Finding Shichahai, Beijing's lake district

I hate being late.. which was why I found myself waiting in front of a famous chestnut store in Beijing an hour and a half before a scheduled interview. The driver had dropped me off and had promised to come back some three hours later. So there I was, with little to no idea where I was, with time and a half to spare.

The thing was, I was only staying in Beijing for the weekend. I had scheduled the interview on a Saturday and I really hadn't seen much of the city. I better own up and say that I wasn't born with an internal compass. Put me down anywhere, spin me around a couple of times and I probably wouldn't be able to remember where my original place was. Yup, I'm that directionally challenged. In fact, forget telling me to go north or south or east or west. I have no sense of direction, but enough about me...

I was mentally weighing the risks of getting lost versus actually being able to explore Beijing. I did try to wait patiently, but there's only so much mental stimulation you can get from watching people buy chestnuts, no matter how famous the store is. I decided it couldn't do much harm if I just walked straight down the road. If I avoided any complicated left and right turn combinations (I knew that there were hutongs nearby), I should be okay.

So that was what I did and I ended up stumbling into a side of Beijing that I didn't even imagine existed.

You see, it turned out that just straight down (or up) the road and right across the street was Shichahai, Beijing's lake district. It's located right across Beihai Park where most tourists seem to head out. Most of the people that I saw in Shichahai were locals, just going about their daily business.

There were men playing cards on a street corner while bikes swerved to miss them. Children were playing tag on the sidewalk where peddlers had also set out their merchandise. I was almost tempted to get a cup of tea in this traditional-looking teahouse until I realized it was a Starbucks.

Not the place for a traditional Chinese cup of tea. (Image: Radio86)The whole area of Shichahai covers almost 150 hectares and includes three lakes – Qian Hai (Front Sea), Hou Hai (Back Sea) and Xi Hai (Western Sea). I was in the area known as the Lotus Market, which used to be a place where you can find snacks and antiques. Originally, the market was open only from the first of the fifth lunar month to the fifteenth of the seventh lunar month. In 2001, the old market was rebuilt. There's now a two-story ancient style building that has souvenir shops, restaurants and cafés, which sort of explained the Chinese Starbucks.

People who want to get the full lake experience could hire a boat and paddle around the lake's calm surface. I also saw some locals who had apparently been swimming. Foreigners, I've been told, are not allowed to dive in, though.

Passing in front of so many souvenir shops was obviously way more than my self-discipline could handle. Of course, I just had to buy a little piece of Beijing to take home with me. I thought shirts would be perfect since they won't add to the clutter in our apartment. The prices are a bit high, so bargain away. And try not to rush off to another appointment right or you might find (like I did) that you've been shortchanged by a hundred yuan. That was about how much I got as a discount anyway...

I would have liked to spend a longer time exploring Shichahai. There was just so many things that I didn't get to see. The area still has some of the best preserved hutongs and residences in all of Beijing, so it's a site you should include in your itinerary. I wouldn't even mind getting lost there.