Around the World in (Approximately) 80 Days: Day 18: A Walk to the Bell and Drum Towers with Constance

Monday, October 3, 2016

With one more day to explore Beijing, I invited my wonderful Chinese friend from the hostel, Constance, who spent a year abroad studying in the U.K. and speaks beautiful English to be my guide and translator. We had a great time wandering through the hutongs (ancient alley ways), along Houhai Lake and the Houhai Bar Street. I even got interviewed for China Central TV, but have no idea if my sound bite aired or not.

Both the Drum and the Bell Towers require a lot of steps, so anyone who is disabled would not be able to enter. They face each other across a plaza, where rickshaw drivers offer city tours. I was surprised that Constance had never heard the word "rickshaw" before. I looked it up and it comes from a Japanese word, "jinrikisha."

While waiting for the drumming to begin, I suckered out and filmed a little video of myself flying around the ancient city of Beijing. It wasn't expensive and well worth the laugh. A great souvenir of a fascinating city.

We did not get to see them ring the bell in the Bell Tower. That's only during festival days. Afterwards we took a bus to Tiananmen Square, famous in the U.S. for the deadly protests of 1989. But actually the name comes from the "Gate of Heavenly Peace." We checked out one of the exhibits from Design Week Beijing, and walked through the square. Before I had only biked around it because bikes are prohibited in the square. It was pretty emotional because Chinese had come from all over the country during Golden Week to honor their capitol and history.

With the lovely Constance. The Bell Tower is in the background.

We start our day with Beijing Noodles and something that tastes like garlicky ravioli.

As one of very few foreigners packing the famous Nanluoguxiang Hutong, I was asked to be interviewed for China Central TV. They even coached me to say I love 南锣鼓巷 in Chinese.

Constance and I went to an upstairs cafe, not to eat, but to get a better view of the crowds in Nanluoguxiang Hutong.

We also bought some interesting snacks and drinks.

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. I couldn't resist because mostly we only eat them at Christmas time in the U.S.

Even though Constance, like most young Chinese, isn't religious, I asked her to take me inside a Buddhist temple.

Constance thinks her grandmother still believes in Buddhism.

Chinese calligraphy is an ancient art.

Believers post red ribbons to insure good health and success in exams.

Bridge over Houhai Lake

Tourists line Houhai Lake.

A bridge over to Houhai Bar Street, famous for nightlife in Beijing.

Gondola traffic jam on the canal.

Another hutong where we found a post office to buy postcard stamps.

Cotton Candy is a popular street treat

I never saw Cotton Candy quite like this before.

Monkey warrior posing for tips on the street near the Drum Tower.

We bought green tea ice cream from this pretty vendor.

Fu Manchu style rickshaw driver, and a vendor of candied hawthorn fruit. Hawthorn is also considered medicine in China. Like they say, "Just a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down."

The Bell Tower and Drum Tower were originally built in 1272, but had to be rebuilt two times due to fire.

Warnings on the side of the stairs advise tourists to take care.

View from the Drum Tower over the neighboring Hutongs.

Filming my cheesy touristy video about flying over Beijing.

The drumming begins. It reminds me a bit of Taiko drumming in Japan.

Bell Tower

Climbing up the Bell Tower.

Here is the famous bell that we didn't get to hear rung.

View of the Drum Tower, as seen from the Bell Tower. They're like fraternal twins, related, but not identical.

View of the crowds outside Forbidden City, as taken from the bus.

View inside the bus. Constance was surprised that I took video of the ticket taker yelling at the people to push back. U.S. buses are never that noisy.