From Xi'an, we had a delightful train trip to Beijing. The trains are so comfortable that we managed to sleep soundly until 10am, a few hours before arriving at our destination. It took a bit of walking around to get to our hostel but our efforts were rewarded by being greeted by our friends Marcin and Rose. Maybe our warm welcome had something to do with the 2 kilo box of muslim sweets I carried from Xi'an to share with them.
We split our time between finding a few things for the rest of the trip and touristing around the city. We started by visiting the "Forbidden city" which was really beautiful and impressive. It is much bigger than we all expected and certainly demonstrates the unlimited extravagance of the empire. From the front gate, one enters enormous open spaces surrounded on all sides by grand and elegant structures burnt and rebuilt many times over the years. As we progressed through the layers, the open spaces became smaller and the density of buildings greater. The constant crowds of tourists (mainly chinese) accentuate this change of scale.
We then contrasted our experience by visiting the Olympic site where we were able to see the "birds nest" and "watercube" in the flesh, so-to-speak. As always, it was interesting seeing these building in real life after so much coverage and hype. I'm not going to lie, we were a bit underwhelmed by the "watercube". Its best angle is from the corner where the bulging of the bubbles is quite striking but in terms of elevation, it is quite flat and the cleaning of the bubbles in such a polluted environment seems to not have been totally resolved. The most disappointing aspect were the entries into the building which seemed very under-designed and badly considered.
The birds nest was more impressive although we wondered about the proportion of structural elements versus purely decorative. We didn't go inside as it was quite expensive. We then tried to find the CCTV building but we only had a vague idea of where to find it and were unsuccessful. We were also very hungry which didn't encourage our determination very much. We eventually managed to find it on our last day and found it quite impressive. Unfortunately, the whole site is currently surrounded by fences which made it impossible to see more than glimpses of the adjoining building which burnt last year over Chinese New Year.
We also visited the Imperial Summer Palace which would have been surrounded by lush countryside once upon a time but is now in the suburbs of Beijing. We could only imagine the tranquility and serenity of this beautiful palace overlooking an gigantic lake as we were surrounded by thousands of other tourists wearing matching caps and following the soothing sound of a guide yelling through a loud-speaker. Nevertheless, nothing was too big or too much for the emperor so a huge lake dug by hand and a marble boat were to be expected.
The next day, we had an early start and headed out to see the Great Wall of China. We hiked along a 10km long section between Jinshaling and Simatai. Getting there was a bit of a mission, especially since we were "hoodwinked" by a sneaky be-atch who followed us around all morning trying to get our money one way or another. We didn't let her and eventually got there. The walk itself was not very long but in some sections, the steps were so steep that I had to use my hands and feet to climb up. Of course, it was worth the effort. The Great Wall is spectacular and at every twist and turn, it follows the ridge like a great big snake. We congratulated ourselves for our efforts by having Peking Duck that evening in a great little restaurant where an expert Peking Duck cutter artfully placed each little tender slice on a plate for us and covered it with thin crispy skin. Yum!
We spent our very last day running around, doing some errands before heading to Mongolia. Marcin and Rose had to go to the Embassy and we all met up for a final dinner afterwards. We went to our favourite restaurant, right next to our hostel and ordered all of our favourite dishes. Unfortunately, they didn't have "Hoodwinks the type to roast Yang Bang" so we had to content ourselves with "Hoodwinks the type to rip the muttons chop". We decided not to order the "Grandmother vegetable burns the pigs intestines" or "explodes the stomach" although it was tempting. If you have no idea what I am talking about, then it is time you go and read a Chinese Menu because I assure you I am not making this up!
On this note, we headed to the train station very early in the morning and were off to Mongolia. Stay tuned for more adventures!
The next day, we had an early start and headed out to see the Great Wall of China. We hiked along a 10km long section between Jinshaling and Simatai. Getting there was a bit of a mission, especially since we were "hoodwinked" by a sneaky be-atch who followed us around all morning trying to get our money one way or another. We didn't let her and eventually got there. The walk itself was not very long but in some sections, the steps were so steep that I had to use my hands and feet to climb up. Of course, it was worth the effort. The Great Wall is spectacular and at every twist and turn, it follows the ridge like a great big snake. We congratulated ourselves for our efforts by having Peking Duck that evening in a great little restaurant where an expert Peking Duck cutter artfully placed each little tender slice on a plate for us and covered it with thin crispy skin. Yum!
We spent our very last day running around, doing some errands before heading to Mongolia. Marcin and Rose had to go to the Embassy and we all met up for a final dinner afterwards. We went to our favourite restaurant, right next to our hostel and ordered all of our favourite dishes. Unfortunately, they didn't have "Hoodwinks the type to roast Yang Bang" so we had to content ourselves with "Hoodwinks the type to rip the muttons chop". We decided not to order the "Grandmother vegetable burns the pigs intestines" or "explodes the stomach" although it was tempting. If you have no idea what I am talking about, then it is time you go and read a Chinese Menu because I assure you I am not making this up!
On this note, we headed to the train station very early in the morning and were off to Mongolia. Stay tuned for more adventures!
What a scream these menu excerpts are. I suggest we have a blast naming some of our fave dishes in the same style. (I also loved reading everything else of course but what a barrel of laughs).
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