Budget Travel to the Other Side of the World

With bargain airfares and last-minute travel packages, the world is so much smaller than it used to be. A couple years ago, we found a trip to Beijing, China including EVERYTHING for $699. We were skeptical, but other than having to travel between December and February, there were no “catches”.

We had to go to the Chinese Consulate in person for our Visa – fortunately, we lived near Washington, D.C. so that wasn't difficult at all. The flight was long. In fact it was so long that we saw five movies and ate four meals. Most of the meals were Ramen Noodles and tea. There were only a handful of Westerners among the 300 or so passengers on our plane; mostly young Chinese traveling home to visit family.

Stepping off the plane and seeing the words “China Border Control” was the first of five days’ worth of mind-boggling experiences. Everything was so different from anything we’d experienced before. Even the toilets at the airport were perplexing – porcelain bowls mounted flush with the floor that you squatted over. I never did figure out which way you are supposed to face. Also, you are expected to bring your own toilet tissue (fortunate, we’d read that in a guide book and came prepared).

All tours to China are led by one of two agencies. The guide for our group of 14 people asked us to call her “Susan”. Susan picked us up every morning at our hotel and dropped us off at the end of the day – although we did squeeze in some free time. One evening, she took a handful of us to the grocery store where she shopped; we never would have found it by ourselves – or even recognized it as a grocery store from the street. We had a ball buying mystery packages to bring home with us. In exchange, we shared our IPod with Susan and answered dozens of questions about life in the United States. She told us that she wants to see Las Vegas and Disney Land (that made me feel a little sad – there is so much more to America than neon attractions).

We loved getting to know our 23-year-old guide. She was a second daughter and didn’t legally exist until she was nearly seven. Having more than one child is not permitted. Susan’s parents paid over ten thousand dollars on the Black Market to get Susan credentials so she could go to school and eventually get a job. She told us one other thing that has stuck with me - One day on the tour bus; she asked us all if our parents ever told us, “Clean your plates – think of the poor starving children in China”. “Well,” she said, “my parents were those starving children.”

We spent our first day in Beijing getting over jet lag and wandering the neighborhood around our Western style hotel. Our room was lovely (Western Style fixtures in the bath), very roomy, and came complete with an electric kettle and tea service.

Breakfast was a new experience – I guess we thought everyone in the world ate bacon and eggs for breakfast. The hotel offered Western fare, but also rice and salad and bunch of other stuff we wouldn’t have ever considered for breakfast.

Susan picked us up after breakfast and took us, just around the corner, to Tiananmen Square, the largest public plaza in the world. Erected in 1417 at the height of the Ming Dynasty, the square was renovated and renamed two centuries later at the onset of the Great Qing Dynasty. We saw the Great Hall of the People, the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, and the Square's famed ceremonial gateway. We also saw armed soldiers, and when we tried to discuss the student revolt that occurred there; Susan said it never happened. OK, whatever – you’re our host.

Susan had warned me that wherever I went (with my white hair and blue eyes) people would come up to me. She said that in her country everyone is “colored the same” and that some people have never seen anyone different. I didn’t really believe it, but it was true. Little children, particularly, came up and stroked my hair – very interesting experience.

From here, we ventured north for a visit to the Forbidden City (Imperial Palace), a construction comparable to the Pyramids in Egypt. Known today as the Palace Museum, the entire site covers over 447 square miles, encompassing 800 buildings with more than 8,000 rooms. In 1987, UNESCO declared the grounds a World Heritage Site as the "Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing Dynasties," as it is home to the world's largest preserved collection of ancient wooden architecture. We walked with our jaws dropped and our legs aching for miles and miles. Can’t even begin to describe it.

After lunch, we visited the 15th century Temple of Heaven, with its white-marbled, circular altar (Henry Kissinger called it one of the most beautiful buildings in the world. Then we went to a thousand year-old Confucius Temple. Our heads were spinning by the time we got back to the hotel for a light supper and an exhausted sleep.

The next day we visited the Lama Temple which was built in 1694 (where we saw thousands of people kowtowing and burning incense – I joined the throngs and asked for some personal indulgences for health, wealth, and family). Next we were off to the Beijing Zoo’s Panda house. Wow!

After lunch, we went to the Summer Palace which served as the summer residence of the imperial households of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. There was two mile long art gallery, a boat made from marble, and our favorite – artists practicing Chinese character drawing on the sideways with 3-foot long paint brushes dipped in water. Their masterpieces would evaporate after just a few minutes.

Our trip to the Great Wall was a highlight of our trip. Pictures don’t do it justice – and we can’t say anything more than “Go now, do it, or you’ll regret it forever.”

We also stopped at a Jade factory, a place where artists do beautiful Cloisonné vases and finally, the Ming Tombs where thirteen former emperors are buried. It was another full day.

We took off alone in a taxi on our final day. Since very few of the taxi drivers speak English, we had the concierge at our hotel write the addresses of our hotel and also the places we were going in Chinese characters. We found a wonderful aquarium that rivaled anything we’d seen before. Then we shopped, Oh my, how we shopped. Pearls and jade (real, beautiful and unbelievably cheap); electronics (good quality, patent-infringement stuff); and design knock-offs (fake Rolex watches and couture purses). We did all our Christmas shopping in about 2 hours. Our final stop was a restaurant renowned for its Peking duck – best meal we’ve ever had – and the bill for our feast was about $6 TOTAL.

We were both a little teary eyed as we headed home. We saw fabulous sites and met wonderfully warm people. But then don’t’ we meet wonderful people everywhere we go. The world is so small – just don’t understand why we can’t all get along. I really believe that traveling to other places and getting to know the people there - one on one - is the key to world peace. Do your part, go now.