Sarah here updating you all the goings on for the day. Alan will complain it was cold. Not just cold. Ridiculously cold!
We had a slow start to the day but that was what we had planned. After having a very long day in Xian we wanted to have a sleep in and get some washing done.
About midday we left the room with information from the Hotel that Tiananmen Square was 15 minutes walk and my sister saying it was 10. Me, I wanted to get the subway but was outvoted by the other two so walking we did, for about 90 minutes. It was bitterly cold. Our ears and lips were numb. With the crossing of some pretty hairy roads and then opting to take the stairs down and then up again on the other side, we were pretty tired as we approached the Square. We were ‘picked up’ by a couple who wanted to be our friends and were interested in us coming to see their work in an art gallery. We knew it was a scam, this wasn’t our first Chinese couple to do this to us (Alex & Tina in Shanghai). They did however lead us through a very beautiful park which would have been so much nicer in summer.
At the next corner I was ready to ditch them only to discover Dad walking further ahead and, you guessed it, right into the gallery. Guess what, it wasn’t an exhibition of their work at all. We were quickly out the door and walking back to the Square. Not before I made us walk about half a kilometre down some back street looking for a side entrance. A couple of locals told us to go down here, so why wouldn’t I believe them? At this stage we were on the wrong side of the 6 lane road but outside the Forbidden City. We went with the crowd and went in and walked and walked and walked until we reached the museum section which required an entrance fee so we dragged our butts out of there again.
We then went across the street into Tiananmen Square. Yep, it’s a big square and not much else. It was still cold.
By this stage it was coming on 3 hours since we left the hotel so we decided to start walking back with the hope of finding a taxi. It is RMB10 (about A$1.60) to go 3kms but the first and only taxi we found wanted to charge us RMB50. We said no but, in hindsight, should have said yes. So, we opted for the subway which was all well and good but because we hadn’t caught the subway up to the square, we didn’t know exactly what station we needed. I thought I knew, then decided I didn’t so we went too far and had to catch the subway back one stop. We still had a reasonable walk back to the hotel. We saw a sign in the shopping centre next door to the hotel for Pizza Hut so we went in which was now 4pm and had a couple of pizzas. Alan and I made a mistake in ordering our drinks and ended up with a jug of soft drink each. We were so waterlogged by the time we were finished.
We returned to the room to find our washing had not yet dried. It is a washer/dryer in one with no instructions so it’s taking a little to get used to.
We weren’t hungry but Alan and I decided to hit the supermarket in the shopping centre. Now that was an experience. It was like Walmart in America; a supermarket combined with a department store where you can buy just about anything. We found the beer for Dad easily, found some water. Then found some breakfast cereal, followed by some sugar and then some soft drink. The last thing we wanted was milk which turned out to be a real challenge. We found yoghurt, flavoured milk and something we can only assume was cream but no milk and none of the people working in the supermarket spoke English. We have been told by a few people now that they are taught English from middle school through high school and then University but no one speaks it, until you say something they don’t like and then, miraculously, they speak English. When you speak to someone here in China who doesn’t understand English, they just stare at you with this blank look on their face, not saying a word. When we were in Japan, at least they laughed at us and continued talking in Japanese. After striking out with a number of staff, a young girl offered to help whose English was very basic. She then spoke, in Chinese, with one of the workers we had addressed and discovered there is no such thing as fresh milk in China, only the long life stuff. So we took it off the shelf and thanked the worker who then said ‘you’re welcome’. She knew English, just didn’t want to help us.
When we got to the checkout, a lady pushed right in front of us. Alan said something to her and she moved back out of the queue and behind us. However, she then started pushing us. Really makes it hard to like the place when people act like that. As we’ve well and truly discovered now, the people here are very rude and pushy and selfish.
Tomorrow we are off on a private tour to the Wall and Ming Tombs. Hopefully it will be a nice tour. And hopefully a little warmer.
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