Day 10 - Wed. March 3, 2004

Andy reported that the evening Internet connection in the business centre was quite poor - expensive, slow, and the connection kept dropping. The doorman had told Andy that it would be better to go to the local Internet Café, "Where the real people go". Since this was "over three blocks, and down at the end of an alley", and we could only do this at night, we were stuck with the business centre in the hotel. Andy had spent quite a bit of time trying to upload pictures to the photoalbum (until 1:30 a.m.), and was finally successful. However, the bill was about $45. When Claude heard about this, he took up a collection to help with the cost! What a great group. We only have 2 ½ days left together.

After an early morning breakfast in the buffet (we are now getting the timing down right), we headed for the Imperial Summer Palace. This time, we stuck with Cherry, and she gave us a great tour, at the same time as allowing us to stop and see what we wanted. There were many rooms filled with artifacts, beautiful architecture, an ornate walkway along the man-made lake, and an amazing boat made from white marble. A Buddhist Temple was built on a man-made hill in the centre of the huge complex, and we were given the option to climb up there (we did, kids and all). The view was fantastic, including hills in the background with the Great Wall snaking along them.

Zhen remained being a great traveler. The day was cold, about 3 degrees Celsius, with a stiff wind, but sunny. Andy bundled up Zhen with a scarf kindly lent by Nina, a warm outfit and hat, a blanket over the lower part, and under Andy's jacket lining. She took everything in without complaint, eating a lot, fighting sleep and winning most of the time. We still gather crowds wherever we go. Andy still enjoys it, but it is bothering some. A large tour group went by, and they all burst out with good-natured laughter - we are not sure why, but it seems to be just delight. Generally we continue to be a strange parade, particularly now when there are hardly any Caucasian tourists around.

Cherry waited for us at the exit gate. She had warned us of the pickpockets outside the exit, and she tried to escort us out. However, there were too many of us, and I got isolated from the group. Suddenly, the vendors were all around me, pushing, poking, shoving, pressing against me on all sides. I was prepared for the odd pickpocket, one bumping into me perhaps while I was distracted, but I was not prepared for this onslaught. I walked quickly, saying "Bu Yao" (Don't Want), but of course this made no difference. The bolts of cloth, magazines, and small trays of watches were all a cover to slip a hand underneath to probe pouches, pockets, backpacks, and everywhere else. I slapped away pressure on my right pocket, and I used my "step on toes" to the left, until I was actually kicking out to keep them away.

I was finally through to the bus, I thought successfully. I checked my pockets, and found that my little notebook from my right pocket was missing. Luckily there was nothing important in it, just some phone numbers, addresses, and day-to-day info and directions. However, unfortunately Zhen's nanny had written her name in it. Gone forever. I checked the closed zipper on my jacket, left side, where I had "secured" my wallet. The zipper was half down - I guess my kicks saved me. One of our group was not so lucky, and did have her wallet lifted. Luckily the bus driver saw this, and demanded it back. Andy, smart as he is, pretended to be taking pictures of them all, and they left him alone. He did get some pictures, including one of the guys who got the wallet. As we watched from the bus back window, a police car drove by on its way to somewhere else. All the vendors melted into the nearby buildings, then slowly emerged for the next group of tourists. We watched as one Chinese women tourist vigorously pushed the vendors away. Lesson learned.

I was lucky, and should have had my wallet in a pack under my clothing, (which is where I do keep spare money, passport, and papers). I was shaken, but relieved. By the time we got to lunch, I was still shaking. Not having eaten for 5 ½ hours didn't help.

This was our big Beijing meal - in spite of the rumors of avian flu, we could not pass up a meal of the famous Peking Duck.   The restaurant was fancy, pink tablecloths, matching upholstered chairs, Oriental decorating. We had a room to ourselves. The chef was supposed to carve and prepare the Duck beside the tables, but we were so crowded in that he had to do it in the doorway. Slices of dark meat with a layer of fat attached were laid out. Bowls of hosein sauce, cucumbers, shallots, and a soy paste were placed on the table. Cherry showed us how to wrap the duck slices in a thin crepe with the ingredients, then nibble away. Delicious. I was still shaking, and for the first time used a fork for a while. After a bit of food in me, I was back to chopsticks once again (during the whole trip, both Andy and I carried a great little travel set of knife, fork, and spoon, but never had to use it). The rest of the meal was great, again lots of different taste treats.

We were back to the hotel for an afternoon nap (for Zhen). Andy showed her the video prepared by Julie and the kids just for Zhen. Even though tired and hungry, she was fascinated, watched it with rapt attention, and commented on it vocally quite often. Sleep was easy for her after that.

In the afternoon we got Cherry to write out directions to a shopping area where we could get toys. We got a taxi with Nina and Claude, and arrived at a wide street closed to traffic. Apparently this was an ancient retail area, but now all the buildings were brand new. As we walked the street trying to find the toy store, we were accosted by a young man who wanted us to come to his shop. We asked where the toy store was, and he said he would take us, but still wanted us to come to his shop. Being polite, we said maybe later. He pointed us down the street. Later, when we walked back, he latched on to us again. We finally said we were not interested, and he was most insulted. He called us a few Chinese names, then in English "Liars - you said you would come back" etc. We are learning to be blunt in the first place (rather than fit in to the "roundabout" way of saving face and speaking indirectly that we expected). China is changing, particularly in the large cities.

The toy store (we finally found it) was large, with many floors. We were quite disappointed with the selection, which was not much different from what we could get back home. Quite prominent was the Disney line of toys and clothing (we also saw this in many department stores). There were many action figures based on American themes, and many dolls. It was interesting that none of the dolls was oriental, and all were Caucasian! We saw the same in many department stores, where all the mannequins and many of the billboard models were Caucasian. The prices were not low, nor on a par with other goods in China. Some prices were similar to what we would pay in Canada.

Andy bought some toys and clothes for his kids, and I bought some small presents for his kids, and Maxim (my 6 yr. old next door neighbor). I had not seen the bouncing balls before that play a different tune each time you bounce them. As we walked back along the street, we were tempted to go down a narrow lane with many food stalls. As we approached it, the stench was overwhelming, and we decided to pass.

We walked to the traffic end of the street to grab a taxi. We saw one that was up on the sidewalk, with someone just getting out. As we were heading for it, we saw that it was Terry and (Auntie) Andrea. They were glad to see us, because they were trying to get back to the hotel, but the driver kept shaking his head at the address on the hotel card given to him. They asked if we could help. We looked at the card, and realized it was the card from the Nanjing Hotel! That would have been a long ride. I had an extra card for our Beijing Jianguo Hotel, and when I gave it to the driver, he looked relieved - he could get there from here!

We waited for anther taxi, and one soon materialized, driving up on the sidewalk for us. He turned around on the wide sidewalk, and drove along it for about a block, scattering pedestrians, until we could get on the street again. Quite a ride through rush hour traffic. We had time to look at all the modern buildings, the huge traffic blocked streets, and all the construction happening. There is quite an acceleration of construction due to the 2008 Olympics looming. Beijing is laid out with ring roads. The first is really a grid around Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. The second, third, fourth and fifth are multi-lane freeways. Our hotel was on the second, and I counted 14 lanes, including the bike lanes. Much to the concern of conservationists and historians, most of the old, narrow lane neighborhoods (Hutongs) are being torn down.

Back to the hotel for a light supper in the room, some playing, and off to bed early. We want to make the best of our last full day in China, tomorrow.

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