Today, I rolled out of bed around 7:30, showered, ate the last of my walnut muffins, and headed downstairs to meet Wes, Hannah, and Shazeda. We were all going to the Forbidden City, and planning on leaving by 8:30. Due to a mix up with someone else who we thought wanted to go, we ended up waiting until around 9 before we left the dorm. On the way to the subway station, my companions grabbed some breakfast from the street vendors, and then we took the subway to the Forbidden City.
It took us around 20 minutes to walk there from the subway station, and luckily, we were able to get a student discount on our entrance ticket. The bad news is that I forgot to bring my camera today, and I don’t have any pictures. I was the only one in the group who had been to the Forbidden City lately, and I “acted” as the guide for the trip. Most of the things that we saw in today were parts other than what I saw the last trip, which leads me to wonder just how much of the Forbidden City there is to see. The place is huge.
The most interesting things that we saw included several collections of Chinese pottery preserved in the City, along with what appeared to be a burned-out temple in the middle of the City, and the Hall of Clocks and Watches. The Hall is a collection of exotic clocks collected during the 18th and 19th centuries. They include clocks from England, France, the States, Russia, and Germany. One clock included a “robot” man that would write Chinese characters at the top of the hour. I saw it happen, and I was flabbergasted. Although we had to pay an outrageous 10 Yuan to enter the Hall, it was very much worth it.
After visiting the Hall of Clocks and Watches, it was close to one-thirty in the afternoon, and we were all getting cold. We exited through the North Gate of the City, walking west towards our subway stop. On the way, we stopped in an overpriced noodle restaurant and ate some bland noodles. I ate some noodles topped with egg and tomato, and we shared a pan of dumplings. Sadly, everything around that vicinity was both overpriced and bad, and we had no choice. And although the food may have not been the best, we did find a gem of a bakery, where we got some little pastries. They were all delicious.
We took the subway back to the dorm, and I spent a little while writing emails. Then, when I could contain myself no longer, I went to Bally and ran hard. I then returned to the dorm, and after a short rest, the group from earlier (Wes, Hannah, and Shazeda) dined at the Legend of Spice Restaurant. There, we ate corn fried in batter, roast lamb, curry-fried rice, and eggplant. It was a great meal.
We walked back to the dorm, and then hung around for a little while. I’d promised Christina and Shazeda that I would go dancing with them at some point, and we decided that tonight was the best night to pursue this activity. We left the dorm around 11:00 PM, and took a cab to San Li Chuan, the popular place for foreigners to go to clubs and bars. If I may interject, some people give Ole Miss a bad rap because our parties end earlier in the night. By 1 AM our parties are over, the cops have shown up, and everyone is on their way home. But I have noticed that in other places, people wait until 11, 12 or 1 before they even leave the house. This behavior is completely asinine, if I do say so myself. Nevertheless, thus was the norm of my companions, and I was bound to follow suit.
Around 11:15, Shazeda, Lee, Wes, Hannah, Christina, Alex and I found ourselves in two separate cabs driving west to meet our destiny. What a night it was. Our first stop was a bar called Smugglers, where foreigners can buy extremely watered-down drinks for moderate prices. If you do not know this about me, I love to people watch. This locale was a people watching paradise. Most of the people at the bar were male Americans or Western Europeans; however most of these bar-goers had Chinese girlfriends. We were the largest group in the facility, and there was only one table of Chinese people. Fairly soon, my counterparts grew tired of Smugglers, and we decided to test our fortunes at Coco Bananas, a bar that was only about 500 meters from our current location. However, we took the long way to get there, and walked at least ¾ of a mile before arriving at the legendary dancing facility.
This “bar” was unlike any I have ever seen. It was not at all like the facilities in Qingdao, which also termed themselves as “clubs.” I can only assume that one of these places is lying about their true nature. As one would assume is the case with most clubs, the raison d’êtrefor these places. However, the majority of the space in this club was allotted for tables, where one could buy watered down and incredibly expensive alcoholic beverages. I’m talking about $8 for a drink with half a shot. I don’t even know where to begin in this night. Maybe with the insane dancers that hailed from the African continent, or the dance floor that rose from the floor and upon which an American-born black guy danced to hip-hop music, or maybe when I had to play defense when what appeared to be a Triad tried to dance with the girls in the group, and when I interceded, proceeded to dance on me. However, I think that I will allow your imaginations to run wild with images for club walls covered in TV screens, smoke machines, strobe lights, and any number of other strange apparatuses that contributed to the overall incredible nature of this “club.”
We caught a cab back to the dorm around 3 AM, and we had a wonderful ride with a cabbie on the way back. Then, I went to sleep. That is what happened.
I’ll write soon!
Love,
Jamey
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