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So we awoke about 7am to Christmas morning in China which had a very surreal feel to it. I think both Laura and I had feeling of excitement and sadness, the latter due to thinking of presents, family, Christmas dinner and of course a bucket load of Bailey's. I started the day on very bad form and acquired a McDonalds breakfast which I do hate doing. It was very tasty however (much better than the U.K) and we all checked out of our rooms ready for a day of sightseeing. As soon as we stepped outside the cold wind ripped through you like a hot knife through butter. I had to put another layer on as it was getting a bit unbearable. After walking however it did feel bit warmer if you can call -12 degrees Celsius warm at all!!
We first visited Tian'anmen Square which is literally a five minute walk from our hotel in the centre of Beijing. Its size is colossal being over 800 metres in length and 400 wide making the largest city square in the world. It has very Russian feel to it (the concrete look) and it both gave Laura and myself that feeling of communism. We were then told that the square was heavily based on soviet influences and was meant to signify the enormity of the communist party. Tommy our tour guide told us that the communist party is the only party in China so decisions get made quickly and there is no red tape.... I guess democracy is a bit overrated. Unfortunately for us there is very little shelter on the square and we were getting very cold very quickly. That stinging feeling in the fingers was developing although some of the Chinese tourists looked like they were in summer clothes!
We then headed for the Forbidden city which is one of Beijing's highlights. The name 'forbidden' derived from this portion of the city being off limits for 500 years and was used by the emperor until roughly 1911. The architecture and scale of the place is incredible and you really need to see it with your own eyes to appreciate it. There is a 52 metre wide moat encompassing the city which was frozen and did look cool although I wouldn't brave skating on it. We were shown the Hall of Supreme Harmony and the emperors quarters where only women and eunuchs were allowed. The gardens were amazing at the back but we were all feeling very cold which was frustrating as you felt to weren't fully appreciating this man made wonder.
We headed to lunch with Tommy and had a Chinese lunch consisting of noodles, Chinese pancakes stuffed with pork, chicken in a peanut sauce, cabbage broth (contrary to what you may think it was gorgeous) and these spiced homemade chunky chips which was all washed down with hot leaf tea.
We ate everything and then headed out again into the Siberian winter temperatures. Tommy kindly guided us to Nanluogu Xiang which is a historic street in Beijing once all ramshackled and now built into a backpackers dream of hostels, bars, shops, restaurants and food stalls. Tommy said it is heaving at night and is very popular with Chinese tourists. We walked past a food stall and Laura spotted some insects on sticks which turned out to be scorpions, crickets and these grub looking things. We looked at each other with Glenn and Blair knowing what we were thinking and egged us on. We thought 'when in Rome ..' and went for the relatively expensive scorpions. We both bit and chewed together and actually they tasted of fried chicken skin with a bizarre after taste, but overall it wasn't too bad. Laura also bought a bag of assorted Chinese sweets and we headed back to the hotel by bus.
That afternoon Laura, Blair, Glenn and myself decided to get a few beers in as it was Christmas which then turned into quite a lot of beers. I was banging my head against a brick wall trying to get Hong Kong accommodation sorted but got there in the end. We were undecided how hungry we were and Glenn wanted a 'maccers' as he called it, I was very hesitant but gave into pressure and made a pact that this was the last one, even if I was starving. Laura and I both had Big Macs which again tasted amazing and actually looked like a Big Mac not all squashed with lettuce and sauce everywhere. By the time we finished it was time to head for our overnight train taking us to Xi'an.
We had a taxi take us and pulled up to the behemoth of a train station called Beijing West. Tommy told us it was the largest train station in Asia which you would not of disputed. Heading in it was literally better than British airports with shops, restaurants and bars extending as far as the eye could see. Each platform has a waiting room which was a vast space with hundreds of people, honestly it was worse than India. Somehow an orderly queue was formed although the Chinese do come across quite impatient and will try and push in even though there is nowhere to go. It does give that satisfaction similar to when an idiot overtakes you on the road when you are doing the speed limit and you catch them up 5 minutes late stuck behind a tractor, always satisfying.
We boarded the train which was obviously a bit more modern than India with the 3 tier beds having more room and surprisingly quite long. Everyone settled down although one toilet between 60 people had Glenn worried, he is quite a precious Australian. Laura and myself took the middle bunks and I must of drifted off quickly and did not even really realise that Christmas Day had come and gone.
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