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Last few days in Beijing then back to Shanghai - 18th December 2011
The afternoon of when I last wrote a post, I did head out to the summer palace. I got off the metro a stop early at the old summer palace, then walked 40min to the new summer palace. This place is amazing, but unfortunately needed more than a couple of hours to really explore. I didn't have much time and the temperatures were bitter - the huge Kunming Lake was solid ice - so I powerwalked a section of the lake and braved taking my hands out of my jacket pockets from time to time to take a few snaps.
After the summer palace, I decided to have a look around the hutongs at the Drum and Bell tower. If you ever decide to come to Beijing, make sure you come here to have a squizz at the cheap local boutiques and the vast array of restaurants and cafes. I decided to go to a cheap italian place for cabonara and a glass of 'great wall' wine - a very heavy red. Was the first time in three weeks that I had eaten with a fork rather than chopsticks and it felt very strange!
The next day was a very early start - 5.15am in the morning to get on the subway at 6am. This was to reach the furtherest station to the west of Beijing central by 7am to meet with three of the group members who, like me, were spending extra days in the great capital. We were hoping to get a bus to the village of Chudanxia (a folk village 90km west of Beijing), but we couldn't find the bus so managed to haggle a taxi van for 300yuan return. After the almost two hours through the mountainous arid landscape, we arrived at the village. In the summer this place is supposed to be bustling with tourists, but in the low season we had the village all to ourselves to explore. The village of a few hundred civilians is quiet during the day as most the villagers work in the city. The style of the village dates back several hundred years and is very quaint.
After a scary drive back to Beijing (the driver was threatening to fall asleep on us in the winding roads), then a long metro ride back to the hostel, I had a quick rest before walking 90min across town to meet the group again for dinner. We went to the infamous 'ghost street' - a restaurant street full of neon and lanterns - for some chinese (both the traditional sweet and sour varieties, plus spicy meat kebabs). I finally got back to my hostel exhausted by 10pm.
The following day (yesterday), I hiked across town with my backpack, to both save a taxi fare and kill some time, stopping at a Starbucks enroute at the beautiful Beihei Lake. I arrived at the main train station in the afternoon, having to kill even more time in coffee shops before my train left to Shanghai at 7.30pm. This was my sixth and final overnight train in China, but the first by myself. Fortunately, I was bunked with a gorgeous Beijing family with young children who were going on holiday to Shanghai. We arrived in Shanghai mid-morning, and after short metro ride and walk I arrived in my hostel. This hostel - Shanghai Soho International Youth Hostel - is very good value. Not only is it placed perfectly near a metro station and Peoples Square, it only cost me $6NZ per night and I get a free english breakfast each morning :)
This afternoon, I walked for about 5hours around town, down the french concession and the old town; stopping for a green tea in a posh cafe in Xintiandi (a Shanghai must do), browsing the arty boutiques at Taiking Road (far better shops than Xintiandi, which are a tad overrated), looking through Sun Yat-sens old residence and learning about the 1911 revolution at the adjacent musuem, quickly looking at the Fish and Bird market on Xichang Road; before stopping for some dinner - crab and shrimp noodles - yum! Have grown a fondness for food courts, which I hate in NZ, because you don't look as much of a nigel no mates in a food court compared to in a quiet restaurant!
Am thinking about rugging up in my jacket and scarf and getting back into town down Nanching to see the Bund lit up at night. Tomorrow, I am going to Qidao ancient village (apparently some buildings here date back to the Song dynasty - agggges ago) then to the Shanghai Zoo so that I can see some Giant Pandas!
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