I’m in the Beijing Capital International Airport (BCIA) right now. Using the internet here which uses 0.05å…ƒ (yuan) per minute from the China Mobile SIM Card. That’s quite cheap so using it until we leave.
It’s been quite the past two and a half weeks. Have been to Beijing, Chengdu, Pixian and Ya’an and back again. Been to several airports and taken numerous buses, subways, cabs and cars along the way.
I’ll post more later once I get home and update for all the missing posts. See you later!
Today was a very long day. We didn’t actually get up until 10:30 as we just wanted to sleep until we naturally got up. After we did, we started to pack our bags because on Thursday we leave for Chengdu by plane. First thing we did was go to CCB again to try to get some money from Band of America. After a balance check, we found that we had 250 RMB less than what we should have. Decided that we would call BoA and check before getting out anything else.
We ate lunch at a noodle place which was very close to our hotel and it was good. You get a bowl that’s full of extremely hot soup and you put meat into it along with noodles and then just eat it all from the soup. The meat seemed like it was fried so Justin didn’t like it too much but the rest was good.
We then took a bus to the Summer Palace. This was cheap as it was only 50 RMB total for both of us and a map. I’ll post the pictures later, but it was a beautiful place. There weren’t too many people so it was quiet and peaceful. There is a huge lake with an island connected by a bridge. We didn’t go on that part, but it was visible from the whole place. We climbed up as there was a high point with a building containing a giant Buddha. We didn’t go in as that would have been another 10 and I’ll be seeing another Buddha that’s 10x bigger in Ya’an later. We got a little lost but wanted to go up, so we went off and started hiking up. Eventually we found the trail again and followed it to the highest point. We went into a building where no cameras are allowed out of respect. It contained a smaller budha that people could pray to. From up here we could see more of the city again.
We walked through many more buildings around the area and started to make our way back down. Once back at the bottom we took more pictures around the edge of the lake including some of a large stone boat, and a few of the sun setting behind some of the buildings as it was almost 5 pm by then. We ended up exiting a different way than where we went in which was interesting because we didn’t leave where Justin thought we would. We walked around through a poor area and ended up back at the entrance. We then took another bus to a Korean restaurant for Dinner.
As they see you going up to the restaurant, there’s two men who open the outer doors and then two women open the inner doors. Then a fancily-dressed woman takes you to a table as others greet you along the way. We went through the menu and decided on a few different meats. If you’re wondering, yes, Dog meat was on the menu, but no, we didn’t order any of it. They bring the food out and each table has it’s own coal-powered grill. They grill it right in front of you. We ate a lot and were actually too full to eat it all. This was the most expensive meal the two of us alone have eaten so far as it was 142 RMB. Comparatively, our lunch was 33.5 RMB. We then left and once we got to the bus-stop, I realized that I’d forgotten my hat that Mom made for me so we went back and got it. There was already a couple at our table so they had to move so they could get it from under the chairs.
We then took the bus back to the area by our hotel. There was a bookstore that Justin wanted to go to. It’s inside of a skyscraper and takes up three floors of it. It seems like it’s got to be bigger than a Barnes and Noble in America. We found something to help me learn Chinese – three sets of flash cards – like what you teach a child with. 
Books haven’t seemed to have helped with me and I’m a visual learner so this should work out nicely. We tried to find a Matlab book for Justin, but all the books were for older versions and weren’t really what he wanted. While checking out, we paid an extra 10 and got a DVD about China. We weren’t sure when buying it if it would even work in America as all DVD’s in China are Region 6 while America is Region 1. (Note: the DVD player in your house or computer is locked to Region 1. You can’t play anything from any other region and you can only change the region on your computer 5 times before it locks you to that region.) It turned out to be playable in all regions which was great.
We went home and started to pack. After packing a lot, we decided to take a nap. Of course, I didn’t hear the alarm so our 30 min nap turned into almost two hours. When we got up it was just about midnight, so a New Year. We then quickly packed the bag we’d be leaving in Beijing and at almost 2 am, left it at Peking University with one of his friends. Took another taxi back home and packed some more. I then took a nap for about an hour while Justin did some online banking that he needed to do. He then woke me up and went for a nap himself. I then started writing this post. It’s almost 5 am here already and we’re going to leave here at about 5:30 for the train. We’ll take the number 10 line and get off and transfer to the Airport Express. The number 10 will take us about 20 minutes but the Express will only be about 8 minutes as it goes very very fast and has no stops. We’re then going to take a shuttle to Terminal one and then at 7:50, leave for Chengdu.
I might be able to post tonight as we’re going to be with someone who might have Internet. Unfortunately, the unlock crack for my iPhone still hasn’t been released so I’m still stuck with a useless iPhone. I’ve got it in Airplane Mode so that all cellular services are off – it’s very costly to make a call or use data through AT&T over here. See you later!
I woke up this morning to the sound of Skype – Mom was trying to call me at 6am. I answered it since I’d been asleep for almost 8 hours and was only half-asleep by then anyway. We chatted for a while and then each had to go. Just after we got done, Justin got up. The first day we were here Justin found a hat that was not too bad – it was on the ground but was perfectly clean. Yesterday we lost it – had to be somewhere in Walmart but had no clue where as we were through the whole thing. So he was sad about that still.
Anyway, we then went and got all our finances in order. A lot has gone on in the past few days and we hadn’t tracked the spending very well. After almost an hour, we finally had everything figured out and balanced so no money was missing and we knew where we’d spent everything.
After we left the hotel, we went to Peking University for lunch. It’s good that Justin still had his campus ID so we could get in. We went to one of the cafeteria’s and had lunch. Like most campus’, it was cheap but good. For 16 RMB, we got lunch for both of us and it was very good. We left the university and took a cab so that we could find the train to go to the Great Wall for the afternoon. However, both Justin and the driver didn’t know where the train was so we ended up being dropped off just off of a road. Turns out though that we were way in the wrong place plus the train wasn’t going to be back for over three hours. There’s a picture below of train tracks because we were walking from the taxi and ended up in the middle of no-where and had to cross to the other side of train tracks (across four sets) without tripping or getting run over. I don’t think that’s on the normal tour of Beijing!
After walking for quite a while longer, and jumping over fences, we ended up right at the Walmart entrance from yesterday. So, we went in and Justin checked with Customer Service to see if they found his hat. They didn’t. We then went and took the subway and transferred to a second train. After yet more walking, we finally found the bus that we needed to take – the number 919. The ride took about an hour and a half and went fairly quickly even with the uncomfortable seats (I’m 6’2″ and these seats are made to cram as many Asians in as possible. You do the math). When we got off it was after 3pm already so we really didn’t have that much time. It was super windy so while I was strugling with the wind to get to where the tickets are sold, Justin ran ahead and got them.
We finally got in and it was actually pretty cool. I have a fear of heights which is very annoying as I get vertigo and falling off of a huge mountain doesn’t sound like a good idea. However, this wasn’t that bad. The only bad part was the wind. It was bad enough on the ground, but when you’re up there and there’s almost nothing to break it, it is quite powerful. It wouldn’t be a trip up a very steep structure without me whining about how it’s too steep and how I’m not sure I want to keep going. However, I did anyway. It was worth it most of the way. However, once we were almost to the top of the highest point for where we were at, we decided that it was too dangerous to continue. It was a good decision because the wind was really picking up. Plus, because it was the winter, windy, cold, and at the end of the day, there were very few people actually on the Great Wall. This seemed good to me because then it’s not crowded and you can get better pictures, however if you think about it in terms of it being dangerous because if you fall, how long will it take for someone to be able to help you, it doesn’t seem as great. Once we decided to go down, it really wasn’t that bad. Going down is far far easier than going up, which surprised me. The main reason that it was easier though is because on the way up, we were going against the wind so on the way down, we were going with it and it was making things far easier.
All in all, we were on the wall for about an hour and a half. I wouldn’t go back unless it’s the perfect time of year and the conditions are just right – it’s just not worth it otherwise. It was a cool experience and really, it’s something that you have to do if you go to China, but it really wasn’t the best day to do it although you probably can’t tell from the pictures.
We took another number 919 bus back to Beijing which was very slow. Even other buses were passing the one we were on. After a few traffic jams, we got off the bus and took another which was much much faster. We got off of that and found another taxi who took us to where we were going to have dinner.
Justin and I met two of his friends at a restaurant and they were already there. Once we were called, we took our seats. Our dinner tonight would be a Chinese hot pot dinner. Justin and his friends went through the menu to decide what to order. The hot pot was good as it had a spicy side and a non spicy side. It was a good meal with several different kinds of meats and vegetables – all of which were cooked in the hot pot and then eaten in our own bowls of seasonings. The woman had known Justin since high school so she was the first person who he came out to so she has known Justin for quite a while. The guy didn’t know so he was told after the food was ordered and was perfectly fine with it. He seemed surprised, but I would have thought it was obvious just by looking at Justin. He’s more gay than me. Anyway, fast forward three and a half hours and dinner was over. We got the bill so that we could pay for it (172 RMB), but they both got to it before us. It was very very nice of them to do that for us. The woman said that Justin lent me to them for a while, so it was their payment for it – very nice people. They had spoken lots of Chinese during dinner, but often would come back and speak in English to let me know what was going on or to just chat in general with them.
After dinner we took another taxi back to the hotel. Justin fell asleep fairly quickly, but I wanted to take a shower first, write this post and also call some people. I called Dennis at work (Hi Dennis) and Corey but Corey was at work. I spoke with Dennis for a few minutes however. Since I’ve taken a shower and this blog post is done, it’s time to sleep. I’ll try uploading more pictures overnight so look for those later.
Update 1/13/2009 – Pics have been uploaded
Today was an important day because today was the day when Justin got his Visa. We got up early and tried to find the US Embassy. Since we really didn’t have too much time, we decided to take the subway as it would be much faster. It was actually very nice. Several new lines were built for the Olympics and the one we needed was close to our hotel. We got on the Number 10 line which took about 20 minutes to get us fairly close to the Embassy. After about 10-20 minutes of walking and several stops to ask for directions, we finally got there. It seems like it’s still being built so it actually looks kinda crappy (pics below). Justin went to go in, but I found that I couldn’t at all since I didn’t have my passport and I couldn’t go in the section that he did since it was just for all the Chinese trying to get a Visa. This freaked me out because I’d been with him the entire time so far and suddenly we’re separated. He called me and said that I could go across the street to a cafe and they’d probably know some English. Instead, I waited outside the Embassy for almost 40 minutes until it was 8 am. Eventually though it got too cold and I went to the cafe. It was a Western and Chinese Cafe and Bar. It was pretty nice inside and a waitress knew basic English and I ordered sweet warm milk and an omolet. Now this is where I got confused. I thought that it would be 38 RMB but it turned out to be 66 RMB as the milk was 22 – I thought it was included with the meal. Woops! That turned out to be an expensive meal indeed. I had to go somewhere though as it could take up to three hours until Justin would get out.
As I felt lost, I figured out how to turn my phone back to English from Chinese and then after several tries got the calling card to work correctly. I called Mom and Dad and then Corey for a total of about 25 minutes. Naturally, I did it wrong and it turned out to be a very costly call. I think it was about 15-20 RMB plus the cost through the calling card which was minimal. At about 9:30 he called me and was on his way over. He got approved for the Visa which was great news! And actually, he was in line for about and hour and a half but only with the interviewer for the Visa for about 2 minutes.
Next up we decided to go see the new CCTV building and also go to the Beijing Apple store, after which we would go to a few Olympic buildings and then see how much time was left in the day.
So, we took a bus from somewhere a few blocks from the Embassy to the new CCTV building. It is the one below that looks almost like a pair of pants – it goes up, then juts out with nothing to support it, then goes back down. It’s a pretty cool looking building. Next we walked for a very very long time around the China Business District which is where CCTV and Apple were located. After consulting the map a few times and roaming around enough, we finally found the Apple Store (pics below). This was the second Apple store that I’ve been to so far (Beijing and Chicago). The biggest thing for me here was actually that I could finally get my iPhone online and try to update it. Apple always has free wireless internet no matter where you go. Unlike in America though, there was very few people at the Apple store. It’s usually crowded in America.
After this we walked for a while more and then got on a subway. We made a few transfers and ended up on Line 8 which was built just for the Olympic buildings. It has only three stops on the entire line. After getting off at the first stop, it drops you pretty much right between both the Water Cube and the Bird’s Nest stadium. Many pictures are below of both of these buildings. Tickets are limited to get into the Water Cube so we ended up only going into the Bird’s Nest and it was 50 RMB each. Once we got in the gate, some fun began. There were MANY people trying to sell souveniers – they’d swarm you and when you let them talk for a bit and then start to leave they’d lower the price and increase the count of items. We ended up buying some, but found that later on we probably could have gotten it even cheaper – oh well.
It was actually surprising that as big as the Bird’s Nest stadium is from the outside and how big it looked on TV, it’s actually not that big at all on the inside. It didn’t take that long to walk around and just seems smaller in general than you’d think. It still was cool regardless though and there’s a video below as well. There were Christmas displays and music playing inside the stadium. Once we left the stadium we tried to get into the Water Cube, but it was sold out for the day. They only sell so many tickets in a day probably to not over-load it. We’re going to try to go back if we can sometime later.
Walking back, we took the number 8 subway line, transferred to the number 10, and then transferred to number 5 to go most of the way to our next destination. We decided that we didn’t want to go into the Forbidden City. All of the architecture is identical and it was 70 RMB each to get in. So instead, we went to Jingshen Hill. That was right next to the Forbidden City’s back entrance and it was only 2 RMB to get in each. But from there, once you climbed to the top, you could see all of the Forbidden City, and the entire city of Beijing. It was cool to see where we’d been from way up high. Below are several videos with commentary along with many pictures from the Hill.
Once we left the Hill, we took a very crowded bus to the newest train station in Beijing that looks like three hills. From there we took a short very very crowded train ride and got off. We decided to go to Walmart as it was right there. It was three stories tall and huge. There was a lot more things in there than there is in any other Walmart in America. There are a few pictures of it at the end. We also ate at Fairwood which was pretty good Chinese food. We had a small version of Hot Pot which is where you get all sorts of food and a thing of boiling soup and you actually cook the food yourself.
After we were done with all that, we took a taxi home and then crashed. We both fell asleep with the entire room a mess so I’m writing this the next morning. Look for another update tomorrow.
(The upload is going very badly as the Internet seems to be getting worse. I’ll be posting a few pictures here and there, but from now on, come back later for the full album. I let the upload run all day 12/30 and only 57/251 were uploaded…)
Today we got to a late start because we were up very very late last night (almost 3am). We got up at about 8am, but didn’t actually get really going until later – maybe 11am. The first hours of the day were spent slowly getting up, going to CCB to get money from BoA (another 3,000 RMB) and then we went to some other bank so Justin could open an online account there (I think it was China Merchant’s Bank).
After we got going, we walked almost to Peking University on the road that our hotel is on. Just before one of the gates to the university we met four of his college friends at Ho’s Restaurant. Justin and I paid for it for all of us (which was 267 RMB). I thought that it was good, but I’m not sure that they did. They tried to order things that they thought that I would like so that it wasn’t too spicy (which of course is what they all like). Occasionally they would break from the mandarin and ask me something in English. I don’t really have to worry about my voice going out over here as I don’t talk much (not that I do in America either though). I also liked this meal and day not only because of the food, but because of the company. They all know that Justin is gay so I can actually be myself. They asked how we met (Internet), how long we’ve been together (Oct 13, 2007 officially became boyfriends), how long since I came out (2yrs), who initiated the boyfriend-ship (me), etc. It felt good.
After dinner, we all went for a walk through Peking University. At all the gates to the University there are guards who check all of the student IDs, but they just let me go without even saying anything. I was told after we got through the gate that it’s because they don’t know any English so they don’t want to say anything! Once we got into the University and were walking out, I pulled out the iPhone. I found yesterday that I couldn’t connect to the wireless in the hotel. After doing some digging, I found that the iPhone (and Apple TV) can’t connect to any wireless networks that don’t have standard characters in them (eg: a-Z, 0-9). The one in the hotel is all in chinese characters so connecting just plain doesn’t work. Guess that’s something they’ll have to fix before the iPhone can ever come to China. Anyway, I pulled it out at PKU so that I could see if I could find a wifi that I could connect to. I wanted to try and update the iPhone, but ended up having no such luck. I got Google once, but we were walking and every other access point either didn’t give me an IP or just didn’t work. Bummer – going to try later sometime.
Anyway, we walked along quite a long stretch of the University. I think it’s bigger than Purdue, but Justin isn’t sure. Almost all of the pictures below are from various buildings on campus. About halfway through the pics are a few of the stadium used in the Olympics for ping-pong. The one with Justin in front of a door is him in front of the lab he worked at here at PKU. A few pics later, there is one of Justin and then me with a huge naked statue. Apparently it was donated to PKU but no-one really likes it. It’s… strange.
After some more walking, we came to the PKU water tower (no longer actually in use) and the lake. As it is winter, the lake is frozen so there were many many people that were skating on it. There are pictures below of that and of several buildings in the area. The buildings are quite ornate and beautiful. After walking some more, the group started to thin out and eventually it was just Justin and I again. We left the University and Justin wanted to show me some more stuff before we called it a day.
We next went to what’s called the “Silicon Valley of China.” It was madness. There are tons of knock-off products in there but we got out quickly also because the people at the booths practically pull you in and it is almost insanity in there. Next up, we went to Carrefore. Carrefore is actually French I think, but it can be thought of as a Super-Walmart. Walmart came to China late so although there are Walmarts, Carrefore is more popular. Now, this is where the insanity was most visible. All of Carrefore is underground in two sub-levels (food is on the upper-level and everything else is on the lower level). Before you can get to the actual Carrefore entrance, you go through a mall. We were getting hungry so we ate at KFC. This was an expensive meal and it really wasn’t that much food. It’s not like the KFC’s in America at all – it’s more like a McDonald’s. It was 64.5 RMB (there are a few pictures of it below). After eating we then went to Carrefore. The shere number of people in there is truely staggering. I’ve never seen such madness and craziness as I saw in that one place. It’s hard to describe. There is one picture below with Justin and a stuffed animal. I’m not sure just how much is visible in it, but that was from inside of Carrefore.
Eventually, we got what we wanted (some food and face wash) and escaped from there. It was only about a block from our hotel so we went back. Justin’s got to be working shortly on his CV for the Visa which is tomorrow. If he gets a “check” status, then he has to wait three weeks before he can try again which would mean I’d have to go home by myself and he’d be staying here, something I would truely hate. He’s taking a nap right now while I work on this blog post. I’ll be waking him up in about 2 minutes and then I’ll take a 30min nap to try to recover. My back is shot from all the non-stop walking today.
Pics are attached, feel free to comment or whatever! Until tomorrow, have a good night.
Today, we got up early and decided that we didn’t really like the room we were staying in. After we got dressed and got moving, we went around a few blocks and looked around. We decided that the Erdos Hotel is a lot better for just about the same price. For reference, the previous room was 160 Yuan a night and the new one is 180 Yuan but the quality difference between the two is like night and day. (At this time, the conversion rate between Yuan (RMB) and USD is roughly 7RMB/1USD.)
After we got everything packed and moved from the previous motel to the new hotel, I called Mom and Dad and let them know what was going on. By then it was just about 11 am so we left the room and started walking around the area more as it was the first full day in Beijing since we arrived. We then went to CCB (China Construction Bank) and took money out of Bank of America. BoA has an alliance with CCB where you can use your ATM card at CCB without paying any ATM fees and take money out as RMB. $1,000 US equaled about 6,900RMB. The ATM would only let us take out 3,000 RMB though so we’ll have to get out more tomorrow.
China Citic Bank was next up in order to pay for Justin’s Visa fee (904 RMB or ~ $132USD). Next was to go to China Merchants Bank in order for justin to deposit a large chunk of the RMB into his bank account for safer access to the funds. We also went to BoC (Bank of China) for the same thing. Also at BoC was the Olympic mascots (pictures are below). They were probably four feet tall and plush.
After we were finally done with all the banks, we went to eat. Yonghe King was where we ate and Justin ordered everything for me. It was really good food. The total bill was 42.5 RMB which is roughly $7 or $8 USD but the quality of the food is much higher. I could eat there every day if they had one in West Lafayette!
After eating we took a bus down the western edge of the third ring to the largest railway station in China and probably the world. We just crossed the First Line (a huge road that crosses all of Beijing and contains many many important “China” buildings. Several pictures below are of the railway station and other buildings in the area. We then found a China Unicom (cell phone) building and went in and spent a lot of time in there waiting until it was our turn. After all the waiting we bought a SIM card for our other cell phone.
As it was starting to get darker by the time we left China Unicom, we then took the Number 1 bus along the First Line and got off just before Tian’ anmenn Square. Pictures below are of the “Egg” building and then some of the area around the Square. We’re going to go to the Forbidden City another day.
Next we walked quite a bit more and then went down another road which was lined with malls. We roamed around one waiting for Justin’s Aunt, Uncle and Nephew as they were going to take us to dinner. I bought a new jacket from Kuhle (we think it’s a German brand) for 211 RMB. After some confusion (we were at the wrong mall), we all finally met. His Uncle and Autnt have pretty good English so they talked to me some. We went to Yu Xiang Restaurant which is a Sichuan restaurant. He warned them that I’m not able to do spicy food too well so they ordered spicy and non-spicy dishes. The room was quite nice as everyone gets an enclosed private room for eating in groups. There was hot tea but they had also ordered Coke for me. The food was really very good I thought. Justin said that some of the food was spicy even to him. I had some kind of fried beef that was covered in a sauce, duck, vegies, dumplings, some kind of sweet dessert roll, and I tried some of the things that they were all eating. I think that Justin said that the total bill was over 500 RMB! (It doesn’t seem as much when converted to USD, but compare that to our lunch which was 1/10th the cost.) After dinner, we went back to their apartment and visited for some time. They have a car (a Buick) so we were able to drive there instead of taking a bus. There we had tea and fruit. She had been to Antarctica not too long ago for her research and showed us some plants that they brought back. This one grew only about 5mm in 100 years and almost looked like it was dead. We left at about 10pm as we both were tired. Myself, I was very tired and actually slept (and apparently snored) the whole way back to the hotel. We thanked them then went to our room. I immediately fell asleep for an hour befor Justin woke me up so we could get finished for the day. So we then took a shower, I called Mom and Dad (they were both at our apartment with Molly) and started to upload all the pictures below. It didn’t get done until the next day so that’s when I’m writing this blog post as I had to wait for it all first.
Anyway, that’s pretty much what went on on December 27, 2008 in Beijing. I’ll post more tomorrow!
Below is a gallery of pictures from the O’Hare Airport, in-flight and at the Beijing Airport
In-Flight Map
The photo here is a map on the personal monitor. This shows how far we have gone so far. We got upgraded from United Economy seats to United Business class for free as there weren’t enough people in that class due to the holidays.
Business class is quite nice too. I’ll post what we ate later but it includes free wine for dinner, cheesecake for desert, etc. The seats are quite nice as well with great reclining and tons of legroom. Seems like a great start to this trip. The only other time I’ve flown was about ten years ago on a small Southwest Airlines plane whereas this is an United Airlines Boeing 777 flying United Business.
Well, I should be sleeping now so I guess I’ll give that a shot.
Sent from my iPhone
UA 0851 at O'Hare
We’re currently waiting at the terminal (C20) for the plane to start boarding. Almost two more hours to go. The flight leaves in about two and a half hours. The picture here is the exact plane that we will be on. It’s ben here for at least an hour already. Getting through security and baggage check was actually quite painless. We did the check-in online yesterday so we got to skip that today. Baggage was slightly overweighted but no fee as it was only one pound. Security was actually good and didn’t take long – maybe 20 minutes total. I might post again later but probably not again until we get to the hotel in Beijing.
See you later!
Sent from my iPhone
United Airlines Terminal at O'Hare
Well, tomorrow we’ll be leaving for China. We’re going to be leaving Michigan City at 5:20 AM and then leaving O’Hare airport in Chicago at 12:33 PM. We will arrive in Beijing at 4:25 PM on the 26th. Due to the time difference, it’s currently (as of the writing of this post) 12:06PM on the 25th of December.
Once we get to Beijing the first thing to do is to quickly call Mom and Dad and let them know that we’ve landed safely. Then we’ll be taking a bus from the airport to our hotel. Then check-in and settle down and everything. There should be free Internet there – if not, I guess that we’ll have to go to Peking University and beg for internet or something.
I’ll update again once we get there.
Later!