Comrades!
Last week, after only a month of school we left for a week of
travel to Beijing and Shanghai. If only all schools had this bonus
'back to work' holiday incentive plan. Beijing was celebrating the
51st anniversary of 'the republic' (hence the holiday) and was packed
like a Ricky Martin rock concert. Buses were unbelievably packed,
which may have been a good thing, since it was tough to look out
the windows without cringing... as it seemed like every other bicyclist
just escaped being crushed to death by the most remote of odds.
The highlight of our hotel in Beijing was, well… not the hotel
itself, although, one could make an argument for 'value'! The real
highlight was the street market out the front, which featured a
lively scene complete with some of the cheapest beers to be found
in China.
A circuit of the tourist spots in Beijing led us to the Great Wall,
the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace and Tiannamen Square. It appears
that the 'Ango-French expedition of 1860' was not the highlight
of recent history, as they seemed to have burnt down everything
they could find in the city. Today, all the old buildings have plaques
on the outside telling you about how they had to be rebuilt in the
late 1800's due to the 'expedition'. We also took advantage of 'Shi
Lin Lu', the center of activity for Beijing's considerable ex-pat
community. The street featured excellent restaurants and bars and,
as an added bonus, provocatively dressed women who sidled up to
us as we walked down the street and whispered 'CDs? VCDs? DVDs?'
Our Shanghai hotel featured abundant cockroaches. When you flicked
on the lights, they would scatter all over the room. What can you
expect when you stay in a student dormitory? Fortunately, Robyn
who lived in Sydney for several years (as a student), had had extensive
experience with this phenomena and dealt with it accordingly! Unfortunately,
a couple of the boogers hitchhiked home with us in our luggage!
The tourist circuit in Shanghai included a boat ride up and down
the river along 'the Bund' (Shanghai's 1930's boardwalk), a walk
in the restored old town and exploration in the boomtown atmosphere
commercial districts. Tipped off by a posting in Lonely Planet's
website, we managed to find the 'Sex in Chinese Culture Museum',
which proved to be quite entertaining - apparently everything was
ok in the old days! Finally, we stopped one floor short of the observation
deck in the world's 3rd highest building and headed for the Hyatt
Regent Bar. We had to take three separate elevators to get to the
bar, and deal with snobby attendants who said things like, 'Sir,
you know there IS a minimum…'. (I guess they weren't impressed by
the backpacker regalia.)
Happy to be home, we're heading to Hong Kong next weekend for the
Irish production 'Riverdance'. In the meantime we're planning our
January trip and exploring Guangzhou and environs.
The Forbidden Party Cell
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