jolene's blogspot

BEIJING

I just came back from a four day trip to Beijing. wow, what an experience, more than anything I could imagine... in a way, it was a trip back to simpler times... when hotel workers didn't expect tips but appreciated them when received, where taxi drivers never tried to rip you off, where people stare at you out of earnest curiosity (a little unsettling at first), and where talking to foot masseuses is the best thing that happens to their day when they are mostly ignored and unseen.

talking about foot massages... we had the best time. a foot massage alone is heaven, but getting to know some of our masseuses was so much fun. they're around our age, and we went to the place where jen went last time. she had this one masseuse last time that she really really liked (he was sweating after an hour and a half of foot massage) and she wanted him again. but she couldn't find him until the second day, thankfully when we had our chinese speaking friend, gid, there. (they REALLY can't speak english there. body language is always fun.) He was so flattered that she remembered him, and even though she had him two months ago, he still remembered her (they probably give about 10+ foot massages a day... so strange he remembered her). the workers there were so hard working, so innocent, appreciative, and honest. when we went with gid, he broke the ice when he announced to the masseuses that jen and i had come to beijing to look for boyfriends. too bad i don't know enough chinese to defend myself (i can say hi, thank you, byebye). i had no idea what he was saying and i saw them laughing and i found out later what he said. grr...

i loved all the places we visited. the first day, jen and i went to lama temple (serene, incense-y, tibetan style), temple of heaven (majestic, classy, gorgeous), and old summer palace (ruins of palaces destroyed in the opium war, gid likes it b/c it's authentic). and the hongxiao pearl market, where we got to know the sellers really well. :) we spent such a long time there, sending gid in as our secret informant who got us the best price to someone they suspected was a local, not a foreign tourist. hehe. so sneaky.

we also got to see the beijing circus, and the beijing opera. we took a day trip to see the great wall and the gorge (i forgot the chinese name, maybe loqiang?), AWESOME. being at the great wall was like being in a movie or a discovery channel special. the last day, jen went back to the hongxiao pearl market, and i roamed the forbidden city by myself early in the morning. it was soooo historical, peaceful (aside from the loads of asian tourists, it's interesting, only asian tourists were there, maybe it was too early for everyone else?). we ended our beijing trip with a foot massage (a great birthday present!) and jen's masseuse brought a camera so he could take a picture with us. :) so funny, we got so many stares and a lot of smiles there cuz i think they felt friendly with us. i think we stood out cuz they're so used to being ignored. anyways, stares were a little awkward but i know it was mostly out of curiosity.

i had a great time!! dying to go back again, maybe in december... we'll see. i now appreciate my friends from america who are here in korea, who don't speak korean... it helps to know what it's like to NOT speak the language. :P what an experience.