Before I was distracted by the politics involved with the destruction of hutongs in Bejing I was starting to tell you about our own hutong tour. I had this blog half done only to have Internet Explorer crash on me before I had hit save, which did not make me a happy camper. Let's try take two...

part 1

part 2


January 12, 2007
With Jeff staying back at the hotel to keep an eye on Alyssa while she rested, the rest of us headed out to where the hutong tour would start. As soon as we arrived, Simon informed me that I needed small bills to tip the drivers of the pedicabs as well as the tour guide. There was thankfully a small shop on the corner where I was able to buy some bottled water and get small bills in return.

Since it was bitter cold this morning, I was thrilled to see that the drivers of the pedicabs each had a blanket for their passengers. Since each driver took two passengers, we divided up into Micheline with me, Taylor with Ben so Taylor could interpret anything that was said along the way, and Caleb with our guide Simon since they both spoke Mandarin and Simon would be able to tell Caleb anything he needed to know. Our tour guide rode alone in front of us all and was a very well dressed and distinguished looking man. He was very kind and told us that we could ask him anything and he would do his best to answer it.

Since boys will be boys, Caleb and Ben were pretty much bored by the history of Beijing and hutongs, and instead only cared about who could encourage their driver to pedal the fastest. They would shout out excitedly--one in English and one in Mandarin-- for their drivers to pedal faster so they could beat the other one to the next destination.

As I mentioned previously, we toured through areas that have clearly been spiffed up for tourists. Walls were all freshly painted, and unfortunately, we rode through many alleyways, but didn't see much except for the two predetermined stops of a school and a local family. I would love instead to pay someone to take me into their neighborhood and just see what their daily lives are really like without everything appearing perfect for the American tourists.

continued...