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Hi everyone! Well here I am for the last time from Beijing. I can't believe nearly a year has gone by and I am flying home tomorrow. I am already dreaming up my next trip, but first let me give you a final run-through of another hectic few days in Beijing!
I have virtually completed my list of 'must-dos' now by gobbling down Peking duck and haggling in the notorious Silk Market on Sunday. I was very lucky to have a local companion, my Auntie Claire lined me up with a very friendly work colleague, Cherry, who took me to a local duck hang-out. I had swotted up on my eating etiquette before-hand and with a quick bit of chopstick practice I did pretty well. The duck in pancakes with sauce was great alongside a mountain of diverse Chinese dishes (green beans, rice, sticky chicken, soup...) and all sorts of sweet dishes too (delivered all at the same time), mainly things filled with a sweet been paste and caramelised fruits, a speciality of Beijing. It made a nice change to street food :). I was all geared up for some souvenir hunting and we spent the afternoon shopping at the six-storey Silk Market. I was far too terrified to go alone - I don't do haggling, and it was as chaotic as everything else in China - stalls stuffed full of everything under the sun and people screaming at me - aaahhh! But Cherry did all the hard work for me, the stallholders were clearly gutted I was with her or they would have picked me to pieces. I now just have to fit it all into my pack which is going to be tricky...
Yesterday I went totally crazy and decided to hire a bike and follow the Lonely Planet's Beijing Bike Ride! I really don't know what I was thinking, the roads are absolute mayhem and it was stinking hot but it was ever so funny. I followed a 12km route around the city and laughed the whole way. My bike was truly awful, I can barely walk today the seat was so hard and so low that my knees were literally on my chin. All the old ladies lining the hutongs saw me laughing and laughed at me which made me laugh even more! The route was great, down quiet hutongs with tiny waterholes, lively streets, around the moat of the Forbidden City (amazing!), past ancient temples, along the shores of Qianhai Lake and down some down right frightening roads - what on Earth was I doing?! There were usually enough bikes to follow over the scariest of junctions although I had a few hair-raising incidents, dodging buses, bikes, motorbikes and zigzagging through crowds. It was terrifying but ever so funny, I must have looked a sight on my tiny bike. I rode Beijing-style, paying little attention to traffic lights and randomly mounting the pavements although I was far too polite to ring my bell. The locals took great joy in overtaking me and the last few miles were so painful I was barely sitting on the seat! It was an unbelievable contrast to cycling in Otago, New Zealand where I went for miles without seeing a sole. The thick haze and stinking buses had me holding my breath till I was blue in the face but it was exhilarating and great fun!
I have been out and about exploring the Olympic Park site this morning. The Bird's Nest Stadium was awesome, from the outside and inside. I climbed up to the highest seat and the drop really was staggering. The Water Cube was cool too although the site itself was like a ghost town. There were more guards in black combat gear than visitors and vast, empty expanses with speakers blasting out dramatic music in an effort to recapture the joy two years ago. I headed to the Lama Temple just nextdoor to my hostel this afternoon, it is one of the biggest Buddhist temple outside of Tibet so I thought I should stick my head in. As with all temples in Asia it was a fascinating scene thronging with worshippers, smoking incense sticks, monks and statues of Buddha. Awesome, although I'm all templed-out for a while now...
So that's it I'm just about finished and will head to Beijing Capital Airport tomorrow morning! I'm pretty excited! Give me Weetabix, Heinz Baked Beans, Cheerios, McVities Digestives, Walkers crisps, PG Tips, Bird's Eye fish fingers, Cadbury's chocolate, fruit pastilles, Sunday roast, shepherd's pie, the London Undergroud, Heart 106.2, BBC News at 10, Ready Steady Cook, the Premier League, Match of the Day, green space (no dogs), blue skies...Put my feet on British soil, God Save The Queen, I'M COMING!!!....
Grace xx
PS. This is not the end! Keep posted as I will give my last blog from the greatest city in the world - London!
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Hannah I will miss this fantastic blog! Can't wait to see you xxxx