Subways!

Greetings and salutations! Thought I'd forgotten about you? Not so! I've just been either busy or lazy. Sure, I've broken that 'update every day' promise, but I figure I'll at least try to backdate entries so you can see what I've been up to. Still have to upload a few I wrote but didn't get to post.

But enough of that! Let's talk about the present. Today was a rainy day, and therefore a rather dull day.


Well, not dull, actually kinda fun, but I did nothing in particular other than meander around stores downtown. So I was thinking, and feeling rather guilty about the lack of recent updates, and I thought to myself, 'I know! I'll do a little expose on the Beijing subway system! It'll be factual and vaguely informative, if not actually interesting." So behold, the Beijing Subway!



So Beijing has a lovely, newly-renovated subway system. A 2-yuan ticket will get you anywhere around it so long as you don't leave a station, so it's cheap AND convenient! A lot of the stations could use air conditioning, but it has a major advantage over the Tube, at least, in that all the subway cars themselves are air conditioned!

Olympic security means that you have to stick any bags you have through a little x-ray scanner, like so:


Aaaaand... that's as far as I got. As I took that last picture, a security lady glared at me and crossed her fingers: no photos allowed. I meekly put away my camera and went about my business. But see, this is exactly what I was talking about a week ago: excessive, ridiculous security measures. What exactly is so sensetive about the great and glorious people's subway that means I can't take a photo of the station? I mean, come on. It's not like it's privileged information. Thousands of people are in there every day. Jumping the gun a bit there, guys.

Blah. In summary, the Tube is better.

Placeholders!

Sorry for the lack of updates, guys. I'm pretty miffed about it myself. Right now I'm sitting in a smoke-filled, non-air-conditioned internet cafe, because the network at the hostel is busted. It should be repaired by tomorrow, though. Stick around, cause I've already written out the entries for the past 2 days, and I've got some kickass pictures to share with you guys.

Until then, though, peace.

ETA: Hooray, internets! I'm filling in my missed updates, and I'm backdating them. So, you know, they're in order. Read them as if I'd posted them on that day. This whole 'missed updates' thing? Never happened, you guys.

Excursions!

Hey guys! So, remember how I said that we had big plans for yesterday? Those... ended up not happening. Instead, yesterday was a day of rest, during which I curled up in bed with a book and a movie. And to be honest, that's quite a good thing, cause you know what we did today?

We climbed the Great Wall of China.


Which, let me tell you, is some HARD. WORK. I think it's mostly the fact that we went to a less touristy area, but at some points you had to clamber hand-over-hand up ridiculously steep steps that were a few degrees away from being a wall. And that's only when there were steps left to climb... it was hard work, but man, was it worth it.

We headed out by bus, then from a town hired a guy to take us the last leg of the journey in a van with no suspension and seats that were not bolted to the floor. On top of this, the guy drove like a madman, flipping lanes and going into incoming traffic to pass bikes, cars, trucks, anything. We were laughing hysterically, and half-convinced that we were never going to survive the hour-long trip.

But survive we did, and one cable-car later, we were on the wall itself.


The views were incredible. The weather was perfect. And we had the whole damn thing to ourselves (except for a few local guides who helped us along and showed us a shortcut or two).

And the best part? At the end of it, after hiking for a good few hours, we stepped off the wall and took a zipline to the other end of the valley, where we took a nice leisurely boat ride to the car park.

Then it was back to Beijing, via another hair-raising local ride and a more comfortable bus trip.

You guys, I'm too tired to say much else. It was incredible, and I'm so damn glad I was finally able to do this. There are more pictures, so if you wants a look, lemme know. I'll get them up on Facebook eventually.

For now, though? Sleeeeeep.

ETA: Ladies and gentlemen, your moment of Zen:

Galleries!

I'll say it right now to allay any worries: I'm feeling pretty great right now. I had a great day. It started out with a text message saying that I don't have to work today! So that was a good start. But what to do with my spare time? Well - says my roomate Adam - why don't you go check out this incredible modern art place?

So I did.

HEY YOU GUYS I HAVE A RIDDLE. WHY WAS EIGHT AFRAID OF NINE?


...okay, so the syntax doesn't quite work? What did I say about rolling your eyes? Jeeze, guys, just imagine it's Yoda saying it. Anyhow, yes, the Beijing 798 Art Zone used to be an electronics factory and surrounding complex, but it's been refurbished and in the past few decades has been turned into artists' studios and galleries and cafes. The whole place is ridiculously awesome, like a mix between the Tate Modern, a Parisian street and a college campus. And the art there is incredible, just a huge melting-pot of ideas and modern art. The installations ranged from the beautiful...


...to the thought-provoking...


...to the just plain bizzare:


The place was enormous, and even though I spent four hours there I could easily have stayed for much longer. But I was footsore and sweating buckets (it's my Diary, and I'll TMI if I want to!), so I headed back to the hostel. I swung by the Sanlitun bar district on my way back, and it's a very cool place that I will have to explore in more depth later on.

The Chinese Box is awesome, because it is filled with friendly student types who hang out and chat and invite me to dinner. I ended up going with a bunch of them to a place nearby, and it turned out that I was the only guy who spoke Chinese. I knew enough to order, but not enough to know what we were ordering. We literally pointed at random stuff, and ended up having a chicken dish, spicy calamari, beef hotpot and - we couldn't stop laughing when they brought them out - oysters. But it was all delicious, and good times were had by all:


Tonight we're heading to Hohai, which is actually quite close to here. It'll be nice, I was hoping to go back there! And tomorrow? Well, let's just say that I've got plans for tomorrow. You guys will have to wait and see what happens. If all goes well, it'll be worth the wait.

I've figured out something about myself: I kind of need people. Like... part of what was getting me so down before was the fact that I was all alone out here. I'm not sure exactly when this happened, because I always used to be perfectly happy with my own company. But now that I've met a bunch of friendly people, I feel a lot better about being here.

Relocations!

Hello, peoples! I've now been in Beijing for a week and... well, I'm not gonna lie, it's not quite what I expected. I'm feeling pretty damn homesick, actually.

Thing is, the government here is relying on these games as a way of showing the entire world how organised and efficient and great China is. As a result, the security here is insane. And as a result of THAT, they've sucked the life out of the city. Half the roads are closed, the traffic is terrible, and the influx of tourists is making everything crowded. There are police on every corner, there are soldiers patrolling the streets... all that's missing are the tanks, really. Everything is Olympic-geared, which is fun at first, but after a week I'm starting to find it kinda grating.

I'd like to come back sometime when the Olympics aren't on, I guess. But right now? There's a pretty opressive atmosphere, not a party one. And it makes me want out.

Anyhow. Yeah, I'm feeling kinda down. But let's talk about my day!

Today, I changed hostels. Goodbye, Far East Hostel! I'll miss you. But guys, say hello to the Chinese Box Hostel!


It's a nice place, though not very convenient for, well... anything. Nearest subway station is a 15 minute walk away, and there aren't any tourist attractions or cool markets or bars anywhere around here. Ah well. the hostel itself is cool, and I'm only here for a week.

Then today I headed to work, via Wangfujin. There seemed to be a lot of Olympic patriotism going around the place:


Dude, I'm all for patriotism, but seriously? Shirt, plzthnks.

Anyway, then I went to work. But here's what I found once I got there:


This is exactly what I was talking about. They'd blocked off the road to my workplace, so I couldn't get in. The security guys glared at me as I approached, so I backed off and made a few calls. Because I'm only an intern, I don't have a pass, so there was no getting in. I was told to head home and take the day off.

I'll call someone later about this work thing; if that road's blocked off for good, then that limits my options as an Olympic Errandboy. For now, I'll be happy to be an Olympic Tourist, I suppose.

So I did. I've been hanging around in bed for a while, just chilling out. The opening ceremony starts... well, now, actually. I don't think I'm gonna watch it. I'll catch the highlights later. I'm just sorry I couldn't get any cool pictures. I've been feeling down all day, and honestly? All I want to do is lie in bed.

Though I'd be even happier to go home.

ETA: I ended up watching the Opening Ceremony. It was me and the staff of the hostel: when they saw I was still around, they practically dragged me into the lounge, offered me a beer and got me a coke. When they found out I could speak some Chinese, we chatted for a while. The ceremony was gorgeous and hanging out was a lot of fun.

I'm feeling a lot better for it.

Apologies!

Sorry I missed yesterday's post, all, but to be honest, there was nothing to report. I went to work, worked, then got back around 10pm and went straight to bed. So no news, no pictures. It looks like today will be more of the same, but we'll see how it goes. You might get 2 updates today, you lucky ducks!

Aileen left for home today, and I'm kind of jealous. I've been feeling a little homesick these past few days, probably because I'm run-down, and whenever I look at my itinerary I find myself thinking 'Ok, I only X more days to go'. Then again, I dimly remember being this way a week into my last trip to China. I'm sure I'll be fine in a day or so.

Anyhow, big events are coming up! For one thing, the Olympic Opening Ceremony is tomorrow. I won't be in the stadium, but I'll try and get some kickass pictures. After that, things are gon' be CRAZY! Also, tonight's my last night in the Far East Youth Hostel: I leave tomorrow for the Chinese Box International Hostel. It looks like a nice place, so we'll see how that goes. I'll get to meet new people, hooray!

I'll be there for a week, and then I'll be at the Lama Hostel for 2 weeks, and then I'll be home.

Oh, and I'm told that today is Valentine's Day in China. I love all you guys indiscriminately and equally :)

Mojitos!

Another surreal experience today, folks. I got to the media center near the Olympic stadium a little early, so I took a seat outside in the street and pulled out my laptop to pass the time. Doing drafting for 12 Angry Men in the angry Beijing sun in front of the Bird's Nest is surreal enough. On top of that, though, as I was sitting there I became a kind of tourist attraction in my own right. People would sit next to me and try to strike up a conversation. One couple even got their picture taken with me. In retrospect, I should have asked for a picture myself. Ah well!

Nothing much to report on the day's reportings. I was shut up in the Box of Doom and Air Conditioning all day. I really should get some posters or something for that place, brighten it up a little. Got to chatting with Quentin Sommerville, an illustrious reporter person and a thoroughly Irish man.

Then this evening, I met up with Aileen and some of her friends and headed out to - finally - check out the Beijing nightlife! We went to a place called Hohai, and what a place it was. It reminded me of Amsterdam (yes, yes, I know, I've never been to Amsterdam. But I've seen pictures!), what with the lake and the bars and the neon signs flashing 'Heineken' everywhere!


Aileen's friends were cool people, and because I am a bad person, I have already forgotten their names. But we all hung out on a rooftop bar, chatting and - yes - drinking a little. Don't worry, I was the very essence of restraint. I had a Whiskey & Green Tea, which wasn't bad at all!


Hohai is a very cool place with a lot of very cool shops. If I had to pick one word to describe it - and I've decided that I do - I'd say 'trendy'. Also, the places around there have a down-to-earth mentality that's frankly refreshing:


No, no, don't you think. Just down that sucker. Mmmm, you like that, don't you? That's right. Respect the 'to, bitches.