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Well today is our last day in Beijing and we set off tonight on the Trans Siberian Express to Moscow so we spent a relaxing day in the hotel.
Now some facts about our China trip:
We have travelled:
603 miles by bus;
2,500 miles by train;
32 miles by taxi;
200 miles by luxury boat (NOT);
10 miles by canoe;
110 miles by metro; and
30 miles on a sightseeing bus.
We have eaten 30 pots of instant noodles;
Learnt to use chopsticks in 10 minutes (it's amazing how quick it is too learn when they are the only utensils you are given to eat food);
Visited 23 temples all of which were less than 20 years old;
Bought 16 fake handbags;
Bought 48 metro tickets and broke 8 machines in the process;
Accumulated an extra 23kg of luggage (which Nick is obviously carrying);
Eaten 21 KFCs;
Learnt 3 Chinese words; and
Inhaled at least the equivalent of 20 cigarettes a day.
China is just one huge concrete jungle with miles and miles of skyscrapers. The people are on the whole rude and discourteous (it is like being on the tube in London all day everyday). They have no concept of personal space and just push you out of the way if they want to pass! Now I have to say that the Chinese tourists in London used to annoy me, but I did think they were that way as they were in a foreign country and were maybe a bit lost. This is not the case as they behave in exactly the same way in China they will one minute be pushing you out of the way to get past and the next minute stop dead in front of you to make a phone call??? Also did I mention they have the filthiest public toilets I have ever seen in my life!! And finally they spit phlegm all day everyday (men and women) in fact I am absolutely amazed at the amount of phlegm one person can generate over a short period of time. Despite all these things we have met some really nice Chinese people who have gone out of their way to help us. They also have one of the best public transport systems we have come across and it is also really cheap. Don't think we will be visiting again in a hurry though!
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