Today I headed to the center of the city again. I walked through Zhongshan Park, which borders the Forbidden City. Around the main tourist sites many people were trying to talk to me, and I’ve been in ignore mode. Inside the gated park I think there were a couple genuine people saying “Hello” to me, but I didn’t really respond that much since my defenses were up so much. Then I wanted to make it down to the Temple of Heaven (or Tiantan Park). I had some bus numbers written down, but I couldn’t find any of those buses. The family here said last November all the bus routes were changed around. Plus the website that shows maps of bus routes doesn’t work on any modern web browsers (only works with IE6). So I decided to walk.
As I walked, a man driving a pedicab kept trying to take me to the attraction. I didn’t want get a ride from anyone; I’m done with getting ripped off. I kept saying no in English, no in Chinese, tried to say walk in English and Chinese. He wouldn’t give up after a few minutes, he kept driving beside me. Finally, I tried to ask how much and he held up two fingers. So I confirmed “2 Kuai (or Yuan)” in Chinese twice and he said yes. Sounds like a good price and is maybe a little far to walk, so I went.
When we reached the destination, I gave him the 2 Yuan and he said “No, no no!” He made a 2 and a 0 with his hands. I’m didn’t want to accept that, so I threw down the money onto the seat and ran away. I thought I got away after going across the street and making it into the ticket line, but he came over and started yelling at me. I said “2 Kuai” again and he said “2 Bai” or 200. I say “No!” and start walking away again, heading to a bus stop. I was thinking of getting on a bus, but I ending up walking back so I can get into the Temple of Heaven. It looked like the driver gave up and went away. Update: I learned later that 20 Yuan probably was the correct price to drive me. So I underpaid.
I visited the Temple of Heaven and then made it back home. The family said they are going out to a party and there was no invitation for me. Of course, I’m not the kind of person who gets invited to parities. They said you can find dinner someplace yourself.