HELLO BEIJING!!!!!!!!!

The flight to Beijing was fine Tim managed to blag us the emergency exit seats so we were well comfortable!!! Few beers and a film and we were landing. We had arranged an airport pick up from our hostel and were met by a very friendly guy who thought it hilarious Tim still had cut offs on and it was freezing! The hostel was really nice, it had two seperate wings one main entrance with lots of smaller rooms and then another wing around 10 minutes walk up the road with a really nice court yard full of traditional red lanterns and a really nice bar/relaxing area. We did not get chance to enjoy the court yard as it was so damn cold!!!! The room was the best we'd had so far in the trip. It was lovely and warm with an additional heater and had a proper quilt. Our shower was next door and was always hot anytime of the day.

I had arranged to meet with staff at CU Beijing the following day, we were being picked up at 10am. So we got a good nights sleep and on the dot the car arrived with Tang (the company interpreter) a very happy and friendly young lady. We were driven to the main CU offices in Beijing where Tang gave us alot of help sorting out trains and internal flights around China for exceptionally good prices in comparison to what we had found on the internet. Subsequently we only had one train journey instead of 4 and we are flying the rest of the China leg which is great as it has saved us some very long overnight journeys. Tang then took us for lunch - which was delicious and our chop stick ability is improving no end (no more forks for me at China Red CU guys!!!!).

After lunch we were driven out of Beijing and to the CU manufacturing facility about 1.5 hours outside of the city. Mr Jiang the company MD was entertaining customers there that afternoon so Tang showed us around. It is very much like our UK facilities and I was really impressed. After an interesting cup of hot water which we added green tea to and everyone found very funny? I think they drink alot of plain hot water out here!!!! Mr Jiang had finished with his visitors so we headed back and hit the Beijing rush hour. Tang went to sleep as she gets car sick and me and Tim were fighting to stay awake so we did not seem rude!! Then we realised Mr Jiang was also catching some zzzz's in the front!!!!! As Mr Jiang does not speak english he had given Tang alot of advice on where we should go and we were set for the following two days on our own exploring. They very kindly arranged to pick us up on Monday to take us to the Great Wall. So we said our goodbyes until then.

We wanted to go to the Forbidden City and Tianamen square the following day. As it was a crisp morning we decided to walk which we were told would take us around an hour - everyone was suggesting we got the bus but we thought it more interesting to have a proper exploration! Beijing is a really nice city, we had no problem with the famous pollution (maybe it is because it is winter) but we did not notice anything like we had been told to expect. Our street map had shown a park along the way so we headed for that. It took a while to find and we had to pay a small charge to enter but it was beautiful. Beihai park was used many years before for royalty and dignatories to study and relax. We walked through a bridged pond area full of fish and then it opened out into a court area where there we quite a few locals ballroom dancing. It was a lovely scene, to the side of the dancing a lady was writing on the pavement in chinese with a large paint brush and water. Tim managed to get a really good picture of it. Further round the park there was a group of local people singing and it seemed that it is still used as a place to relax and unwind. Dancing lessons were also taking place which was quite funny as we stood and watched a guy trying to learn with as much grace as Tim!!! So we strolled through the park and lake area out the other side and a short distance down the road we found the entrance to the Forbidden City.

The City is surrounded by high walls and is literally a city within one. It is where the royal family lived and they very rarely left it's quarters. It dates back to the 15th century and it extremely extravagant. Small quarters to the side of the main walking area housed rooms for the kings concubines - there were upto 5000 of these women living here! The city is built on a vast area of land and has 3 huge court yards at different stages as you walk through. The main building and court area which could hold over 100,000 people at one time is currently under renovation. It seems alot of work is being undertaken in Beijing as they have the olympics next year. Alot of it has already been renovated and it has some lovely architecture. It was a very interesting place but we could not really believe that in a time when the people lived in such abject poverty the royal family spent so much money on themselves.

From here we went over to tian'amen square. Very famous for it's military displays during the communist reign and over the years also a place where many demonstrations were held against the communist government. Most famous was the uprising in 1989 where it is suggested over 1 million people demonstrating against the standard of living were killed by the army and buried in mass graves. As it was during the communist reign this has never been proven. The square itself is literally just a huge paved area surrounded by old goverment buildings which are now used as museums etc... We did notice that around the square and the forbidden city there was a large police, military and national security guard presence. We did not stay long as there is so little to look at. So we headed into the main shopping area and had a look around. The malls were decorated for xmas so we did a little window shopping and then found an old traditional market selling all kinds of chinese trinkets and food including some bugs on sticks!

By the time we made it back to our hostel we had been walking for over 5 hours and were both very tired and hungry. We asked the staff to suggest a local restaurant which was not too far away and were told to head left and look for two neon pigs!!! We found it no problem, the restaurant was large and as we are now getting used to we were the only westerners in there. The menu we were given was in chinese and it is very hard to tell from the pictures what you are ordering but we managed to get a english version and breathed a sigh of relief when we realised some of the stuff we had looked at was not quite what we thought. Pigs intestines being one dish - phew!! We ordered a lovely meal and the service was very good. We left feeling very satisfied and pretty desperate for bed. We decided to give ourselves the following day off! We spent most of Sunday updating the blog which takes an age and we were quite behind and then enjoyed a nice dinner at the hostel.

Monday morning Tang arrived and we set off to visit the Great Wall. We headed for a place called Badaling which is very popular with tourists. We were a bit concerned that it may be overly busy but to our surprise it was pretty quiet. Apparently in summer you cannot move on this section of the wall. Tang stayed with the driver and we arranged to meet them a few hours later. They headed off to get some lunch and we headed up the wall. Blimey its hard work! You have a choice when you get through the entrance whether to go left or right. Right is the most popular way as up at the top of the wall there is an inscription placed there by Chairman Mao. Very popular for the local tourists. However we did decide to go right even though it was busier. The steps in places are very steep and even the sections without steps are still very much up hill. There were more than a few stops along the way to the top section. It took us around an hour to get up there, the views are quite something. It is hard to believe how they built it in such a mountainous range. The section we had walked does continue further down and away from the main entrance but it would have meant walking quite a long way from where we were meeting Tang so we decided against it!

The section we had walked has been restored by the government. Over the years during different dynasties the wall was left to go to ruin or materials from it were used in other areas. We had read in the guide book that over the left side of the Badaling entrance the wall was very quiet and headed to sections that were yet to be restored. We thought we would go and take a look so after a rest we headed back down. The left side was even steeper than the right!!!! and it took a real effort for us to get up it. Over the ridge we could see sections of the wall which had not been restored and they really are piles of rubble in areas. We walked as far as we could to get a good look but the wall comes to an abrupt end and the lower sections have been shut off so you cannot get down they obviously dont want tourists on the unstable parts. We had this side of the wall literally to ourselves barr the few locals selling books, pashmina's etc...One lady even offered us some baubles for our xmas tree. Tim explained we had no xmas tree and she followed us back across the wall for a while shouting 'no tree' repeatedly which was quite funny!!

The wall is truly amazing!! it was quite a hazy day so the photos dont really show how far it stretches into the distance but it was a great experience.

We met up with Tang 3.5 hours after we had departed and were both very tired. Aching thighs, calfs, backs etc... It was 1.5 hours back to Beijing where we would be meeting Mr Jiang for dinner. So we settled in the car and enjoyed the warmth - it had been very cold on the wall.

Our meal was an absolute delight really good food that tasted fantastic. Mr Jiang gave us both a necklace as a gift which was really lovely. Mine is made of Jade and apparently will encourage health and money, Tim's symbolises virility! They are made locally and are very beautiful. After dinner Mr Zhang and Tang drove us to the railway station, we said our goodbyes and Tang insisted on seeing us into the station to make sure we were okay. After getting settled we insisted we would be fine and Tang left us to it. We are very grateful to the CU staff who looked after us very well and gave us boundless advice and help during our stay.

The train arrived and we found our cabin no problem. We were sharing a soft sleeper with a local couple. The train was unbelievably clean and even had individual TV's at the bottom of the beds!!! no english channels but we were impressed all the same!! A far cry from the indian trains we had previously experienced but then again the price was much higher in China. So we set off for Xi-an 11 hours away..............

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