was more like bok choy, it was good, especially with the egg. And the pineapple rice was sweet enough it could have been called dessert. Beijing was definitely beating Shanghai for food at this point.

Beijing - Days 6 and 7

Day 6 (Friday) - Beijing

It was the first eastern meal that I considered a real success on the only rainy day so far in China. Of course there were the fried bananas and the rice and pieces of other meals, but at this place I genuinely enjoyed everything I ordered. I had noodles with a tomato-based sauce with cucumbers and stewed tomatoes with scrambled eggs that stayed warm the entire meal. The noodles kind of tasted like my Mom's chicken tettrizini minus the chicken and breadcrumbs. For dessert we had toffee covered yams that I thought were even better than the bananas, and like the bananas, the candied yams were sweet enough to be called dessert even in the US. We had chosen this place because it reminded Lei Ti of a noodle place in Taiwan, we lucked out when we ducked in an alley to get to it.

Delicious Candied Yams

After lunch we went out the other side of the restaurant to find a more traditionally Chinese street than Old Street. Vendors were selling fruit and chotchkies. Anna bought funny wallet for Lei Ti that said "Servr My Wife." Perfect and hilarious Chinglish is waiting around every corner. And, like a 12 year-old boy, I laughed out loud at the I heart BJ shirt. BJ in this instance of course the abbreviation for Beijing. Before the wallet though we got more famous Chinese peaches. We walked back to Old Street and made our way through the gates to Tianamen Square. The South gate is 600 years old and just across the way you can see Mao. It was closed when we got there, which was ok since we all seemed a little creeped out by it. We walked to the other side of the Mao memorial to the People's Hero monument and the site of the 1989 protests.

Tianamen Square

There really is nothing on the site mentioning it ever happened. I would have taken my picture there, but what kind of face do you make at a place like that? Anna chose a more frightened, nervous face, which seemed appropriate, but I opted out. There is also an iron sickle in the square now commemorating 90 years of communism in China. The sickles are a little disturbing, but we keep reminding ourselves that we aren't seeing signs of communism in Iowa, but in a country where they have been "communist" for nearly 100 years. Close to the square is the Museum of China. It was free and kept us from the rain, so it had those redeeming qualities, but otherwise it was pretty sparse. There were bronze and stone sculptures similar to Shanghai, and porcelain too. There was an Ancient China exhibit in the basement that was ok. My favorite was actually the Inca ancestry exhibit. Like the Maori in Shanghai, it seemed a little out of place, but it was a good display and a nice change of pace from Chinese painted porcelin and sculpted stone, which was great to see, but a break was much appreciated. We were loosing steam fast. We made it to H&M and then McDonalds before calling it a night. I noticed my throat feeling itchy that night and my head getting stuffy so I took some nose drops and cold and sinus pills, crossed my fingers and went to bed at like 9:30.

Day 7 (Saturday) - Beijing
We got a late start, but I was trying to psyche myself out of being sick, so it was worth it. I eventually sucked it up and we went out to the Temple of Heaven. A bicycle taxi took us to the gate where we saw a horse drawn cart with a man selling apples next to a man selling roasted yams. Anna let me have a bite of hers, yams are fabulous. The Temple of Heaven, like everything in China, is too big. It was nice to walk tree shaded pathways from temple to temple and through a small rose garden. Anna and I climbed to the perfect seat made from a cut branch of a centuries old tree for a photo op, and when we continued on the path we came across a traditional chorus and listened for a minute. According to my map, the Temple of Good Harvest is the most famous temple in the world, though, before walking up to the temple I had never heard of it. Here's a little bit of what Wikipedia has to say about the Temple of Heaven: "The temple complex was constructed from 1406 to 1420 during the reign of the Yongle Emperor who was also responsible for the construction of the Forbidden City in Beijing. The complex was extended and renamed Temple of Heaven during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor in the 16th century. The Jiajing Emperor also built three other prominent temples in Beijing, the Temple of Sun (日壇)in the east , the Temple of Earth (地壇)in the north , and theTemple of Moon (月壇)in the west . The Temple of Heaven was renovated in the 18th century under theQianlong Emperor. Due to the deterioration of state budget, this became the last large-scale renovation of the temple complex in the imperial time."

Temple of Good Harvest

I climbed the three small tiers of concrete steps to the azure tiled temple and got a view across Beijing. I tried to get a look in the temple, but there were too many people, it was hot, and they were pushing far more than I was willing to deal with at the moment. So, I stepped back and enjoyed the view instead. We stoped for ice, which to me tasted like frozen sweetened tonic water, so a few minutes later I had an ice cream break. Anna and I had our pictures taken with a Chinese family who were excited to see foreigners, and we were off to the sacrificial circle. Some people were having their pictures taken in the center, like where the sacrifices would have been made, I thought that was creepy. But it wouldn't be the most odd thing we've seen on this trip.

Our next trek was in search of a new hotel sans luggage so walking wasn't so terrible. We walked and tried a few different places and were almost done with looking when we found the "business" hotel we would stay in for the rest of the trip. We then lucked out again at the dinner place. The snack bar had noodles with a spicy nutty sauce and cucumbers and for dessert we had a chinese version of fried dough with sugar, both were really delicious. We walked in search of a night market. We found the shopping district, wifi, and cute couples taking engagement photos outside of a church. There were two couples, and I think one was winning. She was smiling and laughing, while the other was kind of bummed. Anna promised to be the happy one. We let the brides be, and found the "night market". Really though, it seemed like a watered down attempt at a night market. Sure, there were weird foods like scorpion, snake, stinky tofu and squid all on sticks, but all the vendors wore the same clothes and seemed part of the same company.

Starfish on a stick

Or maybe it was government run considering the government tried to "clean up" the city before the Olympics. We walked the row of vendors, and then headed home. Well, first tried to find a taxi that would take us and not rip us off. The first guy was an unmarked taxi which creeped me out, then the second wouldn't take us to where we wanted to go because he said it was too complicated and the third wanted too much money. It was nearly a Goldilocks situation, but though our last option wasn't just right, it got us home safe.

Shanghai/Beijing-Days 4 and 5

Day 4 (Wednesday) - Shanghai

When we went to the Shanghai museum the first time, we went from the fourth floor down and ran out of time to see the first floor. Just before entering the museum, close to the shrubs near the entryway, we saw a street cat crouch in anticipation of big game. Nothing I haven't seen before, but next the cat lunged forward and caught a pigeon.We left the cat to feast, and went in to see the first floor exhibits. One room was filled with sculptures, mostly leaders and icons from the Tang dynasty There was a head carved from wood and stone Buddas that survived centuries with only slight malformities like broken hands or a cracked nose. Looking at the Buddas I imagined how great it would be to reach Nirvana, but then recalled something about the belief that life is suffering. Personally I'd like to think we should live for whatever makes you happy (unless that something is something that harms someone else). The next exhibit was the Chinese bronze era. Who knew they drank so much wine (especially considering the less than delicious wine I've sampled from China and Taiwan)? There were dozens of wine vessels on display, some large enough to hold wine for what seemed like an entire family and some intricately etched personal jugs. Bronze doesn't age as well as ceramic or porcelain. Anna and I joked that bronze is how we'll age unless we start using amazing lotions and potions now. By the way, I've used sun screen and lotion on my face every day we've been here in attempts to curb that, considering I'm pushing 30 and all.The last exhibit was the Maori exhibit. It was a bit disorienting to be looking at New Zealand aboriginal artifacts in China, but I guess it shouldn't be any more odd than looking at Egyptian artifacts in Chicago. Shanghai has a sister-city relationship with a city in New Zealand, so it makes even more sense. It also made me wish I'd gone to New Zealand on my Australia trip, but I guess that just means another trip down under will be in order.

From there we look the MRT to Pudong, the tall skyline we saw from the other side of the river a couple nights before. Pudong is Shanghai's financial district and home to the Oriental Pearl Tower. We opted out of the view from the top and chose the History Museum closer to ground level. But, before that we took a short circle bus tour around the district. On that tour I felt like I was in china less and less. If the language was changed it could have been any huge city. We passed the Yacht Club and the most expensive housing in the city as well as the two tallest buildings, one of which we've been called the giant bottle opener. The Shanghai History Museum took us from early Shanghai where farmers were working the land (the sign told us to look at fun ways people worked with the land, but their faces were more like grimaces than smirks) to the Opium War invasion to the middle of the 20th century when foreigners were setting up colony type settlements throughout Shanghai. Some exhibits were like old time street displays, which I love. You can insert yourself into a bar scene or beauty shop of yesteryear with the snap of a camera.

From there it was back into the sauna. The financial district has a raised round about type sidewalk so pedestrians don't have to worry about getting sideswiped. And in Shanghai it was a welcome safety feature considering the traffic. We stopped in the Apple store and then went for dinner at an Italian restaurant in the mall. It was better than most mall restaurants back home, and had great cheese (a rarity in China). We took the sightseeing tunnel back across the river. I was really hoping for a willy wonks type off crazy boat ride, but it didn't quite deliver. The best explanation may be the inside of the gravatron minus the zero-g effect. Not super impressive, and a little over priced. So, after shaking the disappointment we headed home for what is becoming our Chinese nightly tradition of Reeb (yes that's beer backwards, and it's quite tastey) and tv.

Not exactly Willy Wonka...

Day 5 (Thursday) - Shanghai/Beijing
We grabbed a taxi to the train station early enough to have breakfast at McDonalds. I was glad Lei Ti was able to order my sausage Egg McMuffin without the sausage. Full of greasy goodness we shuffled through the line to the High Speed Rail. In China it has seemed less like lines and more like masses of people pushing their way closer to where they want to go. I was a little afraid to board considering the HSR crash earlier that week that killed 35 people when one train rear-ended a train that was stopped from a storm. But I kept reminding myself that it wasn't the same route, but what i kept remembering was that it was the same type of train. But, needless to say, we made it safely to Beijing 5 hours later. The regular train takes somewhere between 10 and 15 hours and there were no soft seats available, so I guess the nerves were worth the time saved. Once we figured out the new MRT we started our search for a hotel. We started out at a the MRT stop close to the famous Peking Duck place we ended up at later that night. We should have known by the name that "Rich Hotel" that it was on the pricey side, so we kept going, and going and going. The next hotel we came across couldn't accept foreigners (hotels in China need a license to host foreign travelers). We decided to ask a taxi driver if he knew where a close/cheap hotel was, but he was no help. The bicycle taxis knew the way. Anna and I hoped into one with one of our bags and Lei Ti took the others in the second bici taxi. I could never ride a bicycle on Beijing streets, let alone be a bicycle taxi driver. It's not just the actual peddling (our driver's bike was motorized), but the traffic is insane. They took us to what would eventually be our hotel for three nights. We dropped off our bags and went back out to find the famous Peking Duck place from Lei Ti's book. It was so popular that there was a wait, we picked up our number and waited on the small blue stools with everyone else.

Everyone waiting for duck.

I was concerned at first that I was underdressed considering I was wearing yoga pants to be comfy on the train, but then someone hauked a logie next to me and I felt better about it. The restaurant was more than 100 years old and has hosted dignitaries like the korea's Kim Jong-il, leaders from Kenya, Iran and the United Arab Emerites. Anna and Lei Ti order a half duck and ate the meat rolled up in a thin pancake like dough with duck sauce and scallions.

The famous, salty duck

I had fried tofu and white rice. They said the duck was worth the hype, a little salty like everything we've eaten in China, but pretty good. The tofu though, not so much. I could have been ok with just the rice. The tofu was too soft and wasn't cooked with any flavor. Dipping it in the duck sauce helped the flavor, but the texture couldn't be masked. We walked back to our hotel, not a short walk by any stretch of the imagination. Along the path home we walked down "old street," which is the street leading up to Tianamen square lined with stores like H&M, Starbucks and Haagen Das.

This was off on a side street off of "old street." A replica Taiwan night market,
but a bad one with nothing really going on except a little music.

The only way to cross from our hotel and to old street is to go up and over a bridge about a block out of the way. It seems so close, but yet so far. That's how it all seems in Bejing, on the map it looks like a block or two, in reality its a mile. Beijing is huge!