Breakfast at the hotel again, and then we checked out. Something I am growing quite accustomed to. It’s always nice to spend a few more days in one place, though – as in New Zealand I was in a new bed almost every day. Fransis, Elizabeth, Christiaan, Adam, Mary Lou, Gabriella, and Victoria are heading back to Shanghai in the evening, so I checked out a few hostels online to see if Wendy could yay or nay their locations.
Wendy thought it would be nice for us to see the Temple of Heaven in the morning, when the locals show up for dancing and exercise and generally being social. Ball room dancing, dancing with scarves (they looked like scarves to me), exercising, card playing, dominoes, but not a
lot of Tai Chi, which I was expecting to see.
Next, we headed north, past the Forbidden City and Tian’anmen Square to the Drum Tower, which lies along the meridian that runs through the Forbidden City, the square, and Jingshan. We were introduced to a guide for the area, Lucy. The drums were used to let people know the time in the days before wristwatches and mobile phones.
At the base of the drum tower, we all got on rickshaws (two to a rickshaw, I drew the short stick and was paired up with Gabriella) and made our way through the hutongs. At one point we stopped and went into a woman’s house to see how people lived in the hutongs. Well kept, but definitely not what we are used to in Canada. The woman was lucky enough to have a shower, but has to use a communal bathroom that everyone else in the hutong uses.
There was still time before everyone had to head to the airport, so Wendy took us to Jingshan park. There’s a large hill in the park, which we climbed to get a nice view of the Forbidden City. Unfortunately, it’s never really clear in Beijing, so our view wasn’t all that great – but you could stil see most of the Forbidden City, and the surrounding areas. The girls and Christiaan got some traditional Chinese costumes, which made for some nice photographs.
After the park, it was time for everyone to head to the airport. With Wendy’s help I was parked in front of the alley to the Hutong that housed my hostel, and pointed in the general direction. It was sad to see everyone go, as the last week had been quite fun – and the hospitality outstanding, but I was also looking forward to getting back into the hostel routine as well.
I made my way through the hutong, and found my hostel without incident. Thankfully they had rooms available. I asked about nearby bookstores, and got sent back to Wanfuching Pedestrian mall. I took the bus this time, which was cheap (about 20 cents a ride) and packed – so packed I was afraid that even if I figured out the right place to get off, I might not physically be able to get off the bus.
Got off the bus and checked out the bookstore. I wanted a Beijing guide, but didn’t see any I liked. I was tempted to get one on Malaysia and Singapore, but put it off for now. On the way back to the hostel (crowded bus again), I stopped and grabbed some water. I think I paid more than I should have, but by Canadian standards it was still relatively cheap.
Chatted with my mom when I got back to the hostel, and watched an episode of Lost, then caught some much needed sleep.
