Travel China and Beyond

Places to See in China / Beijing — Beijing DongYue Temple Visit

One of the less visited temples in Beijing is the DongYue (East-Mount) Temple.  This Taoist temple is located at 141 DongYueMiao ,ChaowaiDaJie in ChaoYang district of Beijing (interestingly enough it is right across the street from busy shopping malls), but often overlooked.

If you want to visit you can take a cab to the address above or use the subway.  The temple is located near by the Chaoyangmen station.

The temple has been rebuilt in multiple dynasties since its establishment in the 14th century    The stone tablets in the temple represent apparently one of the largest collection of those in China.  Some of the 90+ tablets are inscribed by famous caligraphers and date back to the centuries of the temple’s first operation.

Today the temple is a nice place to visit and both experience some very interesting architecture and get a glimpse of Taoism, as well as just to enjoy the piece and quiet of its many courtyards.   Here an older Chinese gentleman is enjoying an exercise….

When you thought you have seen it all in Shoe Fashion, the next surprise comes

Rushing through Hong Kong airport recently, I could not miss the opportunity to snap a few images of brand new fashions in shoes… Take a look at these images:

Pretty fancy, yeah!?

More troubles in Air Travel - First Cancelled Flights, then Missing Baggage Handlers

Well, if you are looking for worry and trouble free flights these days, think twice.  On a recent flight from China (Shenzhen - Shanghai - Chicago) to Austin, Texas, I got to experience the challenges of air travel disconnects and issues.  As you are most likely aware American Airlines had to cancel a whole bunch of flights in the US as they were serviced by the fleet’s grounded MD-80 aircraft.

As a result of those flight cancellations on my recent flight to the US, I looked into requesting a switch to a United flight from Chicago O’Hare to Austin airport.  My initial reaction was “Score — I was able to get on the flight”, and be able to avoid staying the night in a hotel in Chicago.  That was the 30 seconds of elation.  Then the reality of the current flight conditions settled in.  The United flight was initially delayed by 2 hours.  Then, by the time we actually boarded the plane (after having to wait for a flight crew to arrive from another city) it was already 3, or 3+ hours delay.    Well, you may say, “Whats the big deal — only 3 hours delay…”  —- But that was not all.  Once we boarded the plane the additional wait started.  Come to find out (based on the plane captain’s update to us the passengers) — the baggage handlers had decided to go home.  So after midnight the Chicago O’Hare airport was being served by a tiny crew of baggage handlers — statements were made to the effect of “Only 2 baggage handlers are servicing all the gates in this part of the airport.  No, we do not know when they will get to our plane….”

The net effect was that we had to sit for a whole lot of time on the tarmac in the plane while someone had to load our bags in the plane.  We (the passengers) could have done that.  I am sure most of us wanted to get it done so we can get back home…..

Well, long story short, eventually the baggage handlers showed up, and eventually we were airborne.  But the sour taste in my mouth remains — what a crazy setup — You have a whole bunch of aircraft / flights canceled, you have a whole lot of  tired and frustrated passengers, and NO ONE from the airport management makes an effort to ensure that at least the ground crews are operational….. Go figure….!

That was a very frustrating experience.   So where was that bill of passenger rights

I wonder….

Happy Travels!

Buying Murano Style Glass Jewelry in the Silk Street Market in Beijing

When I was in the Silk Street Market in Beijing last month buying some stock for my online jewelry store, Chinafinds, I noticed that there were a number of stalls selling beautiful Murano / Venetian style glass jewelry. There was no attempt to pass it off as ‘genuine Murano glass’ or ‘authentic Venetian glass’ as it was very clearly made in China. It would be hard to imagine importing the genuine art glass from Italy and selling it in a Beijing market anyway!

At any rate, the quality of many of the items that I saw was quite good and the prices were much, much lower than those of the real Italian Murano glass items that I have seen. I had seen Chinese Murano style glass jewelry in the markets in previous years, but the amount was smaller and the quality was not nearly as good. Clearly, the Chinese manufacturers are perfecting their techniques.

Buying Cloisonne Jewelry at Hongqiao Pearl Market in Beijing

Still on Day 2 of my recent trip to Beijing—my daughter and I headed back to Hongqiao Pearl Market after lunch and a bathroom break at the hotel (for those of you who have never had the pleasure of visiting Beijing, a visit to the hotel bathroom is generally infinitely preferable to using the (un)sanitary facilities when one is out and about!). This time, we were in search of cloisonné jewelry. Like cinnabar, cloisonné is an ancient Chinese decorative art. To create cloisonné, wires are first arranged on the item to be decorated in the desired design and then the spaces in between are filled with successive layers of colored enamel. Finally, the item is fired and polished. Cloisonne can be used to create decorative plates, bowls and ornaments as well as jewelry, but today we were only interested in its jewelry applications.

The large central area of the third floor of the Hongqiao Pearl Market is devoted to pearls and to get to the place where cloisonné, cinnabar and other traditional handicrafts are sold, you have to go to the far back reaches of the floor. There you will find a multitude of items other than cinnabar and cloisonne—wood carvings, rugs, stone carvings, Christmas ornaments, Chinese seals (chops), decorative boxes, glass spheres with carvings inside them, hairpins, writing pens, writing brushes, ink sticks, wall hangings and more! Bargaining is, of course, essential. We finally found a few places selling good quality cloisonné bracelets. One of the vendors, who was selling cloisonné of higher quality than those in the neighboring stalls, was particularly informative about the different quality levels of cloisonné. She showed us the difference between cloisonné items that were lighter weight and had a rougher texture and those that were heavier and had a smoother, more polished texture. From what I understood of her explanation in Chinese, the former used a less expensive four-step process in its manufacture and the latter used a lengthier and pricier six-step process. I may not have understood her all that clearly, but I was impressed with the quality of the items I purchased from her. There was clearly a difference between the two types of cloisonné and the six-step process simply produced a higher quality product. We purchased both cloisonné bangle bracelets and hand-knotted cloisonné bead necklaces from her and then returned back to the hotel to collapse in our comfortable room.

Buying Cinnabar Jewelry at the Hongqiao Pearl Market in Beijing

On Day 2 of my recent trip to Beijing, I rose early from my comfortable bed at the Holiday Inn Temple of Heaven, urged on by my nine year old daughter who was worried that we would miss out on all the good stuff at the complimentary breakfast buffet if we didn’t arrive sufficiently early. After quick showers and a long breakfast (the breakfast buffet really was quite tasty and all the good stuff wasn’t gone!), my daughter and I got into a taxi and headed over to the Hongqiao Pearl Market.

The market is located right beside the beautiful Temple of Heaven, so it is quite convenient to do both of them in one day. However, we had already had several pleasant outings at the Temple of Heaven in the past, and today only shopping was on our agenda. We entered the Hongqiao Pearl Market through a side entrance as it appears to be undergoing some sort of construction facelift, leaving the front entrance not easily accessible, and went straight to the jewelry section. To do this, we had to march determinedly past the first floor vendors selling scarves and knickknacks and electronic equipment, evade the second floor vendors as they tried to sell us shoes, clothing, luggage and purses, and go right up to the third floor where all the jewelry is. This morning, our objective was jewelry made from carved cinnabar. Cinnabar jewelry has an interesting history; originally, it was made from a tree sap lacquer that was colored by the beautiful but toxic mineral cinnabar (otherwise known as mercury sulfide). The resulting red lacquer was painted onto an item in multiple coats, letting the item dry between each coat, and then the resulting layers of lacquer were carved by artisans in decorative patterns. Obviously it wasn’t known at the time that the mineral cinnabar was dangerous and any poisoning that resulted was probably low level enough never to be noticed. Today, Chinese cinnabar products contain no actual cinnabar—the classic red color associated with cinnabar is provided by a harmless red dye.

Cinnabar jewelry, our objective of the morning, comes in many forms. One of the most common is the cinnabar bangle bracelet. Carved with a variety of traditional Chinese designs, these bracelets come in various widths and sizes. Some aren’t even red—I encountered pure black cinnabar bracelets on this visit for the first time. There are also cinnabar bead necklaces, cinnabar pendant necklaces, and cinnabar earrings. My daughter and I managed to buy a good quantity of each type of cinnabar jewelry and came back to the hotel laden with loot. Our next objective would be cloisonné, but that could wait until after lunch!

A Visit to the Malian Dao Tea Street Market in Beijing

On the first day of my recent trip to Beijing, I decided to take the afternoon and visit the Malian Dao Tea Street Market in the southwest corner of Beijing.   This fascinating market stocks a dizzying array of Chinese tea and tea accessories and is a cultural experience in itself.  There are a large number of stores in this area, but the one that my daughter and I went to was a four story edifice that houses a multitude of small vendors.  The first floor is crammed with hundreds of small tea stalls, primarily selling loose leaf tea but also stocking teapots, tea leaf storage canisters, tea cups, etc.  The second and third floors replicate the more crowded first floor, although the price seems to go up as you ascend to the upper levels.  (The fourth floor doesn’t appear to sell tea at all, but has unrelated stores and perhaps a restaurant—I’m not sure!) On this visit, I concentrated on the first floor and ended up buying 6 pounds of loose leaf tea—four pounds of jasmine tea and two of green tea.  The tea was remarkably reasonably priced at about $8.50 per pound and it was very good quality.  Of course the initial selling price was around three times as much, but that is to be expected in a Chinese market.  The obligatory bargaining was good practice for my scheduled visit the next day to the Hongqiao Pearl Market to buy jewelry for my online store Chinafinds.

Don’t miss out on the Holiday Inn Temple of Heaven on your next trip to Beijing!

On my recent trip to Beijing to visit friends and purchase new stock for my online store Chinafinds, I stayed in the Holiday Inn Temple of Heaven. For anyone not familiar with this hotel, it is a real bargain jewel. Its biggest drawback is its location, which is convenient to the Hongqiao Pearl Market and the Temple of Heaven itself, but not to anything else. However, it still fairly central and a fairly short cab ride can get you anywhere you need to go. I really like the hotel because 1) the price is right (about $100 for an executive floor room with buffet breakfast included) 2) the staff are very kind and attentive 3) the rooms, at least on the executive floor, are clean, well kept up and comfortably furnished 4) the food in the breakfast buffet is good. I have stayed in many fancy and expensive hotels around the world and consider myself to be quite a hotel snob, but this place meets my basic standards and doesn’t break the bank.

More Legroom in Economy Plus Middle Section on United 747s

Recently, I traveled with my nine year old daughter to Beijing to visit friends and buy jewelry for my website, Chinafinds. As my daughter had elite status on United, we were able to sit in the Economy Plus section. This is particularly important on the San Francisco - Beijing flight, because United uses rather tired old 747s for that route and as I’m sure you know, they lack the amenities of the newer 777s such as seatback video and are generally not as spiffy. Anyway, the 747 had a 3 – 5 – 3 configuration (meaning three seats next to the window on either side of the plane flanking five seats in the middle section). We were in the middle five, and I noted to my surprise that the seats in the middle five had considerably more legroom (by about two inches) than the seats in the outer three on either side of the aisle. The difference was apparent to the naked eye and I confirmed it by taking an actual measurement. I was surprised, as this detail was not indicated on Seatguru, one of my favorite travel tools. I habitually check Seatguru whenever I fly to make sure of getting the best seat possible. However, this small detail was not noted there. Anyway, my daughter and I were pleased to be in the section with superior legroom and enjoyed our 12 hour flight to Beijing to the extent to which it was possible.

Watch Out for a New Scam — this one organized by “clever” taxi driver

Well, when you thought you have finally mastered the various forms in which you might be taken to the cleaners by a clever taxi driver, here is a new one I had not thought is possible — China Daily reported on a weird way to steal — by having an accomplice (to the cab driver) hidden in the trunk of the cab.

According to the report, the cab driver took the unsuspecting passenger on board and only a few minutes after taking off from the airport, informed the passenger that he got an urgent call and needs to head back…. The “helpful” driver found another cab and transfered the passenger’s luggage….It all seemed good until that passenger found out (later on while at home) that her laptop computer was gone — per the report, the police investigation determined that the rogue cab driver had an accomplice hidden in the trunk of the car.  While the vehicle was on its way, that person searched through the luggage and removed valuables…

So on your next taxi ride, pay attention and watch carefully what the driver is doing.