Back in Canada

I’m back in Canada and feeling almost normal as I drink a Tim Horton’s coffee while the 14c. wind blows across the back of my neck.  I’m hunched over the laptop in the tiny hanger where you wait for flights to small towns in BC at the Vancouver airport.  This is not the Incheon airport.  For the first time since June, I’m cold, but as I’ve been too hot so often this summer, either from exertion or weather, I’m enjoying it.  It’s waking me up.  I needed some kind of jolt because we got in at noon Vancouver time, which was 4:00am Korean time, and I don’t fly to Kelowna until 5: 35pm.  It was bucketing rain a few minutes ago, but now it’s just solid grey outside.  Looking over my last pictures of Korea in order to put this final blog together makes me already miss Jay, May and the girls, but I’m also looking forward to seeing the Pollocks at the airport in Kelowna and get back to my friends and life in Vernon.  I just looked up at the tv and saw that Milos Raonic is in the Thailand Open final.  That’s the first story I’ve seen on Canadian tv in a month.

A group of over 300 bikers all dressed alike prepare for a special ride along the Han River

A view of the mountains of Bukansan from the bike path on the Han River

The bikers on their way to cross a bridge on the Han River

A map of some of the paths along the Han

My last bike, much like the first one

One of 3 indoor driving ranges I saw on my last bike ride

Korean men are big drinkers.  If you click on the picture, you will see that this man has his soju strapped to the carrier behind the seat of his bike.

Windsurfers on the Han

Chuseok in Song do

We arrived home in time to finish our Chuseok shopping at EMart.  I had seen a waveboard on one of the first days I was in Inscheon, and when the girls said that they had done it in the Philippines, I got the idea of buying them one for Chuseok.   This time our shopping mission was an instant success.  We returned to the apartment and set the scene.  Jay had kept the bright little boxes from our Peking Duck dinner; he carefully rolled his Chuseok money for each of the girls and placed it in a box with a little note.  We arranged everything, had a cold beer and snack and went to bed.  Sunday was festive.  We all went to one of their favorite Shabu shabu restaurants for dinner.  The Korean version is much like the Japanese, but at the end they mix cooked rice, egg and some squash with the stock that remains after all the beef and vegetables are cooked. After letting it cook a bit, you eat it.  Delicious!  When we got home, we took the waveboard and roller blades to Hedegi Park?? ( Sunrise Park), a short walk from home.  May and I walked the path while Jay and the girls played with the toys.  Jay was surprisingly good on the waveboard, which looks like a figure 8-shaped skateboard, divided in the middle so it twists and you make it move by rotating your body and moving your back foot, or some combination of contortions that I would never even try. 

Everyone went back to school on Monday, and I continued to entertain myself in Seoul and Incheon.  It was a lovely fall week with only one day of rain, Tuesday, when I happily stayed home, read and wrote the blog.  On Monday and Wednesday I took the subway back to Seoul and biked for 4 hours each day on different paths along the Hangang River and some smaller waterways that flow into it.  It was great.  On Thursday I spent hours in the Blue Ocean JJimjilbang.  Friday was another day in Seoul where I met Caroline’s niece, Sharon.  I had just found out on Monday when she emailed me that she was in Seoul for a conference.  I took the subway to the Hyatt, where she was staying.  We went by shuttle from there to Itaewon, looked around that part of Seoul, shopped and shared a bottle of soju and a typically Korean lunch.  I went out at night with Jay, May and some of his colleges for more soju, a tasty grilled fish and kim chee soup.  So my last full day in Korea was truly Korean.  This morning we had a big breakfast, Jay and I went for out last walk in Sunrise Park and then May and Jay came with me to the airport, where I now sit.  They have just announced that the flight will be boarding 15 minutes later than scheduled because of ‘flight connection’ problems. 

Jin Hee finds her Chuseok money

Min Hee with her Chinese box of Chuseok money

Us with the gifts

May prepares the Shabu shabu as Jay eagerly awaits it

Min Hee with the things she will cook in the other pot of broth

Jay in his Pilipinas jacket, holding a bottle of Bagoon and May in a Canada hoodie, holding a bottle of maple syrup.

Peking Duck

Some of Jay’s Korean friends had told him that the food in Beijing was bad, but we ate well.  On Wednesday after a shopping trip that was an unqualified failure, we had one of the best meals I’ve eaten in my life.  I didn’t want to leave Beijing without eating Peking

Duck, so before even leaving Vernon, I had chosen 2 restaurants that were recommended in Lonely Planet Beijing.  One of them was closer to our hostel than the other, so I asked the really helpful people at the front desk of the Peking Yard about taking a taxi there.  The young man told me and then mentioned that there was a very good restaurant within walking distance.  He said his boss always took visiting family and friends there for the duck.  As Jay and I were on the shanks’ mare tour, this seemed just the thing.  We invited a German girl we had met on the first hike to the Great Wall to join us.  Hua’s Restaurant turned out to be on the brightly lit, big avenue that Jay and I had walked along on our first night in Beijing.  Jay spotted the sign and a waiter who was stationed by the door quickly sensed our interest and approached us.   Like our hostel, the entrance on the street was not large, but the restaurant was a maze of rooms, kitchens and yards that extended back a long way.  We followed him to a beautiful open area with trees, about 4 tables and rooms around the sides.  The moon was full above the branches and the atmosphere perfect for the Moon Festival.  Our waiter, Walter, was helpful and friendly.  The succulent duck was carved by a man in a white cook’s hat who stood just behind us, and the pieces cunningly arranged under the finely sliced, crispy skin before it was placed on the table.  I had read in the guide about a few restaurants that served Peking Duck ‘lite’ to accommodate those who like that sort of thing, but I don’t.  I had also read somewhere that those who like Peking Duck, like the skin the most, and after eating it, I now know why.  Walter showed us how to take a paper-thin pancake, open it on your hand, spread one of 3 sauces on it, add meat, skin and assorted vegetables and fruits and finally fold it into a morsel that can be eaten in 2 bites.  Delicious!  Along with it we had rice, snow pea greens and a wonderful eggplant and pork dish.  I thought of the dinners Jim and I used to have with Al and Caroline and Mela and Don.  It was a very good evening.

The following day, Thursday, was the real day of the Moon Festival.  I joined many other people who were staying at the hostel in the making of dumplings.  We had 2 big bowls of ground pork mixed with spices and chopped green onions and piles of round wrappers.  Our chief instructor was one of the staff, who also cleans rooms and does many other tasks there, but her real skill is dumpling making.  None of us even approached her skill.  In under a minute, she could sculpt a dumpling that looked like a perfect French braid.  When they were cooked and finally presented with the other dishes on the buffet table, it was a laugh to see the variety of failures and her perfect works scattered among them.  Jay and I went for a walk in the neighborhood and under the full moon after dinner.  I went early to bed, and he went out with others from the hostel.

Now I have written about the highlights of the holiday.  It was everything I had hoped it would be.  Jay and I traveled well together, and I was happy to spend so much time with him.  We haven’t lived together in years, let alone share a room in a hostel.

On Saturday morning we ate a good breakfast in the hostel and went for a final walk around the hutong.     

The carving of the duck

About to begin eating the duck

For dessert we were given sliced melons and oranges and these little pastry birds in boxes

The best looking door on our street

A car parked on our street.  We wondered why some cars had this board and brick tire-covering system.  I finally asked the young man at the desk in the hostel.  He asked me to guess, and when I was wrong twice, told me it was to keep dogs from peeing on the tires.

If you click on this picture it will get bigger and you will see that the gold letters read, Kindergarten of Ministry of Finance.  No wonder China is taking over the world economy; they begin their training early.

This is where you will work if you don't go to the Kindergarten of the Ministry of Finance.

One of thousands of such conveyances that move goods around the hutongs.

Jay puts a last bandage on his foot on the final day of the shanks' mare tour of Beijing.

The National Museum of China

Jay and I spent Tuesday time-traveling through China in the National Museum of China on Tian’anmen Square, and all for free.  You just have to show your passport and have your bags and body scanned every time you enter.  Jay did lose his lighter and quite a few others as a result of security scans on our trip.  We could understand them fearing fire in the forest around the Great Wall or in the Forbidden City, which burned frequently, but the museum was built entirely of stone and marble. It took us until we were starving for lunch just to tour the basement, which is the part I most wanted to see because it has artifacts dating from before Peking Man to the end of the Qing Dynasty in 1912.  After reading Peter Hessler’s book, Oracle Bones, I wanted to see examples of the first known writing in China, which was found on flat bone and turtle plastrons (the bottom shell) dating from the Shang Dynasty (16^th to 11^th centuries BC).   We saw those and many more wonderful things.  Then we had to leave the museum to get something to eat because a guard had told us that the cafeteria was closed because of a conference.  We later discovered that a little lunchroom was open but by then it was too late.  We walked a few blocks into a shopping area, turned onto a side street and sat down to a beer and dumplings.  It was good to eat and rest our legs.  We returned to the museum to visit the area Jay wanted to see, the history of China from 1911 to the present, the fall of the Qing Dynasty to Hu Jintao.  Much of it was not translated into English, but there were many pictures and artifacts, and from the parts that were translated you could get a pretty good idea of the Chinese perspective, most of which was understandable but not exactly what we in the west have been told.  Socialism with Chinese characteristics, which is the way the Chinese refer to their present state is interesting to ponder because we hear mostly about bribes, corruption, lack of freedom and human rights abuses, which undeniably exist, but it’s a vast and heavily populated country and some things seem to be working.  Jay kept commenting on the fact that the people we saw in the street and in our hostel looked more relaxed and happy and were more helpful to foreigners than most Koreans are.  Also they don’t seem to be as obsessed with their appearance and with wearing American brand name clothes as Koreans and most Westerners are.  Jay noticed right away that the Chinese are not as obviously addicted to their mobile devices as the Koreans are.  As soon as he mentioned it I realized it was true; I thought of it again today as I rode the subway into Seoul to go biking.  In a full car, I could count on the fingers of two hands the number of people who were not on their devices and they were mostly sitting in the 6 seats at the back of the car reserved for people over 60.  

This felt hat made me think of Micheline.  It shows how ancient her craft is (Western Han Dynasty 202BC-8AD), and it might inspire her to include some feathers and a few hat pins in her next design.

A painted stone Buddha/ Oriental Venus de Milo dating from the Northern Qi Dynasty

I loved this little lady, so peaceful and yet colourful.  The pottery in the Tang Dynasty (618-907AD) was some of my favourite.

The Quinlong Emperor who was so scornful of Marcartney's 'tribute'.

Friday in the Forbidden City

For various reasons, too boring to get into now, I will jump to Friday, day 6 on the ‘shanks’ mare’ tour of Beijing.  We spent the day walking to and touring The Forbidden City.  We approached it from the north, through Jingshan Park because although it was not obvious, I had read that at its centre there’s a hill that gives an overview of much of the city, forbidden and otherwise.  It turned out to be true.  Then, continuing to use the compass on the iphone, Jay took us out the south gate of the park, then along the outside of the east wall of the Forbidden City and right to the Meridian Gate, in the middle of the south end, which is the main entrance.  At this point, we were in the middle of the Moon Festival crowd and spent quite a few minutes trying to figure out where to buy tickets and how to enter.  Once we did, it didn’t take too long to get into the enormous ‘foyer.’  Even before you pass through the Gate of Supreme Harmony, there’s a ceramics gallery on your right that I wanted to see.  Jay who had been sneezing even before we got to Beijing was suffering from a full blown cold by Friday, so he merely walked into that gallery and proclaimed, “When you’ve seen one pot, you’ve seen them all.”  I discovered that that is not true and spent quite a bit of time there.  I picked him up where he was resting on a bench as I exited, and we walked through into the vast area that holds the three halls of harmony.  Just walking up to and around them takes time.  It’s impossible to believe that they constituted a mere part of an emperor’s home.   Jay chose not to visit the Clock Exhibition Hall and the Nine Dragon Screen, but I found them both worth a look.  I had read in Alain Peyreyfitte’s book, The Immobile Empire, about the amazing clocks, as well as other examples of what England then considered to be the jewels of it’s Industrial Revolution, that Sir George Macartney had presented to the Qianlong Emperor in 1793 and how the latter had treated them as if they were no better than any of the other tribute that China accepted as its due from all the states trying to curry its favor.  I knew that they had been kept; however, and was curious to see what they looked like.  Many of the clocks were extravagant, but I was surprised to see how small the actual clock parts were.  After wandering through the Imperial Garden among the ancient cypresses, we exited via the north gate and headed, weary and hungry, back to the hood for an early dinner at the restaurant where we had eaten the garlic-laden eggplant.  This time, we enjoyed a cold beer, two soothing soups and some bacon and chive skewers, after which we rested in our room.  Then we went for a short walk in the area near the hostel.  I went down for an early night with my book, and Jay went out to a bar with some people he’d met in the hostel and gone out with earlier in the week.  

On Saturday, we had the Peking breakfast in the hostel, took a short walk in the hutong and flew back to Incheon.  But not before we had made up for our futile day of shopping on Wednesday by buying lots of goodies for mom, dad, May and the girls in the duty free area of the Beijing airport.  In fact Saturday was a bumper day for shopping, considering the fact that Jay and I both dislike it.  May and the girls were not going to return from their 2 days on an island off Incheon until Sunday, so after unpacking in the apartment, which mostly involved throwing dirty clothes in the basket to be washed on Sunday, we took the subway to EMart and bought the wave board that I wanted to get for Jin Hee and Min Hee for Chuseok, the Korean Autumn holiday, as well as some food to make a dinner for Sunday.  Then we set up all the gifts for May and the girls and went to bed, back in the clean breezes of Song do.  I hadn’t been bothered by the air in Beijing, but Jay had, and I certainly was aware of how fresh the air smelled when we got out of the airport in Incheon.

Beihai Lake and part of Beijing from the hill in Jingshan Park.

The Forbidden City from the other side of the same hill

Some of the porcelain reminded me of Maureen's work

A roofline on a building in the Forbidden City

A British made clock brought to China in the late eighteenth century

Jay's cold catches up with him on the shanks' mare tour of the Forbidden City

One of the nine dragons and a man posing proudly beside it

A lion with his paw on the globe, representing the emperor's power

A lioness playing with her baby, representing the emperor's potency, or so the story goes

The Great Wall

We booked two trips to the Great Wall with Beijing Downtown Backpackers, one for Monday and the other on Thursday.   The first hike, from Jinshanling to Simatai, was the longest and best, but they were both ‘great’ highlights of the week.  A guy came to get the 5 of us at the hostel at 8:40.  We followed him down our little street and then, like a consignment of drugs, we were passed on to another who led us to where the bus was parked; it was too big to go down our street. The drive to the start of the hike was about 2 hours long and took us through parts of Beijing and surrounding countryside that we would not have seen otherwise.  Just before reaching our destination, we picked up another guy who turned out to be our sweep, to use the VOC term.  There were not many people on this part of the wall, and we were free to go as we pleased for about 4 hours, one guide tried to stay in front and the other brought up the rear.  It was a wonderful day and Jay and I were dressed for it and in the mood for a hike.  We went up every tower and kept at the head of the pack, aside from 2 young men who had bought straw coolie hats from a hawker at the base.  We could spot them easily and, if we lingered taking pictures, we would see their pointed heads just in front of us and put on a burst of speed to pass them again.  The Jinshanling Great Wall is partly maintained but crumbling in places.  It snakes along the very top of a chain of hills.  At times you wonder why they even needed a wall to keep the Mongols out, but judging by the number of towers, it was well manned and facing it after a slog through woods and up and down hills would deter even a Tartar.  The idea of building it is another whole area for wonder.  It’s hard enough to hike, let alone lug stone and work on.  The descent after tower 22 is a beautiful, steep and well-built walk.  We rested at the bottom in the shade, drank cold drinks and I tried to unravel the mushroom dilemma, but with no success.  At the top of one of the first towers we had seen an old man who was drying long yellow mushrooms on the window sill, and now on the stones in front of us a man had many of them spread out, presumably drying, and a woman with a big bag of them was scrubbing her blackened hands with water on the flat stones in front of the parking lot.  They must be prized for some reason, but we never discovered why.  We were happy to sit back in the bus and be driven home to the Peking Yard, where we showered, rested flat out on the beds and then went for dinner, not garlic eggplant.

The second Great Wall excursion, to Mutianyu Great Wall, was on Thursday.  We were picked up again at 8:40am, but this time there were fewer of us in a van.  The drive was only 11/2 hours long but took us through different parts of the Beijing area, including some pretty upscale housing areas between the city centre and the airport.  We were mostly on a small road that was lined with trees, some exactly the same as the one the city planted in front of my house in Vernon, and passed through farmland.  Jay and I decided to relax on this one; we took the cable car to tower 14 and walked from there to tower 22.  The day began auspiciously as we went up in the same car that Bill Clinton had been in when he visited the wall in 1998.  But it was a very overcast day, so we didn’t get a panoramic view until near the end when the sun appeared in a haze as we walked back to catch the cable car down.  The wall at this point is not as varied as it was on the first trip.  It’s better maintained, and we began by being a bit scornful and practically running because we wanted to get at least a bit of exercise and escape the noisy hoards.  It was the Autumn Moon Festival while we were in China, and unlike the Jinshanling section, this one was crawling with Chinese, and, oddly enough, French tourists.  We soon broke away from the real crowd and were sobered by the fact that the section between towers 17 and 22 was steep.  It was more of a stair climb than a hike, but it was not a piece of cake.  After the last maintained tower, it becomes a crumbling path of rubble, which we, and others, followed for a while.  It made you appreciate the ravages of time because the restored part showed what a solid structure it had been and yet the centuries had worn it down to a barely visible line of stone at this part that had not been repaired.   Some boys, inspired by the wild country and fog were making weird loud noises just beyond us.  We had a deadline on this visit because there was a lunch included at a restaurant near the parking lot, so we turned around and headed down.  There was a gauntlet of hawkers that we had to run before we got to lunch.  This drove Jay crazy, but we made it, and then we sat down with others in our group and had a pretty good Chinese meal, with rice and about 8 different dishes.  Eggplant has been a theme on this trip for me because May often just fries oriental eggplant in olive oil and we eat it with rice and whatever else she has made.   It’s delicious.  Then there was the garlic eggplant on our first night in Beijing and the best dish at this lunch was a mixture of eggplant and potato, which fortunately, I was the only one who really appreciated, so I ate a lot of it.  The last part of the tour was a brief visit to the Olympic Birds’ Nest designed by Ai Weiwei. It and the setting it’s in are impressive.  Sadly, the bird is now in a cage somewhere else in Beijing. 

Jinshanling Great Wall

The old man on the tower.  You can just make out his mushrooms, drying on the red window sill.  He looks more like a Mongol than a Han Chinese, and that was the case with most of the hawkers on the Great Wall.  Strange, considering the original purpose of the wall.

Jay hits the wall

Jan and Jay on the Flower Tower on the Jinshanling Great Wall

Mutianyu Great Wall

The cable car we shared with Bill

Mutianyu Great Wall

A tower on the Mutianyu Great Wall