I had also read that some "tours" in China are essentially schemes to get tourists to buy things from certain (overpriced) stores, and the tour guide gets a cut. I didn't think I had to worry about ending up on one of those since this tour was organized through my hostel, but it turns out that I was wrong. The hostel itself doesn't run the tour but makes reservations with a separate company for hostel guests. The day-long "tour" was really several shopping opportunities with brief stops at the Great Wall and Ming tombs. We didn't go to the Chinese medicine practitioner, but we went to a silk factory instead. Even lunch was at a restaurant at the back of a huge "Government Friendship Store" displaying signs which simultaneously boasted and warned "Reasonable prices. No bargaining."
I was told that the tour group would meet in the hostel lobby at 6:30 AM, so I was ready bright and early . . . and I was the only one. I asked at the front desk and was told that the bus was running late. That still didn't explain the complete absence of other people, but the guy behind the desk looked tired from working the night shift and was struggling to communicate in English, so I decided I'd just wait, and my question about probably be answered soon enough.
At 6:45 AM, a taxi pulled up to the hostel, and a guy got out and told me we'd catch the tour bus down the street. "Am I the only one?" I asked.
"No, we'll pick up others at the other hotels."
We walked down the alley, and at 7:00, the bus came. We spent the next two hours driving from one hotel to another and then back to the first hotel, picking people up. At 9:30, we were finally on our way and spent the next hour in stop-and-go rush hour traffic until we arrived at the jade factory. By the time we arrived, I had been on the go for three hours, making a bathroom break my top priority when I finally got off the bus. I didn't realize that the jade factory tour would be so short that when I came out of the bathroom, my group would be finished and in the show room already. I missed the whole thing, so I walked through it on my own and tried to figure out for myself what was going on. I saw part of another tour (in Chinese) and by watching could figure out that they were talking about how to distinguish real jade from other stones, glass, and plastic and what makes a good-quality jade. Then I worked my way into the show room.
When I decided to come to China, one of the things I wanted as a souvenir for myself was a good quality jade bracelet. I tried one on that I really liked, but the price was way too high. I was able to bargain it down by 40%, but I still think I paid too much for it. I really like it, though. It will always be a good reminder of my trip and this time in my life and will be something nice to pass on to someone someday. It's a solid bangle in a relatively uniform shade of medium green. They say the color will become darker and richer with age. Jade is very hard and strong, so it's pretty much impossible to scratch or break. They say if it ever does break, then it has protected its wearer from something bad. It's worn on the left arm because that's closest to your heart, and the bumping of the bracelet against your wrist is supposed to be good for your energy. I don't know if it's true, but I always enjoy a legend. It's good incentive to keep exercising. If my hand and wrist get any bigger, I won't be able to get it on and off. I was hoping to buy something for my mom and sister, too, but by the time I was done bargaining, I had to get back on the bus.
We went to the Badaling section of the Great wall. It's one of the only sections that has been restored for tourists. Unlike the section I hiked on yesterday, there were no crumbling rocks here. There were lots of (Western) tourists, and it wasn't very pleasant. This section of the wall is a staircase up the mountain, and it was a line of people the first half of the way up. After that, most people turned around and went back down.
Only two other people from my group wanted to go to the top, so we walked together, and I enjoyed their company. Jimmy was born in Hong Kong and emigrated to Canada as a teenager in 1997. He was visiting Beijing with his father who was also on today's tour but gave up on the stairs about a third of the way up. Michael is from Poland and is back in Beijing after spending two weeks in Pyongyang visiting relatives who have been in North Korea for four years with the Polish embassy. Michael said that it was a weird two weeks and that his relatives are more than looking forward to returning to Poland this summer. Jimmy and Michael made for some fun company.
Here we are at the end of that section of the Great Wall. We asked an American tourist to take the photo for us--with each of our cameras. She joked, "Don't you all know each other?" I thought, "Umm . . . no, not really!"
It took us an hour to climb up the wall and 15 minutes to come back down. I'm a little concerned that I may have some problems with my knees because on my last several trips that have involved hills or stairs, I've had significant pain when I was on my way down.We were late returning to the bus, so everyone was waiting for us. I usually don't like to keep people waiting for me, but it didn't bother me so much today since we hadn't been given a realistic amount of time to enjoy the wall. I had read that at the base of the wall, it's possible to have your picture taken in a Mongolian warrior uniform, sitting on the back of a two-humped Bactrian camel. Despite my usual aversion to ultra-touristy things, I wanted to do this, but I looked around and couldn't find a camel. I was moderately disappointed about that.
Back on the bus, we were shuttled to the restaurant/Government Friendship Store for lunch that was pretty much like Chinese food in the U.S. The store was expensive. I didn't buy anything. I did compare the prices of jade bracelets, though, and it seems that the bracelets like mine cost about the same.
A portrait of Mao above a doorway at the "Government Friendship Store. Reasonable Prices. No Bargaining."
Then it was back on the bus to the Ming tombs, which would have been very cool to visit if we hadn't been herded through so quickly. There were also hordes of tourists, mostly elderly Chinese and mostly wearing red baseball caps provided by their tour company. It made me feel like maybe I had started a trend or had a fan club or something. However, since it wasn't sunny or rainy, I didn't have much need for my own red hat and left it in my backpack for this part of the trip. It still warmed my heart to see that a gazillion elderly Chinese tourists understand that traveling is just so much better when you're wearing a red baseball cap.At the Ming Tombs. Notice all the red hats.
Our total tour of the Ming tombs lasted about 45 minutes. I really wanted to spend more time and take it all in, but we were herded back on the bus and shuttled to the silk factory for another whirlwind tour followed by a long time in the show room. There were beautiful things, but they were expensive, so I didn't buy anything.At the silk factory:
Then were back on the bus again, battling rush hour traffic on our way back to various hotels to drop people off. We were at a dead stop in traffic when I noticed that we were only a few blocks from my hostel, so I had the bus driver let me off, and I walked the rest of the way, glad to be able to go at my own pace for the first time today.I returned to my room, took a shower, got something to eat, checked my email, and made my plans for tomorrow. Unfortunately it's raining now. My plan was to rent a bike, go to Tianamen Square at sunrise to see them raise the flag, go to the Temple of Heaven, go shopping at the pearl market, and explore some of the city by bike before returning to the hostel for the Kung-fu show. I'll have to see how the weather is in the morning.
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