We visited a very famous Tea House that all the visiting politicians and celebrities attend. The walls were plastered with their photos and one of the focal ones at this time was of a group of women who were big wigs with the Olympics, Mark thought it looked more like the Spice Girls. We shared a table with a Chinese family and watched the performance of Chinese art; silhouette puppet show, man balancing plant pots on his head, dancers with tea pots, magician, singer and comedy duo. They were all very high quality but the best of the lot was the face changing lady who with the blink of an eye her mask had changed. Throughout the 2 hours we had our green tea continually topped up. It’s an acquired taste and a far cry from Tetley.
Later in the day we had a Mahjong and Manderin lesson from Bonny, the lovely guide at our first hotel. The Mahjong I now get, it’s just like rummie but the language leaves me totally cluless although Mark is making a valiant effort at every possible opportunity.
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We were really lucky to get tickets to the Birds Nest to watch the Athletics on Tuesday as they were nearly all sold out. At £4 per ticket including all of your transport I am not surprised and the place was packed giving an electric atmosphere. The journey there was interesting on the underground; usually a fantastic service but today totally rammed. They actually employed staff to push people into the carriages. The only reason I didn’t faint was because the Chinese are so small that Mark and I were head and shoulders above the rest so although our bodies were squashed we could at least breath.
The whole site was really impressive, the Birds Nest and Water Cube especially. We arrived as a British guy was being awarded his Silver medal and then no other Brits appeared so we began to cheer for the home team. They seemed to win everything, most importantly the relay, so the crowd were going wild.
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Though impressive, the temples in Tiantan park play second fiddle to the masses of retired Chinese folk gathered there to take part in social events. With ballroom dancing, Tai Chi, fast Tai Chi with rackets and balls, Chinese chess, cards, music, singing, ribbon throwing, calligraphy, knitting, and many more we spent the morning walking from one group to the next. One game had group of people kicking a weighted shuttlecock between them. Mark was asked to join in and all went well until he hoofed the thing into a nearby tree. It sat there firmly stuck until a man got it back with the aid of his shoe and lots of throwing.
Later in the week we took a tour out to the Great Wall and after being herded through the obligatory tourist shops we got our first glimpses. Despite seeing many pictures of it back home it was more spectacular than we had imagined and much steeper too! The Disney style ride we had to take to get up and down slightly ruined the authentic feel of the place but nevertheless it was a fantastic experience. Some sections were very busy but on other more strenuous sections we had it almost to ourselves.
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We arrived in Beijing at a great time, by luck rather than planning. With the Olympics and Paralympics taking place the city looks at it’s best with clean streets, flowers everywhere, helpful English speaking staff, less traffic and far less pollution. Tiananmen Square looked spectacular with amazing floral displays and hundreds of fireworks set up for the closing ceremony. It was a far cry from the grey, political image we were presented with in the 1989 demonstrations.
Skirting around Mao’s mausoleum we headed for The Forbidden City which was as impressive as we had expected and seemed to go on forever. Although packed with tour groups you couldn’t help but be impressed by the architecture and colours of the place. The photo where Mark has his eyes closed is taken under a 300 year old tree that is two trees grafted together. It is supposed to bring a long and happy marriage to newlyweds… so far so good!
