A Chinese Thanksgiving

Thursday was here before we knew it, and it was time for us to leave Hong Kong. We checked out of our room in Mongkok rather early and caught the Airport Express bus to the airport. We were checked in and through security and Immigration in no time, and had arrived early enough that we were able to grab a nice breakfast. We also got to witness an entertaining scuffle between two middle-aged Chinese businessmen. Apparently one was upset that the other had pushed him, and was ranting at him loudly in Cantonese. The other man, rather than getting angry, seemed bemused instead, even asking at one point "So, are you going to hit me?"

We had an uneventful flight to Beijing, got through Customs and Immigration, collected our bags, and headed off to grab a taxi to our hotel. Our taxi ride got off to a bad start, mainly due to a misunderstanding with the driver. I speak absolutely no Mandarin, and Daniel's abilities are limited. We couldn't figure out what the driver wanted us to do, and he got a bit impatient. Once we got underway, though, his tone changed, and he and Daniel had a friendly chat along the way. We ran into quite a bit of traffic (the roadways here always seem to be very busy), but the driver told us that traffic was moving better than usual.

We checked into our room at the Park Plaza, and then Daniel had a talk with the Concierge about restaurant and sightseeing options. Since today was Thanksgiving, we felt we needed to do something special for dinner. Daniel had received a recommendation for a restaurant called Beijing Da Dong that was famous for its Roast Duck, and we decided that would be the perfect place. Unable to get reservations so late, we opted to just head there on the subway and see if we could wait for a table.

The Beijing subway is turning out to be an interesting experience. The cars are almost always standing room only, and are sometimes uncomfortably crowded. On this particular evening, the car was so packed that it was very difficult to even enter or leave, people had to really push their way through. At one point, someone's body part was nestled very snugly between my butt cheeks. I'm not sure who or what it was, and I'm trying hard not to think about it too much. When it was time for us to get off, I had to push people out of the way and practically fell out of the car. I hope my commutes to the office will not be like that!

After wandering a bit, we were able to locate the restaurant, and we put our name in for a table. We waited about a half hour, but that time did not go to waste. Daniel struck up a conversation with a couple from Hong Kong who gave him some useful sightseeing tips, including an easy way to get to the Great Wall. A table finally became available, and we set out to determine what we should order from the amazing-looking menu, complete with photos and English captions. The food all looked good, and we wanted to try as much as possible, so we ordered 9 different dishes, including veal, pigeon, chicken, salmon, cuttlefish, and of course, the famous roast duck. We were expecting the portions to be tiny, but they didn't turn out to be all that small. Still, we managed to plow through a good part of the food, leaving only a little bit to waste. We were given complimentary kumquats for dessert. I'd never had them whole before, and we peeled and ate a handful before we realized that you could eat them rind and all.

Daniel wanted to show me a famous "Snack Street" (not that we could think about eating right now), so we waddled our way to the subway and got off in the area that Daniel thought this street was located. We headed through a fairly major shopping area but could not find the street. The stores were mostly closed, and the atmosphere on the shopping street had turned a bit seedy. We were approached by young women a number of times, alternately asking whether we wanted a "karaoke partner", "lady bags", or a "massage." I'm not quite sure, but I think at least one of those offers was for something more decidedly naughty than it sounds. Needless to say, we didn't take them up on any of the offers.

After walking almost a half hour, we decided to give up on Snack Street and find our way back to the hotel. We tried approaching a taxi driver, but he wanted 100 yuan, at least 3 times what a metered ride would cost. We headed back to the subway instead and almost got all the way back to the hotel, only to discover that the final train to get us there had closed down at 10pm. We walked out of the station through a gauntlet of cab drivers yelling at us for their business, and managed to flag down a quiet taxi on the street. We were very happy when we finally got back to our room.