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Top Three Mainstream Moments at Dutdutan X
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Because Hubby and I vowed to exclusively date each other forever. Hubby to me: "If we have to travel the world in small steps then we'll make it our lifelong journey."
A reproduction of Wang Guangyi’s** artwork. My eco-friendly shopping bag costs only RMB70 or PHP413, from a stall in Yandai Byway (shopping area near the Drum Tower).
BEST DUMPLING
I had dumplings and noodles every chance I got. The steamed pork soupy dumplings from one of the food stalls at the Oriental Plaza are THE BEST! (RMB 18 or PHP106.2 for six pcs.)
BEST SHOPPING MEMORY
An almost empty H&M at Qianmen Avenue. There were only around ten shoppers per floor (this branch had three floors) when we were there. There were no lines in the fitting room, at the cashier...Happiness!
**Wikipedia: Wang Guangyi (1956), is a Chinese artist known for being the leader of the New Art Movement circles that erupted out of China after 1989 and for his Great Criticism series of paintings, using the images of propaganda from the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and contemporary brand names from western advertising. As an example, Artinfo notes that one of Wang Guangyis’s Great Criticism paintings “responds to the recent influx of advertising by juxtaposing the Coca-Cola logo with an image of a Chinese soldier, appropriating the visual iconography of both the Chinese Cultural Revolution and American pop art.”
BEST MEMORIES FROM THE 798 ART ZONE
In one of the galleries, while paying fo
r our purchase...Chinese Man:
Where are you from?
Me:
(UH-OH. I looked at J. I was too scared to answer.)
J:
We’re from the Philippines.
A:
(Will he shout at us? Kick us out of his gallery?
Blame us for th
e August 23 bus bloodbath? My heart was beating too fast!)
Chinese Man (as translated by J):
You look Chinese ("zhong guo ren," literally China person). She very pretty ("hen piaoliang").
A:
Oh. Xie xie. (“Thank you” in Chinese.) *blush*blush*
(Big sigh of relief. Kuya, tinakot mo naman ako!)
Commute: Get off the Dongzhimen Subway Station, proceed to the Public Transport Hub, take Bus No. 401.
Bus fare is only RMB1 each (Php6 each). Bus Ride is approximately 30 minutes, with traffic.
It was raining too hard and we got to the Village too late (closing time na). We weren’t able to explore the area, giving us another reason to go back -- someday soon.
We took the wrong bus going to Badaling! As shared from my Ano'ng Trip Mo blog entry, getting lost is part of the fun when designing our own itinerary.
So here's what happened: As per our web research, we’ll have to go down at the Deshengmen subway station and take Bus No. 919 to Badaling.
But apparently, buses with the No. 919 do not share the same route. You still have to check their destination by asking the driver / ticket lady or reading the sign (in Chinese and English) on the bus / bus stop. We didn’t do either, our bad! (The wrong bus was off to Nan Kou!)
Some practical info:
Total travel time from the city to The Great Wall is approximately two hours via bus. (Should have been less if we took the correct bus, hehe.) Bus fare: We paid RMB6 (Php36) each for the Wrong Bus. Plus another RMB8 (Php48) each for the Right Bus. Total fare: RMB28 or Php168.
Badaling Entrance Fee: RMB45 (PHP265.5) each
I love how green the park was! It felt so serene. There were elders dancing, singing, playing Chinese checkers, doing Tai-chi.
The view of The Forbidden City from Jingshan Park