1.7.11 Vagabond Inn Executive - Burlingame
We had a 12:30 pm flight on southwest to San Francisco. With all the transfers, the journey took us about 9 hours – luckily we had exit row seats for the majority of the flight. Once we go to San Fran, we headed to the Vagabond Inn Executive in Burlingame. It turned out to be a great hotel: clean rooms, nice linens and a great local restaurant right next door. The Elephant Bar specializes in Global cuisine so Glenn and I had lettuce wraps, a wedge salad, spring rolls and Ahi tuna. I also tried the French Pear Martini: vodka, St Germaine, and sparkling wine. It was a lovely mix of sweet and bubbles. We headed to bed early to prep for a long day of flying. For this trip, we booked a 10 day Beijing and Shanghai trip including flights from SFO and hotels from Smartours.
1.8.11 – The Long Journey to Beijing
We hit the airport around 10:15 am. The Smartours documents said to check in at least 3 and a half hours before the flight, but failed to mention that the counter doesn’t open until three and a half hours before the flight so we met all our tourmates in line. We got aisle seats. I sat in front of Glenn and next to a woman and her sister. They were travelling with the woman’s three kids and husband – such a nice family. The flight went well despite the fact Air China’s planes are basically falling apart and we had to deplane on the tarmac in the rain. Immigration and Customs were quick and simple. We met our guide outside baggage claim and headed to the hotel. Our guide was smart and used the time on the bus for our orientation. We had thirty-four people who had flown in from SFO and another group coming in from NYC. The guide also handed out our room keys which was great. This tour had all the city tours as a la carte options which we did not take. We arrived at the Radisson Blu-Beijing. The lobby was great with a bar, nice restaurant and buffet in addition to a health club and swimming pool. Our room had two twin beds that were a little too firm but not as stiff as other beds we have endured in China. Having a flight that arrived at night was nice so we didn’t feel guilty going right to sleep.
1.9.11 Beijing Zoo, Beijing Aquarium, and the Summer Palace
Around 8 am we headed down to the hotel’s super buffet – a nice mix of western and Chinese breakfast offerings. Glenn and I were both happy to fill up on wonton soup before we headed out into the cold toward the Beijing Zoo. The subway was about a 10 minute walk from our hotel and as easy to navigate as we remembered. The zoo was pretty depressing. The Panda Houses were dreary and the barrenness of winter only amplified the feeling.
One panda was miserable – flailing around trying to find a comfortable position, tearing off wood splinters and rubbing them on his head. The other animals did not fair much better. The lions and tigers were in small, empty cages. We decided not to see any more animals because it was just too sad. So we beelined through the Zoo to the Beijing Aquarium. The aquarium is very nice. The first section is a recreation of a rainforest with ramps going up and down through vegetation and open fish tanks.
The sea lion/dolphins area was interesting. It reminded me of the behind scenes areas at Shedd aquarium. You see all the tanks where the dolphins and sea lions are trained. There’s no “show” area. Then we went into the Coral Reef area. This area was very interesting especially the jelly fish exhibit. The aquarium did a great job supplementing the tanks with pictures, lights and other interactive information.
Next stop: Summer Palace. The palaces at this location have been destroyed twice: once by British forces and once during the Boxer Rebellion so the buildings are only about 100 years old. This is where the Emperor or Empress would go during the summer when the Forbidden City got too hot. The benefit of the Palace’s young age is that a lot of the furniture is still in place in many of the halls. It is a beautiful location since a lake was dug to create a waterside retreat. This digging process created a hill where the Emperor placed a temple. This property also features a traditional long corridor with intricate drawings.
The property is massive. Every corner holds another path and another set of buildings in various states of repair. Glenn continued his potato chip tasting from around the world with some chicken flavored snacks. China lost this round to Turkey. At the end of the long corridor was a “marble” boat.
The Empress had used funds earmarked for modernizing the Navy to commission a boat of wood painted to look like marble. Nice to know other countries struggle with good financial decisions. We backtracked to the subway station and searched for lunch. Near the subway station was a collection of fast food restaurants: KFC, Subway, Dairy Queen, MCDonalds and Starbucks. Luckily we were able to find a local fast food chain: Xian-Bu. It was hot pots!! The staff was slightly panicked when we walked in, but then someone remembered they had an English menu so we could more easily order. We picked hot and sour soup for the broth, the prime beef as our meat and a vegetable platter. I also got dumplings and Glenn got noodles.
It was SO GOOD! The perfect lunch for such a cold and windy day. Rejuvenated by the great meal, we set out for Saniltun – the bar district near Workers’ Stadium. We stopped off at The Den for old times’ sake. We hit bar street. The street hosts a two huge high end shopping malls with all the major brands: Uniqlo, Columbia, Nike, Lucky,etc. We were there a little too early for the nightclubs – though we did try one out for some Singapore Slings. We tried to go to Jazz Ya, but it was packed and we were ignored at the bar. We looked around for a couple other places and decided to call it a night. I was so tired from all the walking that I fell on the bed fully clothed – I may actually been asleep prior to hitting the bed.
After a great breakfast conversation with Russell and Joan from Salt Lake City, we headed out for Lama Temple. This is the temple we could not find last time and it took us a while this time. It is an incredibly ornate Tibetian temple which supposedly symbolizes China’s tolerance of other religions. The site houses several halls with large Buddha statutes – the largest an impressive 55 foot tall Buddha. The smell of incense fills the space as followers lit it to honor Buddha.
Leaving the Temple, we decided to follow one of the guide book walking tours through the Hutong neighborhoods. The good was that we got to see a lot of different neighborhoods – a street filled with commerce, an old neighborhood with traditional Chinese homes and the trendy area around Hui Lake. The downside is that the hutongs are very difficult to navigate. We loved the area around Hui Lake – we could really tell that it is quite a hot spot at night and in warmer weather. We set out to find No Name restaurant – a recommendation from our guide book. It only took us one wrong turn. We were a little nervous because we were the only people in the whole restaurant, but they let us upstairs to a beautiful sun room overlooking the hutong roofs. We ordered crispy spring rolls and lemongrass roasted fish.
Both were excellent. After warming up over such a great lunch – we headed out to find Passby Bar – one of our favorite stops from last time. We found the location, but it had been torn down. We found a passable cappuccino nearby. We trekked back to the subway to head to Wangfuijing night market to grab our favorite snacks – the beef sandwiches and fried dumplings. After eating, I needed to warm up so we popped into one of the restaurants behind the night market. They had this huge book with pictures of the menu items with Chinese and English descriptions. We ordered the most delicious duck stew – it was the perfect mix of onions, celery and other flavors that were foreign to us. It was so good.
We also had the hot and sour soup. It was just okay but went a long way to warming us up. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel, shared some overpriced beers and called it a night.
Today we headed out for Jingshan Park – just north of the Forbidden City. This park had been on my list since our last trip. It has a hill made from the dirt excavated building the moat around the Forbidden City. I was hoping for groups of locals practicing tai chi and other morning exercises. We paid our 50 cents and walked into a harmonica band performing with dancers.
AWESOME! We trekked up to the Pavilion on the top of the hill and were rewarded with an amazing view of Forbidden City. The haze prevented any good pictures but all the guide books were right – this view is incredible.
I didn’t appreciate how large the Forbidden City was since when we visited we stayed in the central portion. On the way back down, we came across the site of the last Ming Emperor’s suicide. The highlight of the trip was watching women practice a routine with a paddle and a ball. A man came up and invited me to join so I did.
It took a while to get the hang of it, but when I did, he was just as excited as I was. After the park, we armed up with a pot of black tea and headed to the Olympic Village. We were acting on ads we saw that the Water Cube was converted to a water park. We were both ready for some warm swimming. We needed towels so we bought a couple US$18 towels at the Water Cube gift shop. We had trouble finding the ticket office. A man followed us trying to sell us tickets even though we kept saying NO! NO! NO! We finally made it to an open ticket window only to find out they do not take credit cards. We did not have the cash for the almost US$80 in entrance fees plus the locker rental fees. We were really disappointed and super annoyed by the man who would not stop following us. We tried to think of a way to get the cash, but decided to head back to the hotel to regroup.
For lunch, we stopped at a restaurant directly across from the subway stop near our hotel. IT had a huge book menu with pictures. We got a “fish cake” – so delicious. The fish seemed to be marinated in teriyaki – so tender.
The absolute best thing we ate on our entire trip – and it cost US$1.45. We also had a “pizza” which was more like a quesadilla with garlic and scallions, lychee shrimp, and sesame balls plus 2 Yinyang beers – all for the bargain price of US $15.50. Such an awesome lunch. Back at the hotel, I got a bare bones 90 minute massage for about US$90. I definitely overpaid, but I needed it because all the walking and cold was really beginning to wear me down. After the massage, Glenn and I decided to just rest at the hotel. I did not want to go back out into the cold. Glenn went exploring the local supermarket and KFC. The potato chip tasting continued.
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| Yes, I really did just put another picture of potato chips on the blog. |
Cucumber – Terrible, Cheese and Lobster – Even Worse, and Italian Red Meat Sauce – Bad. WE watched a couple shows on the iPad and went to bed early. I always feel silly when I stay in like that. Here we are – lucky enough to be in Beijing China and I am in the hotel eating KFC and watching tv on the iPad. However, this is vacation and the stress of the cold, not speaking the language, and all the navigation can get to me sometimes and I just need to recharge.
**On the Water Cube Water Park – When we got back to the hotel, we looked up the reviews online and they were terrible! We decided that the travel gods intervened and saved us US$100 and a lot of exasperation. 1.13.12 Beijing Police Museum, Maison Boulud, The Great Magician, Mesh and One Thousand and One Nights
Last day in Beijing. We headed down to the area south of Tiananmen Square. I wanted to go the Beijing Police Museum.
Last day in Beijing. We headed down to the area south of Tiananmen Square. I wanted to go the Beijing Police Museum.
It took us a couple turns to find it – but once again Glenn’s sense of direction was spot on. It was so interesting plus admission was less than a dollar. Win. Win. It started with the creation of the Public Safety Bureau when Mao found the New Republic of China. The most interesting sign referred to the cultural revolution as a grim and terrible time – even though it was one of Mao’s biggest initiatives. Several displays outlined the fate of dissidents who were discovered and put to death. Being in a now modern Beijing- it is so easy to forget that just 70 years ago it was still a feudal society. And just 40 years ago Mao ruled supreme. The second floor was crime investigation. The displays told the story of a particular crime with crime scene photos, detective notes and other evidence collected during the investigation. One display even had the actual bag that the body was stuffed into! Shocking! Another had the heroin that was confiscated. I often forget when we go other countries that they have very different laws and rights. This museum definitely reminded me. The third floor contained displays giving an overview of all the duties of the police. This is very different that the US. Licenses, registrations, census functions, traffic, transit and overall public safety are all under the national policy/public safety division. They showed an example of the traffic cameras that surveyed more of the local building entrances and public sidewalks than our traffic cams. Also – our experience was that the Chinese were very serious about safety. Most subway stations have security checks where bags go through an x-ray machine. All major sites – Olympic Park, Tiananmen Square have metal detectors and X-ray machines to get in. We saw a bomb detonation device on standby in a subway station. The third floor also contained a memorial to the officers who had died and been named “revolutionary martyr”. Given the population, the number seemed small. The memorial was very nice because each person honored had a picture, bio, how they died in a large leather binder. The fourth floor was the largest collection of guns UI have ever seen. Hundreds of different guns from machine guns to sniper rifles to pen guns to the tiniest gun I have ever seen. Overall, I really enjoyed the museum. I was impressed with the size and information plus most of the signs were translated into English.
After the museum, we headed to Maison Boulud – an outpost of Chef Daniel Boulud. It is located in a collection of old government buildings that have been transformed into high end shops and restaurants. The restaurant was one of the most beautiful restaurants I have ever seen. 
We ordered the prix fix lunch menu. I had mackerel, butterfish and the chocolate dessert. Glenn had foie gras terrine, DB burger stuffed with short ribs, and the pear dessert. The food was excellent as was the service. They provided two complimentary rounds of canapes: cheese puffs, goat cheese in a parmesan crisp, a fish ball and a quiche-like square. Then our menu began arriving. .
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| The foie grab terrine was light and creamy |
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| The mackerel had just enough acid and fennel to cut the richness of the fish. |
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| The butterfish was cooked well with good flavor. |
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| The DB burger was genius – staffing a burger with delicious short ribs was just awesome. |
After lunch, we headed back to Sanlitun to go see a movie. We hit the luxury shopping mall just hours after there had been a near riot over the iPhone 4s at the Apple Store. We picked the movie with the closest time: The Great Magician.
The woman selling the tickets mentioned twice that the movie did not have English subtitles. We were able to follow along for the most part except for one key plot point and one scene that made no sense at all. After the movie, we found a very nice bar Mesh in the lobby of The Opposite House Hotel. It had a great 2 for 1 happy hour so we had some Moscow Mules and pizza. We headed back toward the subway but just had to stop at the oldest Middle Eastern restaurant in Beijing – One Thousand and One Nights for some hummus, falafel and delicious lamb meatballs. Overall – a fantastic day!
On the 14th - we headed to Shanghai - look for our next post highlighting those adventures!
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