Okay, so after we went to the Great Wall, our day wasn't over.. oh no, on the smash and gab tour of Beijing our days were PACKED! We left the wall and drove about 50km back into the city ... the whole bus had a nice power nap to gear up before our (1) hutang tour, (2) visit to a traditional tea house and (3) dinner!
After our bus driver impressively navigated the narrow Beijing back streets, our bus unloaded into what looked like a dirt parking lot behind some temple-ish landmark that we never learned the name of. Still a bit groggy from my nap, it took me a second to take in the situation. Parked in front of us were about 15 rickshaw carriages, each with their own smiling Chinese driver. So we loaded our rickshaws two by two and started off on what I like to call the parade of the white people.
A hutang is really just a narrow alley. These alleys date all the way back to ancient China and the beginning of the city Beijing. That's about all the information we got beforehand: A hutang is a narrow alley. We're taking a rickshaw tour of them. Once our tour began I realized that they're not so much "ancient alleys" as the same kind of alleys that were always there... and not so much a tourist destination, as a Chinese neighborhood. We road (because cars don't fit) past groups of old men playing card games, mothers sitting outside with thier babies (and encouraging them to wave to us) and generally just people stopping and staring as approximately 30 strange white people took pictures of their houses. Just when I thought it was over, we got out of our rickshaws and were escorted into someone's house. Our host for the evening was a Chinese woman who - I guess - entertains tourists for some extra money ... ? (Not like that, get your mind out of the gutter! -- although the prostitution parallel is definitely there because her house is one of 5 that shares the same courtyard that once belonged to the dragon lady.) Anyway, then all had jasmine tea in her living room (we barely all fit!) and listened to a translator tell us all about the woman's family and the history of her house. After that, we got back on our rickshaws and rode to the bus. I don't know, it was definitely a unique ezperience - but completely bizarre at the same time. I guess I can say I've experienced 'real' Beijing... ? We drove about 30 minutes and visited a tea house before going to dinner. The restaurant was a typical Chinese restauant, but the chef's signature dish was his AMAZING mongolian beef. MMMMmm so so so good. (I definitely liked it better than the peiking duck, sorry Beijing). We spent about an hour at the tea house and tried 6 or 7 traditional Chinese teas, learned the best way to brew them and the proper way to drink each one. I have never visited a winery, but I imagine the experience was a similar to a wine tasting. We all bought way too much tea - most people bought it as gifts for friends from home. I opted for oolong tea because it's supposed be good for people who easily scar and also be anemics. But the big hit was pu-erh tea, which I hear increases health, cures the common cold and balances your checkbook! Okay, just kidding - everyone uses online banking now, how could it balance your checkbook....
Peace,
Erica
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