Beijing.   Saturday 21st November

It was freezing when I left Beijing airport. My backpack had increased in weight by 6kg – likely to be a result of a bottle of gin I bought for the guides and forgot to give and the books – plural – I bought on the biography of Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung that I am sure will make for fascinating bed time reading.

There was no taxi queue this time and the woman manning the rank pointed me to a guy who was beckoning me over. He showed me a card that read “I speak English” which made me laugh and then tried to charge me 500RMB for a taxi. That was not happening given that I was now a Beijing pro and knew it should only be 100. I loudly said “bù xièxiè”  (no thank you) and went back to the queue for a regular taxi. I knew what I was doing.

At least, I thought I did, until I showed the next taxi man the hotel address (in Chinese characters) who then appeared to ask me how to get there. In mandarin – so at least that’s what I thought he was saying. After 5 minutes of him speaking very loudly in Chinese (which made me think the game Chinese whispers is an oxymoron as I don’t think it’s possible for them to speak quietly at all) he started off in what I figured must be the right direction.

My hotel was called Chongwenmen hotel and was right next to Chongwenmen metro station. The driver dropped me off at exit B (so it turned out) and according to my hotel directions, I wanted exit C. I paid less than 100RMB for the ride (glad I didn’t go with the original taxi thief) and headed into the metro to find exit C. I couldn’t cross through to exit C from where I was without a ticket so instead of going back upstairs to the road and crossing it, I just bought the equivalent to a 20p ticket to the next stop so I could cross the station. I exited at exit C and saw my hotel – 20p well spent.

The hotel was of a much higher standard than previous hostels which was a god send. So, instead of venturing out into Beijing, I went to the local department store for lunch, bought a new pair of straightners (which I rationalised by calling them my new “travel straightners”) and headed back to the hotel for a hot shower and a nap before the next tours orientation meeting.

Dinner was a very enjoyable affair of Peking duck with my new tour group. I never want crispy duck pancakes at home unless the pancakes are 1000 times thicker, at least 3 times the size and the duck is succulent and juicy. It was delicious.

Sunday 

Early start for a trip to Tiannenmen Square and the forbidden city. It had snowed overnight and was still doing so when we ventured out. It was due to drop to -2 degrees today.

Fortunately at the time we got there the queue wasn’t too bad. The area looked pretty in the snow. It was still bloody cold though. My snazzy coat only kept me so warm and I made a mental note to wear more layers tomorrow.

  
  
After the trip we headed for a group lunch and then a few of us to the department store to buy more layers. I found a pair of 120 denier tights at an H&M and bought those as an extra under layer! Back to the hotel for a couple of hours before the evening activity as it was too cold to do much else!

The evening activity was a Kung fu show. It was brilliant. It was funny and a couple of parts required audience participation. Fortunately I was not chosen for that.

  
 

Monday 

Today we were heading to see the Great Wall. We had a private bus to head out of town to the Mutianyu section, a recently renovated stretch of the Great Wall. It took two and a half hours to get there and naturally I slept the whole way. Travelling and being on holiday is exhausting.

“He who has not climbed the Great Wall is not a true man.”

Mao Zedong 

When we arrived at the wall the surrounding area was beautiful. We had clear blue skies and everything was covered in a layer of white snow. There was the option to walk up steps or get a cable car. Obviously I got the latter – figured I had climbed my fair share of steps this holiday at the rice terraces near Guilin alone!

The cable car didn’t not disappoint though. It took us up to tower 6 and the views were spectacular. The snow made it look so pretty. Myself and two girls, Hayley and Lindsey took the first selfies of many at the top and started walking carefully down the wall.

Tower 6 was quite high compared to some of the latter towers and walking down the wall required a descent down a number of steep steps. Often it was a case of watching someone else go down to conclude how slippy the steps were. Given my lack of general balance and coordination, I was glad I managed to do it in one piece.

The ‘original’ wall was begun more than 2000 years ago and it was hard to imagine the poor souls who dragged the required materials up the mountain without that handy cable car.

We walked down to tower 11 where we bumped into Ruth, a member of our group who had braved the steps up the mountain. She said it hadn’t been too bad so we decided to walk down and the steps looked manageable.

After the wall many of our group went to the Subway by the ticket office (the shops just at the base of the wall consisted of a subway and a pizza joint) and 3 of us went with Frank our guide to a local restaurant a few minutes walk away. Frank’s order did not disappoint and was delish.

The afternoon then consisted of a drive to the airport for a delayed flight to Xi’an. The Chinese were loving the group of western tourists sitting on their bags waiting for check in.

 

Tuesday  

Late arrival and early start for a trip to the Terracotta warriors. This army is one of the most famous archeological finds in the world. In 1974, farmers were digging a well and uncovered an underground vault that yielded thousands of underground soldiers and horses in battle formation. These pits had never previously been mentioned in historical records.

On the warriors we could examine upclose, it was clear that no two faces are the same and their hairstyles,armour and even the tread of their foot ware was all unique.

There are three pits at the museum, pit 1 being the largest housing more than 6000 pottery warriors although approximately only 2000 are on show. The Warriors are reputed as the “Eighth Wonder of the World”.

The warriors were found in 1974 when local farmers were drilling a well in search of water. They found pottery fragments which soon turned out to be all of this!

The below chap on the left is one of the seven “generals” found in the pits. The height, clothing and headgear of him all indicated his high rank.

The right picture above is one kind of the armored infantryman. The pose of his hands suggest he once held a crossbow. The back of the statue still had some colour from when they were originally painted!

I then attended a tea ceremony with some others and bought some lychee tea which was glorious. Chinese tea leaves can be used 6-7 times in one day and not lose their flavour. I wasn’t convinced I could drink that amount of tea without needing to visit the bathroom every 10 minutes! I was prepared to give it a try though.

After the tea ceremony we drove to Xi’an’s Muslim quarter. The area north of the drum tower has been home to the Hui community (Chinese Muslims) for centuries.

It is an area full of butcher shops, markets, one of China’s largest mosques and was a great place to wander and buy some fantastic smelling food.

Myself and Haley tried the lamb kebabs. I thought the skewer of meat was glorious so had one the bought another. Hayley didn’t seem to think the same so I had hers too. They were very enjoyable.

Tonight we board a train to Suzhou. I can’t say I’m looking forward to 14+ hours on a train in cramped cabins! Let’s hope Suzhou brings some warmer weather!