Lama Temple

Arriving in Beijing

About 2h30 before landing, the crew commenced the second service.  It appears to be the Air China way to serve drinks, then the meal and follow-up with a second drinks round before collecting in.  That means one doesn’t have a drink handy with the meal as there is no preset water.  So, I know not to finish my first drink now.

Touching down at 0400, immigration was swift with hardly any queue in the foreigner lane, which suggested that most of the Poles were connecting onwards.  While immigration was done near the gates, it was a slow train ride to the baggage claim and customs area.

My bags were x-rayed but no one was monitoring the screen.  Or so I thought.  An officer popped up from behind the partitions and beckoned me for a check.  Then I saw that he had a multitude of screens and knew that I was Malaysian (probably from facial recognition).

They were interested in a metal object in my under seat bag but couldn’t find it there, then proceeded to look in my larger pack.  They rescreened by bags and then gave up.

It was 0455 by then.  I changed into lighter clothes in anticipation of the hot weather of 34 degC (and 38 degC tomorrow).

Despite having eaten before landing, I felt a bit peckish and bought a sandwich and drink from the airport convenience store.  It was such a relief to see Chinese prices (even at the airport) at a level where I no longer have to think twice.  Goodbye European prices!

By then, it was nearly time to head to the Capital Express train stop for the 0622 ride to the city.  It would have been a faster than the 30 mins ride if it weren’t for the long stop at Terminal 2.

I got to the Baiman Hotel around 0715.  For a hotel with excellent rating and nice photos of the rooms (on Trip.com), the small reception looked messy with lots of stored bags and various posters.

The lady in front of me was told that no rooms were available for an early check-in, even if she had offered to pay.  So, I didn’t ask needlessly and kept my bag at reception before deciding where to go to kill some time.

Lama Temple

I headed out by metro around 0745 headed for the Lama Temple, which I couldn’t remember if I had visited before.  But checking while queueing for it open, I realised that I had indeed visited 21 years ago.

With my bodyclock at 0215 Polish time (0815 China time), the 15 min queue felt long and I questioned my choice.  Fortunately, being the first day of the Chinese month, the temple opened at 0830 rather than 0900.

The queue moved reasonably quickly and I got my ticket from a counter at a much cheaper price compared to Trip.com (which is unusual).  Locals would have got it through WeChat, but it wasn’t going to happen for me being illiterate.

Lama Temple or officially Yonghe Lamasery was built in 1694. It was the largest Buddhist temple in its time, in the country.

I spent about 45 mins exploring the five main halls, organised in a north-sound direction.  So, the temple complex is quite deep, if one explores it from the main entrance till the final hall.  Each hall contains statues which people come to pray to.

Text continues after this gallery.

Around 0930, I was done and had to work out where else I could go.  Over an iced coffee from Mixue, I sat down and decided that it would be the shopping area of Wangfujing.  It’s like the Orchard Road or Champs Elysee of Beijing.

Getting there by metro and a walk in the hot sun around 1045, I was very disappointed.  The place was very quiet.  I could remember a couple of buildings from my last visit but it was largely very high-end brands and there was very little eating.  In short, there was nothing in it for me.

Text continues after this gallery.

At around 1130, I thought it was time to head back and try my luck to get into my hotel room.  I bought a Chinese tandoor bread filled meat and pickle to make it my lunch but it wasn’t a good one (perhaps not adequately reheated).

Much needed rest

Back at the hotel around 1230, I was led to my room, which was like the photos on Trip.com, even though the reception area had scared me off a little.  My room came complete with a washing machine.

I slept from 1300 to 1430 before staying cool indoors until about 1800 when the weather had cooled sufficiently.

With the extreme weather, it was already warm and very sticky at the airport around at 0400.  It became hotter but dryer while exploring this morning.  But in the evening, I could feel the heat coming off the pavement from the day’s strong sunshine.

I headed out to Sanlitun, the city’s other shopping area.  Like Wangfujing, it was too upmarket for me.  But there were some food choices, but not exactly a lot.  Both Sanlitun and Wangfujing seem pale in comparison (or sedate) to the centre areas of other cities like Wuhan, Chongqing and Xian.

Text continues after this gallery.

Despite my nap, I was super tired once back at the hotel and turned the lights off at 2100.  It had been a long day with 18000 steps before my afternoon nap, and over 24000 steps by bed time.