The still pretty chilly not so far north

January 21st and I decided to avail myself of a useful wee product of Paul's called "Beijing by Foot". It's a set of about 50 small cards, each able to fit in a pocket, with a walking map on one side and a brief commentary on the other. Looking at two of them I saw that I could do one, go from the end of that one to Beihai Park, which borders the Forbidden City, then come back via the other that winds its way through a series of Hutongs, the little alleyways that still make up some bits of old Beijing. A Hutong is basically an alleyway normally built running East/West or North/South and often quite narrow; apparently the narrowest one in Beijing is 40cm wide in places. Along the Hutong on each side is a series of houses built around a central courtyard. In the past, these were the houses of reasonably well-to-do families but over time, population pressure, and presumably the declining fortunes of the owners, saw more and more families building dwellings within the courtyards. While crowded, the upshot of this process was a very strong sense of community where the whole Hutong was effectively a single unit of people and the idea of private outdoor space was not very relevant. As they've been replaced by highrise apartment buildings, that sense of community has gone, and is missed by many Beijingers who remember the old ways. Interestingly, the name is still used to describe a cluster of highrise buildings, built I expect, on the location of an old one of the same name.

So anyway, I set off on my walk, but started by heading in the wrong direction so took a look through the financial district instead. I came back and headed off in another, also wrong, direction. (Don't let that guy get a taxi licence!) I blame the fact that I was navigating from the start point where Fuchengmen Da Jie and the Fuchengmen Subway station exit were marked, but the subway station has four exits and there are four different bits of Fuchengmen Da Jie, North, South, Inner and Outer. That's my excuse anyway and I'm sticking to it despite any inconvenient facts to the contrary, like the fact that North was marked on the map!

Finally (after about 2 hours of wandering around other places) I figured out which way to go and got started. I went past a Buddhist temple that was begun under Kublai Khan's auspices, and a shrine to all the dead Ming Emperors, which is apparently not that interesting. I got to Beihai Park and wandered through that before getting lost (and misdirected by a soldier) trying to find the start of the route back. The map was wrong I tell you! (Actually it was). Anyway, by this time it was getting dark so I ended up wending my way home through dark alley ways where people were starting to pack up their wares etc so it was all quite interesting to do. The only annoying thing about the whole exercise, which took about 7 hours, was that at some stage I managed to injure my hamstring, although how that happened I have no idea. It was pretty sore by the end of the walk though, and I still had to go and find something to eat...

The next day was probably the worst one I've had so far. I decided to go and visit the museum of the People's Liberation Army, which is conveniently located right on a subway stop. I set out, but the wind was bitterly cold, and I didn't have my scarf or my warm hat, just a beany sort of thing. But that''s only the beginning. I got to the museum, only to find that it had closed for a week of rennovations just the day before, meaning it'll still be closed when I leave, unless the train tickets are for a later day than planned - I haven't heard from Laura yet. Anyway, undeterred, I decided I'd go to the National Museum at Tiananmen Square instead, so jumped back on the subway. I got there, only to find a security barrier all around it. It turns out that it's closed for rennovations until 2010! Grrrr. All of this while limping around with a dodgy leg. I'd thought a nice leisurely visit to a museum might be a way to give the leg a bit of work without overdoing it . . .

So since I'm in Tiananmen Sq I decide: "Oh well, I might as well go and have a gawk at the mummified remains of the Chairman." I brave the bitter North wind and walk across the virtually deserted square, only to find the staff at the Mauseleum closing up shop for the day - it turns out they are only open until midday! Defeated again, I decided it must be time to go home, thaw out, rest the sore leg, and do some research on other possibilities for tomorrow. I realised I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, but Paul had suggested grabbing something when he finished work. Unfortunately, that didn't happen until about 9.30, by which time I was getting pretty hungry. So we quickly headed down to a Cantonese place in his work building (just across the road from his apartment) to eat. Paul got called back to work - the Chinese government had released annual GDP figures and when New York woke up, they wanted more detail. So I went home by myself. I felt a bit thirsty and by nearly midnight Paul hadn't got back, so I decided the water in the "distilled water" bottle on the kitchen bench must be true to label, and drank some. It tasted a bit odd so when Paul finally got back at midnight, I asked him if it was OK water to drink. "No", he said, "It's tap water I was using to water the pot plants." Ahh, I think. Still, it's about 19 hours ago now and I still feel fine. Amoebic dysentery takes a while to incubate though. I wonder if you retain any immunity after nearly 24 years since the last bout. I think that's enough for one day . . . The leg did feel a bit better though.

The plan for today was to take it a bit quietly again to let the leg recover. Seven and a half hours of walking with only two breaks of about two minutes each wasn't quite what I had had in mind but there you go. That's what happens when you get immersed in something. I decided to have a second crack at visiting the Mauseleum, or should that be Maoseleum? I go there with time to spare after a bit of a late start, and manage to get a squiz (sp?) at the old guy. I kind of expected him to look a bit skody and moth eaten but actually he didn't look too bad for a guy who's been dead for over thirty years. It's all very serious in there; no cameras, ammunition, explosives or bags allowed! And you have to be suitably grave as you file past. Out the other side and the trinket shop is selling Maomorabilia galore, of the tackiest kind. I ducked out the door and went to reclaim my bag and camera. Kind of interesting but the whole personality cult thing just doesn't do it for me I'm afraid. Unless I'm the personality of course.

I'd got out at Qianmen (Front Gate) station at the south end of Tianenmen Sq, hoping that that would put me right at the Mauseleum, which it had, so I crossed back over the street and started down Qianmen Da Jie. Qianmen is one of the very few remaining bits of the old Beijing City wall, torn down in the 60s to allow the number two ring road to go into place. The wall was a Ming era one, designed to keep the residents safe from the ravening hordes outside Beijing -unlike Tianenmen, which was there to keep the imperial court in the Forbidden City safe from the ravening hordes inside Beijing . . .

By walking down Qianmen Da Jie, you eventually get to the Palace of Heaven, where the Emperor used to go twice a year to ask the favour of the Gods and pray for a good harvest. But walking down the street was interesting in itself. It's been turned into a pedestrian only area (although it has a - very slow - tram) and it's very up-market. But it includes restaurants that claim to have been serving roast duck there for over a century. It's entirely possible that they have too because the buildings all look like well restored buildings of substantial age. Anyway, the Heaven Temple was my destination so I continued on until I found it. It's part of a large park, with lots of other pavilions of various shapes and sizes dotted around. I found that I was easily able to wander around the place for hours, despite the cold being really penetrating, especially when I found myself in the shade and the wind at the same time. I don't know how cold it was but it was so cold that even with my gloves on and my hands in my coat pocket, my little fingers started to lose their function. If I ever go to another place as cold as this, I'll be taking a longer scarf too. The one I brought is quite thick, but not long enough to wrap around more than once, so it doesn't stay up around your face. And it really was cold, when I got back and finally remembered to have a drink of water, the water in my bottle was frozen!

I got back about 6.30 and the leg doesn't feel too bad - a bit better each day - so it's time to head out and find something hot to eat!