Yet another restfull day…but also unproductive. I spent some hours with may laptop, trying to find a travel agency office in BeiJing, which knows about the Tibet business. I must be completely silly…I don’t find anything. The only agency I found on the net, which even declares itself being the only Tibet Agency with a BeiJing office, does not state its office address, but asks for first contact by mail. Well…so I did. Same for the big CITS. On that mail to CITS I got even an answer already, basically saying: “We can’t guarantee you a train ticket.” OK, yea…and now? Any alternatives? What shall I do? Do you want to do business with me? A friend got his trip with STA Travel easily arranged, but STA Travel doesn’t have an office in BeiJing either.
BJ_20070614_150445.jpg: Some local park (DongDan Park, 东单公园) at ChongWenMen NeiDaJie (崇文门内大街), were locals hang out for chess and newspaper reading at card playing, the usual stuff. I hung out there for newspaper reading.
BJ_20070614_151703.jpg: A restored section of BeiJing’s old city wall at ChongWenMen DongDaJie (崇文门东大街), a 1.5km long stretch with…
BJ_20070614_153603.jpg: …the DongBianMen Gate Tower (东便门) at its eastern end. Nicely arranged with a strip of green park, not wide, but partly colorful.
BJ_20070614_183453.jpg: For dinner, I finally took a taxi back to NanLuoGu Xiang, this modernized HuTong with bars and pubs. I had one place in mind with a small open-air terrace in its back…and exactly there I am sitting now, after a Minestrone and a fried salmon filet, and type these few lines.
BJ_20070614_195546.jpg: Here now a photo of that modernized HuTong of NanLuoGu Xiang, probably a bit closer to what your guidebooks say.
BJ_20070614_202035.jpg: Already on the bus towards some metro station I saw this scenerie and jumped off at the next bus stop right behind. I had totally forgotten that the area around QianHai Lake (前海, which just means “Front Sea”, consequently there is also a HouHai, a “Back Sea”, though I think that the lake is a bit small to carry the name “sea”). That became a night hot spot with bars and restaurants. And, yea, even a Starbucks at the very front.
BJ_20070614_202651.jpg: The path along the lake is lined with restaurants and bars. Loads of people strolling up and down or sitting outside in the warm summer evening having dinner. Yes, really, they were sitting outside…finally, they start to understand the pleasure of having a dinner outside ;))
BJ_20070614_203204.jpg: Looking back on the same strip of restaurants.
The stay was again a bit annoying for a me as a single male traveller: At around 6 I stopped counting how many girls and young men asked me if I am interested in visiting a “bar, nice ladies”. To one of the guys I turn back sharply in bad temper saying “Still no, and can you tell that all the other guys ahead as well?!” The poor lad didn’t exactly get the meaning of the words, but he did understand that he’d better turn away. The next one I told “You are about number 20 or 30”, which he answered with a forced smile, showing understanding, and asked no further. Really…it spoiled the night stroll quite a bit.
Today’s Lesson: Being an only man is sometimes hard…sniff 🙁
Categories: AsiaBeiJing
Originally Created: 06/14/2007 01:26:32 PM
Last Edited: 06/14/2007