DATELINE: Beijing, China
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Author: Lauren Cohen
While my experience in Shanghai was mostly about exploring the city at my leisure, in Beijing I've felt like I needed to hit all the big tourist spots. On my first day here (after a long nap since I had "slept" in the airport when my flight from Shanghai got me here after the Metro had stopped running), I went to Tiananmen Square, stopping along the way for some Beijing (Peking) duck. Along with the expected accoutrements of scallions, cucumber, and hoisin sauce, they served me a dish of melon slivers and sugar. Sweet and savory duck skin dessert pancakes: possibly my new favorite thing. Tiananmen Square awed me, as did the Great Wall the next day. I took my hostel's tour to Mutianyu, a section of the wall that is less crowded than the touristy Badaling. It had a cable car up and a tobaggan ride down (whee!). I did a lot of climbing though! The sky was overcast (or maybe just polluted - I don't think I've seen a blue sky since I've been here), so my landscape pictures didn't come out so beautifully - but given how sweaty and hot I was, I was relieved not to have the sun beating down on me. After sliding down(whee!), I braved the crazy-ass souvenir hawkers. They were relentless: if you spent even a minute looking at their offerings they wouldn't let you leave until you bought something. One of them even followed me to the ATM, then tried to reneg on the price I had bargained to because she saw I had more money. Our tour group at lunch at a tourist restaurant that served the kind of gloppy, corn-starchy food that one gets at bad American-Chinese restaurants. There were a few Chinese people in our tour group, and I noticed they were conspicuously absent from the group luncheon. The food at the Forbidden City today was also downright bad. I guess I shouldn't have expected to find the best food at tourist spots: I would never recommend that anyone go to a museum cafe or theme park for the best American food. Today's lunch left me feeling a little queasy, actually, so for dinner I did the Unthinkable: I went to McDonalds. As I was walking around the neighborhood of my hostel, I first tried to get a skewer of grilled meat - but as soon as I put it near my mouth and smelled five-spice powder, I knew I couldn't stomach it. As much as it pains me to admit it, the Big Mac and fries was exactly what I needed. Tomorrow, though, it's back to adventurous dining. I just have to stay away from those tourist traps.
