Nicole's Trip to Beijing Part One

Hey everyone, I’m back from my excursion to Beijing and the Great Wall. I am going to fill everyone in but in two or three segments. Below is day one.

On Sunday afternoon I left the now comfortable surroundings of 463 Army Hospital in Shenyang to head to Beijing for a whirlwind tour of the Great Wall and the capital city. As many of you know, one of my closest friends, Whitney Rosenberg, moved to China in 2003 to teach English and has been here ever since. I was so excited to have the opportunity to see her life.

I packed my backpack with the warmest clothes I had, took an extra duffle for the aftermath of my planned shopping and headed to the train station with Lucy. On a side note, I believe it is truly possible to have almost anything delivered to you in China. A few days before I went to Beijing I had asked Lucy where I should go to buy calling cards and whether I should go to the train station to by my ticket in advance. She said she would have people deliver both items to me. Sure enough, twenty minutes later my calling card arrived and the next morning a first class ticket to Beijing was delivered to my room. I could get use to that! Once we arrived at the train station Lucy navigated me through security and to the right platform. She talked the guard into letting her get on the train too so she could show me my seat and where to store my luggage and then she was off.

Taking the train during the day was a great way to see some of the northern China county side. The mountains in the backdrop were very picturesque; however, closer to the train tracks the scenery was mostly small towns and villages where the poverty level was very evident. Many of the houses had broken windows and clothes hanging on the fences. I can’t imagine how they stay warm in this cold climate or how their clothes ever dry.

Whitney met me at the entrance to the Beijing train station, which is a few stops from her office and ushered me to the subway. Unlike Washington, DC which has escalators everywhere, Beijing had lots and lots of stairs. Which is not a lot of fun when everyone is pushing and shoving and you have two big bags. I must say that the subway lines were very straightforward and even if Whitney hadn’t been there to get me I would have been able to navigate my way. We took the subway to the outskirts of Beijing and then caught a cab the rest of the way to Whitney’s apartment. Whit informed me that in China you always sit in the front of the cab next to the driver and only when there are two or more people do you sit in the back. Whitney lives in a large “community” which is made of very tall apartment buildings. She lives in a two bedroom apartment on the twentieth floor with her boyfriend. The apartment had all the comforts of home minus the dishwasher and a dryer which she said are almost impossible to come by in China. We dropped of my stuff and grabbed another cab so Whit could take me to one of her favorite restaurants for dinner.

Whitney’s sister Erika is in Beijing for a year to teach English as well and her husband Dan who is working on his PhD in Antarctica was in Beijing for a visit so they met us for dinner. The restaurant we went to is called Lotus and it is actually in the Holiday Inn. The Holiday Inn in China is a five star hotel with lots of nice restaurants, upscale shops and even a bowling alley. Dinner, in two words, was beautiful and amazing. I told Whit to order for me and that I would try whatever she recommended (Lotus only serves vegetarian dishes) so Whitney and Erika ordered a lot of dishes for all of us to split. We had mushroom dumplings, wild rice, cauliflower in a tomato glaze, a “chicken,” potato, green pepper dish, “sausages,” the best pumpkin soup I have ever had and pumpkin cakes with a bean curd filling, just to name a few. The dishes are small, enough for each person to have a few bites which is how you are able to try so much without filling up too fast. The food was some of the best I have ever had and the presentation of the dishes was spectacular. Even our plates were real sea shells. Also, Lotus offered tons of different combinations of fresh squeezed juice for all different ailments. I chose one for digestion after my horrible McDonalds fiasco.

After dinner Whit took me to a grocery store with all imported foods where we bought some Land O’ Lakes cheese, Frosted Flakes and Coors Light (for my mom) to bring back to the hospital with me. When we got back to Whitney’s community she suggested we go for a “foot wash.” For $4.75 in US dollars you get an hour and half foot massage called a foot wash. Whitney and I went to the spa by her house where we were escorted into a private room with two big comfy reclining chairs and a TV. Two ladies came in and had us roll our pants up, take off our shoes and socks and put our feet into very hot bowls of water with herbs floating in them. After letting our feet soak the women came back and did massage and reflexology on our feet for over an hour. I had a few painful spots but they really worked on them. Then Whitney told the ladies that we would like the bad energy sucked out of us. I was a bit concerned. The ladies left the room and when they came back they had glass balls with opening on the top that the proceeded to light a fire in. They then placed the balls on our feet. Because of the fire inside when they touched our skin the fire would go out and they were suctioned on. They didn’t really hurt, but they weren’t entirely comfortable either. When the women came back ten minutes later to remove them they told Whitney that the color in one of my glass balls was too dark meaning I had too much Yin. The woman said this meant I was having digestive issues. How true! Thanks McDonalds! Now that our feet were primed for some heavy duty walking the next day we walked back to Whitney’s apartment to go to bed. My first night in Beijing left me with a very full and satisfied stomach and some very relaxed feet!

The next morning we were off to the Great Wall, but not before a very interesting Korean breakfast… More to come!