What a day! Where to start?!
After getting organized for a full day away from the hotel, Montana and LuRue took off down their hutong due east, across a major street, for a 30-minute walk to reach the Hutong Kitchen, where they would spend 2 and a half hours at a cooking lesson. Sophia, originally from Mongolia, was there to direct their efforts toward producing a meal "A Taste of China". Other options not chosen were learning to cook dumplings or pancakes. They were very happy that they chose what they did.
Sophia's excellent English and bubbly personality took us through the nutrients, the colors, the medicinal effects, the organs affected, the effects of combinations, and the 5 basic tastes and 5 basic divisions of liquids. A lot of information for two people who don't cook!!
Everything was extremely well-organized, clean, and ready for us to begin chopping, slicing, and dicing. Then we put it all together and were eating our handiwork in plenty of time to enjoy it. Apparently they are equipped to handle 24 "students" at once, with the use of an additional kitchen. We felt fortunate that we were the only two today as we each got to do everything.
We hopped on a nearby subway & went south to a station (2 transfers) near the Temple of Heaven. Our goal was to find the hotel with a show for tonight to see if we could 1) find the hotel, 2) get tickets for tonight, and 3) figure out how to get back to the subway station easily at night.
By using available maps at the subway station & comparing the Chinese characters (no English), we decided we were on the right street & took off walking. It was obviously not a tourist part of town...almost no English words anywhere & we saw only one group of three European people until we got to the hotel--more there, but only there. Guess most travelers stick to guided tours.
The hotel did have tickets for the show, so we bought them. It had taken us more than a half hour to walk to the hotel, so we asked the ticket lady if there were a faster way to get back to the subway station. She told us which public bus to take.
We had about 3 hours before showtime, so we took off for another 30-minute walk to the Temple of Heaven, which included crossing a major intersection. Fortunately, those kinds of crosswalks give you about 80 seconds to cross, so it's not a problem.
On the way to the West Gate, we passed some sort of building with a dinosaur skeleton outside it...apparently some sort of exhibition of prehistoric artifacts. Montana said, "Oh, look!! Paralyzed trees!!" After LuRue picked herself up off the ground from hysterical laughing, she was able to explain what was so funny.
The walk to the Temple of Heaven from the West Gate was so long that we were unable to get to the ticket office in time to see the actual Temple...it closed at 4:30, but we've seen so many temples that viewing the top half over the fence was good enough.
We planned to exit through the North Gate, stopping first at a restroom. When we came out, we heard music & saw some women dancing in a nearby square, so we went over to watch for about a half hour. We finally decided that they were a troupe practicing their routine. Most wore clothing typical of an ethnic minority...one woman was directing moves & how to hold arms & hands. One little girl about 8 or 9 was also in costume and looked like a natural. It was delightful to watch it all.
We decided we'd better get back to the hotel. We wanted a light snack before the show began. We had VIP reservations for the Beijing Opera which includes snacks, but we ordered a broth soup & a couple of dumplings for dinner.
LuRue had been to the Opera before, but hadn't given Montana any clues. Montana said that she hadn't known what to expect, but she sure didn't expect what we saw. There were actors dressed up in all sorts of kinds of extreme costumes from head to toes, lots and lots of make up, extremely exaggerated acting and strange music. It's like nothing else you can see anywhere.
A half-hour before the performance began, a man set up on stage and applied make-up, then...with help...was dressed in one of the elaborate costumes. A nice addition.
After the performance we followed the instructions for the public bus & got a ride to the subway station, saving us another 30-plus-minute walk. Another couple of subway transfers got us back to our home station, leaving us only a 15-minute walk back to our hotel.
Many miles walked today, but it was a delightful day!!
After getting organized for a full day away from the hotel, Montana and LuRue took off down their hutong due east, across a major street, for a 30-minute walk to reach the Hutong Kitchen, where they would spend 2 and a half hours at a cooking lesson. Sophia, originally from Mongolia, was there to direct their efforts toward producing a meal "A Taste of China". Other options not chosen were learning to cook dumplings or pancakes. They were very happy that they chose what they did.
Two cooks in a kitchen
Sophia's excellent English and bubbly personality took us through the nutrients, the colors, the medicinal effects, the organs affected, the effects of combinations, and the 5 basic tastes and 5 basic divisions of liquids. A lot of information for two people who don't cook!!
Everything was extremely well-organized, clean, and ready for us to begin chopping, slicing, and dicing. Then we put it all together and were eating our handiwork in plenty of time to enjoy it. Apparently they are equipped to handle 24 "students" at once, with the use of an additional kitchen. We felt fortunate that we were the only two today as we each got to do everything.
The final results. Yum!
We hopped on a nearby subway & went south to a station (2 transfers) near the Temple of Heaven. Our goal was to find the hotel with a show for tonight to see if we could 1) find the hotel, 2) get tickets for tonight, and 3) figure out how to get back to the subway station easily at night.
By using available maps at the subway station & comparing the Chinese characters (no English), we decided we were on the right street & took off walking. It was obviously not a tourist part of town...almost no English words anywhere & we saw only one group of three European people until we got to the hotel--more there, but only there. Guess most travelers stick to guided tours.
The hotel did have tickets for the show, so we bought them. It had taken us more than a half hour to walk to the hotel, so we asked the ticket lady if there were a faster way to get back to the subway station. She told us which public bus to take.
We had about 3 hours before showtime, so we took off for another 30-minute walk to the Temple of Heaven, which included crossing a major intersection. Fortunately, those kinds of crosswalks give you about 80 seconds to cross, so it's not a problem.
On the way to the West Gate, we passed some sort of building with a dinosaur skeleton outside it...apparently some sort of exhibition of prehistoric artifacts. Montana said, "Oh, look!! Paralyzed trees!!" After LuRue picked herself up off the ground from hysterical laughing, she was able to explain what was so funny.
The walk to the Temple of Heaven from the West Gate was so long that we were unable to get to the ticket office in time to see the actual Temple...it closed at 4:30, but we've seen so many temples that viewing the top half over the fence was good enough.
Temple of Heaven
(but are those trees paralyzed?)
We planned to exit through the North Gate, stopping first at a restroom. When we came out, we heard music & saw some women dancing in a nearby square, so we went over to watch for about a half hour. We finally decided that they were a troupe practicing their routine. Most wore clothing typical of an ethnic minority...one woman was directing moves & how to hold arms & hands. One little girl about 8 or 9 was also in costume and looked like a natural. It was delightful to watch it all.
Dancing practice
We decided we'd better get back to the hotel. We wanted a light snack before the show began. We had VIP reservations for the Beijing Opera which includes snacks, but we ordered a broth soup & a couple of dumplings for dinner.
No idea: Part of the opera or
is that how they served the broth soup? (Eric)
Chinese Opera
A half-hour before the performance began, a man set up on stage and applied make-up, then...with help...was dressed in one of the elaborate costumes. A nice addition.
More Opera
After the performance we followed the instructions for the public bus & got a ride to the subway station, saving us another 30-plus-minute walk. Another couple of subway transfers got us back to our home station, leaving us only a 15-minute walk back to our hotel.
Many miles walked today, but it was a delightful day!!
Wow, lots of adventures today. From cooking to opera! I love the idea of a cooking lesson. How did you even know to sign up for that? It would be fun to do that in a lot of different countries.
ReplyDeleteJanice
on Wikipedia, just watched a 1937 video of the Temple of Heaven and local people in the surrounding countryside ( I continue to learn as I have fun following your adventures on your blog.)
ReplyDelete—your Beijing Opera experience sounds delightful—a definite 'not to be missed’ event, as well as the interesting dancing practice before.
And more great photos!