Old china and rickshaw rides...

Last day in China...I am ready to leave. I am mostly tired of the smell and people staring at me relentlessly at this point. I have had so many positive experiences and lasting memories....but I have seen almost all that I wanted to see of China at this point. One more thing on the agenda. I wanted to ride a rickshaw in the old historic china. We arranged the tour with the hotel. We waited and waited...our driver never showed up. Then the sweetest thing happened. The bell hop pulled his car up front and said he would drive us to the spot to meet the tour. Ummmmm...ok great customer service. We hopped in his tiny two door car. I sat in the front where I realized I was sitting on what they must use as a car seat. It was a harness that we in America would use to carry our child on our chest to go on a hike....and that was the car seat. We spent the drive talking to him about China and his life here. I think I learned more in that drive with the bell hop than any tour. He was married with a two year old son. He worked at the hotel and his wife stayed at home with their son. He makes $300 per month at the hotel....$300 for 22 days a month of working. Mind blowing!!!!! He said he does not like living in the city because of the traffic and people. It's hard to live any better with the jobs that are available for him. The government jobs are the best...but you have to inherit those. If your parents worked for the government, you can get a job as well. However, if you are a common worker, then that's what your child will do when they grow up. Strange to think that opportunities are just not available like they are in America. We make the choice to go to school and become what we want. Their lives are pre programmed for them from birth. Made me feel humble and fortunate for the opportunities that I am exposed to.

After our bell hop dropped us off to the tour group we were off to the Bell Tower tour. Our tour guide, Victor, was full of personality and kinda nerdy. He walked so fast, at times I was afraid we lost him and then he would pop out from around the corner and smile his goofy smile. He made the experience so fun!                          The guy in the red coat...that's Victor!

 The steps up to the bell tower could not have been steeper. It felt like you were taking steps up to your knees. Once we reached the top you could see the entire city. There is a blanket of smog on the city...but almost makes it look mysterious and old. The bell tower is only used once a year on Chinese New Year. They ring it several times and can be heard throughout the entire city. The tower was built after they hoisted the bell to the top level, then they built the tower around the bell. It was enormous. It seems like everything in China is super sized. The bell was originally used to tell people when it was lunch time and time to leave work and go home. Sometimes I forget that watches and clocks were not always here! Can you imagine not knowing how long you have until you get to home for the day???? Then all the sudden the bell rings and a sigh of relief must rush over you.

 

 
 

 

Next up, another traditional Chinese tea ceremony. I am beginning to like the tradition of the ceremony...the calm of the tea lady....quiet environment and the slurping is a total bonus.
After the tea, we walk to the lake front...there are boats floating around and the cutest little boy gets my attention. He gets excited when he sees me...waving and giving me the peace sign. I took his picture and it seemed like he was craving more and more attention from me until he was completely out of sight.

Remember when I said it was dirty here, I got photographic PROOF. I watched a man get his mop, go to the dirty lake, dip the mop in and go mop his restaurant. Ummmmm...NASTY!

 

Time for the rickshaw ride around the lake and old China. Our guide rides his bike along side the rickshaw, as we ride through the alley ways. It seems to be a race to him...he wants to get ahead of all the other rickshaws...which makes the ride even more fun! It's a small seat, just enough for two people. You sit under a large red awning and he pedals so hard and fast that you wonder how large his leg muscles must be. He sped by the man made river with boats that look like you would imagine traditional Chinese boats to look. The weaping willow trees are reflecting against the lake...separated only by a perfectly painted white fence. The cabbie turned into the old China. This area is protected by the government now and can not be torn down. Parts of it are up to 400 years old. The buildings are showing the wear and tear but are mesmerizing. The brick work and stone streets...the narrow alley ways and old shop owners talking to each other along the front steps. Almost felt like we were there 400 years ago....everything still has that same feel.

 

 
 

They stopped at a home that we could tour. They explained how people lived back then...and how the family structure was. You walk through a main gate in the house and it leads to a courtyard. The courtyard is open at the top and completely surrounded by small buildings. The main house is always towards the back and that is where the elders in the family would sleep. To the right, all the boys would sleep and the left the girls. The front building was always used as a dining and study room. There would be an average of 30 people living in these small quarters at a time...usually four generations. This was before China implemented the one child rule, so families would grow and grow. We met the woman who now lives in this home...she gave us the history of the home and showed us all the beautiful artwork her father does for his work. It was incredibly beautiful and hearing her tell us about the home, knowing it's been in her family for generations was really interesting.

 
 

Last leg of the peddie cab ride had us passing by more beautiful architecture and real life China. On every corner, you see people cooking over coals in the front of their homes, laundry strung out to dry out their windows, old men smoking on their front steps and people on bikes in a hurry to get somewhere.

We caught our ride back to the hotel where we enjoyed one more cocktail before heading to the airport. Piña colada and breadsticks....I still think it's funny the combo of food and drinks that they provide is so odd.

Arrived at Beijing airport and was more than overwhelmed. It's a beautiful airport with thin pieces of metal covering the entire ceiling, making it look very open and elongated. I seriously think it may be the largest airport in the world...gotta google that one. It's so large that after going through the health inspection, customs and immigration I had to take a tram that took 15 minutes and the walk from E-1 to E-53 gated took another half an hour. Then they put you on a bus across the tarmack to load he plane the old school way...up the tall staircase on the runway. Saying my goodbyes to Amy who is headed home as I go on to visit my friends in Japan, was bittersweet. So happy to have this experience with her, yet so ready to see my friends in Japan and experience a whole different culture. Now sitting on the Air China plane, where I am the only white person and everything is in another language, listening to their version of Adele and Norah Jones songs....I am so ready Japan!