Last week a fellow traveler named Allison came to visit and stay with me in Beijing. She pretty much followed my recommendations and added a few that I forgot. The GREAT WALL! Duh!. I totally forgot about that one! So here are a few other places to check out while you are in Beijing.
10. Hike the Great Wall. Don't just go see it! Hike it! There are a few spots that you can take the cable car up to the top and down. I did that the first time I visited the wall. The areas where you have to pay to visit are "developed walls," which are cleaned up and repaired for your safety. This includes Badaling, Simatai, and Mutianyu. For the more adventurous types that are used to hiking on crumbly rocks, try the "wild walls," such as Jiankou. It is also possible to hike from Mutianyu to Jiankou. Here is a pretty good tour site listing a few of the good ones.
11. Eat at the Farm. Once you are done hiking the Great Wall, most rural households offer Farm Living and Food. Most of them do not need reservations, especially for food. I found the food here simple, fresh, and less seasoned. They typically grow their own vegetables and so you know you are eating fresh produce. Some of the most common dishes include potatoes, squash vegetables, eggplants, tofu, tomatoes, and eggs. Chicken, pork, and fish dishes are generally local as well. For Beijing, it's mostly fresh water fish rather than seawater fish - so they tend to be bony.
12. Fatten yourself up with the Peking Duck. How could I have forgotten about this one? One must try the duck at least once when visiting Beijing. The most popular traditional one is Quanjude (go to the one in Haidian District), which is a lot of fun and involves the cook bringing in a live duck to ask you if that duck is okay. For a more modern setting and a leaner duck, try Dadong (Chaoyang District). Don't forget to eat the crispy duck skin - that is the BEST part!
Yum yum duck
13. Go climb at Baihe. If you are a climber and have time to go climbing outside, the best way to do it is probably to hire a guide to take you there. It's near some of the great walls, so you can go to the great wall one day, stay at one of the farm houses, then go climbing the next day at Baihe. During the winter time, it is also possible to go ice climbing around Baihe. Matt and Simon are English-speaking guides that can take you around. They have both been to Yangshuo and other parts of China on climbing trips so you can ask them about those climbing areas.
A few weeks ago I wrote a post about what keeps me motivated in all aspects of life. It became a very popular post and a lot of people wrote me back and told me that they enjoyed the post. Thank you guys for reading and keeping my motivation up! As you may remember, I listed a few reasons why I keep climbing. The truth is, most of the reasons really had nothing to do with climbing, but more to do with being outside and enjoying nature. I reread my own post today - because for the first time in a while, I didn't feel like climbing.
What happened? You may ask. I think it has to do with the ke mentality that I apparently lack right now. What is ke? It's the Chinese word for to carve or to engrave, as to ke a book to study, or ke a difficult route on the wall. As an Asian kid, you were taught to ke the books so that you would be at the top of the class. Ke the piano all night in hopes of being that prodigy on that stage. I think I used to be that kid, but now I lack the attention or interest to do so.
Apparently, the Chinese climbers here still like to ke all day, and I admire their persistence. But it totally kills my interest in climbing. I know it's good to work on something really hard once in a while to push beyond your comfort zone - but what if it's something that you can't even get up on top rope? It was very frustrating to work on something all day that I could not even get more than 20 ft. off the ground (and it was only a 12b, which is doable for me generally on top rope). At that point, I would normally move on and work on something slightly easier that is still challenging for me, so that my improvement would be in small increments rather than one big leap. Obviously not being able to send the problem means I lack finger strength, core, form, etc., and repeating it again and again the same day would not help me send the climb. It would only bring me pain and the possibility of injuries.
OK, fine. I'm just complaining because I set my bar too high and I can't get up the climb. But I think that the underlying reason is that week after week I am stuck at the same crag with the same 6 lines of climbs. It's like going to the gym, where you only have a choice of two 5.10s, two 5.11s, and two 5.12s to climb. I suggested going to a different crag but Mantou is working on the 5.12 climb and he is the alpha of the pack so everyone just stays with him.
I ended up taking a nap on the rock and not even bothering to climb. When I was snoozing yesterday, three non-Chinese came up and called my name in English and woke me up.
Rose Mary? The guy said with a thick German accent.
How do you know my name? I woke up, confused because someone called me in English.
It's Torsten, the guy you met at Joshua Tree last year!
I've been meaning to contact this guy since I got back to Beijing, but didn't do so because I knew he already had climbing partners and I did too.
Ola's 8nu profile pic
He came with two female climbers, both names I had heard of since I've been at Baihe. These are the few non-Chinese climbers that also ke routes all day, but they also happen to be the best climbers in their respective countries. One of the climbers is a Polish woman named Aleksandra Przybysz (Ola), and the other a Finnish woman named Katariina Rahikainen (Kata). The hardest these two can climb are 13d and 13c, which I cannot even fathom in my lifetime. The three of them have been developing new routes (along with the local climbers) and First Ascending (FA) some of the hardest climbs in the area. Torsten is mainly a trad climber and is in charge of bolting the anchors, then they take turns working on the moves on TR before bolting the entire line. Lately the ladies have been sending a bunch of FAs. Ola pointed at a 5.11d climb close to the one they were developing and told me that THIS was her very first FA. I knew how much that meant to any climber, to be the FA of a climb. I had never witnessed this before so it kept me interested for a while (while Mantou was STILL keing his 5.12b line).
While I know that I would never be such a strong climber, especially not at face climbing like these three, it was still good to meet them and see what it means to be some of the best climbers in the world.
The answer to being the best in anything is: you do have to ke, stay focused, and work hard.
For the rest of us average folks, being good enough is sometimes better than being perfect.
The end of this week marks the halfway mark of my 8-week tour this time in China. With my work getting more exciting, time flew by really quickly and I still feel like I need to get more accomplished before I return to the US. In addition to making some progress at my work here in China, another personal goal of mine is to explore the Beijing area more.
The first time I had a visitor from the US, I felt like I didn't even know where to go. Sure, I've been to the Forbidden City and at least three different parts of the Great Wall, but there is so much more that Beijing can offer. My initial reaction to Beijing was relatively negative due to the poor air quality and congestion. As I live more like a local, I am starting to accept certain things and learn to enjoy other parts of it that I didn't see. One of my climbing buddies Hema has been showing me parts of Beijing that I would not have seen. He too, was an outsider from the south many years ago. Today he tries to live like a Beijinger and embrace their ways. I have in some ways tried to avoid living like an American expat - mainly because I want to experience what it's like to live like a Beijinger.
So here it is, a list of must-dos in Beijing. I can't claim that I've been to everywhere and done everything, but at least this gives you an idea.
1. Visit the Forbidden City. You just have to see the magnificent architecture here. Beijing had painstakingly took every major piece of terra cotta roof and cleaned them to recreate the original glazing color. They repainted a lot of the building ceilings for the Olympics back in 2008 as well. The closest comparison I have to the Western world is like going to Rome. Totally worth seeing, and it will take you at least half a day to almost a day.
2. Get Lost in the Old Hutongs. The first time Glen and I tried to look for old Beijing communities, or Hutongs, we didn't really find that many of them. A lot of old Chinese buildings were poorly maintained and the government tore them down and turned them into modern apartment complexes. Very little urban planning was done to modernize these areas, and the sense of community disappeared. There were some hutongs near the Old Drum Tower, but we really didn't know where to go.
After a little bit of research, I found Time Out magazine's recommended list. It's too bad that the rest of the city is building towards the sky. The Hutongs are usually at most 2-stories and contains several alleys where different families live, almost like a cul-de-sac. Near the living areas, there are usually shopping areas, bakery, coffee shops, and great hole-in-the wall eateries. There is a good mix of the old Beijing shops with the new ones. The good part about this is that cars don't normally pass through the area due to the narrow streets, and one would spot a stranger real quickly. The bad part is that all your neighbors are so close to you that you don't have much privacy.
3. Eat Beijing Xiaoci. Xiaoci (shiao tse) are savory cheap eats. For the big business meals, Beijingers would go to a really fancy place where they serve plates after plates of wasted food. I am not a big fan of big restaurants for that reason. Xiaoci restaurants are cozy places, where they generally only specialize in a few different types of food.
Hema took me to try some of the Beijing Xiaoci. Food is typically served with a light beer like Tsingtao or Yanjing. The first dish we tried is called baodu, which is the black-colored thing on the right. Did you figure out what it is yet? Take a guess.
It's one of the stomachs of a cow. Tastes chewy and a bit crunchy like pork tripe. The color to me is a turn off, but otherwise it's pretty light. A sesame-peanut sauce is used to make it go down smoother.
The bowl of soup above the baodu is called douzi. Douzi is a sister drink to soy milk, call soy juice. It's been fermented and has a sour taste to it. It has a similar flavor to stinky tofu, but even more pungent.
Hema and the soy juice
A fellow Taiwanese tourist sat near our table and took a sip of the soy juice - and I saw his facial expression. I took a small sip of the juice and gave the rest to Hema, who gulped it down.
I forgot what the fried rings that you put into the soy juice are called, but they don't taste anything like onion rings. They are super hard and somewhat chewy. Hema joked that if you put the ring in the middle of the road and had a car run over it, that it will not crush the ring. Instead, the road will be dented.
There are a few other doughy food that came with the douzi and baodu, although I am not sure what they are. They are deep fried and required heavy seasoning.
Probably the most featured xiaoci of all is the meat on skewers. These skewers traditionally came from the Muslim minority, but now it's commonplace for non-Muslims to sell them. However, following the tradition, they do not serve pork skewers. The grilling stand is usually outdoors in the front of the restaurant, and the guests would sit outside, often times on really tiny stools and tables. It is the best place to be on a hot summer night.
Each skewer costs as little as 1 RMB, and can be anything from lamb legs to chicken wings. They also have more exotic types such as meat with cartilage, chicken fat, and lamb intestines.
Along with the skewers, another highlight of the grilling stand is the spicy tienluo, or snails. They are not as big as escargot, but has similar texture. They are stir-fried instead of baked with red chili peppers and soy sauce. Pretty addictive to eat since they are really salty.
4. Try the Street Food. Now here is a gamble - but it is definitely worth it. One of the things I have tried include Chinese stinky tofu, which in my opinion is stinkier than the Taiwanese version. Another one I have seen is the deep fried hotdog, which I think I will pass. A good breakfast that I see everyone have is the jianbing. It is basically a crepe with an egg and a deep fried layer of crispy dough and some spicy seasoning.
5. Get Some Culture at 798. When you get tired of all the historic sites and crowds, head over to the art district called 798. There you will find espressos that actually taste good, and art galleries after more art galleries. It's a whole city of art galleries that will make the South End look like a joke. There are a lot of cool sculpture around and artsy people wearing BCGs. I'm not kidding - they are becoming trendy all over Beijing.
6. Spoil Yourself with a Massage. Labor is still cheap, so enjoy it while you can. I've tried the Chinese style called guasha, which uses a tool to put pressure on your knots and areas of fluid build-up. They make it sound very ying and yang on the website (and also at the massage place), but once you get used to the initial scraping on your back, then it's pretty much similar to a massage when they put a lot of pressure on certain points. Another good thing to experience is the foot wash/rub. It's like going for a pedicure except they also give you a foot massage, and sometimes even your back.
7. Walk around Houhai. There are a few ponds in the city, and this is one of them. Many locals hang out along the pond. I can't remember which one but at night they are all lined up on the edge of the pond fishing. In one section, there are also several bars and coffee shops. The pond is somewhat lit up by these bars, bringing in a different kind of energy to this part of the city. The thing is, you will forget that you are in Beijing when you are here. The traffic jams are gone and it's relatively quiet. For a sec you might even think the air is cleaner over here.
8. Try the Dumplings. The north is known for the noodles and dumplings. They have way more variety than the typical pork and cabbage ones. Yesterday I actually saw dumplings served as a street food, but they are probably better in a restaurant. Dumplings up north are typically boiled in water rather than steamed, and the dumpling skin is a lot thicker than the Hong Kong style dumplings. Along with the dumplings, the dumpling water (used to boil the dumplings) is served to the guests instead of hot tea. Not my favorite, but that's how they do it up here!
9. Take the #1 Subway Line. To get the full Beijing experience, one must take the #1 train, preferably during rush hour. You will appreciate your personal space even more after this experience, trust me.
10. Hike the Great Wall. Don't just go see it! Hike it! There are a few spots that you can take the cable car up to the top and down. I did that the first time I visited the wall. The areas where you have to pay to visit are "developed walls," which are cleaned up and repaired for your safety. This includes Badaling, Simatai, and Mutianyu. For the more adventurous types that are used to hiking on crumbly rocks, try the "wild walls," such as Jiankou. It is also possible to hike from Mutianyu to Jiankou. Here is a pretty good tour site listing a few of the good ones. 
