5 months in China: Bus 25, where are you?

Found this site listing all the cons or tourist traps to the Beijing area.

http://www.tour-beijing.com/blog/beijing-travel/beijing-tourist-traps/

I was so happy to find there are actually a lot of mountain places outside of Beijing that I'm going to try and do myself as day trips. The first one I found was Shilinxia(Stone Forest Gorge) Scenic Area also known as Jingdong or Pinggu Forest Gorge. Sounds easy enough take long distance bus 918 from Dongzhimen bus depot to Pinggu and change to bus 25.

I got a late start, thinking I better get the hanzu(kanji) of the names before leaving. Then I waited outside for over a half hour for the bus to come by, so by the time I got to Dongzhimen it was 1 hour wasted. Didn't wait long for the 918. The bus says to Pinggu, the town. But there is no stop named Pinggu. Hoping I needed the last stop named: Pinguqichezhan.

At this bus stop there are no bus# listed as to whom stops. After the 2 hr bus ride for 6rmb, I just walk a bit further, find a public bathroom, get some drinks from a street vendor and go back to wait. I was told bus #25 stops here.

I'm thinking there aren't going to be any food available to buy at the park, so I enter a small store and get some snacks. Go back to waiting. I see multiples of lots of other buses, but no 25. Finally a small silver van with tinted windows has bus # 25 and 29 in their window stops and wants 20rmb to drive. There is one 1 small bench row in the back. I think this is definately a fake "bus" so I don't get in. They keep dropping the price.

The taxis here also look different than in the colorful Beijing taxes. They are silver with the taxi beacon on top. I have no clue how far it really is to these destinations so I don't get into any taxi.

Realizing even if the bus does show up, it's a 1.5 hr route at the park and getting back would put me in very late. So I hop on the 918 back to Beijing. Wasted day, wasted money. I waited over an hour and didn't see the bus 25. As we are going down the road I finally see the elusive bus 25!

What I did notice on my long bus ride, is Pinggu is more like Lansing, smaller town(of course compared with Beijing), lots more bikes, bigger sidewalks.

I'll need to do more research before I venture back. Really a pity as there are several attractions on the bus 25 route: Jingdong Grand Canyon, Jingdong Karst Cave and the Jingdong Stone Forest Gorge Park.

Good thing I decided to go home, my father-in-law was sick and had to be taken to the hospital. So I take the boys out for dinner. The choices were McD's or Porridge. They chose Porridge. We got a bowl of red bean porridge, a pork and leek pancake, cold dish of garlic spinach and peanuts and kung pao chicken for 49rmb, that's under $9. Cheaper then McD's! So we got icecream afterwards. I tried a rose lychee icecream. Eh.

While we were in the restaurant, it's on the 2nd floor with window view over the parking lot, the boys notice a group of people standing below. Finally the police show up, there are 2 girls being held up by other girls, like a total of 5 girls and about 10 men standing around. I don't think it was a fight. They were in different restaurant uniforms. Finally the police whisk them away. I told the boys they got hit crossing the street because they were talking and not paying attention.