B.: I never did get to the Qing Tombs. Along with the Summer Palace, they will have to wait until next time.

For the day at Mutianyu/Lama Temple, etc Kong Lin gave me a price for 10 hours with himself, the car and the driver. This does not include admission to the various sights, lunch, and the hutong tour. (He does not have to pay to get into places himself as he has a guide pass) I used him for two subsequent half days within Beijing and he drove his own car so the price was much lower. Using him and the car and driver were much cheaper than hiring a car through the hotel.

I communicated with him via e-mail a few weeks before I left. He seems to have quite a few customers from the US as well as from other countries so do not wait until the last minute if you can help it.

EK;

By the way, those thin-skinned dumplings of all varieties that we also enjoyed with Kong Lin at "The Family Reunion" (subtitled: "where families may meet and enjoy fine cuisine&quot turned out to be the best we had throughout the rest of the Chinese phase of the journey (Xian, Guilin and Shanghai)!

Stu T.

Bob:

we skipped the tombs (I had seen them in '84 and didn't think they were worth the time again. Instead, Kong Lin took us to The Sacred Way leading to the tombs...the sight of huge stone sculpted animals (elephants, camels, lions, etc) is remarkably unique...there is another Sacred Way in Nanjing.
I found Kong Lin's rates to be less than all others I had checked out. The guy is a great guide for Beijing in my estimation. I think EK agrees.
Stu T.

Thanks Stu. The Beijing business associates we'll be visiting have offered to find good, English-speaking guides for us while we're there, but you can't beat first-hand recommendations like this. May I ask what you'd guess Kong Lin would charge for a full day to The Sacred Way and Great Wall at Huangyaguan, with four people?

Bob

But where is Huangyuaguan? Much further than Mutianyu? The issue is that with four people, plus Kong Lin and the driver making 6, he would have to get a larger car so I would not know about the price. But it is easy enough to ask him directly via e-mail.

Stu: I agree that those dumplings were quite wonderful. I am really missing them now! In fact, I am missing all of China!

Dear Bob,its is impossible do Sacred Way and Great Wall at Huangyaguan at one day.Huanyaguan Great Wall locate at Ji county Tianjin,East of Beijing about 110KM.Sacred Way lcate north west of Beijing,50KM away.how do it at one day?

Bob: You're asking for a lot of auto travel, which just ain't easy in China. Try Mutianyu, it is not crowded as Badaling, and is very scenic. It would be easy to do it, and Sacred Way, in one fairly easy day. Just e-mail Kong Lin..he'll deal fairly with you, I'm sure.

Stu T.

Thanks Stu. As a matter of fact, Kong Lin and I have already been in touch!

It seems from his response that we could do either the wall at Mutianyu and the Sacred Way, or the wall at Huangyaguan and the Eastern Qing Tombs in a day. We'll compare and rely on Kong Lin's advice as we decide.

We're also hoping to do another day trip, or even an overnighter, to a worthwhile but less crowded/tourisy locaction. If anyone has visited a unique destination they'd recommend, please share.

Bob

Bob, ask Kong Lin about the small town he visited with the Israeli tourists. He showed me photos but I forget the name...

I will, EK. Thank you.

After the hutong tour, Kong Lin and I were driven back to the Dazhalan district where earlier in the week I had ordered a tailor-made silk jacket. I had a fitting at the shop with the tailor who promised to have the garment finished and delivered to my hotel by late the next afternoon.

By this time it was close to 6pm (remember to allow time for traffic when driving) so I returned to the hotel and arranged to spend the morning of the next day with KongLin. After an hour of laps in the swimming pool, it was time to head out again, this time to Made In China in the Hyatt Hotel at Oriental Plaza., where I had a dinner reservation.

The duck at the Hyatt was as good as that at Beijing Kaoya Dadong. I had not phoned ahead to order a half-duck and for a moment it was touch-and-go whether or not the restaurant could serve me that dish, which is one of their specialties. Fortunately half of a duck was found someplace (!) on the premises and, along with a couple of small courtesy plates, was presented to me with all the trimmings. Again, a nice touch was the crispy half-head on its own plate.

Service at Made In China is very attentive and the host and captain spoke excellent English; the female servers have some English skills as well. The Peking duck dinner at Made in China cost 198RMB (about $26 USD) with tea, a lot more than at Beijing Kaoya Dadong. But the English skill and attentiveness of the staff make it an ideal place for first-timers to sample some superb Beijing food; the long menu covers all the bases so duck is not mandatory. Diners were a mix of tourists and business people, the staff was very friendly and helpful, and the surroundings are attractive and informal.

After dinner I strolled back along Wanfujing to the Peninsula and went to sleep early in order to be ready for my rendezvous with Kong Lin tomorrow at 7:30am, when we planned to drive to the Temple of Heaven to view the early morning activities in the park.

Friday morning after breakfast in Jing, the hotel's buffet restaurant, KongLin and his adorable girlfriend, Violet, were waiting for me in the lobby as arranged and at 7:30am the three of us set out in Kong Lin's car for the 20-minute drive to the Temple of Heaven complex in Beijing's southern district.

The various halls and altars of the complex, where the Emperor would make sacrifices and pray to heaven and his ancestors at the winter solstice, sit within a huge public park that, in the early morning hours, attracts hordes of mostly elderly Chinese who particpate in activites ranging from tai chi and ballroom dancing to dominoes and choral singing to kite flying and mah johngg. I found it very moving to see the seniors out and about, enthusiastically enjoying their chosen pursuit. Kong Lin told me that many of them travel quite a distance by bus to the park each morning.

We spent about 2 hours here (I recommend that you arrive no later than 8am to catch all the activity) and while I declined a few invitations to foxtrot, I did take some interesting photos of the elders and of the Temple structures.

Kong Lin and Violet were lots of fun to spend time with; Violet speaks English quite well and would also like to try her hand at becoming a guide for tourists.

Conveniently located across the avenue near the northeast corner of the Temple of Heaven is Hong Qiao, the famous Pearl Market which ranks among Beijing's most famous tourist shopping destinations and which would be my next stop.

Bob: For an overnight trip, ask Kong Lin about the huge former royal residence with gorgeous wooded grounds which the famous Mei Hua Lu (plum blossom deer) inhabited, the deer's skin is white-spotted like the plum blossom and very docile. Not sure if the place's name is Chende or not.

And Chuan Di Xia is the name of the village I was trying to remember; accommodations are basic according to my guidebook.

Hey Shanghainese,where it is,and could you tell me the Chinese name.maybe its Chengde Summer Resort or Mulan Hunting Ground.

Beijing's Pearl Market is a modern, multi-level building crammed with small stalls and small-to-medium-sized shops. Stalls on the lower floors concentrate on fake designer clothing and accessories. I was not interested in these, although I did spot some good copies of those popular leather-trimmed nylon Longchamps bags in various colors. As soon as I picked up the bag, the seller told me 200 RMB; when I began wallking away, she droped the price lower and lower until I could have had the bag for 20RMB. In retrospect, I should have bought it!

Kong Lin, Violet, and I went directly to the 5th floor where the more eleborate pearl shops are located. (There are more on the 4th floor) Here you will find dozens of these shops, selling various types of pearls and strands of coral, turquoise, and other jewelry. I quickly settled on one shop offering some lovely black "coin" (round shaped discs) pearls. After some heated bargaining, we settled on a price of 230 RMB ($29 US) for a double-strand necklace with a magnetic clasp. While we waited, the girls in the shops strung the pearls, knotting between each one, and I had the finished product in my hands in about 15 minutes. It is really beautiful and I am very pleased with this purchase. I also bought a couple of preal-studded ribbon necklaces and pearl-studded silver chains for gifts. The shop is:

Beijing Tongshi Di Yuan Pearls & Jewelry
5th Floor
Pearl Market
The salesgirl's name is "Snow"

After the pearl purchasing, we browsed for about an hour in the section of the 4th floor dedicated to "handcrafts" where I purchsed, among other things, two Mao watches (note that the strap on one of these broke as soon as I got it home; at $10US the repalcement strap cost 4 times as much as the watch itself but these are still fun gifts, even if you have to wind them every two hours!) and a few small boxes made from porcelain shards and a "silver" metal. For those going to Shanghai, you will find better quality and more chance of "real" antiques at the Dong Tai street market stalls.

After the Pearl Market, Kong Lin and Violet dropped me off at the Peninsula and we made plans for an early visit the next morning, Saturday, to Beijing's famous weekend Dirt Market (Panjiayuan).

After a half an hour spent e-mailing in the Business Center, (prices seemed high here until I got to Shanghai and found that the Roayl Meridien charged double the Peninsula price for a half-hour of e-mail access!) I headed to Peninsula's excellent Cantonese restaurant, Huang Ting, for a dim sum lunch.

more soon...

Internet access in hotels is always a rip-off. Much more fun to find an internet cafe and share it with the local kids playing video games. But since the Chinese authorities cracked down after a fire in Beijing, they are harder to find there.

Yes, I was surprised that I did not see ONE internet cafe the entire time I was in China. I am sure they exist, but they are not as prominent as in other parts of Asia...or perhaps it was only because I could not read the Chinese characters. The prices at the hotels are astronomical and, as I said, the hotel in Shanghai charged quite a bit more than the Peninsula Beiijing, where I paid 45 RMB (about $7 US) for 15 minutes!

ekscrunchy: Really enjoying your report and can't wait for the next installment!

On the internet in China: The Kerry Center in Beijing offers free internet for concierge level guests. Also the most wonderful hors d'oeuvres, also free (concierge level only tho)

I've tried Chinese internet cafes especially in the interior of China. They seems to change locations all the time, usually are smoked filled and used by the young for games. It's also pretty difficult to connnect to overseas even for email purposes from these local internet cafes. It's a hit or miss whether you will be able to connect to home or your own email.

I just ask the locals for the nearest internet cafe - not everyone knows what it is.

The big international hotels provide the best and easiest access, but some could be prohibitively expensive, as ekscrunchy has stated.

Found internet cafes at ridiculous penny prices in BJ, Xian, Guilin and Shanghai...concierges at all hotels know just where the cafes are located.
Had no trouble connecting anywhere.

By the way, was shocked when I learned that The Park Hotel in Tokyo offers free internet service for guests. Yes, I took advantage of that!

Stu T.