Transportation Tales

Well friends, after yesterday, I would rate anything short of flying to the moon less exciting for me here in China. You might wonder why I didn't save the best for the last day? It's simple... what would I have done had something gone wrong?! I would've missed it and the word "disappointed" would hardly begin to capture what I would've felt. Although I always hope to return to countries I visit, I'm well aware that life offers no guarantees. I feel very fortunate to have learned and seen first-hand how life ticks and tocks on this side of the world. It's been educational, to say the least, and I've totally loved it! I've had amazing experiences and have collected several teapots and tuk tuks full of memories.

This morning I had so many options of things to do, I wasn't quite sure what to pick. I had already done my three "must dos" in Beijing so everything today was just bonus--the cherry on top. Already having accepted the fact that three days is not nearly enough time to see all the neat things here, I had narrowed my list of possibilities down to two, and the Summer Palace won.

One of the benefits of traveling solo for a bit is that you get to do things in your own way and at your own pace. And, part of what I enjoy when visiting a foreign country is spending time as close to the people as possible. So today, rather than hitching a ride in the back of a taxicab for an hour-long haul across and out of town, I opted to hop on the metro. It's decisions like these that allow me to tell stories... and today I collected a few.

Maps. I can't figure out why no map I've found here makes life easy. Metro station names don't match from map to map, some have so much information on them you can't possibly read them, some show only part of the city, and others include everything except for where the metro stations or key points of interest are located. No help at all!

Case in point: I planned today's journey using a map that indicated a metro stop was located immediately outside the Summer Palace. What I learned while buying my ticket, however, is that the metro stop shown on my map is, in fact, only a "planned" stop that is under construction. Of course, on my map there is no indication that this is so. WHY? Makes no sense at all.

So, I decided it would be a fine idea to take the metro as far as possible and then hop in a cab to ride the rest of the way. Ha. That was a "good" idea but not a "good enough" idea, but ignorance is a bliss, right? After all, I wanted my experience with the locals. I succesfully navigated my way through three transfers and finally emerged from the metro an hour and 15 minutes later only to discover that there were no taxi cabs at the metro station. And, everyone around me had dark hair, dark eyes, and dark skin--no other tourists and not a single letter of the Roman alphabet in sight. Sigh. I decided to walk a bit and finally flagged down a taxi, the driver of which spoke absolutely zero English, but who nevertheless delivered me successfully to the Summer Palace, after I pulled out my one map that actually had the Summer Palace on it and showed him exactly where I wanted to go. It's such an interesting experience trying to communicate with someone when verbal language is completely useless.

After a 15 minute cab ride I arrived at my destination. The metro ride got me 90% of the distance for 2 Yuan (about 30 cents). Cab ride took me the last 10% for 28 Yuan (about $4.10). That was my benchmark.

The Summer Palace was lovely, even though it was hardly summery.

(Yes, those are people walking on the ice in the background, and yes, those black dots are ducks swimming in the foreground.)

Instead of green grass and blooming trees, I saw bare branches and ice skates. I'm amazed at how places can still be stunning when virtually everything is dead. I can only imagine how beautiful it is in the summer.


The first thing I noticed upon entering the gates is the extreme detail of the decor everywhere--on the sidewalk, on the buildings--pictures, colors, paintings, ornamental decoration everywhere.



There are a few pictures in exchange for a thousand words each so I can get back to the cabs... so much more drama and suspense...

After finishing my stroll through the 716 acres of the Summer Palace and taking 176 pictures, I noticed the sun was beginning to drop and I decided I should probably head home. Upon exiting the gates, however, I once again noticed that there were no taxis. How is this possible? I guess this is one of the downsides to coming in the winter. I looped around the parking lot and found one, once again, whose driver didn't speak English but agreed to take me back to the metro after I indicated on the map where I wanted to go.

Remember, the way there cost me 28 Yuan. So, when the meter started to tick upwards of 40 and then onto 50 I started to suspect we weren't heading to the metro. Then, my driver pulled over to the side of the road, pulled out a wad of 100 Yuan bills, fanned them out and motioned to the ATM saying something that sounded an awful lot like "s'more money". I had plenty of money with me, and it seemed like this guy wanted me to go and get more, like 100s more. Grrrrr. I told him I wasn't going to get more money and to please take me to the metro. He hesitated, but then started out again. Turns out that the metro was right around the corner, it was just a different metro stop than the one I had journeyed from that morning. And, it turns out that he was not saying "s'more money", he was saying "small money" becuase when I tried to pay him his 60 Yuan with a 100 bill he didn't have change. So, I gave him every last small-denomination Yuan I had with me, which totaled only 58 but that had to be good enough. I got out and entered the metro station only to realize that I couldn't buy a 2 Yuan metro ticket from the automatic ticket machines with a 100 Yuan bill. And, of course, the information booth and two cashier windows had plywood covering the openings, clearly indicating that they weren't just "out to lunch".

It was just at that moment--the one where I was finally fed up and frustrated by this crazy city that is so unwelcoming to foreigners--that a man at the next ticket machine over asked me how to insert cash. Aha! English!! I showed him and asked if he had change for a 100 (which is only the equivalent of $15) and he said no, but that he had 2 Yuan he was perfectly willing to give me. Turns out that the ticket machine wouldn't take his money. We were both in a pickle! This is the point where a good sense of humor comes in handy. You have to laugh. And, I'll admit it was nice to have company. Finally, an attendant from the security check came over, fixed the problem and the two of us got tickets. Whew! I chatted a bit on the ride in with my new best friend, who happens to be an architect from Seattle. I told him he goes down in my book as my hero for the day, so this is my tribute to him. And just for the record... even had I not run into this guy, I still could've taken a taxi back to the hotel... but why settle for the easy and ordinary when you can have a story instead? :)

After today's collection of stories which I can now label as my "Transportation Tales" I was done dealing with the confusing Chinese langage, misrepresentative Chinese maps, unidentifiable Chinese food, literally "pushy" Chinese people, crowded Chinese public transportation, expensive Chinese taxi cabs, and the cold weather. So, on my way home I got off at the metro by the grocery store that sells 10 different colors and sizes of eggs and has a sign on the escalator up that says "mind your hair", bought two bottles of water for 30 cents (they are 10x that at the hotel), a box of instant noodles for 70 cents and some Oeros, and I loved every minute of my cheap Chinese dinner.

After that, I went to see the Chinese "flying" acrobats and they were pretty fun, but not near as fun as the experience of just being there. I laugh at so many things here. In the theater, all of the foreigners are seated in the back. The theater is so cold you don't mind keeping on ALL of your winterwear during the performance. They sell popped microwave popcorn...still in the microwave popcorn bag... so odd. And, I had to chuckle when four women entered my row. I should've suspected from the fur-lined cuffs, hoods and the orange hair that they might be Russian. They totally were, as was the couple behind me. I had no idea so many Russians spent time in China, but I've concluded that of all the people to come to Beijing in the middle of winter, it just makes sense that many would be Russian. After all, they have no reason NOT to come. They are certainly not going to be intimidated by the weather, that's for sure. When their own homeland is frozen solid, why not add a bit of spice to winter by visiting another exotic, frigid country? I can only assume they don't know about tropical destinations like Phuket...or that they don't like sand or how they look in a bathing suit... just kidding... I'm sure they have good reasons for coming, just like me.

And this concludes my blogs from Asia. I'm off to the airport in less than 12 hours. It's been an AMAZING trip AND I'm looking forward to letting my toes thaw and being able to brush my teeth with good old fashioned tap water. Such are the delights of my simple life in the desert.

Zai jian!