Today the baozi guy was not there for our late breakfast so we had steamed gyoza, fried won-tons, and noodles, than Leia tried to get the people in the Samsung shop to help her install WeChat (some kind of Chinese Whatsapp) on her phone, to no avail. Meanwhile Guy found it on BaiDu (some kind of Chinese Google.)
We went to Bank of Beijing to exchange some money, and we waited in line, and waited, and waited and then Guy went to look for an ATM. He went back and made a round all around Dongcheng and through poor alleys until he found the ATM on the other side of the district. When he returned he noticed two ATMs right next door to the bank on the other side, all that while Leia was still waiting. Finally we gave up on that bank and walked on to another bank on that street... where we still had to wait, this time because the clerks were busy marveling at Leia's passport with all her visas.
We finally got our money and went on to the Dongsi underground train station. We took the metro to Beihai park (switching two trains), which was an Imperial garden for five dynasties. There we had a picnic of fruit on the grass, until a couple of park guards shooed us off in Chinese. We saw a big lake with pedal boat rentals, some nice pavilions, and a performer that could only be described as the Chinese Moshe Peretz. We practiced our hooping and had another family take pictures with us (seriously, what's wrong with the locals?) In the middle of the park there is a white pagoda that you can climb up to.
After that we walked on to the Jingshan park, where there is a moderately sized hill, made of dirt that we were told was dug out of the moat around the Forbidden City. This makes up the highest point in Beijing. On top of the hill there is a temple and a terrace, from which you can overlook the Forbidden City on the south side and the rest of Beijing all around. Inside the temple is a big golden Buddha with a "no photo" sign on it, and someone was praying to it.
After the visit at the park we went on a quest to find a brew-pub we had read about, that serves burgers. We passed through a nice array of hutongs (alleyways) and parks north of Nanluoguxiang station. It had a canal, water plants, some dogs and fishermen. The buildings were all gray stone (unlike other hutongs in the city) and it was very quaint and special. On our way we walked through some of these alleyways, which felt particularly Chinese. We finally found the original branch of the brewery, which had a very helpful staff who let us know that food is not available in that branch and gave Guy a taste of their pilsner to soften the blow. At this point we had not eaten for 8 hours, had run out of water, and Leia had her heart set on the cheeseburger. So we made our way back to the station and rode off to another branch of the brewery.
We had a good (if small) burger each and a set of 4 beer tastings. Our favorite one was a blonde ale flavored with Iron Buddha oolong tea. We then rode home, again switching 2 trains to go only 4 stops. After a short rest and shower we went to the nearby Hot Pot place, where Guy gobbled up some soup.
Guy wore his sandals today and got weird looks from people, we thought because exposed feet are impolite in China and he was giving the finger with each step he took. When he took them off in the hostel, the soles of his feet were both completely black.
We went to Bank of Beijing to exchange some money, and we waited in line, and waited, and waited and then Guy went to look for an ATM. He went back and made a round all around Dongcheng and through poor alleys until he found the ATM on the other side of the district. When he returned he noticed two ATMs right next door to the bank on the other side, all that while Leia was still waiting. Finally we gave up on that bank and walked on to another bank on that street... where we still had to wait, this time because the clerks were busy marveling at Leia's passport with all her visas.
We finally got our money and went on to the Dongsi underground train station. We took the metro to Beihai park (switching two trains), which was an Imperial garden for five dynasties. There we had a picnic of fruit on the grass, until a couple of park guards shooed us off in Chinese. We saw a big lake with pedal boat rentals, some nice pavilions, and a performer that could only be described as the Chinese Moshe Peretz. We practiced our hooping and had another family take pictures with us (seriously, what's wrong with the locals?) In the middle of the park there is a white pagoda that you can climb up to.
After that we walked on to the Jingshan park, where there is a moderately sized hill, made of dirt that we were told was dug out of the moat around the Forbidden City. This makes up the highest point in Beijing. On top of the hill there is a temple and a terrace, from which you can overlook the Forbidden City on the south side and the rest of Beijing all around. Inside the temple is a big golden Buddha with a "no photo" sign on it, and someone was praying to it.
After the visit at the park we went on a quest to find a brew-pub we had read about, that serves burgers. We passed through a nice array of hutongs (alleyways) and parks north of Nanluoguxiang station. It had a canal, water plants, some dogs and fishermen. The buildings were all gray stone (unlike other hutongs in the city) and it was very quaint and special. On our way we walked through some of these alleyways, which felt particularly Chinese. We finally found the original branch of the brewery, which had a very helpful staff who let us know that food is not available in that branch and gave Guy a taste of their pilsner to soften the blow. At this point we had not eaten for 8 hours, had run out of water, and Leia had her heart set on the cheeseburger. So we made our way back to the station and rode off to another branch of the brewery.
We had a good (if small) burger each and a set of 4 beer tastings. Our favorite one was a blonde ale flavored with Iron Buddha oolong tea. We then rode home, again switching 2 trains to go only 4 stops. After a short rest and shower we went to the nearby Hot Pot place, where Guy gobbled up some soup.
Guy wore his sandals today and got weird looks from people, we thought because exposed feet are impolite in China and he was giving the finger with each step he took. When he took them off in the hostel, the soles of his feet were both completely black.
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