Big Bad Beijing -The Last Stop

Big bad Beijing the last stop on our Chinese tour and our eventual point of departure westish to the homeland, albeit slowly but surely. First things first I will ease the nerves and let you know that we took a flight to Beijing, our last train mishaps combined with the lack of overland transportation (trains were actually sold out, we tried) made for an easy decision to hop on a bird and get to the capital.

Beijing is a massive complex of people that is stuck between the land of the future and the realm of the past. It’s a really cool combination that made for one of our favourite stops in all of China. The day we arrived we had Mongolian visa work to do so we were wrapped up at the embassy for a great part of the day. Since we were dead tired from our sleep the previous night we ended up calling it an easy night and crash early.

Forbidden City

We got up and were shocked to see blue skies in Beijing, something that is rarer than a stripper with a PhD in astrophysics. We were hyped because we were going to the much adored forbidden city, an ancient fortified city that the Chinese emperor once inhabited. It was forbidden for any regular citizens to be within the walls of the city and being caught would result in an instant death penalty.

After getting to the place we realized it was going to be a war zone: Chinese summer holidays + a heritage sight = pure chaos that inhabits people’s nightmares. There were people off all walks of life everywhere, guys like the old man from karate kid to pant less children running around like it was Chinese new year. We were about to say fuck it when we decided to bite the bullet and check the place out.

Forbidden City Fashion Attire - Donkey Purse

In the end it was actually a little bit lame in my opinion, which is easily skewed when I am in a mood. The buildings are cool but you can’t get into any of them and there are so many flag waving tour groups that getting a glimpse through the display windows is next to impossible. Flag groups are my arch enemy, they follow their leader blindly and walk with the determination of a holy man on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

The Umbrella Army following their Fearless Flag Waving Leader

Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Square was next on the hit list and since it was right across the street we knew we had to visit the commie mecca of China. With more surveillance than a Swiss bank, the place can definitely make you feel uneasy. Knowing the history just amplifies it and seeing the monuments and massive video screens dedicated to military achievement seem a little bit distasteful, but this is China and they really do whatever the fuck they want.

Don't Fuck Around Here - Tiananmen Square

Olympic Park

To start our next day on a happier note we headed to Olympic park, site of the 2008 Olympics. We woke up to a smog filled sky which seemed appropriate since we were headed to a venue dedicated to feats of athleticism. We got lost the second we got there, I think the smog went to our heads since it was probably the hardest place in the world to get lost. We ended up cruising through the massive concrete park and snapped some pics of the venues and got mobbed like Justin Bieber at a tween rainbow party, video evidence to come.

FUN TIME PHOTO SESHION!!!

798 Art Zone

When you think about China, independent art is one of the last things that will spring to mind, but there is a very lively scene and you need to look no further than the incredibly unique 798 Art District in Beijing. The area is an old electronics factory, warehouse and distribution center that has been refitted as an undeniably unique art district filled with galleries and artists from both China and abroad. There are so many different galleries to choose from, some free and some not, it makes for a hard day to see em all so you need to make some decisions. In and around the area are displays of street art, sculptures and my favorite – decaying pieces of industrial equipment that seemingly pop out of nowhere and look extremely out of place in the defunct factory zone.

Of all the galleries that we cruised through, my favorite was the one focusing on art from the DPRK or North Korea. Envision burly Asian looking characters wielding menacing weapons with more resemblance to Sgt. Rock than that stupid Pokemon Kid. One of the wildest exhibits we saw was a stuffed dead cat strapped to an old boiler, no fake shit, a real deal dead cat! Strange as it may seem it was done quite tastefully.

The entire district is a time sink and we killed an entire afternoon looking at Chinese contemporary art and I was blown away by the originality of the work by the artists on their pieces as well as their galleries and the district as a whole. An easy must do for anyone interested in art or the mindset of the up and coming generation of young Chinese who will eventually inherit their powerhouse of a nation.

Crazy art from a crazier place

Jinshanling the Best Part of the Great Wall

For our last day we had to hit up the ultimate Chinese icon, the great wall. There are a few different segments that you can climb but many of the ones closest to Beijing are closer to a theme park than a world wonder so we decided to climb the up and coming section of Jinshanling. This is one of the least restored and accessible part of the wall and we knew it was the perfect time to climb as they are in the midst of doing some restoration work and probably adding something mental like a waterslide on it to make a few extra yuan.

Goes On, and On, and On, and On

We got to the wall on a guided tour which we promptly ditched and headed up the wall. It is absolutely crazy how massive the wall actually is. You can literally look in either direction of the wall and see it beaming off into the distance. The amount of time, money and labour that was put into it is incredible. I would kill to know what the NPV of such a construction project would be, someone bust out a calculator and get cracking.

We hiked the wall for a few hours and it was really cool, there are areas that are almost vertical, one wrong step and you will be going ass over tea kettle down the ancient fortification and hoping your travel insurance covers the chopper ride back to Beijing. In some areas the wall is totally crumbled, there are trees growing out of visible cracks and the loose stones have accumulated at the base of the wall. All in all a highlight of China and something that I would gladly do next time around – as long as a Donald Duck mascot isn’t taking up residence on the top of the wall.

Planning the route to climb the wall

We picked up our Mongolian visas and grabbed some tickets on the first leg of our great train trip west, from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar. Our train leaves bright and early in the morning and I can’t wait to see what big old Mongolia has to offer us. China was an incredible part of the trip, but a definite challenge. From ass numbing 36 hour train rides to getting locked out of Tibet at the last minute, it wasn’t easy, but the best places sometimes aren’t and now we have a reason to come back. See you in a couple years Everest!

See pictures from the great wall and the rest of Beijing here