Day 2
15 minutes to post before I head off to the Great Wall! I'm going to be hiking about 10K from one section (Jinshaling) to another (Simatai). Apparently, this part of the wall is not hoarded by tourists and giftshops, so it makes for a more scenic and enjoyable time on one of the world's greatest wonders. I also hear it will take up to 3 (the woman I spoke to yesterday said it took her 5!) hours to hike. 10K = 6 miles.
For the occasion, I purchased new clothes: yellow bermuda shorts and a baby blue zip-up tee-shirt. I don't know what was going through my mind when I snatched them off their hangers, but I think I'm really going to fit in with the locals in this get-up.
I spent the morning getting to and wandering around Tiananmen Square and the Palace. I'm spacing out on the actual names but that will do for now. Just trying to find the bus to get to Tiananmen was such a hassle, especially since I didn't know north from south. Ran up and down an avenue (5 minutes til i have to go) and frantically searched for the bus stop. Finally, I chased the bus I needed to catch and caught up to it after running a couple of city blocks.
The Palace was impressive, really, in size .. preservation was only apparent with a couple of the buildings, the first site I saw upon entering the gates was scaffolding along another. I'll probably visit again next week though, so mre on that later.
I spent the rest of the day getting lost on a bike. Exhausted after Tiananmen, I had a plate of rice and a fried egg while reading a guidebook on Beijing; Rented a bike and got lost beyond my sanity's ability to cope and thought i'd never make it back to my hostel.
I attempted to find the french embassy because I found out that they screen french films; unfortunately, upon speaking to an attendant, I was told that films were screened at the cultural center "next to the worker's center" which meant NOTHING to me. So i looked and looked and looked and failed.
The end.
GREAT WALL!
For the occasion, I purchased new clothes: yellow bermuda shorts and a baby blue zip-up tee-shirt. I don't know what was going through my mind when I snatched them off their hangers, but I think I'm really going to fit in with the locals in this get-up.
I spent the morning getting to and wandering around Tiananmen Square and the Palace. I'm spacing out on the actual names but that will do for now. Just trying to find the bus to get to Tiananmen was such a hassle, especially since I didn't know north from south. Ran up and down an avenue (5 minutes til i have to go) and frantically searched for the bus stop. Finally, I chased the bus I needed to catch and caught up to it after running a couple of city blocks.
The Palace was impressive, really, in size .. preservation was only apparent with a couple of the buildings, the first site I saw upon entering the gates was scaffolding along another. I'll probably visit again next week though, so mre on that later.
I spent the rest of the day getting lost on a bike. Exhausted after Tiananmen, I had a plate of rice and a fried egg while reading a guidebook on Beijing; Rented a bike and got lost beyond my sanity's ability to cope and thought i'd never make it back to my hostel.
I attempted to find the french embassy because I found out that they screen french films; unfortunately, upon speaking to an attendant, I was told that films were screened at the cultural center "next to the worker's center" which meant NOTHING to me. So i looked and looked and looked and failed.
The end.
GREAT WALL!
posted by charm at 3:28 PM
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