Not Such a Strange Land

I'm up at just about the same time, 6:30, to get ready for the trip to the Summer Palace. Today's lunch will be a picnic lunch and I want to eat some breakfast before heading out just in case their idea of a picnic does not match mine. And I still have a bag to pack. It rained this morning and I wonder if we might not cancel this trip. But the rain has stopped and Jason picks me up at 9:00 as planned.

We'll ride a boat up to the Summer Palace. We catch the boat from a dock near the Beijing Zoo. The whole group is going and we'll make a day of it. We actually ride two boats. One in a man made river for the Emperor. Where that river joins the main river there is a difference in water levels so we walk around the lock there and catch another boat.

The ride up is pleasant. These are not the nicest boats in the world but appear 'sea' worthy and safe. The view along the man made river is quite nice. Through some of Beijing's parks. The team is thrilled to see some trees. The regular river is nice, but has more construction on it's banks and the view is not quite the same as the man made portion of the river.

But the beauty of the Summer Palace is not to be surpassed. This place is absolutely gorgeous and they tell me it is even more gorgeous in the spring and summer. Things are starting to die from the fall season. The trees are beginning to change color but it will be another week or so before that color is brilliant. But I am totally impressed with this place. It's Duke Gardens but on a much grander scale and it has historical buildings at the Summer Palace, a huge lake, and a boat made of stone.

For the most part we walk a very large loop around the outer perimeter of the lake. We also take a paddle boat ride on the lake. And we eat all along the way. We started with fruit on the boat. Some of the most delicious pears I've ever eaten. Lana made ham and boiled egg sandwiches. Pretty tasty. Dates and bananas round out the fare, except for the Oreos I contribute to the mix.

And man do they take care of me. Our first stop after hitting the Garden is a bridge which is very tall. Lana wants to take my picture with the lake in the background and I tell her that my fear of heights won't let me go to the edge of the bridge. After that, on every descent from a climb, one of them has me by the arm to make sure I don't fall. Yea, like that would stop me. I don't really have a problem with the descents except the bifocals mess up my depth perception a bit and I'm slow going down. And they don't let me paddle the paddle boats. And somewhere along the line I lose my daypack to one of them that carries it for me and Jason takes command of my camera. I give up trying to convince them it should be otherwise.

The day is foggy, but that does not deter me from taking pictures. I take a lot. And every time I turn around Jason is saying, "Jere, take your picture?" For the first time in a long time I'm in some of my own pictures. It is truly a beautiful place. And if you hike up to the Buddhist like temple the view from there is pretty remarkable. According to the GPS we're about 9 miles out from the center of Beijing. But it is sprawling all around us.

We catch a taxi back from the Summer Palace. I keep talking about taking a cab and they have no idea what I'm talking about. I'm trying to be very conscious about saying 'taxi' when we're trying to catch a ride someplace. Some of the group take buses home.

I'm back at the hotel about 5:00, read a while, and it quickly becomes apparent that I'm going to fall asleep if I don't do something. So I begin to piddle around the room and keep busy till about 7:00. Then, what to do for supper...

This is where I discover this is not such a strange land at all. I walk about 6 blocks to a food court at Xidan and find out that #1 is the Big Mac meal both in America and China at a McDonald's. My only struggle is figuring out the question she is asking me after I order and tell her I want a Coke with that. In her own way she's asking me if I want to 'Supesize' it. I tell her small is fine with me.

It tastes basically the same as a Big Mac in Durham. The consistency of the ground beef is different (OK I probably don't want to know what is in it) and it seems a bit light on the onions, but otherwise you couldn't tell. I can't tell a difference in the french fries. Cost 17.90 RMB. At today's exchange rate, that comes out to right at $2.38. About a buck less than in the states.

I can't really make out much on the menu that is indigenous to China, but I can figure out chicken nuggets and a fish sandwich plus Quarter pounders, etc. Same restaurant and same food. I look around and the most popular item I see is the good old Mickey D's hamburger. That is what most people seem to be eating.

And speaking of looking around, I feel totally conspicuous today. Catch several people staring at me. And maybe rightly so, but I begin to wonder if it is my cap. I'm wearing my Durham Bulls orange cap. Am I presenting some sort of social faux pas? Not sure but I'm getting more stares while wearing it.

After dinner I think of heading next door to the DQ for ice cream but decide against it. Not sure how vanilla will be interpreted. So it's back to the hotel for me. Get back about 8:30 after wandering through the mall for a few minutes and then read for about an hour. Finally the gods of sleep will not be denied and I shut down for the night.

Good night from Beijing.