Beijing
Beijing Jan 2-5. We stayed at the 1Hai Inn Hostel which is slightly above average for a hostel, located in the inner part of the city near the Lama Temple. In Beijing we visited the Great Wall, Summer Palace, Forbidden City, Tienanmen Square, Temple of Heaven, and the 798 art zone.
On our way to the Great Wall we were told to take bus 919 near a certain subway exit. As we exit we see bus 919 type 1 and are confused. So there is a guy with a red communist-like armband and Angel asks him (in Mandarin) if this bus goes to the Great Wall. He responds “Oh, didn’t you do your research? The Great Wall is closed today, tomorrow, and the day after. It is winter and the low season of tourism so they are not running buses. But,” as he starts directing us towards a waiting car, “you can take this private car there. It is only (~30USD) per person.” I could tell what this guy was getting at even in Chinese and Angel agreed so we went and asked some people near the bus stop wearing official bus driver jackets. They assured the Great Wall is closed, but I knew this was BS, it’s the bloody Great Wall. Finally we found a police officer in full regalia and asked him, the police officer confirmed our thoughts that “those are Black Cars,” illegal taxis. He told us to keep walking and we did until we found the bus compound full of bus 919 type 6.
As soon as we step into the compound a guy yells at us, “Hey you, you’re going to the Great Wall?! Stand over here and wait.” Angel talks to him and he says the ride is about 2USD and takes 3 hours. I know it only takes 1 hour so I tell Angel to talk to the lady in the official looking ticket booth with steel bars. While trying to talk to the ticket lady, the guy who bossed us around continues to talk loudly to Angel so she cannot hear the ticket lady. Angel yells at him, “You’re annoying!” And he responds, “I’m just trying to help you, you’re the annoying one!” as he finally leaves. The ticket lady says that guy is illegal too and points us to the correct bus that costs $1.50 and took us 1 hour to get to the Great Wall. If you didn’t know, don’t trust people you meet on the street in China.
