Finally i have had the crush of humanity on the train in China. It was amazing to be pushed onto the train with a sea of humanity from a foreign country and all were very calm, collected and no groping.
Tonight I was given a private escort from one of the workers at my Hostel. It is a actual converted Hutong. one of the ancient homes with the interior courtyard. i am so glad that i chose this amazing location that is in a government protected area of like homes that are to say the least crumbling but are being occupied by families that the property have been passed down thru generations. The neighbor hood is an amazing small streets, with many families and alot of kids even though there is the 1 kid per family policy. I was walked by my new friend, to the nearest rail station so that on my own I can find my way to get to Tienanmen Square only a few rail stops away. I am the only American and there are basically Chinese and a Spanish couple where she speaks English and Spanish and he only Spanish. There is a young girl here with her Mom. The girl is about 17 and the Mom my age. The mom and daughter gave a lesson in Tai Chi which was beautiful.. After getting up early this morning I was able to accidentally find at the ripe early hour of 7:15am about 100 middle aged to elderly Chinese doing their morning Tai Chi practice. It was so beautiful and the they did a routine with Fans that gave me goose bumps. There were two groups doing different routines. Then a group of 6 doing a routine with what appeared to be a badminton racket and tennis ball where the movements were precise and the whole time the ball was kept on top of the flattened racket. There was another group that was older men working with long sticks with a similar routine but it was like they were warriors with swords. AMAZING.
Back to my Hutong;;;I showed pictures to the staff that all speak very broken English but are so friendly and nice to try to include everyone in conversation. they brought over the young girl and her Mother to look at my photos and low and behold the mom busts out in a full 20 minute Tai Chi performance. Did I mention that she is in her pink silk pajamas. It was so graceful and beautiful that the 5 of us sitting there burst into applause. It was preceded by the daughter doing a traditional Chinese dance routine just because she wanted to....show off. It has been an amazing first evening.
When we were coming back from the train station, I had the girl with so I stopped at a stall and ordered dinner. With her with me I felt good about ordering, fish, corn on the cob and 2 biscuits, one very flaky salty one and one that was brown and sweet. It was so cool.
They have a nightly event and tonight it was making dumplings. they actually taught us how by providing the ingredients and allow us to get out hand in and mix, stirring in the meal and water and adding a rather gooey sweet ball in the middle. they mixes some rice wine to a boil added the dumplings and presented 10 coffee cups for tasting. What an awesome welcome to Beijing.
there is another couple a little younger than I and they only speak Chinese. And just arrived at 10pm another 2 couples of middle aged (30 somethings) who are all sitting around int he common courtyard chatting in Chinese. It is the type of cultural submersion that I have been dreaming of. So Chinese and so family like it is making me glad once again that i went with my gut in making this reservation. It is definitely not a YHA level facility but for the special events that have transpired today it is PRICELESS.
Tomorrow I will join a few of my hutong mates and visit the great Wall of china. I am not going to the touristy part of the Wall although i may do that tour later in the week depending on time and energy. Amy is the manager and Peter and my tour guide for the afternoon are so special to make me feel so invited into their home.
This is are only 8 rooms off the courtyard. 4 are doubles for the couples,four have four share, mine is a 3 share, I have the single bed and there is a bunk bed as well. the final room is a 6 share with 3 bunk beds. It is just perfect for the immersion experience. I will be here for the next 7 days and i can tell that this will not be enough time to experience all that Beijing has to offer.
Tomorrow, Friday, May 6th will be the Great Wall 3 hour climb experience, I think it takes several hours to get there and back and breakfast and lunch are included plus 50 yuan for the admission fee for a total of $310yuan = US$50. This tour includes no shopping which is why I chose it. I have had enough hawker of gimmicky stuff from Shanghai for awhile.
Saturday i will head out early to visit Tienanmen square which is a full day in itself.
Sunday I will again inquire with my Hosts for recommendations. I have already been given several local restaurants for dinner options.
There are several other tours that I may be interested in booking like a Chinese Opera and a few Temples. I think just wandering Beijing will be awesome. This area is definitely a part where few visitors have alighted. The Hutong
I am the only one in my room so far so a good night sleep is assured. The bed is going to be another Hong Kong hard mattress experience but i think that the excitement of the day will have me sound asleep in no time based on the 5:30am wake up to be on the road at 6:00am. Gotta beat the crowds which I am assured will be out in full force.
the e-mailed directions from Amy were perfect but the walk with luggage was a little longer that I liked. But the directions led me down a rather busy road to turn off into the neighborhood at a school or should I say a sea of kids getting out of school. many being met by a parent, grandparent or sibling. Me with my backpack and luggage and them with their overburdened backpack full of school books. What a picture that would have been had I not been so overwhelmed by the moment and my hands being full and a bit nervous about reaching my destination that I forgot to take out my phone and snap pictures. Tomorrow is another day. Camera ready i will be.
It is 10:30pm and after a busy travel day, walking tour and dumpling preparation demonstrations I am ready to hit the hay. Tomorrow will be awesome when I step on the Great Wall of China. Something a little like the first step on the moon. Well for me visiting China is a dream come true. Traveling here that is for most a once in a lifetime experience that fortunately I will be able to experience again in the future.
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