China
5.08. 09-20.08. 09 Travel agency Beverly Hills, St. Petersburg. 1st ≈. 4.89 rubles
The trip to China was marked by three spectacular events - firstly, it was not planned at all (which is called "from the bulldozer"); secondly, I flew to Beijing and back in business class; in the third lived for the first time in a deluxe! ! The plane's departure was delayed for five hours - it's good that we found this out on the website and did not go to the airport by the time of departure. The plane, according to rumors, was delayed from Rhodes, and as a result, it arrived late to Beijing (in the exchange office at the airport at a rate of 662 for one hundred dollars, they issued 602, the rest was a commission), so immediately upon arrival they rushed to Tiananmen Square. It is so big that it does not look like a square at all - there are no architectural restrictions. The mausoleum of Mao is on the right, and his portrait on the imperial palace is on the left! Spicy Chinese flavor! Fuck them figure it out! ! The guide girl claimed that the rain had already passed today, and only cameras were taken from the car.
While walking around the square, a thunderstorm gathered ! ! A visit to the Gugong Imperial Palace (closed city) was accompanied by a downpour! Since they are not allowed into the interior - they can only be photographed through the window, then everyone got wet thoroughly, there is simply nowhere to wait out the rain ...a crowd gathered under the arch of the second gate, everyone was hiding from the rain, here they sold umbrellas 10th, the husband decided to buy, in the crowd they slipped wet change from 100, during the subsequent recount it turned out that they had not cheated ! ! It’s still warm +40 outside, so I even had time to dry, getting pretty wet at first. The emperors lived on the street, probably sat on a throne under the roof for a couple of hours, and ate there, because there was a hall with beds, but I didn’t see dining tables. Even under the roofs there was a treasury, a kitchen, a harem ...Perhaps I missed a lot of things running around the puddles, trying to brush my hair with a camera and give out a Hollywood smile against the background of these inconveniences. Then we were fed.
Local Beijing restaurant, about tourists and locals in half. I asked the guide, are the Chinese present in the restaurant, are they metropolitan residents or visiting sightseers from the provinces? The guide assured that these were families and companies from nearby houses, which means that the place is popular - I was delighted, dreaming of tasting real Chinese cuisine. The feeding was appropriate - simple, bland, completely without spices, and even the soy sauce had to be shaken out of the waitress. Free Peking duck (not ordered in advance) was not available, apparently by local standards it is expensive! ! I was especially struck by the soup - wash the rice and drain the water, pour it into a saucepan (and where did you think), then bring the water to a boil, beat in and stir the raw egg, throw in the sliced tomato without the skin and a sprig, probably mint. ALL! ! Then we were taken to drink tea at the tea ceremony. In all shops selling tea, you will get drunk and shod. Why are they hoodwinking??! ! Tea, 300 gr.
which cost 3580yu (17900r), and for a kilo even more, the beloved wife of the last emperor, or Deng Xiao Ping or someone else, probably collected with her own hands, but tea cannot cost that much (no need to sell about 5 bushes that have been growing since the time of the Buddha ( it is better to pray there), leaves, they are grass). Especially if you take into account the fact that in the nearby OK, for 100g of the same pressed pu-erh, they ask for about 100 rubles. And it's not cheap in my opinion! And the talk about the need for Chinese tea for brewing “little” is complete nonsense - if you pour 1 tablespoon of 100 ml of boiling water, shake it clockwise for 1 minute and pour it into beakers for sake, then you can repeat the 100 ml filling a couple of times, who would doubt it! ! But they didn’t let us try more than 3 fillings, and if you pour 500 ml at once and let it stand for 5 minutes, then ordinary tea will happen, which we drink in the morning ! ! By the way, green with jasmine from Riston is not inferior to Beijing!!
And the tea ceremony is a very slow and tedious process! Although, against the backdrop of all this tea madness, a strange moment happened (in Shanghai) - tea, which we call “eight jewels, the Chiu Hua series” (written off from a can, a friend gave it to the DR, consisting of green, chrysanthemum, rose, lychee, barberry etc. ) cost only 10 for 100g, packing date 2009.07. 13, I found this tea in a corner, in a box, without a price tag, it was not presented anywhere (maybe that's why the price is divine??!! , according to local concepts). Further hotel, shower, bed, rice husk pillows, disposable slippers, disposable toothbrushes and tea bags (I saw them in almost every Chinese, but I failed to find a store selling tea in bags in two weeks!! ) In the country, the drinking program tea – they run advertisements for plastic bottles/cans and simple plastic thermoses for brewing and carrying tea in a bag, backpack, knapsack. In all Chinese bottles I saw tea bags, but not for sale.
In the morning we go to see the Great Wall of China. Traffic jams at the exit, we visit a pearl factory, the prices are slightly shocking. Next is the jade factory - incredibly beautiful - the prices are going through the roof! ! I wanted to bring rings to my friends. Seeing a ring of green jade for 5.000 r. could not stand it, called the saleswoman and asked a rhetorical question - “Why? ? » «This is a rare color of jade, there is almost no such color in nature! ! "- followed the answer. YES, you can’t jump over with a run! ! Then the actual wall. Having got out of the bus, we heard a loud croaking or mooing or hooting, we asked the guide what kind of sound it was. There were some boogers in the trees, which they went to hunt down, catch and take a picture, but alas, they did not get into the frame. Some of the sounds were made by cicadas (there were also in Mexico) - these are such large light green flies (like gadflies). Cool! ! They climbed the wall to the second tower, caught their breath on its roof and went back down. For 1.
5 hours even trinkets (from 20th) and plates (from 136th) do not have time to buy, not to drag yourself to the 6th tower, there is also an old temple and cannons and ice-cream ! ! I don’t know what they are trying to look at from space, but in my humble opinion, this is all a remake, well, not yesterday, but 50 years ago, it was built on the orders of Mao. The people from the group who broke through to the sixth tower claimed that there was a cliff further and there was nothing ! ! Lunch was brought to the cloisonne enamel factory, the goods were not sucked in, only fed (the only time for dinner was local vodka). We walked in the halls for our own pleasure - a chic collection of New Year's toys made of cloisonné enamel - the price is 500 rubles, as at the exhibition "New Year's Gift" in the SCC, for toys of Yaroslavl, it seems, enamel. But who knows where they are made. According to the guide, we were not taken to this factory, because the products are expensive (and also heavy).
Yes, the Tibetan Medicine Center - pulse diagnostics revealed in me a curvature of the spine, visible to the naked eye, and female diseases, which at my 25 years old should definitely be. Herbs recommended cost only 71 dollars - one jar. Yes, there is also a silk factory (there were 4 of them in total on our difficult journey, and prices are almost the same everywhere). On the third I tried to eat a silkworm - so-so, you can’t compare it with rotten eggs ! ! In the evening we were loaded onto the train, at the station they let us go to the store, bought vacuum-packed Peking duck and cow's milk in a bottle for breakfast. At the station, it turned out that everyone had the upper shelves in their tickets, but the guide cheerfully stated that the Chinese do not like to travel with foreigners and will willingly change places. “Do they have a bar of gold with them? "I decided to clarify. Judging by the reaction, it was an inappropriate, stupid joke. The Chinese surprisingly agreed.
The guide herself paid them the difference for the lower places, if she had not given us tickets, and out of curiosity we did not see how much they cost (400th top and 420th bottom). In general, they barely gave her the difference. Compartment cars run from Beijing to Xi'an and from Xi'an to Shanghai, in all other directions reserved seat or trailer car for tourist groups. There are many Chinese, to carry everyone in a compartment, and it is expensive for them. The Huang He is really a yellow, insanely yellow river - I didn’t believe in it in my school years - really stormy and crooked with unstable banks. I also saw red in nature, and green - the Yangtze near Shanghai. The young guide taught English at school and knew two words, ti and coffee. Since the neighbors in the compartment are coffee lovers, to the immeasurable joy of the conductors, they decided to agree with the tempting offer. What was their delight when they brought something like Nescafe 3-in-1 in a 300 ml cup with the Coca-Cola logo.
At the same time, the conductor shimmered with happiness and tried to name the price (hyung, xen), they didn’t understand, they offered to take the money from the wallet herself. She pulled out the 10th and left in the happiest state of mind. Xi'an was the final station, disembarked without incident and began to look for a guide. We found it with a sign "Fomin + 8". Very strange announcement! Hotel. Big Wild Goose Pagoda - built 500 years ago by the local founder of Buddhism, the venerable Buddha, of the same age. All other beauties are a remake of the last 10 years - such as the history of religion museum. The garden of peonies must be beautiful when they bloom. But everything is very stylish. Lunch and visit to the Terracotta Army of Emperor Qinn Shi Huang. Expected more! ! The tomb of the emperor is not dug up, because there is no technology that allows preserving the ancient paints, the soldiers were taken out painted, but they faded in the light.
It looks like there was either nothing in the tomb, or there is nothing already, or the costs of digging up three pits with guardsmen have not yet paid off. Two bronze chariots are exhibited under the auspices of UNESCO. Beautiful! ! In the evening we walked through the parks of Xi'an - beauty, beauty and the feeling that I was finally in China ! ! In the morning visiting the fortress wall; forest Stel; studying Chinese literacy using examples from Confucius; a walk along the local shopping pedestrian street, marked by a fight between two street vendors; jogging to the nearest supermarket (required lotus jam from the guide, but he didn’t seem to have heard of this); an attempted foray into the city, in order to bypass the unsightly pedestrian zone, and the inadvertent, happy discovery of our bus just a kilometer away. And another train. All in a compartment, together.
The conductor knew English (a miracle), and was carefully warned by the guide about the end point of our journey - Suzhou (an intermediate station, which was supposed to arrive at 6 in the morning). We saw the Huang He again, I was impressed! ! We woke up at 5 am and were going to leave the car at 6, according to the schedule. What was our surprise when, having poured out into the vestibule at the sight of a large railway junction, we did not manage to get out - the train did not stop ! ! After an hour-long search, the conductors found out that we were three hours late, that the next station was Mushi (that's what they heard), and then Su Zhou. Wusy was written on the next station. How incomprehensible is the Chinese language! Despite our efforts, the brave conductor, judging by her knowledge of foreign languages, was a leader in production, did not let the stupid foreigners out before the station indicated on the ticket !!
Only then did I realize that there are a lot of Chinese, millions live in the towns and a shabby railway station pulls at least to the Finland Station, but not every self-respecting train will honor it with its stop ! ! Meet your guide in Suzhou. The Humble Official's Garden was built in 1513 and is the largest garden and park ensemble in the city under the auspices of UNESCO. Wet, flooded the day before by typhoon Morakot. Sadly beautiful, shady (the sun was not in sight, to our joy). Further, Tiger Hill (allegedly after the death of the emperor's father, a white tiger appeared on the hill where his father was buried), the Pond of Swords, the Pagoda of the Temple of the Cloudy Rocks (Chinese Leaning Tower of Pisa). Further for 100th river walk along the channels of Suzhou. Nicely! ! Poor and unpresentable! ! A silk embroidery factory, which they themselves asked for, because they don’t take compatriots there - there are no people who want to buy a screen embroidered with silk for a million, but there are a lot of Japanese !!
Another silk factory with the production and unwinding of cocoons. Evening transfer to Shanghai.
Temple of the Jade Buddha, white, it looks like green and the truth is a problem. How old is he (Buddha statue) - no one knows. You can only take a picture of B. Clinton's portrait hanging on the sidelines. Alas! But the place is awesome! ! In the store on the ground floor I saw a many-armed girl (perhaps it was the many-armed Shiva, I am not strong in religious beliefs), I decided that she was for sale, but they prayed near her ! ! To the question “Why is the statue of the many-armed god in the store ? ? ”, received the answer “It is so customary, where else should the gods stand ! ! ". However! ! We visited the Garden of Joy, I remember a huge number of hungry red fish jumping for food ! ! I have never met such a cloud of red fish! A visit to the TV tower "Pearl of the East" was aggravated by fog, after the rains brought by ty-fun.
But there is the best selection of key chains (from 10yu), plates (from 100yu), chocolates (in a tin box 35-35yu, I saw an analogue only in a dutik in Beijing for 100yu). Shopping in Shanghai did not take place due to the wild high cost. Although, at our insistent requests, we rented a bus in the morning (400yu for 4 hours) and swept - first into a pearl one (3 bracelets made of white, lavender and pink pearls 200yu); then to the office from the back door, selling bags and suitcases and Rolexes with Gucci - I bought a Samsonite suitcase (300yu), a black leather chanel bag (400yu) and two ladies' Rolexes for 150yu each; on a pedestrian shopping street I bought collagen and an extract from a shark liver for oral administration (600yu); silk handkerchiefs (80*80) for 140 and one at a discount (40*40) for 60. We bought durian, because they are not allowed to take it into transport or to the hotel - they ate around the corner - the rest of the group found us behind this activity, everyone ate.
The store made a daily plan to sell durians, and how luxurious everything smelled in the car ...In general, I was convinced from my own experience that cheap shopping in China is a myth. No one, seeing your pale face, will give you more than 20%, and if they offer a 60% discount for a scarf that says 100% silk, be sure that it is polyester, you don’t even need to set fire to anything. Even on the scarves purchased at the silk factory, there were 100% hieroglyphs, when they asked the guide to translate (at first they asked to write the word silk in hieroglyphs and they did not match the inscription on the purchased scarf), it turned out to be 100% silk thread on the application, and the gauze scarf itself from something else! ! By the way, the scarf cost 139yu. the design of local clothes is just tears, everything is black-white-blue. Very simple. An attempt to buy even jeans for a girl of 19 was unsuccessful - the girl said that they would not understand such simple pants at the university.
The flight Shanghai - Hainan did not cause problems, although they did not feed on board, only handed out water, but there was a shop on board and the Chinese enthusiastically bought inflatable pillows, tea flasks and branded scarves of the airline. The flight attendant's promotional (hourly) speech was rewarded with a standing ovation. At the Sanya airport, everyone was personally taken to the hotels; although they thought that the transfer would be one for 8 people and they would be taken to three hotels in turn. The hotel was chosen with the local flavor of Tianfuan 5 * (the exit to dinner of a Chinese in wet swimming trunks and a T-shirt did not leave indifferent). I liked the sea incredibly - clean, calm, the evening low tide allowed me to lazily hang out and swing on the waves. Flying fish. Jumping into the mouth and onto the body, attacking with delight, chitinous, it looks like shrimps, with 2 red tails (and you can’t tell who they are there).
The girls from the tribe are very pretty, emotional and artistic. A mixture of herbs with bile, necessarily the king cobra, - 800 year course, cream 240 and all in the same vein. Mobile phones Russified with a gibberish accent (Aypol's iPhone for 650yu), a spy pen for 150yu, flash drives from Sony for 130yu. From the kitchen, a masterpiece - baked pineapple and bananas (grilled). The midge also bit - the bites were very itchy. You can write about the translation from Chinese into Russian until the morning (on the menu, first the Chinese version, then English, and only then Russian). Cappuccino - coffee with ashes; chicken sausages - chicken intestines; fried chicken - perennial fried chicken ...ordered not perennial - received a small chicken with a head and legs (not perennial, alas).