Beijing: 3 days of ‘point, shoot, and shop’

It was an excited group of 54 travelers—a lively mix of different nationalities—that left the Saipan International Airport for a three-day, two-night tour of Beijing last May 3. Rhoda Smith said it helped that they knew a lot of the people who were part of the tour “so we didn’t have to spend much time warming up to everyone.”

Violy Chavez said she was thrilled about the prospect of finally seeing sights that she would usually just see on textbooks and travel magazines: the Great Wall of China, the historic Tiannanmen Square, and the legendary Forbidden City where China’s ancient emperors used to live.

“Do you know that the Great Wall of China is the only man-made structure that can be seen from outer space? I knew that back in high school but this time, I was excited about finally seeing it,” she said.

The group—a mix of local residents, Americans, Canadians, Filipinos, a Russian, and visitors from Peru, Austria, and the Netherlands—left at 2:30am aboard Air China for the direct flight to Beijing. After just five hours and a half, they landed at the Beijing International Airport, where two buses ferried them to their hotel, the Landmark Towers, a four-star hotel.

This in itself was already a surprise for the group. Ben Sawer said the hotel was “way better” than what they had expected. Chavez agreed, saying the hotel provided very excellent service.

After a quick lunch of authentic Chinese cuisine, first stop for the group was the walled Forbidden City. On the way, Chavez marveled at how modern Beijing is, a far cry from people’s mental picture of the city.

“It was very clean. You would think that with China’s millions, the streets would be crowded but there was no traffic. Beijing has wide avenues, so many trees, and criss-crossing multi-level highways and overpasses. And beautiful buildings,” she said.

Sawer said he was struck by how cosmopolitan the city is, with extensive landscaping, modern highways, and lots of buildings.

“There was a lot of construction activities going on. In fact, one of the running jokes we had when we were there is that China’s national bird must be the crane because everywhere you look, you see all these huge cranes on top of buildings that are being constructed,” he said, laughing.

At the Forbidden City, Chavez said she was fascinated to learn that it was actually a complex of several palaces surrounded by high walls. “Even the history of the place was fascinating. Out tour guide, Helen and Liza, explained that, in ancient times, only the emperor, his people, and palace guards and soldiers could go inside the city, not ordinary persons.”

Next stop for the group: Tiannanmen Square. Meaning “Heavenly Peace,” the guides explained that the Square is the symbol of the People’s Republic of China. Rhoda Smith said the place was filled with hundreds of tourists taking pictures, and residents who were either just walking around or flying kites.

The highlight of the trip, though, was the trek to the Great Wall, which happened the next day. It is a distance of 75 kilometers northwest of Beijing. At 50,000 kilometers in length, the group was ferried to one of the best preserved length of the wall—Badaling Wall—also considered one of the highest points, located some 800 meters above sea level.

“It was so steep. I rode a cable car to halfway the highest point,” said Chavez.

Smith was particularly struck by the great number of people—residents and tourists alike—at the Wall. “It was very crowded. With us coming from Saipan, we’re not used to being inundated with so many people.”

She said she is amazed at the whole scale of the Great Wall and the amount of labor that must have gone in constructing it. “It was just amazing.”

Sawer and his friends were so taken by the fantastic sight that they later took off on their own, hired a guide, and hiked along the Great Wall for three hours. “It was a fantastic trip, and the Great Wall was highlight of what we did. We hired a driver and nine of us went off and walked from one point [of the wall] to another. There was cable car but we just wanted to walk. Its very steep and it was quite strenuous,” he said.

For Marian Tudela, the only thing she could think of after seeing the Great Wall was: How did they do this? “I’m very proud that I went to see it. It is, after all, one of great wonders of the world. I don’t regret it at all.”

Smith said she and her friends also visited the Ming tombs and the sacred watch, where they have large animals made of stone. “They were really beautiful and showed things that I’ve never seen before.”

The group was also taken to see a jade factory, a jar factory, and a silk-weaving factory.

This, for Tudela, was the highlight of her trip—seeing how the cocoons are gathered and transformed into silk. Having worked with the apparel industry on Saipan, Tudela said she only sees the cloth when they already arrive at the factories but, in Beijing, she actually saw how the silk is being made. “Learning about the silk blouses was very fascinating; they showed the cocoon, like magnet coming out of the water, I never knew that it comes from that cocoon,” she said.

And then there is the shopping. As Tudela describes it, she just went plain crazy. “It was fantastic. I went crazy shopping. The luggage, the purses. I bought a silk blouse, red and black for just $13 dollars. If you go to Wal-Mart, the same blouse would have cost $65 dollars. I want to go back. I really enjoyed it.” One dollars is equivalent to 8.2 yuan.

Despite the compact schedule of the tour, Smith said they had plenty of time to shop. “Beijing features really good shopping. We managed to fill several bags. The only problem was that, since the clothes were Asian sizes, it was hard to find something that fits the average American.”

Chavez said she went to a shopping mall near hotel and did nothing but shop, shop, shop. “The prices were so cheap that you have tendency to overspend.”

Sawer said shopping was greatly helped by the fact that the shopkeepers spoke enough English. “So it was quite easy to haggle.”

At the same time, he said it helped that Beijing is a user-friendly destination, so the tendency to get lost is very minimal. “We just had the name of a district written by the concierge in Chinese, and we would show it to taxi who will then bring us to our destination. The city is very user-friendly. And the taxis are cheap at $2 for $4 only.

Smith said she had a wonderful time and said she’d do it again. “I’m going to tell our friends and have them come, too.”

That seems to be the common refrain among these group, who said they can’t wait to tell and encourage their friends to go.

“When I talk about Beijing, I ask my friends why they didn’t go. At $299 you cant go wrong. You should go if they offer the package again. I want to go again. It was very interesting. I wish there is another trip because I would go again,” said Tudela. As she keeps saying, “I just went crazy.”