Beijing - Day 3
On to day three, which was supposed to be a fairly mellow day of looking at art and shopping and going to the opera, but it turned into a great day for interesting stories from the houtongs (back alleys) of Beijing as well.
It all started with a roadside crepe omlette thing and a subway trip out to the North Eastern part of Beijing, which is this amazing old warehouse area that has been converted to a ridiculously trendy and expensive art district. By this day we were practically pro's at the subway system and managed to get to this district with only having to go backwards once! Ok, I'll admit, we also had to take a cab a little ways because we were lost early on.
This sign greeted us upon entry to the Dashanzi art district. We spent about 4 hours just walking around these stunning contemporary art studios. I thought that Miya and Ricki/James would really love this place. I wish I could just teleport people to places where I am when I think they would love it!
This was one of my favorite paintings. It goes well with the story that I will tell in a bit about later this night.
I also LOVED this painting and I have it on my backdrop of my computer right now. Yes, Dunc, you were replaced.
After seeing all the beautiful art, I started getting a little artsy myself. I took this pic above of a bike in an alley. And I even found beauty in an old torture chair below.
If I had even a baby fingers worth of talent when it came to art, I would call the following three pics "My Graffiti Series". Since I dont, I will just say it was some cool graffiti that I liked
It all started with a roadside crepe omlette thing and a subway trip out to the North Eastern part of Beijing, which is this amazing old warehouse area that has been converted to a ridiculously trendy and expensive art district. By this day we were practically pro's at the subway system and managed to get to this district with only having to go backwards once! Ok, I'll admit, we also had to take a cab a little ways because we were lost early on.
This sign greeted us upon entry to the Dashanzi art district. We spent about 4 hours just walking around these stunning contemporary art studios. I thought that Miya and Ricki/James would really love this place. I wish I could just teleport people to places where I am when I think they would love it!
This was one of my favorite paintings. It goes well with the story that I will tell in a bit about later this night.I also LOVED this painting and I have it on my backdrop of my computer right now. Yes, Dunc, you were replaced.After seeing all the beautiful art, I started getting a little artsy myself. I took this pic above of a bike in an alley. And I even found beauty in an old torture chair below.If I had even a baby fingers worth of talent when it came to art, I would call the following three pics "My Graffiti Series". Since I dont, I will just say it was some cool graffiti that I likedWe had to get back in time for the Opera so meandered home later in the afternoon, high on creativity. The opera house was just a walk away from our hostel and it was in this old little tea house. The architecture was amazing! We had great seats as you can see from my pics. And it cost less than $30CN for a ticket! This style that we saw is the most common and known as Peking Opera. The faces are painted to represent the character's role, age, gender, and disposition.
I've seen some pretty spectacular shows like Cirque du Soleil (in Las Vegas) and Phantom of the Opera (in Toronto) and Stomp (in New York)... but never have I seen anything as sensually overwhelming as this. There was so much to take in visually and the music and singing was nothing like you've ever heard. It was so unique and beautiful. Definitely in my top 3 highlights of Beijing.
I've seen some pretty spectacular shows like Cirque du Soleil (in Las Vegas) and Phantom of the Opera (in Toronto) and Stomp (in New York)... but never have I seen anything as sensually overwhelming as this. There was so much to take in visually and the music and singing was nothing like you've ever heard. It was so unique and beautiful. Definitely in my top 3 highlights of Beijing.No, I didnt understand anything they were saying. But they had this small screen above everyone with the words in English and Chinese which I kinda liked cause I could follow but it did take away from the true authenticity of the experience. Notice how big this woman's eyes are. They hold them open so wide and I never saw her blink once!
A long, arty day. Awesome.
We got home from the opera with a bit more energy than people should have before going to sleep, so decided to walk to this night shopping road. On our way back this sweet old guy on a kabuki cab tried helping us find our way home. Then we tried bargaining with him to take us home and after a bit of banter it was all sorted. 35RMB. Well when he dropped us off at the road to our hostel, Gina gave him a 100 and he gave her 40 back. So she looked at me stunned and he started saying it was 35 per person (good math, buddy)... he tried pulling the oldest trick in the book! I stood there stunned for a few seconds. He was so nice and cute before...I felt betrayed! But I quickly got my wits about me and proceeded to sit on the bike seat. Rambling on about how much I'd always wanted one of those bikes and I could ride Gina around on it, I started riding his bike away. He quickly understood and jumped at me with a 20. But I refused to get off his bike until he gave us proper change. I should have made him pay us our full 100 back just for the principle. Dick head. You picked the wrong girl, buddy;)
Of course, though, the night was still not over. We had to walk through this tight alley to get all the way back to the hostel entrance. We were both a bit upset about the kabuki cab experience. And we could see up ahead these two men hovering over something, scraping at it. I had a feeling I knew what it was and I really should have turned around, because as we got closer, my worst fears were realized. There was this man, crouching over a dog, skinning it. I tried so hard not to look but it was like a bad accident....I couldn't stop staring! There was another man just finishing off a German Shepherd beside him. From then on, I have refuse to eat any meat here.
"Wa boo chi row." Is what I say everywhere to any vendor. It means 'I don't eat meat'.
So we got a bit of the real Beijing on our third night. But they were both things I'd read about and knew to expect, so I cant really be too upset. It has been a week now though and my stomach still turns at the thought of that dog. And no, I still haven't eaten meat.
A long, arty day. Awesome. We got home from the opera with a bit more energy than people should have before going to sleep, so decided to walk to this night shopping road. On our way back this sweet old guy on a kabuki cab tried helping us find our way home. Then we tried bargaining with him to take us home and after a bit of banter it was all sorted. 35RMB. Well when he dropped us off at the road to our hostel, Gina gave him a 100 and he gave her 40 back. So she looked at me stunned and he started saying it was 35 per person (good math, buddy)... he tried pulling the oldest trick in the book! I stood there stunned for a few seconds. He was so nice and cute before...I felt betrayed! But I quickly got my wits about me and proceeded to sit on the bike seat. Rambling on about how much I'd always wanted one of those bikes and I could ride Gina around on it, I started riding his bike away. He quickly understood and jumped at me with a 20. But I refused to get off his bike until he gave us proper change. I should have made him pay us our full 100 back just for the principle. Dick head. You picked the wrong girl, buddy;)
Of course, though, the night was still not over. We had to walk through this tight alley to get all the way back to the hostel entrance. We were both a bit upset about the kabuki cab experience. And we could see up ahead these two men hovering over something, scraping at it. I had a feeling I knew what it was and I really should have turned around, because as we got closer, my worst fears were realized. There was this man, crouching over a dog, skinning it. I tried so hard not to look but it was like a bad accident....I couldn't stop staring! There was another man just finishing off a German Shepherd beside him. From then on, I have refuse to eat any meat here.
"Wa boo chi row." Is what I say everywhere to any vendor. It means 'I don't eat meat'.
So we got a bit of the real Beijing on our third night. But they were both things I'd read about and knew to expect, so I cant really be too upset. It has been a week now though and my stomach still turns at the thought of that dog. And no, I still haven't eaten meat.
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That is insane! The dog part and the part where you were walking in an alley. Haha. Good call on the "wa boo chi row!"