Back to Beijing and waiting to go to Tibet

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Day 489: Saturday 31st October - A Tibetan temple in Beijing and the Bird’s nest

I arrive back in the capital at approaching 9am after my 10 hour overnight train journey from Hohhot. Every train journey I have taken in China has been on my own and I have been the only foreigner in my carriage on each occasion with all eyes fixed on me. Next time I’m on the train, in just 36 hours time it will be with two friends (one who I’ve still to meet) on my way to Tibet. That promises to be a very different experience. My first visit to Beijing had the sub-plot of arranging Tibet, my second is running the clock down until I depart for Tibet. I’ve seen all of Beijing’s major sights so this time if I do any sightseeing it will be to some of its lesser sights.

Thankfully I have arrived at Beijing train station rather than Beijing West station which means that I can hop on the metro rather than take a taxi to Leo’s hostel. The staff greet me like a long lost friend even though I’ve only been away 3 days. That’s what I like about this hostel, the staff are so friendly and welcoming - most are studying English at university and working in the hostel helps them to practice and improve their English. On top of that it is a great location, near Tiananmen Square and in one of Beijing’s Hutong’s - the alleyway’s that characterise old Beijing and that are fast disappearing, replaced by modern developments. One gripe with the hostel apart from the cold common area is that the staff all have English names. This is damning proof of the westerner’s inability and laziness to grasp their proper Chinese names. I don’t like it, I wouldn’t want to be called a Chinese name in my own country to satisfy the ignorance of Chinese tourists so I don’t expect the Chinese to do the same.....we should try harder and learn their names. Cute little Zhang Jing isn’t here this time though she’s on holiday for a few days and I still swear she can’t be a day over 16 although she insists she is 20. She’s my favourite as she’s so sweet and friendly. She’s like the little sister I never had.

I speak to Patricia on the phone about going to the acrobats this evening and she calls me back to say that she’s changed her mind and doesn’t want to go anymore. I was in two minds also, as I want to see the Olympic Stadium at night and it is one or the other as tomorrow night I don’t want to be rushing around ahead of catching the train to Lhasa. I failed to see the acrobats in Shanghai and now in Beijing and when I think about it I haven’t really immersed myself in other forms of Chinese entertainment like Chinese opera or other traditional music. It’s a shame but just another reason to return to China.

With the acrobats idea canned I can see the Olympic Stadium at night now. Getting my timing right is going to be key as I’ve noticed that Beijing is so much colder than it was a few days ago and I don’t want to be hanging around waiting for it to get dark outside the stadium for too long. After chatting to my old room mate Tina from Denmark for a while I decide that I better get a move on and see a few sights.

I catch the metro to Lama Temple, the most famous Tibetan Buddhist Temple outside Tibet. I suppose it is quite appropriate with Tibet just around the corner but it falls into ‘just another temple’ category for me even though it has beautiful rooftops, some impressive carpentry and a huge Buddha carved out of one piece of wood. I hope my lack of enthusiasm towards temples doesn’t repeat itself in Tibet. From Lama Temple I get the metro to the Olympic Park to see the Bird’s Nest, the stadium from last year’s Olympics.
The Lama Temple was just another temple and the Bird’s Nest is just another stadium. Okay it’s an interesting design but there’s only so much interest you can have in a stadium if you’re not totally into the sport or the history behind the stadium. I’m not going to pay 50 Yuan (£5) to get a tour of the stadium and I have got my timing completely wrong and I am not prepared to wait two hours until nightfall so I content myself with walking the perimeter and then heading back to the hostel. The two German girls I had dinner with last night in Hohhot had warned me that the Olympic Stadium was nothing special, they were right. Maybe at night it’s better?

In the evening I finally meet Bruno and Patricia comes across. Three of the four of the Tibet group are together for the first time and we talk about the challenges and stresses of organising Tibet and the excitement we are all now feeling. Connie an Argentinian girl joins us for dinner and I find myself raving about my times in Argentina and Patagonia in particular a year ago, still the most beautiful part of the world I have ever seen. I agree to meet Bruno and Patricia tomorrow evening to go to the station together.

Day 490: Sunday 1st November - Good night autumn, good morning winter

I wake up to a white Beijing. It was only a few days ago that I was talking about enjoying the autumn colours in and around Beijing and the realisation that I hadn’t seen autumn since 2007. Well it seems that we’ve had a fast forward through the seasons and in the first day of November if it isn’t winter, it certainly feels like it. Of course I’ve seen snow during my trip, but only in the higher climbs of the mountains, so this also feels like the first taste of winter for two years. I am surprised to see the snow of course, but it felt much colder yesterday when I arrived back in Beijing than the first time when I was here just days before.

With the bad weather outside I spend the morning in the relative comfort and warmth of the hostel.....well I’m still sat with my coat on! I decide that it is the right time to commit to returning home. Nothing has changed in my mind in the two months since I first had the thought of returning home on the flight between Hong Kong and Tokyo. My energy reserves are low, and reducing all the time, I miss my friends and family and I am finding it harder and harder to be amazed by the things I am seeing and the experiences I am having. It is all becoming too normal and there is nothing normal about travelling as it is one of the best things you can do in your life. But, it is time before long to resume my own normal life, at least for a while until I set out on the next crazy adventure.

Beijing also feels the right place to book my tickets home. Almost all the planned remainder of my trip is in a westward direction back to the UK give or take. But as to how long this journey is, what form of transport or which route it takes, well my readers you will just have to read on! But, as I said I have committed to a date to return to the UK, the same date I had in mind on my flight from Hong Kong to Tokyo (but of course this can always change!). This week a few pieces of the jigsaw have slotted in (like Tibet and a few other pieces I will keep to myself) and now I am confident to commit to a date in the knowledge that the remainder of my trip promises to finish on the highlight I so wished for. After such a long time away it would seem a shame to finish in any other way than on an absolute high. So, I am excited about what remains, the places and countries I still have to visit and I also look forward with great excitement to seeing my family and friends again after such a long time when I finally get home.

I manage to get the tickets for my route home at the best price I’ve seen since I first looked into the possibility of this route back. It is meant to be. It feels right. One day soon but not too soon, Prudhoe’s favourite son (haha) will be back!!

As I continue to delay my venture out into the snow outside I procrastinate on the internet. Beijing is colder than Lhasa at the moment, it is 1 degree in Beijing and it is 15 degrees in Lhasa where at least the sun is shining. Although it goes below freezing in Lhasa (tonight it is forecast to me minus 1) it promises to be bitter tonight in Beijing at minus 9. Even though Lhasa is at 3500 metres altitude maybe I am going to a warmer climate after all?! Today certainly feels a world away from the 35 degrees I enjoyed in southern China.

At 3pm I finally brave the freezing temperatures and go shopping. I don’t buy any shoes deciding my hiking boots will do as an all-round pair of footwear for the time being but end up buying a fleece, a hooded top, some thick socks and a windbreaker to ensure I have some warmer clothes in my bag. I think I’ve gone a bit overboard as I have a tendency to do when I go shopping. It is okay when you’ve got a big house to put all your purchases in but when you must fit your life in a 60 litre backpack it is a bit of a problem. Maybe some shorts and clothes for the warmer weather may have to be jettisoned. I’ll work it out, I’ll have to as I can’t physically carry any more!

I have enjoyed Beijing. It is a city you absolutely have to visit when you come to China for its place in history and its proximity to the Great Wall. I think most Chinese cities are avoidable and it is the beauty of the country outside the cities I would rather see. However, Beijing along with Shanghai for its modernity and skyline, Hong Kong for its skyline, Macau for its colonial architecture and Xian another city full of history, interesting architecture and surrounded by city walls are the 5 cities I wouldn’t avoid.

I catch up with Bruno and Patricia in the late afternoon and we spend the early evening waiting for the clock to tick down to get the train to Lhasa. I am so excited! This next 10 days it promises to be a wonderful experience, and yes that it includes the journey even though it takes almost two days. I’m living the dream and that is the ultimate when dreams become real.

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