Beijing with Gusto (Part I)

I don’t remember why we booked this trip but I didn’t have very high expectations. It was in March so winter was warming up to spring but, at below 10 degrees, it was still much too cold for me. I’m always a little out of sorts in cold weather. I was also worried about hygiene, especially the toilet situation, and of course dining, because I love to eat. I expected long walks and rowdy crowds. I thought it would be tiring, and it was. But I enjoyed Beijing more than I thought I would.



The city, at least the part of it that I saw, turned out to be cleaner and more posh than I expected. Our hotel, Park Plaza, was next door to a store selling Ferraris and Masseratis. Starbucks was everywhere. So were KFC and McDonald's stores.



We couldn’t have picked a better hotel. Park Plaza’s rates were affordable, the staff spoke decent English, the location was ideal for shopping, the rooms were clean and comfortable, and the food was great (I couldn’t get enough of the nasi goreng).



On our first day, we went to the Forbidden City. I didn’t see the Last Emperor movie and I am not a big fan of empty palace grounds so I won’t call this a highlight.

At the exit, we had our first encounter with reality in Beijing. Public transportation was the pits. None of the cab drivers would use their meter; every one wanted a flat rate, which went higher at every asking. We refused to acquiesce on principle so we ended up walking back to Wangfujing.



It was late afternoon by the time we reached the area and the Eat St. stalls have opened. We marveled at the seahorses and scorpions that were on sale, and a few other items we couldn’t identify. There were the usual shrimps and squids and meats too, but since none of the vendors spoke English, we opted to just look and take photos, and had our meal at McDonalds.