Since leaving adidas in early May, I've been doing lots of tidying up. Sometimes this means picking a room, closet, or drawer, and just reviewing everything and doing a combination of purging and organizing. I've also been doing this with elements of my digital life. Cleaning up various to do list methodologies and consolidating account information, reorganizing passwords, etc.
It hasn't been entirely magical, or life-changing, but it has made me realize that I tend not to be someone who takes the time to really clear things out, and I realized how many mini projects I start but don't finish. After I got back from China I consolidated a few of my notes and told myself I would package them up somehow to help make sure I remembered the trip.
Now, 2 years later the notes have stayed as a gmail draft. So, here I go converting them into a blog post with a "travel" label on it. The magic of cut and paste:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Written in 2017
China trip complete! I was there for 7 nights starting on Easter (2017) and got back on Monday.
Beijing's scale was ridiculous. I was standing in Tiananmen square in a the largest sea of tourists I've ever experienced. One night I stayed out past the subway close and elected to just walk back to my hostel. After walking for 45 minutes I looked at my phone and saw that all I had to do was walk from the northeast to the northwest corner of the Forbidden city, and then would be almost back. That is a long stretch of wall, but still the short side of the rectangle!
Lots of time in the Hutongs, and many miles and hours just wandering and eating food from local vendors. Day trip to the Great Wall was spectacular and defied expectations, despite being the most hyped portion of the trip for sure.
Shanghai - stayed with friends in Xiantiandi neighborhood and ended up going to much more swanky (but still cheap) places than I did in Beijing. Dropped into the Adidas office for a few hours, which was fun, and then went up in the Shanghai Financial Tower for a lunch. Pretty awe-inspiring skyline.
Ate a large number of dumplings of all different sizes, and only had one of the soup dumplings explode on me when I chomped down on it.
We went to Hangzhou for a day and explored the tea fields and West Lake. It was a beautiful Sunday so the place was a bit mobbed. Hangzhou is a quaint 24 million people, and being only 45 minutes away by high-speed train means the Shanghai folks were probably out in force as well. I was there with 2 native Chinese friends of a friend, so we got good exposure the off the beaten path restaurants.
Exit rows for both of the trans-pacific flights, and just generally a successful trip!
-Sunglasses and hats - very few people wear them. Seems strange.
-Shorts - no one is wearing shorts even though it has been 80 degrees
Peking duck restaurant - what a great experience. Apparently I went to the best one, which has won the award for best duck the last 8 years, and which has been in operation since 1860. I wasn't quite dressed the part (shorts, adidas tee, backpack), but and nonetheless they ushered me to a table after getting off the elevator at the fourth floor. The restaurant is right on Wujushang, the bustling commercial district. Apparently it can hold 1,000 patrons, but at 2pm on a Thursday it wasn't too busy.
The waiter was a really young guy who spoke zero English. He positioned my napkin under my plate and draped it off the edge of the table. He also positioned my backpack in the seat next to me, and then covered it with a blanket. To me it seemed like he was trying to make it look like I had a dining companion, but apparently this is not uncommon, and is done to prevent anything from spilling onto ones belongings.
The duck arrived at the table in about 20 minutes and a different server began cutting it up. With the first cut, my waiter brought over a slice of the skin and place it in front of me, asking me to eat it as a sommelier would ask the patron to sniff or taste the wine upon opening.
When I bit down on the moist but crispy skin, it liquified instantly in my mouth, transforming into a warm mouthful of smooth, and rich duck flavor. Incredibly delicious.
When all of my (half) duck had been sliced up and put on a plate, my server lit the fire in a pot on the table and placed my plate on that to keep it warm. Then demonstrated the way one is supposed to assemble the pancakes. My server took my chopsticks and grabbed one of the pancakes from the steamed wicker basket. He put this on my plate, then took two small duck pieces, dipped them delicately into the hoisin sauce, and placed them in the pancake. He then gabbed a few scallions, and then wrapped up the pancake using the chopsticks and wide spoon in a series of skillful press and fold motions, leaving me with a perfectly formed and proportioned Peking duck pancake. One of the best foods I've tasted in my life.
Inspecting the duck more closely, it is really, really fatty. Most of the pieces were probably 3/4" of meat thickness and then 1/2" inch of fat and skin on the outside.
After the first one, I was on my own. Fumbled a little bit, but managed to accomplish what I needed to accomplish and had one of the overall best meals I've ever had.
China is an incredible place. It has some of the starkest contrasts of anywhere I've ever been.
-Maglev train vs. traffic that crawls
-Massive, empty courtyards vs. 100% jammed spaces
-More Rolls Royce dealerships and more bicycles
-Cheapest food you can find alongside the most expensive food you can find
My visa is good for 10 years and I'll be back before then.
[as of the time of writing this, the 10 years is down to 8, but that should still be doable!]
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