Stranded in Tianamen Square

Dec 16 Sat

I arrived Beijing around 5pm. China Southern flight was delayed by 1 hour (parang minalas na naman ako, puro nadedelay hehe). I booked the airport pickup from the internet, the service was nice and not so expensive. I also booked the hotel via the same source. It was a cozy one, near the Wangfujing area (shopping area). Since it was still pretty early, I decided to take a taxi to Tiananmen Square. Tiananmen is a popular place if you'd ask the old Chinese even in Manila, more of less they would certainly know this place because it has high historical value related with Mao Tze Dong. They would usually have their pictures taken with Mao’s big poster in Tiananmen if they do go to Beijing.

Though I don’t know much of these traditions/culture, I decided to go there to see it, not really knowing I am putting myself in a big mess haha.

I clarified with the hotel staff whether I can catch a taxi home too from that place and they all said yes. When I got there, I just took a few pictures and then I noticed weather was getting colder so I wanted to go back to the hotel. I waved so many times for a taxi but nobody seemed to care. I walked thru a several underpasses, on different streets to catch a taxi but to no avail. The place seems to be restricted for taxi loading/unloading because Government office (ala Malacanang) is also situated in the same area. I tried asking a police about taxi stops, but really cant find one. I was ‘stranded’ for 30minutes, I was starting to freeze like hell at -5 deg Celsius. My hands and feet were becoming numb because the wind was so strong. (Yun tipong pag humihinga ka maraming mist (ala smoke) na lumalabas sa ilong/bibig mo) I tried asking passersby how to reach Wangfujing area by walking (I know it’s reachable by like 30min or so), the first 2 attempts were useless (parang lalo akong napapalayo). Finally I asked a little girl who happened to be going to Wangfujing area too and she asked me to take the bus with her. I was so grateful, mangiyak-ngiyak na ako sa loob-loob ko hehe.

From that instance on, I said to myself ayoko na, magkukulong na lng ako sa kuwarto after whatever day tours hehe.