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Travelers' Tales from Beijing


The Large Group Traveler

Steve and Courtney patiently waited for half an hour, curbside at Capital Airport. There seemed to be some confusion as to the correct number of suitcases and other bags to be loaded onto the tour coach. They understood. They were just two of more than forty people starting a two-week tour of China.

Checking in at the five-star hotel, three miles from the downtown area, didn't take as long as waiting for the bus. For that they were grateful. After an hour of waiting in their room for their luggage, they decided to venture out to the hotel coffee shop for something to eat. They were a little shocked to see the prices were as high as they were at home in San Francisco. They stopped by the help desk to see what time the tour started the next morning.

They boarded the same tour coach the following morning in which they had arrived. Again, they had been in their seats for twenty minutes until it became clear the young newlyweds would not be joining them. Off they drove to Tiananmen Square. The tour guide reminded them to stay in a tight group and not to wander off. He said he would carry a little pennant flag to help them identify him.

They walked through Tiananmen Square and then into the Forbidden City. The tour coach picked them at the northern exit and drove them back to the hotel for a buffet lunch. In the afternoon, they again boarded the bus for the Summer Palace. Courtney was amazed at how big the Summer Palace was and would have liked to spend more time there. But the bus was leaving and they had no idea how to get back to the hotel on their own.

That evening, they thought the buffet dinner was quite similar to the buffet lunch. They took a brief walk after dinner. But as their hotel was located next to one of the busy expressways that circle Beijing, it seemed more torture than fun. There didn't seem to be really anything to see. They decided to call it a day.

The next morning it was off to see the Great Wall. Back on the bus. Upon arrival, they were amazed to see a parking lot full of tour coaches just like theirs. They stopped counting at forty. There seemed to be tourists from every country on the planet. Their walk was slow at times just because of the sheer volume of people. They would have liked to continue walking to what appeared to be an old watch tower in the distance, but had to cut it short in order not be late for their departure. They stopped for lunch at a big restaurant where the menu was set, but they did have a choice of beverages.

After lunch, they stopped at what the tour guide described as a jade factory. They were there for an hour, although they had seen everything they wanted to see in fifteen minutes. And didn't see anything they liked. But it felt good to sit in the bus for thirty minutes. Their feet were a little tired from walking on the Wall.

On the way back to Beijing, they stopped at the Ming Tombs. They saw many people there they had seen earlier at the Great Wall. They looked at the tombs and then got back on the bus. Before they arrived at their hotel, they stopped at a traditional Chinese crafts market. The tour guide said it was one of the best in Beijing. They bought some fans and a scroll. They again saw many the same people they had seen earlier. They joked with a couple from Wisconsin about who was following whom.

Dinner that night was a repeat of the night before, a buffet in the Golden Flower Room, 3rd Floor. They were going to take advantage of the optional evening activity of a Chinese acrobatic/martial arts show, but decided against it as they had to repack their luggage so it could be outside the door at 8:00 AM in the morning. They weren't quite sure why so early as their flight to Xi'An didn't depart until 2:20 the next afternoon

The next morning after breakfast, they told the help desk receptionist they would like to go to one of the famous markets a friend back home had told them about. The girl was very friendly and helpful. But, she told them, this market was quite far away and with traffic they would only have at best thirty minutes to shop. She recommended a closer market and even wrote the name in Chinese so they could show the taxi driver.

The market turned out to be a modern shopping center. And as they strolled around they commented that it looked very similar to that mall that had just opened south of their hometown. The shops were similar, the merchandise was similar, and the prices were, at least for the brand names, also similar. After buying a nice pullover, they walked outside. Feeling hungry, they talked about having lunch at a cute little restaurant across the street. But feeling unsure, they hailed a cab instead.

On the way to the airport everyone agreed they had loved Beijing.


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