Jillian comes to China!

My best friend from childhood, Jillian, came to visit me in China last week. She arrived in Beijing on Saturday, and I met her at the airport. We came back to Zan and Rebecca’s apartment (they were nice enough to host us, even though they were gone that week due to the Chinese Dragon BoatFestival), and got freshened up. 

The Glorious Reunion!

Then we headed to Din Tai Feng for a delicious dumpling dinner. We had a group of 7 so they gave us a particularly fancy room, complete with high ceilings, two couches, and an elaborate chandelier. After dinner, we went to KTV with more friends.

Sunday, Jillian, Mark, and I went to a western brunch. From there, Jillian and I went to Tiananmen Square and did a tour of the Forbidden City with Newman Tours. It was down pouring at the beginning and lightened up towards the end, but overall not the most pleasant environment to be walking around outside in for several hours. 

Tiananmen Square (even the camera fogged up in the rain)

The Emperor and First Wife

Afterwards, we went home and changed into some warmer and dryer clothes. Then we met up with Mark again for dinner at a Yunnan restaurant in Fangjia Hutong. After that, we did another tour with the same guide, Chris, from Newman Tours- a ghost tour of the hutongs! It wasn’t particularly scary, but there were good stories about Chinese monsters, leaping vampires, and faceless Chinese female ghosts. It was pretty creppy walking around dark, empty hutong alleys. 

Monday morning, we woke up early to go to the Great Wall. For my fourth trip, we went to 黄花 Huanghua (I’ve been to a different part of the Great Wall for each trip). Technically this part of the wall is closed to tourists because the government hasn’t restored a lot of it, although it’s not exactly wild wall either. We took bus 916 from 东直门 dongzhimen to 怀柔县汽车站 Huairou bus station, and then got a cab for 50rmb/person/trip (so 200rmb total for the two of us, round trip) to the wall. He let us off, and we crossed over the top of a damn to the base of the wall:

This part of the wall is next to a large reservoir. 

Then we paid a villager for a “ticket,” which cost 3rmb (about 50 US cents), and hiked up to the sketchy ladder up to the wall:

Sketch Ladder

The Reservoir

We hiked around the wall for about an hour. I think this is my favorite part of the wall yet. So far, I’ve been to Badaling, Mutianyu, and Jinshanling. But Huanghua has a lake at the base, and is surrounded by a lot of mountains, making it particularly beautiful. It was also quite steep so we had fun playing around there.

Zen on the Wall

More Zen

Super Asian!

Then on the way back to Beijing, our driver randomly stopped on the side of the street to buy some fruit, which he then gave to us! So sweet! I still don't know exactly what it was, but it was delicious!

Then we returned to Beijing to find that Zan and Rebecca’s apartment had run out of electricity. In China, you don’t get bills for a lot of your utilities and expenses. Instead things just stop working when you run out. Theoretically, you’re supposed to check up on these things to make sure you don’t run out, but it’s hard to remember and know when approximately you need to be more wary. Unfortunately since Zan and Rebecca were out of town, I had to figure out what to do. They hadn’t recharged their electricity before since moving in two weeks ago so it was really up to me to figure it out. The management office was closed, and other people told me that they’d be closed until Thursday because of the Dragon Boat Festival. After contemplating moving to a hostel or a friend’s couch, we decided to tough it out without electricity until we went back to Xi’an on Wednesday. That afternoon, we took showers (luckily there was still hot water in the tank) by candle light, and I went to Shu (a Chinese friend who lives above Zan’s last apartment in the same complex)’s house to charge my phone and computer. 

Candlelit Shower

Monday night we went to Duck de chine for Peking Duck, one of Beijing’s specialties, with Jeremy and Chantal. Of course it was delicious, but I still think Made In China is my favorite duck restaurant in Beijing. 

DUCK!

Afterwards, the four of us went to Janes &Hooch, a no nonsense speakeasy style cocktail bar that just opened in Beijing. The menu was hilarious, complete with a set of rules, which included things such as “No hitting on other guests” and “Don’t order stupid drinks, like B52s, Cosmos, or anything Neon.” I had a West Side, and it was great. All the drinks were served in nice classy crystal resembling Waterford Crystal. 

Jillian, Chantal, and I with our classy cocktails

After our classy cocktails, Jeremy, Jillian, and I went to Great LeapBrewery’s new taproom, which is huge. Sadly they were out of my favorite beer again. Every time I go they’re out of Honey Ma Gold, a light beer with a hint of 麻辣 mala (Sichuan peppercorns that numb your mouth). At least there was still a nice patio, and of course great company!

Jeremy, Jillian, and I squeezed into one small rickshaw, which then got lost and took us over a half hour...

Jeremy and I at Great Leap

Tuesday, Jillian and I went to a cooking class at HiasGourmet to learn “Beijing Specialities.” We made 红烧肉 hongshao you (braised pork belly), 醋溜白菜 culiu baicai (Vinegar Cabbage), 葱爆牛肉 congbao niurou (literally, green onion explosion beef), and 拔丝香蕉 basi xiangjiao (caramelized fried bananas). There were four other Americans and one girl from New Zealand in the class. The teacher was a cute Chinese woman who spoke English well. I feel like I learned a lot from the class, and we got to keep the recipes. I don’t really like that bananas dish in general so I wasn’t so into that, but it was cool to learn how to deep fry and caramelize stuff. 

Courtyard of Hias Gourmet

Cooking Prepartion

Delicious food!

After the cooking class, Jillian and I went to the Silk Market where Jillian got some sunglasses, a watch, and a few gifts. Then as we were about to leave, it started pouring rain, and we were not prepared for the rain so instead we got foot massages and scrubs for an hour. By the time we were done, the rain had stopped and it was time to go to dinner. We met up with Jesse, Shu, and Shu’s brother at Haidilao. Jillian really enjoyed talking with Shu since he’s actually Chinese and speaks great English. She also got her shoes shined, and we both got “manicure” (it’s really more like a polish change, but still fun):

My (free) manicure- love it!

(Free) Shoe Shine

Jillian and I at Haidilao

On Wednesday we just chilled, and met up with Meghan and Gordon for some brunch and coffee at Peking Café. I think I’ll be spending a lot of time at Peking Café in the future as its full of flowers, which I’m obviously so in to. 

Hard at work!

Then we headed to the train station to take the high speed train back to Xi’an. That night, I took Jillian to a local 兰州拉面 Lanzhou Pulled Noodle restaurant. Jillian was obsessed with the simple 凉面cold noodles we got. And a bonus- our waiter, a member of the Salar ethnic minority and native of Qinghai Province, told us all about how he hates the Chinese government, how poor his people are, and how wasteful the “Chinese” people are (I say “Chinese” because he made the point to say he is not Chinese, he is Salar).

Our Salar friend pulling noodles

Thursday we went to see the Terracotta Warriors. After waiting in the burning sun for an hour to board the bus, we finally arrived at the Terracotta site. Little did we know, there’s an insanely long walkway up to the entrance to the pits, and we both got sunburned. I had seen the warriors two years ago when I visited Xi’an for a few days so I wasn’t thrilled about another visit, but Jillian enjoyed it so much that it made it worth it. We got an audio guide, which provided us with an insane number of details about the size of the pits, and the construction of each weapon buried with the warriors. It was a bit much, but interesting. And of course, the people watching at the site was awesome.

Jillian with the warriors in Pit 1

After taking in as much as we could, Jillian and I headed back to the city to the Muslim quarter. We toured the Bell Tower, the Muslim Quarter, and the Great Mosque.

Jillian at the Great Mosque

The Muslim Quarter

Jillian and I at the Bell Tower

A bell at the bell tower

Then we met Giulia for dinner, and had typical Xi’an 麻酱凉皮 cold sesame “Noodles.” Thursday night we went to a birthday party for my friend Charlie and Jillian got to meet a bunch of my Xi'an friends!

BESTIES!

Tiago, Giulia, and I

Friday, we went to the Wild Goose Pagoda, and walked around the park there with Allie. It was very scenic, and all the Chinese people were freaking out over 3 white girls walking around together so there was a lot of picture posing.

Saturday, Jillian and I biked the city wall, which was really fun but super hot. The bikes have been upgraded since the last time I went (2 years ago) so it was much more comfortable, but still bumpy.

Afterwards, Jillian and I went home and relaxed, and had wonderful best friend bonding time. Jillian left Sunday morning. :( It was so wonderful touring Jillian around China, and getting to rediscover all the great little things about life here that I take for granted. Jillian really made me appreciate the amazing experiences that I'm having here, despite the challenges of life in China. She was very interested in every aspect of Chinese society, history, culture, language, etc. so it was fun to get to share all that I've learned with her! And of course, we had a long discussion about the US Constitution and the Supreme Court- nerds for life! Miss you jilliwood!