Wrapping it up!

Wednesday was our last full day in China.  We decided to join up with two other ladies that we had met on the tour and visit a hutong.  A hutong is a neighborhood area with many of the houses built around a small quadrangle.  Once Beijing was full of hutongs but most of the hutongs have been ripped down to make way for skyscrapers, new apartment buildings and highways.  We took a taxi to the Shichahai hutong..  At the hutong, we went over the pedicab stand.  What is a pedicab?  A pedicab is a cross between a bicycle and a taxi.  The front of a pedicab has a single wheel and looks like a bicycle with a seat for the driver.  The back of the pedicab has two wheels, a place for two people to sit with folding hood/roof/umbrella that goes over the top of the passengers.   Why were we taking a pedicab?  The streets of the hutong are very narrow and cars can not go down them.  The hutong is fairly large and walking around is would take too long plus this looked like much more fun.
       Dr. Novak and I climbed into the lead pedicab and our friends hopped into theirs.  Neither of our drivers spoke much English.  Our lead driver would come to a special attraction and yell out the name and keep pedaling on.  Some times other pedicabs or those ‘pickup truck style’ bicycles would swerve in front of us and our driver would have to put the breaks on.  At a couple of spots, our driver had to get down and walk the bicycle up a steep incline.
            We came to a very rough part of the road and our driver motioned for us to get down.  The four of us with the second driver took off on foot to explore some of the hutong.  This driver took us to various shops.  None of us really wanted to shop but there was little we could do.  After some more wandering through the maze of streets, we got back to where the two pedicabs were.  Off we took again only to have the chain break on our pedicab.  This required another stop and even more time to ‘fix’ the chain.
            When we came near the exit of the hutong , our driver head off in another direction!  All of us were getting a little worried and happy when they stopped about hundred yards down this narrow alley.  We all realized what they were up to after we got out of the pedicab.  THEY wanted more money because it had taken more than hour.  We said ‘NO’ because they had wasted some of our time.  They followed us down the alley yelling at us.  I turned around and gave them each some more money.  I don’t think I should of but I did.
          Our taxi ride back to near our hotel went fast as we all laughed about our experience and were very thankful that there were four of us not just two.  The taxi dropped us off at Silk Alley which is not an alley but rather a big building full of shops.  Dr. Novak and I need to get some gifts for our grandchildren and children.  This was another one of those experiences that was both good and bad. 
          As you walk down the corridor between the shops, employees try to lure you into their store by calling to you and some even try to grab your sleeve.  Once in the shop, the price for everything has to be negotiated.  The employees start with a high price that you should never take.  You then go back with a price that is lower than what you think it should be.  After much time handing back and forth a calculator with your or their price on it, you finally decide to either buy it or walk away.  Even when you walk away, they still follow you shouting sometimes an even lower price.  This all takes a great deal of time but some people think it is great fun.  Dr. Novak and I didn’t and we were very tired when we walked back to our hotel. 
            Our flight home was long BUT we got to Chicago an hour before we left Beijing.  Yes, I was time traveling again.  Do you remember when I mentioned I rubbed the turtle’s nose for good luck at the Ming Tombs and Dr. Novak didn’t?  Poor Dr. Novak did NOT have good luck.  The airline lost his suitcase and they still haven’t found it.  Thankfully, all the present we bought were in my suitcase. 
             I am very glad we went to China.  It is a fabulous country and a great experience.  Dr. Novak and I have talked about our trip a great deal.  We both agree that we would go back to China sometime in the future but not really soon.