Beijing it’s a long story ….


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Asia » China » Beijing » Forbidden City
January 14th 2009
Published: January 14th 2009
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Well right now im sat in a five star hotel overlooking the beach waiting for my breakfast /lunch to arrive. But it was not even a week since I was in Beijing and I thought I better start talking about my 10 days there or I would probably forget some of the detail, you know what I mean.

So we got the bullet train and arrived in Beijing and it was a very busy place compared to all the other towns we had been to. The people didn’t even stare at us any more as they are that used to seeing foreigners. Our first task was to get from the train station to the hotel my mother had kindly paid for a hotel for a few nights over Christmas. However we didn’t know where it was and taxi drivers I’ve come to find really don’t care how obvious it is that they are ripping you off. So they pretend they don’t know the hotel or wherever you want to go or they just drive the long way round to get you to pay more which does frustrate me but im not arguing over the sake of something that’s not even worth a penny. So we eventually go got to the hotel and it was absolutely amazing.

After pretty much being used to less than 1 star accommodation this was the most stunning place ive ever been to and not been asked to leave. And guess what ? it was a holiday inn !!!! but it was honestly truly fantastic. The room was huge we had a king size bed, lounge area, and there were the little touches that they had like bringing fresh bottled water every day, extremely fast room service and a sauna steam room and pool. They had 3 restaurants and a few coffee bars and a very relaxed wine bar. We were going to be spending the next 5 nights there and it was amazing ( I need to think of some more words to describe things ) aah here we go , remarkable .

Now this hotel comes with a very special thing that no other has, Storm . Storm is the service manager ( I think that was his job but I can’t remember the title he had). Any how Storm was mind-blowing (im getting good at this now lol) the first time that I spoke to him was when he called to apologise for not meeting us when we arrived. He had also said that he had booked us a table at a nearby restaurant for peking duck and that is a incredible thing to accomplish on Christmas eve. There is something that you should know about me and that is for some reason for as long as I can remember , I am always ill on Christmas eve. And its not always the same thing one year it was a terrific earache that caused me to fall over a lot, another was just a really bad cold. But the point is that it happened once more right on schedule where we were about to go to the lobby to meet storm , when I was struck with a massive bout of ….. I’ll call it stomach problems as there are people with sensitive minds, stomachs and imaginations but yes I was struck with something that was quite terrible to go eating duck. However, I ignored this monumental warning my bowels were giving me not to eat duck and headed down to the lobby any way. We made it downstairs only for my stomach to decide that I was being stupid and it decided to dial 119 (Chinese emergency service) which caused me to sort of walk from the knees down straight to the nearest appropriate area (note how I’m using good describing words without being ridiculously vulgar my mum will be proud as I’m definitely positive my future mother in law will be ) Needless to say I was forced to stay in that night and I felt bad that I had ruined Becca’s evening too. Later that night I felt like nothing had ever happened so , as we hadn’t eaten all day we ordered room service.

The next morning was of course Christmas day. We woke early and I don’t care how old I am (21????) I will always be excited when I wake up on Christmas day. We planned on spending the whole day in and relaxing. After we exchanged gifts, we went down to the restaurant for breakfast. This again didn’t fail to amaze me. There was everything you could want for breakfast for any person from western English breakfast and American style. To halal and Indian breakfasts. With unlimited free coffee which is just what you need in the morning. Storm came to us and joined us were he brought with him a map of Beijing. He asked us what we were planning on seeing on our trip there, we told him then he set about doing he awesome work. He had planned out our whole stay for our time at the hotel seeing all of the sites and having time to relax aswell. We then went back to our room and just spent the day watching Christmas movies and talking to family. Later that night was time for dinner. We couldn’t really find a place that did traditional Christmas dinner, so we settled for an outback steakhouse instead! This was inside the raffles hotel one of the most luxurious hotels in the world. After eating an enprmpus steak the size of my face or a large man's hand, we slowly walked around the raffles hotel which was an outstanding piece of interior design and luxury. We made it back and watched A muppet x mas carol one of the best x mas films ever made !!!!!

So it was our first real day of sight seeing in Beijing except it wasn't ..... I had to go and get an extension on my visa. Storm had told us where we had to go and we made our way there. once we got out of the subway station , we asked someone where the building was and they told us to go across the river and it was just there. This was a blatant lie!!! we walked there and there was no building there. We asked a street cleaner as they usually know the area and they sent us another way, again not the right place. We eventually started walking back the other direction and after my lovely sweet girlfriend getting a little bit upset with me for no reason we eventually found the place. we went inside and I lined up, got a passport photo, and filled in the paper work. The woman then asked to see my bankstatement which showed 3000usd . As I didn't have this I was not allowed an extension which was a bummer but also a waste of the day as it was now 4 pm.

Since we were in the area we decided to go to the Lama temple. this temple is around 500 years old and home to a huge Buddah that is around 20 meters high made out of sandalwood and covered in gold leaf. that was pretty much the highlight of the temple as honestly I have seen about a billion temples in Asia. If you think about it, do you go and look at every Church in your country ? They kind of lose there appeal after a while. after that we went back to the hotel . Storm was waiting there for us. he asked us how our day went and them he gave us train tickets to Badaling. he had gone to the station to buy them for us. this is how good this guy is. We went to check out the pool and steam room fascilities of the hotel and they were cool and i also fouund out a fear that becca has so it was an interesting yet fun time 😊

We woke up the next day at around 6 to get ready for the trip to the wall. I was thinking as our train was leaving at around 9 why we had to be up so early but after getting ready, eating breakfast, and then getting to the station (which Storm accompanied us to) we had made it with ten minutes to spare. Storm came with us to the stop where you get off then showed us where the wall was and went back , i was a bit dissapointed as i wanted to take him and let us look after him for a change. We went to the entrance to the wall and paid then we were there. You do spend most of the time ducking out of people's photo's but after about 5 minutes diving around like a ninja, you give up and don't care. The wall itself is very very impressive like many of the wonders of the world as you imagine how they built it without modern technology. After a while of walking you come to realise that it is a long wall and after walking most of it you have to walk back. as it doesn't loop. We decided to go to the highest point on this particular section before making our way back. We stopped off at the museum and kind of just walked in and no one asked for a ticket even though im pretty sure you needed one. the museum was ok im glad we didnt pay as im sure I would have liked it less if we had. We then went back to the hotel and had a cheapish dinner that night.

The next day We went to the Forbidden city. This was the palaces of the emporers and their concubines and empresses for 500 years. It was called the forbidden city because no one was allowed entry without invitation. Once we had gone through Tienamen square into the gate of the city it was all very daunting at how this was for one person and so huge and what they would do with it. but overall it was a few palaces and temples that were impressive and I think if i hadn't been exposed to so much chinese ancient architecture in a month I would most likely have been very impressed. The chinese have had many places where the have settled their capitals so many place along the way to Beijing have been just like it all be it on a far less larger scale. I did still enjoy it though .

We were nearing the end of our stay at the hotel and decided to spend our last day there just relaxing and having time to ourselves. this was nice after sightseeing for the last few days. We were to go to Becca's school the next day as she would be studying there for the next three weeks. So the next day finally arrived and we said goodbye to Storm who had been brilliant to us. We then jumped in the taxi and left for a place which of course the taxi driver didn't know. to hid credit, he wouldn't have found the place with sat nav so he got us pretty close. we found the place and walked in. Now as I am nt studying there or in fact anywhere (but im working on that) I was not allowed to stay there . So I spent the first evening on lock down so no one would see me. It was kinda nice sending my girlfriend to do my bidding lol.

The next morning, Becca had to go to a meeting about her classes, she asked her teacher if I could stay andshe said to go and talk to another person. She did and found out I could stay if I Paid. Becca then had to go to another teacher to sort it out. however, this teacher was'nt there so she would have to wait. So safe in the knowledge that I would'nt get thrown in jail or anything for being there we ventured out to see what was around and the Zoo was not far away as were a few restaurants. Because it was New years eve and Becca's 21st we went back to the outback steak house for dinner and we walked around the street which was like a high street with lots of expensive shops and malls. there was a small food market but the smell made me feel ill after eating so much before.

These were my last few days in China as my visa ran out on the 5th so I had to buy a flight to Bangkok which was around 150 pounds. the last few days were quite nice and consisted of doing not much. The last weekend though we finally got to see the tomb of Mao Zedong. This was kind of cool to see an embalmed body that was suspisciously the wax version that they also have there. It is also free as you sort of get pushed through by the guards and thats it. but still on the to do list in Beijing.

Soon the day for me to leave China came I was a bit sad to leave Becca as I wont see her now till may but its part of our relationship so we are used to it. I boarded the plane and I was bound for Bangkok !!!!!!!!



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