Jetlag, shmetlag?

July 3rd, 2011

Allyson and I did the old warp, having flown West on the 1st for more than 20 hours and arrived late on the 2nd.  So our first full day was on the third; all of this accomplished without the aid of a Delorean. 
Speaking of time travel and segues, I should mention our first night and my first Hostel.  The name of the hostel is Beijing Downtown Backpackers Accommodation.  Allyson had booked the place in advance for four nights, until our flight to Mongolia on the 6th.  I did not know what to expect and most of the images in my head were nightmares of shared bathrooms, broken AC’s, and various non-domesticated animals running about.  In the end this could not be more untrue, at least of this hostel as Allyson, who has been to more than one, reminds me.  We have our own room, with working AC, and – Glory be! – our own bathroom with shower.

One of the cooler aspects of the hostel is its location.  It is in a “Hutong” meaning “old alleyway.”  Hutongs pepper the city in a East-West network (satisfying a feng shui principle).  These old and historic neighborhoods were built with one-story ramshackle buildings after our favorite imperial warlord, Gengis Khan, pulled a General Sherman and burned the city down.  This one surrounds the main street called Nan Luoguxiang and is now intermixed with new café’s shops, street-side vendors and filled with both young and old Chinese as well as many Americans and Europeans on holiday.
On arrival in the middle of the night the street was packed with these backpackers and tourists eating and drinking in the crowded alleyways with cars (including ours), bikes, mopeds, bicycles and all matter of hybrids trying to get by.  Although we were tired Allyson and I walked up and down the street and ate of all things: churros.  Very authentic Chinese introduction.  And we shared a Chinese version of a “40” ounce beer, Tsingtao.
We woke up the next day and treated ourselves to a complimentary breakfast at the café next to our hostel aptly named, Beijing Downtown Backpackers café.  I only find this humorous because I had to ask Allyson the name of it earlier.  It was better than the traditional continental breakfast back home, but only in quantity as it wasn’t very exotic: eggs, sausage and toast.
We then walked to the back and got some cash money, in the form of Yuan.  We walked over to Tiananmen Square.  On the way we got pleasantly side tracked in one of more historic, and lest touristy Hutongs.  We saw vendors selling fish, meat, and toys.  We bought some interesting and as yet unidentified fruit.  It was about the size of a small orange, had a hard brown shell, with a flowed top.  The fruit inside was white and fleshy and tasted both sweet and tart.
We then found ourselves in the main downtown center.  This includes the “essential” sites of Beijing: the Forbidden Palace and Tiananmen Square.  We had walked into the “exit only” North Gate of the palace and after traversing some thousands of people, we had to walk around the entire palace.  The entrance was mobbed with people and we even saw a fight between two elderly Chinese women.  This had made me want to know Mandarin Chinese more than I had before.
We decided quickly it would be more geographically strategic to go to Tiananmen Square first on the South end and make our way back North towards our hostel.  Tiananmen was very crowded and it took some doing and time getting there.  I know this place has historical significance, but it does not have shade.  It was hot but Al and I made the full circle (or square) and I felt I had the experience.  We had to forgo some of my loftier missions for the day including all of the museums because, although the shade and cultural information would have been great, the hours long wait in line in the sun… not so much.

We left for Zhongshan Park, a very pleasant park just North of the Forbidden or Imperial Palace.  I needed a rest even before considering another tourist attraction.  We found a shady spot and got some rest.  It was during this time that we either made or recollected on some curious observations.  From now on I am going to alliterate them as “Cultural Curios.”
Cultural Curios Part One:

1. People openly stare at us as even in this crowded international city we are usually some of the only white people in eye shot.  I was told this would happen but it was still a strange feeling to get used to.  A young couple of Chinese girls asked to take a photo with us in Tiananmen Square.
2. Baby potting training.  Basically they have their young children wear clothes with the “butt” portion cut out.  If the child has to go, they are trained to say something and then the parents rapidly find some tree, or city sidewalk and have the child go.  The capper on this was when I saw a dad holding his child with his or her butt towards a tree in otherwise beautiful Zhongshan Park and the child was pooping.  This had very viscerally answered my first natural question when Allyson was explaining this to me: “What about number 2?”
3. Men’s AC.  Many of the men here will have their shirts lifted up to their chests revealing their abdominal glory.

After our rest in the park, we decided to do the Imperial Palace.  This was after some discussion because it was hot and crowded and we were both wondering when the jetlag was going to kick in.  I thought I was feeling pretty good for most of the day and considered myself immune to the effects of the flight and time change.
The palace was huge and full of people.  Allyson and I stayed to the outskirts away from the main crowd and saw a very good portion of the Palace complex.  I had goals (highlighted areas of my Lonely Planet China guidebook) of seeing several portions of the Palace including the ancient clocks and treasures exhibit.  Realizing these were museums within museums, meaning paying anther admission fee and waiting in another line, we decided to forego this.  But we did see the Imperial Garden and a jade exhibit.
We then went back to the hostel to take a short nap and regroup for a dinner.  We laid our heads down for a minute and woke up 12 hours later.  We had slept from about 4 pm to 3:45 am Beijing time.  It was July 4th.  Hello jetlag.