Revisiting the Homeland (Part 3): The Olympic Park, Wangfujing at Night, and Courtesy Calls

- June 1-3, 2017, Thursday-Saturday.

- From scorching hot Guangzhou (click here and here for my adventures in Guangzhou), we arrived in late-spring chilly Beijing safely after our 5-hour delay. We checked in in Jingdu Guilong Hotel, near Liuliqiaodong metro station. Though conveniently located near the subway, most places of attraction are quite far (center and east,) as the hotel is in the western side of downtown Beijing.

- Since we arrived at around midnight, when we were supposed to have some free time, the most I needed that night (well I can speak for everyone too,) was sleep.

At the very least, I got to have a comfortable sleep that night, especially since I already had a bad sore throat by that day.

- The following morning, we had a courtesy call to the Philippine Embassy in Beijing, to hear the thoughts of H.E. Chito Sta. Romana and other Philippine journalists on the Belt and Road Initiative. Along the way, I noticed that the air in Beijing was quite dusty, making the whole sky "light sepia." We were told that we went to Beijing during the better season (late spring to summer,) since there were more chances for us to see the blue sky as the air is denser during the winter. That is when the air pollution stays longer, and there are chances of not seeing sunlight during the day because of the air pollution.

Outside the Embassy. Feels like home.

Out group photo; photo from Dr. Stephanie Coo.

With H.E. Chito Sta. Romana. I wore something both Filipino and Chinese - it was a Chinese vest but made from Ilokano inabel fabric.

Proud to be Pinoy.

- After our courtesy call in the Philippine Embassy, we had an interesting lunch. Although the food was Chinese, I later realized that the restaurant we were brought to was a partnership between China and North Korea. Most of the staff were North Korean, or ethnic Koreans in China. (Damn, I would have wanted to experience North-Korean cuisine.)

Bad lighting, but wouldn't miss this for the world. See those flags?? They're China's and North Korea's. The name says that the restaurant is a partnership between those two countries.

- That afternoon, we visited one of China's premier universities - Peking University. We had a small chitchat with students from the school's Philippine Studies program. To our pleasant surprise, all the students we met had spent some time in our university as exchange students a few years back. The talk ended with a better understanding of how China is expanding its Philippine Studies by training more students and opening more Philippine Studies classes and majors in other universities in China.

Peking University.

Peking University School of Foreign Languages.

School of Literature.

School of Psychology.

Pagodaaaaa.

Why so lonely??

PLOWUHRS.

Typically Chinese.

The Boya Pagoda.

- We were brought back to the hotel after our early dinner, and so I grabbed the opportunity of going around the city. I first visited the Olympic Park by riding the subway to the Olympic Sports Center metro station. That is the nearest metro station to the Bird's Nest (National Stadium) and the Water Cube; both structures are just right across each other. These two modern and geometrically-designed structures, as known by many, were built for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Today, these structures are still used once in a while, but mainly serve as tourist attractions. The Bird's Nest also plays the Olympic theme song in an endless loop. I also decided to visit this place since it wasn't part of our itinerary.

Until now, I still like these Chinese Olympic mascots.

The Bird's Nest looks like something Lady Gaga would step out of.

Mandatory tourist shot.

The Water Cube looks like one big water tank.

In front of the stadium, took this photo while being blasted with an endless loop of the Olympic heme song.

Space mushroommmsssss.

- With little time to spare, I also decided to drop by Wangfujing Street by stopping at the Wangfujing metro station. Although today's Wangfujing is equated with shopping and exotic street food, this street has been around for more than 700 years. Its name "Wangfu" (royal mansions) and "jing" (well) refer to the royal mansions and wells that were built in the area before. Today, it is a bustling pedestrian street, and the top of many tourists' minds when it comes to shopping.

Wangfujing is a big street, but look for this Chinese arch in one of the alleys towards the South. That's where most of the tourist goodies are.

- Unfortunately, the street was quite dead when I went there as I arrived a bit late, around 10 in the evening. Most stores have already closed for the night, and the small alley with the Chinese arch selling exotic food was also quite quiet. According to friends who went to Beijing before, it might have closed earlier since it was a weekday night, and so it wasn't as lively. At the very least, I got to be familiar with the street for easier navigation when I'd get a second chance to go.

- The next morning, we had a long drive to Renmin University, to gain political-economic perspectives on the Belt and Road. We gained many intriguing insights, and learned perspectives that are mainly extremely sided with the Chinese government. After lunch inside the school, we visited the university's Psychology Department to talk about the social psychological analyses of the Belt and Road initiative. However, the encounter was more of a getting to know, as my university's Psychology Department had a close relationship with Renmin University's Psychology Department.

Beijing's Central TV and Radio Tower. Reminds me of Shanghai's Pearl Tower, just without the lower "pearl."

We're here!!

Reminds me of universities in Russia.

The logo has three people on it. That's the original way of writing "ren" of "Renmin." "Ren" means person.

Copy paste. (Saw these children in the mini-mall we went to after our visit to Renmin University.)

- That evening, we were brought back to the hotel quite early, and I invited my professor friend Annie to roam around with me. Initially, we were supposed to eat at a restaurant called Pyongyang, which is one of the propaganda restaurants of North Korea stationed in many countries allied with North Korea. Unfortunately, the one in Beijing just closed down the day we arrived in Beijing (at least, based on what I understood from the government-issued paper stuck on the door.) I only got to have a photo with the facade, but hey, at least I got to see it in person. (There are other branches in other main cities of China, and other countries like Cambodia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Laos, etc.) Still, there are other North Korean restaurants in Beijing, but since they were quite far, I didn't get to visit them anymore during my whole stay in China.

It closed down. :( :( :( :(

- As the night was still quite young, I brought Annie to Wangfujing. It was a Saturday night, and so some of the exotic food stalls were still open a bit later than the night before, though most souvenir stores have already closed for the night. Apparently, Beijing is not much of a "night-market" city, unlike Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taiwan, or Bangkok. Still, Annie and I were able to get ourselves some lamb skewers. We now saw the scorpions and the other creepy crawlies being sold as exotic food, and all we could do was look.

Should I or shouldn't I??

Can't eat these, they're too big!!

Skewered pupae.

I hate insects with wings. Huhu.

We had the tame choice: lamb skewers.

A semi successful second return.

Heyo homie.

- Annie and I went back at the hotel with just enough time to wind down before getting some shut eye. Our itinerary for our last two days in Beijing were the ones I was waiting for the most. Up next, the essentials of Beijing and the Great Wall!! (Please do not forget to read Part 1 here, Part 2 here, and Part 4 here.)