Wilsons vs China part 1: Beijing

“You let them out on their own?! It’s their first day in China!” The incredulity from my colleagues was palpable. Well, yes, yes I did. I had absolutely no qualms about sending Mum and Dad off on their own to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City while I was finishing up the office before going on holiday. China might seem intimidating to get around without any command of the language and a mass of people to get around (even if you can see over pretty much everyone’s heads, score for the tall-gene) but Beijing is really easy to get around on the subway – it’s 2RMB to go anywhere and all the station signs are in English as well as Chinese. I think it gave Mum and Dad a boost of confidence to be able to get around without me. Plus, I’ve done the majority of the properly touristy stuff I’m interested in doing in Beijing so instead I tried to show them the Beijing I know as a local lǎowài.  

 I’ve seen loads of pictures from my friends who pass through the hostel of them having a beer with the donkey that lives on the Mutinayu Great Wall. That section also has the toboggan run down, how could we not go?! Plus, I did the Badaling section of the Great Wall (closest to Beijing) when I got here last summer. It was too restored and touristy for my taste, so to Mutinayu we went.  I’d love to say I’d had a beer with a donkey but did I find the damn animal? No. Big disappointment, but the toboggan made up for it, even though we queued for the best part of an hour for it to be dry enough for safety after a shower of rain. It would have been so much better if there hadn’t been a complete wuss of a Chinese woman four people in front of me (any hint of speed and she’d scream and slam on her breaks, just as the rest of us behind her were starting to have fun) but I did get to hear some choice swear words from the German couple in front of me though; there’s always a silver lining!

We also did Summer Palace as a family (it was hot, sunny, over-crowded and thoroughly beautiful, but under appreciated by slightly hung-over me) but that was the last properly touristy thing I did in Beijing - the Lama Temple, the Bell and Drum towers and the Olympic Stadium Mum and Dad negotiated on their own. Two cultural experiences I made sure they got before we left for the train to Yangshuo was to see hutongs at Nanluoguxiang and to have a proper Chinese massage. I think they appreciated the massages more; what made the biggest impression at Nanluoguxiang was the sign in the restaurant where they had lunch that said simply “no pooing!”

Chinese massage can be somewhat intimidating for tourists. Tales of “happy endings” in massage parlours and “scissor-less hairdressers” are rife, but, as long as you steer clear of pink lights, massage here in China is a ubiquitous, inexpensive and wonderful thing. I’ve had full body (fully clothed) massages for as little as 30RMB, but I picked more salubrious surroundings for my parents, and for the weekend we were in Beijing, at least one of us went every day. Dad’s crocked shoulder was eased, the knots in Mum’s bad-back were kneaded out of existence as were the ones in my feet and shoulders and, relaxed to the consistency of the noodles we had eaten for lunch, off we went on the second leg of our holiday… the train to Yangshuo.