Today we hired bikes to explore the city. I took a little persuading by Steve, but it turned out to be a great idea. The traffic is chaotic, and cars, buses and taxis do not slow down for anything, they just honk to let you know they're coming your way. Having said that, it's not quite as scary as it sounds, because there are huge numbers of bikes, and there are enormous cycle lanes, somtimes even wider than the lanes for cars. Taxis still dive across you, but you feel there is some safety in numbers. We largely just followed the crowd.Our first stop was the Forbidden City, an amazing complex of tiled-roof buildings that used to be exclusively for the emperor, empress and attachments. It is huge. We walked up the middle, from Meridian gate at the south entrance, past the great halls that are raised on marble platforms, through the Qing Qong Palace, and impressive palace garden. By then, we were tired, but had only really covered about one third of it.
Question of the day: does anyone know what Ube is? I had an 'ube-flavoured milk ice lolly with raisins'. It was tasty, and purple, but I have no idea what Ube is. If you know, please post a comment below.
We spent the rest of the day exploring on our bikes. The fun part is that you can squeeze down all the little 'hutong' (narrow alleys) which are some of the most interesting streets in the city. We ended the day at the Temple of Heaven park on the south side of the city. This huge park is a pleasant escape from the city, and a popular place for the over 60's it seems. We passed a children's playground, and not one person in it was under 50. Many were all stretching in impossible positions, flexible as kids, or playing on the swings with big grins on their faces. we seem to be doing it all wrong in the west! We came to one area where they were all sitting in groups playing cards - a game that looked a bit like trumps. So we sat nearby and started playing Rummy, much to their amusement. Several came to watch, but seemed to feel we were doing it all wrong. Fair enough.
We were intending to take our bikes out again in the evening, but when we got back from the park, I couldn't get off the bike fast enough. I had carefully chosen one with a leopard skin seat so I could easily recognise it from the banks of bikes whenever we parked. But I had neglected to check its padding (minimal). There was no way I was getting on that bike again.
Anonymous said...
Hi there, its been fun reading your posts of your trip, especially Japan (I used to live there, didn't see them burning hats though!). From what I can tell (i.e. what Google tells me) "ube" is a "Purple Yam", and it appears quite a popular flavour of ice cream:
http://www.ramarfoods.com/main.asp?p=icecream
Enjoy the rest of your trip,
Andy (friend of Tim)