4 Cold Days in Beijing (20th – 24th October)

Flights taken :  8                 Different hotel rooms stayed in : 16      

Current Temp in Beijing: 10 degrees C (not 30 like in Thailand, India and Turkey!!)

We left Krabi feeling rested and rejuvenated and ready to take on the Chinese challenge. After a night in Bangkok we were on our way. On arrival we met our group at the hotel. From being the oldest people on the Indian tour we are by far the youngest members of the group probably by at least 20 years. We soon realised the tour was going to be much more “comfortable” than the Indian one. The group of 16 is a mixture of Australians and British all of a certain age but then again who else would have time to take 4 weeks on a tour of China (apart from those of us on farmer’s world tour!!).

Anyway the first area of concern for us was the weather; the first few days were very foggy which as you will see rather spoilt the photos. The third day it started raining and the temp dropped and we found it very very cold, we also realised we had inadequate clothing (a hoody does not really constitute a warm jacket). Fortunately on this day we visited the “copy” market which is a shopping centre with market stalls where everything is a copy. We were able to purchase a fleecy fake Abercrombie and Fitch jacket for Ruth (thanks to Chris’s bargaining skills the price started at £195 but dropped through much negotiation to £30).

Anyway onto the sight seeing. The first day we visited Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Basically just like you see on the films (if you’ve seen the Last Emperor thats basically it!!). Both places were jam packed full of Chinese tourists who thought nothing of shoving and pushing us to get by or to get us to move. Our guide just said to “push back” as it was expected.  Tiananmen Square was immense and because they had the Chinese national day at the beginning of October there were still lots of flowers around to celebrate this. We were also particularly amused to see police on Segways.

We then proceeded along the Dragon Line into the Forbidden City. Certainly a vast and immense place with so many outer and inner courtyards.

The next day we set of early to conquer the Great Wall. The part we were taken to was really really steep and we were surprised how uneven the steps were. Going up was hard work (we managed to go past 2 watch towers) but coming down was even harder on the legs. There were also a lot of Chinese tourists, they were being controlled by soldiers stationed at points along the wall who shouted loudly in Chinese if they failed to keep to the right or stopped too long for pics.

On the way back into the city we stopped to admire the famous Birds Nest stadium where the 2008 Olympics were held. Again it was very foggy so apologies for the grey tone of the pic.

During the evening we went to a Kung Fu show.

Next morning we again drove to the outskirts of the city to see the Summer Palace. Hmm in summer its probably lovely but this was the day the temp dropped so we found it quite hard going. The “palace” is actually a large man made lake with gardens. The only indoor part was a long corridor which the Dragon Lady (the Last emperor’s mother) built; we managed to dodge the Chinese and shelter in this for a while. This evening we saw an acrobatic show which was really amazing.

The next day the sun came out and we were finally able to appreciate that maybe Beijing is not totally foggy and polluted. During the day we visited the old Hutong area of the city which is the more traditional area. Now mostly populated by old people but where the houses are apparently very expensive. We took a cycle rickshaw around the lanes and stopped at a local house where we had a demonstration about cricket fighting.

The after noon before catching the over night train to Xian was spent at the Temple of Heaven and the park around it where many people were playing strange musical instruments and gambling games.

So impressions of Beijing – a vast city that we found to be like any other city but honestly we found it a bit bleak. Definitely not as “alien” as Delhi not as many colours and certainly no evidence of poverty. Very westernised and so many people.