Friday, October 17, 2008

THURSDAY IN BEIJING with Pamela & Karen

Hi all,

As threatened, here is the description of our Thursday
in Beijing. Please see my blog of earlier today -
"Pamela, Karen and a Day in Beijing" for some preamble
about my fellow explorers yesterday.

At noon Thursday Pamela, Karen and I set out to try to
discover the flavour of the older, less modern, less
touristy side of Beijing. I had been looking for this all
during my visit, but we had not yet experienced it.
We took a taxi to the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower
to start our day's activities. Taxis are very inexpensive
here compared to back home - I would say about a
sixth of the cost as compared to Toronto. They have
seat belts but they always seem to be inaccessible due
to the fact that nobody ever uses them. From here we
commenced our visit to the "hutongs" of Beijing. I had
mentioned that the Hutong was a district in Beijing - but
that is not really correct. Hutongs rather are areas where
the streets are very narrow and behind the streets lined
with little shops are whole blocks of mostly residences of
the common Chinese. These residences are generally very
spartan homes often with shared public washroom facilities.
Driving on the narrow streets/lanes is not very practical,
but tourists can get a feel for this aura of Beijing by taking
a pedicab ride. (a rickshaw, maybe, but powered by
bicycling - two passengers to a pedicab). While Pamela
had a stroll and a visit to a coffee shop, Karen and I took
the 50 minute pedicab ride. I found it very interesting -
this was the kind of Beijing I had wanted to see. We went
by the house where Mao lived as a boy, and visited a bed
and breakfast-type courtyard inside the hutong.
Upon arrival back at the end of our ride, Pamlea was talking
to a Brit who had been living in China for the past six years.
He was a professional cyclist representing England in various
races here in China. Travis gave us some useful information
about our current city and even recommended a bar area
for last night if we were into that. As usual we succumbed
to the street vendors who seem to be omnipresent - hawking
almost anything one can imagine. And we have been getting
much more proficient at the bargaining process. We are now
seasoned bargainers - or at least, so we think.

Following this initial visit to the hutongs we set off on a fine
walk along a thin mid-city lake stopping at maybe 3:00 for
some lunch at a rooftop local restaurant.
Next we took a 15-20 minute cab ride to a gigantic
"department" store specializing in clothing. Pamela was
returning a men's shirt that she had bought earlier in the week.
Pamela ended up having me pick out an alternate shirt in
exchange - but I have no doubt that if she had returned it for
a cash refund that she would have bargained for more in return
than she had originally spent. That's how good Pamela is at
all of this process.
In the sprawling department store was a massage corner where
we all indulged in various pleasures. I got a foot massage,
manicure and full upper body massage, as did Karen. Pamela
who is renown for her great nails and designs thereon got a
foot rub and a fancier pedicure / manicure combination.
Our foot massage lasted 30 minutes, during which a second
attendant did our manicures. The upper body massage followed
for about half an hour starting with the forehead, top of the head,
(I was very nervous as the masseuse vigorously rubbed the top
of my head, as I feared that the little remaining hair I have would
come out in her hands) neck, shoulders, back, arms and finally
hands. This was all very exquisite, but a little rough at times.
The cost for about an hour and twenty minutes of such luxurious
service was about $14.00 Canadian. My neck and shoulders were
a little sore this morning. But I hadn't lost any hair, fortunately.
Next time I'll have to learn to relax a little more.

We were to meet a group of other Canadians for dinner at an
Indian restaurant not far from the department store. The problem
was that we didn't have the address or telephone number
of the restaurant, just its general coordinates. After wandering
hopelessly for about 45 minutes in search of the restaurant, we
agreed to abandon the search and find an eatery of our own. Pamela
suggested we go down the next street we came upon. Immediately
upon turning down that street, Karen spotted the name of the
restaurant for which we had been so futilely looking. That was an
amazing stroke of serendipity, but we figured that no one else of
our potential group would have been able to find it either. Much
to our surprise upon arriving at the 4th floor restaurant the whole
other seven were there! (Sandra & Doug, Dave, Jurek, Kiz,
Stephen and Howard Weinstein). The food and company were
outstanding.
We finished our dinner at about ten and everyone was ready to call
it a night, but not our intrepid Pamela, who had it in her bonnet all
day that we should go to the bar area and visit a spot recommended
by the aforementioned Travis. The others said goodbye to us and
Pamela, Karen and I set off to find "Swing." It was not far away -
an international bar where English was widely spoken. The bar
was not big and not fancy. The entertainment was a Phillipino trio -
a woman singer, a male singer and a great guitar player. Their songs
were the oldies and goldies of the 60's, 70's and 80's. The place was
really rocking, with everyone singing to the music and generally
getting swept up in the camaraderie and revelry of the night. There
were Canadians, Germans, British, Chinese, Aussies and others in
the mix. My two team members were presented roses by various
admirers, but when the admirers realized that Pamela and Karen
were with me, they backed off, acknowledging the time honoured
international code that you don't mess with women who are
accompanied by their Non Playing Captain.
Each time i went outside for some fresh air - I was approached by
guys asking me if would like to go to a "Lady Bar." Later I was asked
by Chinese ladies if I would like go go to a "Lady Bar." Now I am not
sure what exactly the Lady Bar entails, but your guess is as good as
mine. Remembering that my responsibilities to the Canadian Bridge
Federation in my capacity as Non Playing Captain required that I
never let down my guard until all six members of my team are
safely returned to Canadian soil, I realized that the "Lady Bar"
experience would have to be left until a future visit to China.
Eventually I trundled Pamela and Karen into a taxi for the return
to our hotel. The cab driver, once again, got lost, but a succesful
return was ultimately executed.

It had been a wondrous day in this teeming metropolis. We had
first hand seen the hutongs, passed vendors selling cooked, hot
yams, and hot corn on the cob. We had battled the crowded roads of
Beijing competing with bicycles, power assisted bicycles, pedicabs,
rickshaws, taxis, cars, trucks and pedestrians for advancement
toward our destinations. We had successfully bargained for the
purchase of varied merchandise. (personally, I bought two 'Rolex"
watches for the low, low price of about $8.00. I know these were
authentic Rolex watches, because the seller swore to me that
they were). We had had a great dinner and experienced the
throbbing night life.

Thank you to our Canadian dinner friends. Thank you to Travis
and others foreigners living here. Thank you to the local Chinese.
Thank you to Beijing. All contributed to a joyous autumn day in
this far away land.
And, of course, a special thank you to Pamela and Karen.

It's is very late now.
Italy won the Open, England the Women's and Japan the Senior.

Goodnight everyone, from Beijing.

John

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