My second day in Beijing was on May 1st, Labor Day. It was a Sunday, so a day off for everyone nevertheless, but all the more reason for people to go out. Fangyin and I woke fairly early, and after a lazy morning left the apartment a little before ten. The subway station was quite clean, contrary to stories I'd heard about Beijing (later on I'd used several subway lines and not just Line 8, all of which were pretty similar to Seoul subway stations). We took the train to Shichahai station and walked down some old preserved street to visit a lake called Houhai (后海), which turned out to be a longer walk than I had expected.
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| Anhuaqiao Station |
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| Apparently on a good day you can see the mountains in the distance. Today was not that day. |
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| Dunno what these are called, but they were super enticing after we walked to one end of the lake, and were late to meet my other friend. |
After Houhai we went over to Nanluoguxiang (南锣鼓巷) to meet a friend I met on Conversation Exchange. Which was a huge mistake, since there was a tidal wave of people we couldn't get past fast enough, making us 30 minutes late. It was the first time I experienced traffic, Chinese style.
Asides from the fact that there were just way too many people, I noticed lot of cute little shops and snack stands along Nanluoguxiang. I really wanted to try some out but since I was already on my way to lunch (and super late at that) I wasn't able to. Mental note to self: must come back and try the fried squid and the soup dumpling you eat with a straw!!!
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| Fake Doota made me LOL |
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| Tiny little shops like these actually sell SIM cards... |
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| "Leisurely strolling down the street" is not an option in places like these. You literally have to struggle to walk through and keep your hand clamped on your friends as to not lose each other. :D |
I met my friend Maria, and the three of us decided to go somewhere,
anywhere, that was far away from this crazy traffic. They did a quick search with their phone and we ended up at some restaurant, I don't know where.
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| Forgot the name... this is a magic sesame sauce that will make anything taste instantly better!!! |
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| 爆肚 (tripe) not my favorite... way too chewy for my taste |
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| 烤羊肉 (mutton - how do I say this is cooked?) |
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| 肚仁 - more intestine stuff, I wasn't particular to the smell of this. Even as a Korean I didn't take to it much, as I don't like the Korean version either. |
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| 羊杂汤 - very similar to a soup in Korea. But basically just with mutton insides and.. other stuff. |
By the time we finished lunch, I was already wiped out due to the war-like walk we took through Nanluoguxiang. So afterward, we took a taxi home for a quick nap which turned out to be longer than an hour. Lol. Then I accompanied Fangyin to church; she's a Catholic and was going to skip out on church this week for me, but to her delight I insisted that she go. I decided to wait by a nearby cafe instead, which had wi-fi to keep me entertained for the next hour.
But the thing about China is... wi-fi doesn't exactly mean unlimited fun like it does in other countries since the internet is heavily censored. This means that during my 5 day stay in Beijing, I had no access to Facebook, Instagram, Google, YouTube, and most other apps I use to kill time. I didn't want to go out of my way and use VPN either, especially since I was on vacation and deserved to take a break from social networking. My only remaining options were Kindle (which doesn't require online access anyway), WeChat, and Kakao Talk (even this doesn't work so well at times). So basically for that hour, I just video called my boyfriend on WeChat and scrolled through a random novel until Fangyin found me after mass. In hindsight, it was a good idea for me not to buy a SIM card as well since I had no substantial use for it anyway, and I was always with a friend who had a phone.
After mass we went to meet the guy Fangyin is currently dating, who took us out to dinner. I actually don't know the name of the restaurant or even the neighborhood it's located in; all I know is that it specializes in Sichuan food, and that it lost a lot of customers after moving but the food is still spot on.
Oh. Another thing I noticed about China (or should I say Beijing) is that there are a LOT of big-ass restaurants. The scale of all these places makes Korea seem tiny in comparison.
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| 重庆辣子鸡 Fried chicken, really really spicy |
Sichuan food is obviously well known for its spicyness, and LORD was this spicy. We had actually asked the waiters to tone it down a bit since I can't handle spicy very well, but nevertheless my tongue had pretty much lost all sensation after a few bites.
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| 麻辣小龙虾 (spicy crayfish) Splattered pepper oil all over myself while trying to pry one open... |
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| 水煮鱼 Fish... soup... lol. This was my favorite out of everything we ate here. |
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| I don't know what this is called... assorted seafoods (all fried - even the clams and stuff!) |
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| 酒糟糯米汤圆 Tangyuan is a dessert you're supposed to eat on the first full moon of the lunar year. |
After dinner we took a taxi to Beijing Solana (蓝色港湾) which is a shopping call that reminds you of some European city or something. Quite unlike the rest of Beijing, this place gives off super modern vibes with lots of Western shops and architecture.
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| Couldn't resist a selfie while we were soaking in the atmosphere... and if you look closely the splatters on my shirt are still there, haha. |
On the second story of this mall, we came across a restaurant/bar overlooking a large lake. Luckily, the weather forecast told us that rain wasn't due until after 10pm, meaning we had time to enjoy the view for a short while over cocktails.
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| Group of Russians at the table next to us, singing and having a jolly time. |
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| This guy can sing you the song of your choice, for a tip. (Chinese songs only, sadly) |
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| Beautiful view of the lake at night |
I felt inexeplicably happy and content, being reconnected with a dear friend I had missed so much, just relaxing and enjoying each other's company like the good old days. The flight I booked for Beijing was a completely spontaneous one and purchased without much thought, but in hindsight it was definitely one of the best choices I had ever made.
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