The next morning we caught a taxi into Beijing with Dennis - one of the members of our tour group who had to make the trip to China on his own after his traveling companion was diagnosed with a serious illness. We took him under our wing and, being an actor, he proved to be great fun! During our trip we shared taxis and a guide with Dennis.
Beijing had some spectacular architecture - the Soho building above seems to defy all the rules. Unfortunately, the pollution leaves a grey, dull pall over the city which is psychologically "depressing".
On our way into the city I took this photo from the taxi of the CCTV Building (China Central Television).
Dennis and Anne at our destination - the Silk Street Market - a multi-storied building full of shops (where haggling is an art form!) and a food court on the top floor where we had Peking Duck for lunch!
This charming old lady deftly worked her way around the food court and secured herself a lovely lunch - including some of ours!
Freshly made dumplings and frozen yogurt in all flavours and shapes!
Dennis hamming it up with a "Do Not Blow Your Horn" sign
(In the chaotic traffic drivers are honking their horns constantly. We saw this sign at the entrance to many hotels, hospitals and embassies to remind drivers to be quiet.)
After lunch we flagged down a taxi to take us into the centre of the city. Anne tried to sit in the front but the taxi driver barred the way and she had to sit
in the back with us. None of us noticed that the door handles in the
back had been removed. When we arrived at our destination, Anne tried
to jump out while I paid. The driver was demanding money and Anne was
suddenly alarmed that we were being held to ransom. I had cash in my hand but the driver was getting more agitated!
Dennis then gathered all his acting skills and proved the hero: in a very loud and authoritative voice he demanded that the Police be called: "Call the Police! I want the Police here now!" It immediately did the trick - the driver couldn't hand Anne the door handle quick enough, I handed him the money and we were out of there!!
And what does one do after a nerve wracking experience like that? You eat dessert and lots of cream!!
We
stumbled on a dessert cafe, called Dear Deer, which was right up our
alley. Anne and I both had a Snow Bing - lovely shaved ice (condensed milk?) with a texture a bit like dessicated coconut. Mine was
cheesecake so the ice was covered in cheesecake topping, cheesecake
slices, icecream, whipped cream and other goodies. Anne's was Red
Bean. We forced ourselves to eat it and, afterwards, we did feel a bit better about the taxi driver!!
Across the road we discovered this bakery. The bread was impressive but the cakes were the most beautifully decorated I've ever seen.
In China the law is that vehicles must give way to people on pedestrian crossings but, in actual fact, you take your life in your hands crossing the street. Here is a photo of three cars parked on two pedestrian crossings - two of the cars have no drivers! It was not much consolation when our guide, Vivie, told us we were probably safe on the crossings as it is considered a great shame to cause the death of a Westerner!
In the city traffic we saw whole families - Mum, Dad and the children - on one scooter and never saw anyone wearing a helmet! At night, many scooters and small vehicles weaved their way around the traffic with no lights!
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