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Calm
Spirit / Ying Yu Jade China Trip 2005
Wang
Fu Jing Street and the Train Ride North
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The
train to the North leaves late in the afternoon, so we had almost all day
to explore the Wang Fu Jing area. Wang Fu Jing street is closed off from
Gold Fish Street to Tiananmen Square, and there is a lot of activity all
the time here. The largest English language bookstore in Beijing is always
busy, and it offers English language programs for Chinese people. The quality
of some of these is questionable, as I watched a VCD of one that was featured.
The English was poor spoken and the grammar wasn't very good, either. But
that didn't stop young people from buying them. I like to shop at the government
store on the end of Wang Fu Jing where I buy good quality clothing. There
are many stores that sell knockoff designer items, mostly watches. I bought
quite a few jade pendants in a jade store, then we wandered around and bought
a few more things for our trip, including a "designer" backpack
for $6 and a Rolex watch for $4. Below is a photo of one of the interesting
displays of old Chinese culture depicted in the streets. |
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In
the late afternoon, food vendors offer a large variety of Chinese fast food.
I think since it is cooked fresh, it is safe to eat. And the conditions
are probably cleaner than inside a Chinese restaurant. |
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The
Catholic Church offers three masses on Sundays, one in Chinese and two in
Latin. |
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The
Chinese Pharmacies offer a variety of Chinese and Western medicines and
health aides. You can buy antibiotics and other US prescription drugs over
the counter. I purchased some Gengnianan
Pian , as I sell quite a lot of this along with Da
Bu Yin Wan to women with menopause symptoms. I wanted to find
medicine pillows, and found only one style which is a foam pillow with
a cover and a pocket to slip in the herbal packet. I bought it, but the
pillow was really uncomfortable, so
I had a more comfortable design made. It is Chinese silk brocade with
some loft in it, and the herbal packet slips in the back so it has some
cushioning in it. It can be inserted in your own pillow case, so you can
use your own pillow. The herbs are healing, and the benefit is through their
fragrance. My design also has some jade in the herbal packet to balance
your body qi (energy). |
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Medicine Pillow |
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We
bought some food for the train ride. The food quality in the dining car
isn't very good and then we would have to deal with being stared at all
the time. And it's not safe to leave your bags in your train compartment
unless they are locked and locked again to something attached to the train,
but that won't stop someone from cutting the bags open. Theft on the train
is a big problem. The train trip to where we get off at Fenghuang Cheng
city is 13 hours, so we bought some noodles, crackers, peanuts, cookies,
and some dried fruits that comes in colorful wrappers and is really delicious.
And lots of bottled water. It is possible to purchase food on the train,
but it is difficult to do if you don't speak and comprehend Putonghua. |
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We were very lucky to get a
4 person sleeper compartment with non-smokers. There were many people
smoking in the train, but at least not in our compartment which we shared
with two Chinese businessmen from Shanghai who were going to Dandong.
The countryside is interesting. There are small communities along the
way, people out in their farmlands working, smoke coming from the cooking
woks inside the small huts, cows, pigs, chickens and horses. This is "real
China", the way most of the people in China live. The train movement
is relaxing and conducive to sleeping. We lock the compartment door from
the inside for safety. The conductor has a key, and he will wake you up
before your stop to give you back your ticket, which you need to depart
the train station. There's one toilet at the end of the train car, which
is open to the tracks when it's flushed, and is the reason you can't use
the toilet when the train is in the station. The toilet gets really nasty
and vile as the trip progresses, but then toilets are one of China's biggest
problems.
Next:
Feng Huang (Phoenix) Mountain, the Orphanage and a Monastery adventure
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Entire
Contents of this website is copyright © 2000 Calm Spirit
All rights are reserved. Copying of images or text is not permitted
without written consent from Calm Spirit
Please be respectful and understand that if you copy our work without
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