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Ok! So, we haven't written an update for about 2 weeks. So , we've decided to finish China on this blog and start a fresh one for SE Asia.
So here, goes.
Since we wrote an entire blog dedicated to the Great Wall then I think i'll leave that.
After our exhausting train journey from Shanghai to Xian, we decided to get a flight from Xian to Beijing. It was heaven!! We even got free drinks (non-alcoholic unfortunately...) and a free lunch! Amazing what free food can do for you. So we arrived in Beijing and after quite pleasant weather elsewhere, it was smoggy, grey and cold! Just like home...not what we came away for! Our hostel was great, very friendly and free computers...another free bonus! We were in a mixed dorm room for 4 initially with an odd Polish man who liked to chat to us in his pants. Somehow, the boss of the hostel seemed to sense our discomfort with this and asked us, out of the blue if we would like to change to a 2 person room, at no extra cost!...another free bonus! This was much more to our liking!
Anyway, we had booked quite a few days in Beijing so took it quite slow, but making sure we saw all the popular sights. What amazed us most was the amount of people. As we used the subway a few times, we saw the magnitude of it. Even at the 'quietest' of times it was rammed. We once saw a man literally ramming into the woman in front of him like a bull, to get onto the train, we later realised that it was his wife! We visited the Forbidden city, very interesting and amazing to look at. Also Tian a Men Square. Couldn't get over the amount of police, soldiers and security around it, they had to scan our bags just for us to walk around the square. They really don't want any trouble...We also went to the Summer Palace, not a place i knew much about before we went but the best thing I saw in Beijing, guaranteed! (Apart from the wall, obv!) It was similar to the Forbidden Palace but with much more impressive grounds and the hugest lake i've ever seen! We went on the most beautiful day too so that added to the loveliness of it.
Throughout the week we visited various parks, had picnics, did lots of walking and even tried authentic restaurants, including one where the menu consisted of intestines, livers and probably genitalia. But luckily they pointed out the page that would interest us...fried rice and vegetables! We also met Kenzie's (Lou's sister-in-law to be) friend Mike who took us out for a real Beijing night out, which began we Peking Duck (Duck and pancakes, oh yes!!) It was delicious. We then drank the night away. Surprisingly enough we were hung over and spent most of the day in bed. Good night had by all! On our last night, Mike took us out again to a Japanese restaurant with some of his friends. The first time both of us have really eaten Japanese and we both absolutely loved it! We then went to a Karaoke place where we hired a booth and sang the night away. Awesome!
One thing that made Beijing a little harder for us was the celebrity status we seemed to acquire (well more the blond one of the two of us!) And as you saw from the photographs, it happened a lot and that wasn't even the half of it. They used to more or less take pictures whether we let them or not. They also made an effort to stare at us for the longest periods of time. Sometimes we would try and stare them out (they would usually win), other times we felt like we wanted to shout at them to just go away (in fact, one man i did!)! I think we had both just had enough by the time we got the subway to catch our flight to Bangkok. Of course we couldn't leave without 2 people on the Shuttle train to the airport hiding behind their seats trying to steal a few snaps of us. We did everything we could not to let them get that dam photo!! We also realised that we only had 12 Yuan left when we got to the airport (about 1.20). We had got to the airport pretty early so we ready to have a bit of a snack. We realised 'snacks' aren't so easy to come by in Chinese airports, unless you like pot noodles. So we spent the remainder of our time after check in going into every shop to try and find something to keep us going. With 1.20 we managed to buy 2 bottles of coke and 2 packets of fruitellas. Good work!!
But, we left Beijing on a positive note...as Thailand airways gave us the best free drinks and food! Free stuff is the best! One more amazing thing though...As we were waiting at the airport for our flight from Beijing to Bangkok and noticed a girl who lives down my road waiting for the exact same flight. How weird! And what a small world it is!!
Anyway, that was our Chinese experience. And what an experience! I think perhaps we sounded a bit negative about it sometimes but I guess it's just such a different country that it's hard to get used to it, but don't get us wrong it was one hell of an experience and something we will never forget!
Now it's onto the next one!
x x x
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