My arrival into Beijing was exhausting, with over 48 hours of travel from Darjeeling to Siliguri (it's fun to say, but not to stay), Mumbai, 18 hours at the airport before Singapore, and finally Beijing. Once I arrived I then had to find my way from the Airport to my hostel, which I had been told was a challenge in itself. Some friends had stayed there and arrived in Beijing at midnight, got dropped off in the wrong area, walked for hours until they found a friendly, English speaking, local that could direct them in the right direction. Luckily, I arrived in the middle of the day, but I was still a little nervous. I took the bus into town and then tried to catch a cab, but for some reason, when I told them the address they refused my money and sped away, which I found quite odd. A cyclo driver was willing to take me, but I thought it was too far for him to be pedaling me, and he was charging too much. I met a girl from the west who knew her way around and she recommended the subway and was heading that way when another taxi driver offered his services. Of course, once he knew where I was going he changed his tune, but directed me back to the same cyclo driver! I was tired and surrendered to his eager service. He pedaled me through the back allies of the city, past all the local laborers in their uniform dress of overalls and plastic yellow hard hats. They all seemed to be heading home for the night as well and the sky was beginning to dim with the setting sun. Finally, my driver popped out on a main road running along the east side of the Forbidden City, and I knew my hostel was close. I spotted the sign and pointed it out to my driver, who didn't understand me and kept on pedaling down the road. Fortunately, he stopped to ask directions about a block later and got turned around. It was great to finally arrive and my hostel was cozy with a welcoming common area and I settled in for dinner there, too tired to seek out the local cuisine.
On my first full day in Beijing, I got a late start after chatting the morning away with a girl from Munich. She had traveled through SE Asia for 18 months on 6,000 Euro! I couldn't believe she could survive that long on so little money. Apparently she did a lot of home stays in small villages surviving on fish and rice... not exactly comfort, but impressive all the same.
In the afternoon, I met up with another guest at the hostel from Sweden, Tor, and we headed out to explore the 798 Art District. On the way we met up with a South African girl headed the same way and she joined our duo as well. I was looking forward to a break from the cultural/historical sites and the art district sounded like an interesting way to do it. The area is very large and covers several city blocks of old industrial buildings, which have been converted into art galleries, studios, coffee houses and restaurants. The art spills into the streets as well, with large sculptures of everything from babies on tanks, to cafe seating areas set up to look like a bird cage for patrons. Even some of the buildings were artsy, like a store front covered in PVC pipes and a coffee house with a glass door shaped like a coffee cup, which was filled with coffee beans between the panes of glass. I was also surprised to see how much of the art had anti-regime/communism themes. There were studios of both modern art and more traditional styles as well as some photography studios with modern twists, like a series of photos that were manipulated to make the landscape and portraits appear to be underwater. We spent the whole afternoon wondering a little aimlessly through the galleries and studios, until the place began to close down. We had no maps or guides to the area, but I'm pretty sure we only scratched the surface of what they had to offer.
Traveling through the city, I was impressed by how modern it was and would continue to be impressed with this throughout my trip through China. However, it is sad to think about all the traditional buildings and neighborhoods that have been lost in the countries rapid growth. I read some article about the old neighborhoods that were leveled to build the Olympic grounds and was amazed at how large an area the complex covers, so the amount of historical buildings and dislocated families must have been incredible. In that light, it is nice that some of the old industrial buildings, and history, have been preserved in the 798 Art District, so I guess I was touring a little history and culture there after all.
On my first full day in Beijing, I got a late start after chatting the morning away with a girl from Munich. She had traveled through SE Asia for 18 months on 6,000 Euro! I couldn't believe she could survive that long on so little money. Apparently she did a lot of home stays in small villages surviving on fish and rice... not exactly comfort, but impressive all the same.
In the afternoon, I met up with another guest at the hostel from Sweden, Tor, and we headed out to explore the 798 Art District. On the way we met up with a South African girl headed the same way and she joined our duo as well. I was looking forward to a break from the cultural/historical sites and the art district sounded like an interesting way to do it. The area is very large and covers several city blocks of old industrial buildings, which have been converted into art galleries, studios, coffee houses and restaurants. The art spills into the streets as well, with large sculptures of everything from babies on tanks, to cafe seating areas set up to look like a bird cage for patrons. Even some of the buildings were artsy, like a store front covered in PVC pipes and a coffee house with a glass door shaped like a coffee cup, which was filled with coffee beans between the panes of glass. I was also surprised to see how much of the art had anti-regime/communism themes. There were studios of both modern art and more traditional styles as well as some photography studios with modern twists, like a series of photos that were manipulated to make the landscape and portraits appear to be underwater. We spent the whole afternoon wondering a little aimlessly through the galleries and studios, until the place began to close down. We had no maps or guides to the area, but I'm pretty sure we only scratched the surface of what they had to offer.
Traveling through the city, I was impressed by how modern it was and would continue to be impressed with this throughout my trip through China. However, it is sad to think about all the traditional buildings and neighborhoods that have been lost in the countries rapid growth. I read some article about the old neighborhoods that were leveled to build the Olympic grounds and was amazed at how large an area the complex covers, so the amount of historical buildings and dislocated families must have been incredible. In that light, it is nice that some of the old industrial buildings, and history, have been preserved in the 798 Art District, so I guess I was touring a little history and culture there after all.
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