This time it was the Forbidden City, which is stupendously large and beautiful. Then it was the Great Wall, which is mind-bogglingly long, tall (in places), well built, and old. Then some neat bars, and today (Sunday), Pangaiyuan market.

Thursday: Forbidden City. The various courtyards, walkways, buildings, even full gallerys that carged admission (over and above the entrance fee) are so numerous and unique that a full day is not enough to realy explore and see everything. I spent about 7 hours walking (an hour travel there and back on foot) and probably managed to cram in about a 2/3 of the whole place. About 1/3 of the city is under renovation at the moment in preparation for the 2008 Olympics. It's going to be absolute pandemonium.

As an indicator of how bad a tourist I am, or more likely/hopefully, how large the Forbidden City is (maybe a combinaiton of the two), I could not locate the fabled Starbucks within the city that is under threat of closure due to public pressure. I hear it is usually packed and somewhere touristy, but I stuck the the east side of the City where there are fewer insanely aggressive vendors and tourists. Again, all this is within a city walled off from a city of 16million people. Huge and easy to get lost.

The history of the Forbidden city is palpable from the moment you pass through the gates, likely due in large part to the many crumbling flagstones, huge brass, copper, and iron cauldrons (all 308 of them through te city) that were used for water storage in case of fire, and fantastically detailed ornamentation on the buildings, and the magnificent and serene emperor's garden with ancient entwined cypress trees. Amazing. Pictures to follow I promise.

Friday: Forbidden City was Thursday (I think, it's all a blur), Friday I visited a four storey electronics market which is an impressive thing to see. Four large floors filled with vendors competing with each other, most who know each other, some who will refer you to their friends if thay can't help you, and all who can be bargained with. Prices are higher than in Canada for most items, so it's only worth visiting if in dire need of overpriced goods or a good laugh and new experience (most shopping malls in Beijing are 4 storeys filled with stores all selling the same type of thing).

I also met a cool guy named Martin just outside the market who just wanted to find someone that spoke English to direct him to an Irish pub. Martin has an uncanny ability to pick out a person's nationality from a distance, so I guess a Canadian guy was an easy one.

I told him I was heading in the direction of Sanlitun street, a 3 block long street filled entirely with bars, frequented mostly by Westerners and that he should follow me. We walked, chatted (he's American from somewhere in Georgia just outside Atlanta), didn't find any traditional irish pub, but found a place with cheap Tsingtao on tap, and had a grand old time, and all before dinner.

Saturday: The Great Wall is just too much for words. A single picture (to follow of course) would be worth at least 2000 words or more, the story of how and why it was taken, colours, scenery etc. I took about 100 photos there, so do the math... Climbed stairs and even ventured off the wall on a little used, barely visible track up a steep mountainside for the last few hundred meters (up that is, it was hellish, I wouldn't attempt it going down).

Erin and her colleague William from Free the Children were with me, though they didn't take the mountain route, opting for the stairs instead, and I have to say, for anyone afraid of heights who might want to visit the Wall in the future (hint hint hint!), be prepared. The final ascent to the tower (of the part of the wall we were at) was a staircase that was about 5 feet deep and 50 feet tall, all made of individual bricks protruding a few inches laid vertically on their ends. It was pretty difficult coming down to say the least, but the view at the top of the surrounding mountains was indescribable.

Insert 100 pictures here.

The same night (this is Saturday still), after 7 hours of hiking, I met Martin and his friend Renee from Guatemala at a bar consisting of two large busses welded together on their ends. Called the oh so original Bus Bar, the entire interior of the bar was covered with marker signatures and the like indicating the presence of at least 5-10 years of a few hundred tourists and business people per night making their permanent mark on one of Beijing's little known, rough and at the same time somehow totally charming, nightspots.

After Bus Bar it was off to Black Sun, a bar rumored to be "the" hangout for 20-40 something expats. A single unassuming door in between two pretentious Japanese Sushi and Italian cappucino/pasta houses, Black Sun would be "the" hangout for 20-40 somethings in pretty much any city. Low slung couches with unfinished brick walls, 6 inch thick solid oak tables, unfinished as well, free billiards and darts, affordable beer, and you get the picture (no pictures there unfortunately, batteries died on the Great Wall). The crowd was mostly 50 somethings with younger Chinese, and Martin and Renee (both early 30's). I was the youngest there, and didn't feel out of place at all. A really relaxed chillout spot, I'll be going back for sure someday.

Sunday (today) was the Pangaiyuan flea market and, OMFG!, it was a blast. Erin and I went at 9:30am and arrived to find about half of Beijing's population crowded into a huge arena sized open air market filled with vendors selling all manner of trinkets, pottery, carvings, paintings, furniture etc. We left at about 5pm having spend the whole day there. I have pictures of the market too. The variety and scale of this market was amazing and it only really happens on weekends. Haggling with young and old Chinese men and women over little bits of jewelry or huge pieces of mahogany furniture is such a hilarious experience that all the locals who are also shopping at the market gather around to watch and cheer on us clumsy foreigners or the vendor. It's a unique form of participatory spectator sport I tell you.

It works sort of like this:

350* yuan I am told by the Chinese man, the price for a Xiangqi (roughly pronouced shiangtchi) board and pieces (Chinese Chess). Leather bound wood, wooden hand carved playing pieces, and a nice carrying case, with handle. I say I live in Beijing, he says 175. I offer him 40 and the crowd, by this point enthralled, lets out a collective groan and errupts into chiding finger pointing and talkative chatter amongst themselves. He laughs and says no way, 120 is his best price. I offer him 45 letting him know I'm not having any of it and he shrugs, the crowd waits for my counter offer, and when it does't come (I'm turning around to walk away), he grabs my arms and offers me 100. I offer 50 and walk away when he refuses.

The crowd still stands there, waiting.

I walk to another booth and begin haggling with another vendor for an almost identical board, and the guy comes tearing over and says 75 ok, 75. I keep on with the other vendor (he's now down to 100) and the original guy drags me back and says ok, 50. The crowd is all smiles and disperses.

It comic I'm sure, but so much fun!

Also got a very unique handpainted image of the Buddha, still with wet paint from the artist herself, so it will have to wait in Beijing with Erin until she returns in a week or two. The locals in the market were quite impressed with the price and the painting, so that was a superb find too (Erin got a matching red painting, mine is green).

Tomorrow, I dunno, it's a new day and I hear there is a neat flag raising and lowering ceremony in Tianamen, as well as early morning aerobics in Temple of Heaven (or maybe Temple of the Sun) park. About 3000 people participate in the workout, 6000-10000 in the ceremony.

The flag ceremonies are supposed to be tearjerking shows of nationalistic pride; the flow of tears cannot be stemmed merely by being a foreigner apparently. Hopefully I'm cynical enough to hold back the deluge since it is freezing here (today was -8 early on) and a wet face would be rather uncomfortable. I hear Mao's body is entombed in a public exhibit in Tiananmen too. Will have to see.

Over and out.

* For reference, 7 yuan is equal to just about 1 CAD, so yeah, I can be a bastard.