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Hello everyone and welcome to our first blog entry. We have had an amazing first few days, a real mixture of life in China. After our long flight we had our first experience of Chinese driving which is something, if you want to over or undertake, pull out or cut someone up all you have to do is honk your horn and this seems exceptable. After having a shower we headed out for some food and encountered our first issue, a lot of Chinese do not understand English and with no pictures in the first restaurant's menu we had no choice but to leave or get lumbered with something not very appertising. We finally found a restuarant and luckily they had pictures on their menu and English descriptions so we ate our first chinese meal and beer it was rather good after our 9 1/2 hour flight. Although you know me I love plane food.
That night we met up with our group and it looked like this would be a fun trip. We had our first beijing duck experience which was really tasty although different from what we are used to, first they didn't have any crispy bits and the sauce was more black bean than hoison. Needless to say it was delicious, to go with this we all tried some rice wine and at 56% proof - you didn't want much more than a sip, though Pete downed his pretty quick (for a lightweight).
The next day we went to the Summer Palace with a few of the other Intrepid treckers, and also had our first taste of over-crowded Beijing when using the sub-way. To get anywhere (one-way not return) on the sub-way it costs you just 2 yuen, which is around 25p, all your bags have to be security checked before getting on the train. The subway system itself is a lot simpler to use than the London Underground, and all the announcements and station names have an English translation (thank-you Olympics!). Actually getting on a train is a bit like being a rugby player, you just keep pushing until you are all on board. Anyway, Carla's telling me to stop being descriptive so I'll move on, we got off at our stop and got the map out. It took us ages to find and what seemed like a 10min walk ended up being 30mins, luckily Carla found the brown signs and guessed that they meant tourist attraction.... And she does keep reminding me.
The Summer Palace was absolutely stunning, massive lakes, beautiful pagoda's and, in the misty distance, the palace itself. We walked all over the grounds, which took us all day, and by the time we had climbed up to the palace the smog had started to desend again. After that we headed, home and later had just enough energy to catch a local bus (684, for Master Jack), which was worse than the train!, to a Kung-Fu Show in town. The show was very energetic so after that we grabbed some dinner with the group and our guide, which basically meant that we got covered in different sauces as we tried to use our chop-sticks.
Carla says that I type too slow and with too much detail, so here she is again...
On our third day we met up with some of the group in the hotel reception and met our guide who took us on the subway to Tiannamen Square, which was closed because of a party meeting, because of this and the fact it was a Sunday the area was crowded and as soon as we arrived locals wanted to take our pictures which was slightly off-putting, but at the same time flattering.
We headed into the Forbidden City which is such an amazing place when you consider it only took 3 years to build and had 9,999 rooms. Which you can understand because one of the emperors had 3,000 concubines at one stage. We heard loads about the history of the place and lots of interesting stories some true, some not so true. After 5 hours wandering around Pete & I headed to the Jingshan Park and climbed up the man made hill to the top where you get and fantastic view of the Forbidden City and Beijing.
Later that night we headed out for some food at a local restaurant which was recommend by our guide. We had some superb food again, although the tea tasted like savlon. We ate early because at 7 we all headed to the weird food market where you can eat anything. Pete sampled the scorpians (he had two) and said they tasted like chips. Others in the group were crazier and went for crickets, silk worms, starfish and of course sheep's penis.
The next morning we were up early to get our mini bus to a part of the Great Wall and started our 3 1/2 hour trek. We had clear clear blue sky!!!! The walk was amazing and typically Pete & I were in the front pack showing off our trekking prowess. We stopped for lunch after the fifteenth tower and felt we needed a rest after some slightly trecherous and dodgy footpaths. After we finished there were two options either walk to the guesthouse or get the flying fox (zip wire) naturally Pete jumped at the chance of leaping off the edge towards the frozen water below (only after I said I would go with him so he could hold onto me!) it was brilliant (so no excuses Mum). Again a fantastic banquet meal was had, followed by a cold night on a seriously hard bed (no mattress).
There has been some culture shocks to be had so Pete will explain BRIEFLY a few of them......Thank-you Carla. So basicllay we are talking hawking and spitting on the streets, loudly and at all times, baby's doing there businesss through holes in there trouser suits in the middle of the day anywhere they can (including grounds of Summer Palace), and squat toilets.
We will update you all later, hope all is going well with you guys back home!!
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