Day 3: Great Wall, Secret lunch, Tianamen Square, Hutong Shopping, Hou Hai

Best day of my life so far?

China Open Tennis Comapany LTD arranged for a driver to pick us up and take us sight seeing to the Great Wall and other famous places around Beijing. Our friends “Roy,” “Helen,” and “King” met us at our hotel and took us to the Great Wall—which was amazing! Everywhere we went people wanted to take our pictures! 

Their idea.

The Great Wall is unbelievable. Beyond words. We were awe struck as soon as we saw it, and we spent about 2 1/2 hours climbing as far as we could--all the way to a temple on the mountainside that we could barely see from the starting point. 

The temple we climbed to at the top of the mountain side.

We didn’t realize the path to the temple was incredibly steep until we got there and tried to come back—but it was so worth it. 

Most beautiful place I've ever been.

Forgot my Slinky.

Pretty good year for me all around!

Climbing the wall was definitely an accomplishment--felt like running a 5k! About 3/4 of the way that we climbed we found a gift area where I bought a " I CLIMBED THE GREAT WALL" t-shirt. New favorite.

People wouldn't stop taking our picture. This made this woman's day I am pretty sure.

This little kid LOVED taking pictures of me.

My new best friend.

After the great wall, our driver picked us up around lunch time. We didn’t know where to go, so he suggested this tiny little hutong that he knew of.  It turned out to be an amazing local place that had never served Americans before!

The family that lives here grows and makes their own ingredients in a small vegetable garden in the back.

I love these Chinese lanterns that are everywhere...

We had NO idea what was coming-- loved all the tea!

They sat us down at this big round table with a lazy susan in the middle, and just started bringing out dish after dish. We had no idea what to expect, but it turned out to be the best meal I’ve ever had in China ( so far!)  It was literally a feast served by the most adorable family.  We had so much fun and I’ve never tasted such amazing food.

The mother and grandmother would come in and bring more and more food every few minutes!

You name it--we had it! Amazing!

In the center was this huge pot that was heated from beneath the table. Inside was huge hand-made noodles, pork, cabbage, and other delicious veggies and tofu. We couldn't get enough!

Only chopstick masters could get into this at first--the mom laughed at us and brought us a spoon.

They insisted on taking pictures of us as their first “foreign customers.” 

This woman is amazing--she reminded me so much of my Polish grandma Burdzy.

After lunch we thanked the family for giving us a FEAST, and our driver took us to Tianamen Square and the Front Gate. It was SO huge and very, very clean—we saw workers picking up single peanuts off the ground, which was impeccable.

No photo can do it justice, it was so enormous. 

A grandma holds a baby up to a guard--he wasn't feeling it.

Our friends showed us another area filled with little shops. We walked up and down the street looking at art, clothes, and all sorts of little trinkets for a few hours, then went back to our hotel where we braved our first dinner at a place around the hotel. I took the job of ordering for the group--it went pretty well I'm proud of myself! 

It was so cool to just walk up and down the streets of Beijing
--and our driver would just pick us up wherever we ended up!

We were very lucky to get along so well with the three "representatives" from the China Open who we met the first day, because they volunteered to come along with us the entire day and were essentially the best tour guides possible! We not only saw major tourist sights, but they showed us all the best local fare--not to mention guided most of our purchasing/bartering! 

Day 2: Credentials, Training, Sardine Subway, Hou Hai

Just the credentials of China Open's official press conference coordinator. 

We took the 10:20 shuttle from our hotel to the stadium area, where we received our credentials. They basically grant us permission to enter each stadium and get into the media center and office areas. Our guides are Chinese student volunteers who are studying communications in Beijing. They gave us meal cards and showed us where we get free lunch and dinner during the tournament, and introduced us to our bosses. 

Standing center court at Lotus Stadium. Tourist role reversal.

We got our “uniforms” which are great. We each got China Open polos, jackets, hats, and fannie packs.  We aren't required to wear the shirts but they are pretty cool.  They insisted on taking our pictures in the press room—so we had fun showing off our China Open swag.

Not mad about the hat OR the fannie.

We took a tour of the stadium and the sponsoring vendors, and we were trained for our positions. I will be working with the ATP and WTA officers, scheduling and organizing press conferences after matches and doing multi-media editing for the China Open website.

Center court at Lotus Stadium, built for the 2008 Beijing Olympics

Our credentials get us into all 9 courts, and Lotus and Moon Stadium. We have access all the way down to the floor throughout the tournament! We watched some practice matches and couldn't believe how close we were!

The outside of Lotus Stadium-games start in a few days!

Junior players are having matches in the next few days, and we got to sit in on a few games during our tour. The venue is surrounded by sponsor tents and local entertainment.

After our full training sessions, we took the shuttle back to the hotel with some ITF players and their coaches, then took off for a trip to the Pearl Market. It was our first official subway experience and we did pretty well—we were packed in like sardines.

Yep,  just squeeze right in.

Okay, just nine more stops.

We took two lines to get to the right street, but by the time we got all the way to the Pearl Market, it was closed! We missed it by a few minutes… But now we know how to get there!

We took a cab for 10 yuan each  to Hou Hai, where we had dinner and walked around for a few hours.

Couldn't decide where to stop there were so many amazing places.

View of the other side of Hou Hai
A bunch of shops, clubs, and restaurants lining the water on both sides.
TO DO list: take one of those little boats!

At the entrance Hou Hai...

Where we stopped for a drink!

"Tsingtao" was 10 Yuan, less than $1.50 in US dollars.

Probably the coolest strip of entertainment I've ever seen. 

REAL green tea

Everywhere we looked there were people sitting outside, playing live music, and trying to get you into their restaurants.  Tomorrow we are coming back to explore some more. I loved the street vendors with lanterns, art, and all sorts of street food.  We stopped in for a drink after dinner and sat outside on couches that lined the riverside. Love Beijing!

Day 1: North Poles, Mercedes Benz, Roast Duck

Woke up easily this morning when my alarm when off at 4:50—I slept great-- which I wasn’t sure would happen.  I met up with the rest of my group at the airport and we took a plane for babies called the “United Express” to Chicago.  Smallest commercial plane ever, but it was a nice short flight over to O’Hare.

My “top ten” places to visit:

1. Great Wall

2. 798 Space

3. Temple of Heaven

4. Forbidden City

5. Tian’an Men Square

6. Summer Palace

7.  Pearl/Silk markets

8.  Hou Hai

9. Lama Temple (Younghegong) Buddhist Temple

10. Confucian Teahouse

Our flight was just fine. We all were in the middle section but at least we were together. We were cozy, and I had one of those horseshoe pillows so I did alright. It was crazy to watch the GPS tracker of our journey—we actually went up over the North Pole! Felt pretty strange to literally be on top of the world. 

And to think, Santa's workshop is just 6 hours from Chicago...

On the plane I read the sports biography,  “Open” by Andre Agassi.  It really got me in the mood to watch some great tennis. It’s unbelievable how serious people get over training to become a pro tennis player—and many of those people are going to be playing in the qualifying rounds for the China Open in just a few days.

On the plane we get “United Chinese Noodles” not bad!

We finally arrive in BEIJING! At around 2:45 Beijing time. We check in through customs, take a train to where our bags are delivered, and meet up with our China Open “receivers” who flag us down and show us where to exchange our US dollars.  Dr. Zhang meets us outside the baggage carousel, where people waiting are taking pictures of us!

I like it here already.

After we exchange some money and get our things together, we follow our “guides”  outside the airport, where our transportation is waiting.

We didn’t expect to get picked up by “China Open” Mercedes Benz!  We went two to a car and felt like celebrities.  We drove following each other with the blinkers on, like a motor brigade. It was all so surreal and the next thing you know we were driving around Beijing.

I could get used to this....

Our hotel is connected to a China theme park, and is very clean and modern.  Not like the Holiday Inn’s in America at all, our hotel has a beautiful dining area on a patio and a chic looking lounge.  All the junior tennis teams are staying here as well.

We’re right by the Bird’s Nest and the Water Cube built for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and after we settle into our rooms, we meet to go to dinner. 

Again a line of Mercedes escorts us, and we make our way to our dinner location—totally unsure of where we are going!  All of the sudden our driver points to the right and pulls over. We find ourselves at the “Beijing Olympic Villiage Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant” where we are escorted to a private room on the second floor.

We walk into a beautiful room with a huge round table and find Yabin Zhang, Director of the China Open Tennis Company, LTD., and several of his staff members. We are treated to an amazing meal that had at least 20 courses. We couldn’t even try everything. It was all beautifully prepared and presented to us on a huge green centerpiece that spun around.

We had an official toast and spent several hours chatting with the China Open staff and trying some crazy dishes. 

Sweet and sour fish.
 Actual name of this was something about a squirrel they said not to worry....

Our chef slicing the roast duck.

China Open Chairmen Yabin Zhang and our program directors Ernest Zhang and Jean Abbott.

Tomorrow we have our first training meeting at the stadium and will be doing sight-seeing in the afternoon!

Tomorrow we FLY

Welp--tomorrow’s the day we leave for Beijing! After several weeks of meetings and some intense tennis background reports, it’s finally time for the tournament! I’ve spent hours pouring over the ATP and WTA player’s lists, putting together and updating bios of the players coming to the China Open.

When we first arrive we’ll have time to visit the stadium and do some sight seeing before the big games begin. I’m planning on watching as many of the qualifying matches as possible before the real tournament starts. At our meeting we with Blake Starkey, the head tennis coach at MIZZOU, we were told to look out for the “drama” at the qualifiers. 

These players are intense--even more so than the big players who play in million dollar matches.  They’ve given up everything in their lives to try to make it in tennis. For some of them, the qualifying rounds at the China Open are “make it or break it”.   Losing a point here could literally change a life. I’m looking forward to tons of good tennis—plus, I can’t wait to see where my “credentials” will take me.

Tomorrow morning I fly out of St. Louis to Chicago, then all the way to Beijing. It’s crazy to think that I will be half way around the world within 24 hours! I’m all packed up and ready to go…

Prep Work-Culture and Transport

To get ready for the China Open, we've been having meetings twice a week to go over everything from tennis rules, to player bios, to Chinese culture.  Dr. Ernest Zhang and two graduate students, Gracie Sun and Tina Ma, gave a presentation to help introduce our group to Chinese culture.  Spanning from history to travel tips,  the presentation helped us to prepare for the experience of traveling to a completely foreign country.


Dr. Zhang began with several definitions of the word “culture.”  He emphasized that understanding a nation’s culture is not limited to the broad categories of language, food, and religion; but is really more of a macro definition that includes deep-rooted beliefs, norms, systems of knowledge, and communication standards of a community.

The good news is that I already love all things Asian.

He stressed that culture encompasses much more than just history and facts, and that we should be prepared and open-minded in order to soak in as much experience as we can from our opportunity to visit another culture. We're learning as much as we can about China before we leave for Beijing, but I know that nothing I read about will ever compare to experiencing it in person....

Another big issue we discussed was public transportation while we are there:

Updated in 2008, Beijing subway lines now include English signage--whew! 

We went over the subway systems and the best ways to get around in Beijing.  I feel much more comfortable after our meeting because they have been largely altered to accommodate English speakers since the 2008 Beijing Olympics. This means SIGNS in English!  We're going to get to and from the stadium using shuttles from our hotel, and I am planning on taking the subway and cabs to do some sight seeing. 

Beijing taxi driver--heard they are wild!
photo from http://blog.chinesehour.com/?p=951

Oh, the taxis. We received some tips on working with cab drivers--as in never leaving the hotel without having the name of our destination written out in Chinese! I'm going to get about four things with my hotel address on it to keep with me at all times--I'm not trying to get lost in Beijing! The fare for cabs and subways is incredibly cheap, it's just the language barrier I'm worried about, so public transportation will definitely be something to master...