Chinese Buffet – Part 6: Hutong Hostel & Great Wall Hike

by Kelly Amabile on

Chinese Buffet is a month-long series that chronicles the travels of an American woman who visited China for the first time in July 2007.

For the last four nights of my stay in Beijing, I stayed at the Downtown Backpackers Accommodation, located smack dab in the middle of the Nanluogu Xiang hutong in the Dong Cheng district. As I walked down the alley towards the hostel, sweaty from lugging all my gear, I knew I had made the right decision to stay in the hutong district.

These ancient networks of dusty roads lined with homes and shops are slowly disappearing in Beijing, as construction and development tear through old neighborhoods, displacing hundreds. Preservation efforts will save some portion of these clusters, but who knows for how long. As I huffed along, I realized the importance of being able to witness the hutongs first hand, before they are gone for good.

(Aerial shot of a hutong from the Bell Tower)

Of course, I stayed in a comfortable hostel with amenities like Western toilets and internet access, while many locals in the area live without hot water or plumbing. But I could still get a sense of what it feels like to live among the cement walls and low hanging trees that line this maze of alleys.

I had to wait in the hostel lounge area for a bit before checking in, and found it to be a delightfully quiet and peaceful room that I returned to throughout my stay. Jetlag was still messing with my sleep patterns, so I often found myself here in the early morning, writing in my journal before breakfast.

The free breakfast began about 6:30 each day, and was usually a fried egg, some sausage or bacon, toast, a piece of fruit and orange juice. (Coffee was 15 RMB.) The hostel was clean, efficient and cheap! My total bill for four nights was 220 RMB, which is about $30. There are three computer terminals downstairs with internet access. Payment is on an honor system, but there was no one monitoring usage — it was easy to get away with a little extra time when no one was around. (I think the minimum payment for usage is 3 RMB for a half hour.) There is also a cozy little cafe next door to the hostel, serving lunch, dinner, drinks and free wireless.

I slept in a six-bed mixed dorm. It’s littered with travel gear in the shot below, but it was very bright, cheery and cool – thanks goodness for air conditioning! Thankfully, none of my roomies were rage-till-dawn rowdy types. I met folks from Canada, the UK, France, Austria and Belgium, and several of us went out for dinner one night.

Part of why I chose Downtown Backpackers over other lodging options is because they run a well-organized trip to the Great Wall every other day that leaves right from the hostel. You don’t have to stay at their hostel to go on the daytrip, but since the van leaves at 7 am, I decided it was most convenient to stay there as well. I signed up for the trip a few days in advance because it is a popular one that takes visitors to a less touristy section for an extended hike along the Wall.

The 220 RMB fee covers the round-trip transportation, plus a bathroom pitstop on the drive out. It takes three hours get from Beijing to Jinshanling in the morning, and then another three hours to drive back from Simatai. In between, hikers are on their own, and given about five hours to complete the 6.2 mile hike along this serene and STEEP stretch of the Great Wall.

Completing this hike was one of the most awesome things I’ve ever done – a personal achievement I’m quite proud of. It’s a fairly intense hike, especially in the heat. The haze was thick, but and I still managed to get a deep Great Wall burn by day’s end. At times, the walk was much more of a CRAWL for me, as I grasped for sturdy rock amid the crumbles that remain. Much of this portion of the wall has not been heavily restored, and we did pass a group of workers repairing one of the thirty towers we passed along the way.

Our group of 15 spread out organically into smaller packs, and everyone completed the hike at their own pace. This trek was much more than a simple walk along the wall, but it felt so good to sweat through it till the end. I just kept thinking about the millions of people who worked to build this ancient wonder — and the millions more who have since made the trip to see it. There were several divine moments of silence, and vantage points when I felt as if there was no one else left in the world.

Every inch of my body ached that night, but it felt great. And after such an exhilarating day, it was comforting to return to the warmth of the hutong hostel. Returning “home” for the evening to the friendly staff (Danielle, Puli and kitty cat Xiao Si shown here) seemed a most fitting end to my Great day at the Wall.

One for the Road – China: Restaurant Ordering Guides

by Kelly Amabile on

As a sidebar to this month’s Chinese Buffet series, throughout August, One for the Road will highlight travel guides, reference books and other recommended reads related to life or travel in China.

The final two books from the True Run Media team that I’d like to mention this week are their brand new restaurant ordering guides: Healthy Chinese Cuisine and Spicy Chinese Cuisine are compact glossy flip books that are handy for making sure you order what you really want to eat. Each book includes color photos of popular dishes, and is accompanied by the name of entrees in Chinese and Pinyin, as well as an English, Russian and French translation of all the meals.

A variety of culinary regions are represented — Sichuan, Hunan, Guizhou, Yunnan and Xinjiang. Ingredients for each featured dish are also included, so you know exactly what is supposed to be in what you are ordering. No guarantees, of course — but a book like this might be especially useful for folks with food allergies. The spicy book has dishes like sour lotus root, Kung Pao chicken, spicy cucumber and all kinds of hot stir fry. These guys love their spicy food so much that they also host a Chili Pepper Eating Contest each summer. Is your mouth watering yet?

Chinese Buffet – Part 5: Hou Hai by Boat

by Kelly Amabile on

Chinese Buffet is a month-long series that chronicles the travels of an American woman who visited China for the first time in July 2007.

After meeting with the Immersion Guides staff at their offices, a few of us headed off to Hou Hai for some evening fun. The True Run team was kind enough to offer to show me around town for a bit, but I wasn’t quite sure what they had planned. I was looking forward to kicking back for awhile, allowing someone else to lead and navigate for a few hours, so I could just take in the atmosphere of Beijing. Floating on the lake at Hou Hai was a great place to do that.

Some of the staff rode their bikes across town, while Mike Wester and I hopped in a taxi that then sat in traffic for over an hour — all part of the Beijing experience! Eventually we all met at the dock along the south side of Shichahai Lake and boarded wooden boats at River Romance:

Five of us hopped on the old-fashioned covered boat, along with our rower and a musician who began strumming on her pipa, a traditional Chinese lute:

Our evening dining excursion began with some munchies: boiled peanuts, “hairy” green beans and some sort of dried, salted cod:

Oh, and of course, a basket of beer. Gabe made sure we had a generous supply of Yanjing, the local Beijing brew:

As the boat headed north, Reid explained why the Hou Hai area developed so rapidly in recent years. The strip of bars and restaurants along Lotus Lane became very popular after the SARS outbreak in 2003, when the government encouraged city residents to spend as much time as possible in the open air. The cramped and enclosed quarters that many Chinese residents live in were likely to aid in spreading the disease, so folks started spending more time outdoors – in the parks and along the banks of rivers and lakes like this one.

After about 30 minutes, we docked near Kaorouji, a famous 100-year old lakeside restaurant, where our dinner was brought to the boat. While we waited, a woman selling lotus blossoms approached us. We bought two and Shelley showed me how to break open the blossom and eat the seeds inside. You can eat them raw, which we did (kinda tastes like bland nuts, with a nice crunch) but they are often ground into a paste and used to make congee, an Asian porridge.

The evening air was delightful and the beers were cold – what more could you ask for? This was my first authentic Chinese buffet, aboard a wooden boat in the heart of Beijing – it was fabulous, but of course, in all the excitement, I didn’t get a good shot of the food before we dug into it!

We shared plates of sliced Peking Duck, roasted lamb and scallions, mushrooms, snowpeas and a hummus-like dish that I skipped. (Still not sure what exactly it was?!) I nibbled on a duck foot also, but it was much too salty for me. Eating sliced duck in a bing (pancake) as the boat rocked and sauce dripped down my leg was the yummiest (and messiest) part of the meal for me:

Noise from the bars and restaurants along the shore began to escalate as night decended. The Lotus Lane “honkey tonk” as Mike Wester called it, was beginning to pick up. But from the water, the nightlife simply glowed – I liked being in the midst of it, yet distanced from the dizziness:

Heading back, we encountered a bottleneck of boats at the famous Yingding Bridge. Just more typical Beijing traffic, this time as we floated along. There were laughs, bumps and heckles from the other boaters as we made our way through.

Everyone was in a festive mood – it was one of those classic summer nights when everything just seems right. The last thing we did was light small candles and place them in mini paper dragon boats that we set sail on the lake.

The bright flames sparkled quickly, then disappeared into the water, merging with the neon reflections of the evening hoopla around Hou Hai.

One for the Road – China: Unofficial Guide to the Beijing Games

by Kelly Amabile on

As a sidebar to this month’s Chinese Buffet series, throughout August, One for the Road will highlight travel guides, reference books and other recommended reads related to life or travel in China.

This week we are highlighting several titles by the True Run Media team, a guidebook and magazine publisher based out of Beijing. In addition to a special 2008 version of their Insider’s Guide that they will update and publish shortly before the Olympics begin, the Immersion Guides team will also produce a separate book all about the Games:

The Unofficial Guide to the Beijing Games is a forthcoming title that will cover the Olympics from an insider’s perspective. In addition to schedules, maps and ticket info, the guide will list the best venues for enjoying the city during the Games. And since these guys will be on the ground in Beijing monitoring the very latest restaurant, club and bar openings up to the last possible minute, this guide will most definitely have the most updated information. It will be a must-have for anyone visiting Beijing during the Olympics. Check the Immersion Guides website to find out when this handy reference will be available — I’m sure they are hard at work on it as we speak!

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Chinese Buffet – Part 4: Beijing’s 365-Day Countdown Begins

by Kelly Amabile on

Chinese Buffet is a month-long series that chronicles the travels of an American woman who visited China for the first time in July 2007.

(Olympic neon glows from a hutong shop window.)

In a few hours, the city of Beijing will kick off it’s official one-year till the Games countdown celebration. The big 08-08-08 is just 365 days away, and the media buzz surrounding whether or not Beijing is ready will continue to escalate. There is constant chatter about public health and security concerns, human rights violations, and civility initiatives. Here are just eight examples of topics currently on the table:

1) Yesterday the city began its two week ban of one million cars from the city streets. The ban, which will affect one third of Beijing’s vehicles, is a pre-Olympic test to temporarily decrease pollution and traffic. (Several city residents told me that when they did this last summer, there was a noticeable difference in the sky and on the streets.)

2) But the IOC President said today that athletic events could be postponed if the air quality is not good.

3) Sixty new parks will be built between now and when the Games begin, but many still wonder, will Beijing be green enough? (I was impressed with the number of tree lined streets and blossoming parks, but is it just for show? Hopefully these new parks will be preserved beyond the duration of the Games.)

4) Over 1.25 million people have already been forcibly displaced from their homes as a direct result of preparations for the Olympic Games.

(A model of the “bird’s nest” Olympic Stadium)

5) Taxi drivers (among others) must follow new regulations that meet the standard of the city image Beijing is striving to show to the world. (I rode with several drivers who were quite happy to share their English language skills.)

6) Water closet will be flushed for toilet: All “WC” signs will be replaced with “Toilet” signs before the end of the year. (I don’t recall seeing even one WC sign in Beijing, so they are making progress on this one.)

7) The first of three new subway lines is set to open in September.

8) The Made in China manufacturing craze ensures that Olympic merchandise will be over the top. (Do do you really need an Olympic pinky ring?)

The That’s Beijing blog has a good roundup of major pre-Olympic initiatives underway and a blog about public relations in China has a handy summary of the various protests taking place. Olympic excitement and anticipation is addicting, especially if you are a fan of sport…but debate and discussion about the challenges Beijing faces is just as fascinating to follow.

(A model of the bubbly Olympic swimming venue.)

Being aware of these Olympic-size issues will be helpful for travelers heading to Beijing in the next year. But let’s get back to basics for a moment with some general sightseeing travel tips from the Immersion Guides team. Here are five “insider” tips they shared with me during our visit:

1) Most people come to Beijing and spend too much time worrying about bargaining. But who cares about getting ripped off every once in awhile? Expect to get ripped off – it’s part of the experience! And remember that you are probably still getting something for a very cheap price.

2) Skip the student art exhibit scams and steer clear of the tea scams as well. (Bill Bowles is a traveler with a website full of awesome videos about his visits to China and elsewhere; watch his team scam story for the scoop.)

3) History buffs who want to learn all the details and background of a particular site should always find an official guide or audio tour.

4) If you are short on time in Beijing, it’s best to choose between the Summer Palace and the Forbidden City. They look very similar — one just has lots more green landscape around it! With limited time, only visit one.

5) If you do choose the Forbidden City, be sure to seek out the West Palace. Lots of people whiz through the FC, wondering what the big deal is, because everything looks the same. But the West Palace is unique and does not look like anything else. (Hopefully it won’t be under restoration. But regardless of when you visit, some section of the palace will surely be closed.)