China - Beijing Madness

Got a taxi with a bunch of others to the train station to board the train to Beijing at 8am. This was the final leg of the Trans-Siberia-Mongolia-Beijing train. We boarded the train, excited to see who the two lucky passengers would be that would be sharing our cabin with us. Two guys from Slovakia had the honour. Thankfully they had perfect English, and it wasn’t long before I was fully briefed on the history of Slovakia, the social and economic policies of the country and its future!! It was like mastermind in the cabin and by lunch time I think they were exhausted from all the questions. Nice lads really, and we had good banter with them.

We passed though the Gobi desert en-route; sounds cool but nothing to see except, well, ‘desert’ for several hours - though we could get off the train from time to time in villages wherever the train stopped, to have a nose about for a few minutes. The journey was about 30 hours, give or take, so plenty of time for much-a-do-about-nothing; looking out the window and trying to read up on what to do in Beijing. Bumped into Stephen (American guy) who we met last week and also the Irish tour group again. Everyone seemed to be exiting Mongolia the same day. The train was full of tourists and the time passed fairly quickly. Passport control was a nightmare and it must have taken about 5 hours to complete the Mongolian exit and Chinese entry. The highlight of the trip was the Boggie Wheel changing. When we arrived in china to the border train station, it was done up with lights and blaring out eerie welcoming music over the intercom, to welcome the train from Mongolia. Then we were whisked off to a shed and a hydraulic lift raised the train about 3 meters off the ground and the wheels were changed to fit the Chinese tracks. This is an impressive event to watch and I think every window on the train was jammed with heads trying to see what & how this process got completed.

Arrived in Beijing to utter madness & a lot of smog (a permanent white haze that hangs over everything). Damn those guide books which tell “everyone” where the taxi’s are located in the train station when you come into Beijing. The queue was mental and we ended up down the back. Luckily I negotiated with a local tout who approached us. Similar to Russia, locals ferry people around for some tax-free extra dosh. You’re taking a chance here getting in with a complete stranger, but you just have to use common sense. The car was banjaxed and I smacked my head getting in as the roof was so low. Not a good start! If I hadn’t been in China before I would have freaked; the driving was utterly chaotic. This stuff has to be seen to be believed, and this guy was a pro. Eventually, I just sat back and relaxed....or rather closed my eyes! Ah this was the ‘new normal’. Welcome to Asia!! After endless horn honking and many questionable driving maneuvers, he had us at the hostel through rush-hour traffic in about 5 minutes flat! We were staying in a Hutong (a back alley), or I guess, a Chinese backstreet - the old Beijing which the government has been heavily criticised for tearing down of late, in order to make room for the new Beijing. Hutong areas are quite interesting places to stay in and I would recommend them, instead of the traditional main street hotel type accommodation, for those willing to try something new.

Got dinner in Beijing in a restaurant later that evening where you cook your own meal (Hot Pot); basically there was a gas cooker build into our table; they gave us all the food and we were supposed to cook it ourselves. Sound easy? - Well it might be if we were making pasta and cheese, but when attempting to prepare a strange Chinese concoction with two small bowls and a pair of chopsticks for cutlery!! - Not so! There was also no English spoken by the staff to explain what to do, and it wasn’t long before these two dullards were pretty much goosed! Fair-play to the Chinese though; we were assigned our own private chef (i.e. a waiter) to cook for us, who stood at our table for 30-40 minutes in the packed restaurant; who basically spoon fed us dinner in traditional style servings, and found us two forks in the kitchen, instead of those chopsticks that I used to ‘SO’ dread. I’m improving though, and can now just about eat with chop-sticks without making a complete mess or having sore fingers . The meal for both of us with beer and drinks came to €14 (cheap eh?). After giving “the Chef” a massive tip (of €6!) he chased us to the door trying to give the money back, with all the staff and customers looking on. It’s hard to give money away these days!!

We did the tourist thing also; - got a tour of the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace, pearl and silk factories, took in a Kung-Fu show, went to see the legendary Birds Nest stadium, and got some pics with the infamous Mao. If you want to know what it's like to be a celebrity; just stand around Tiananmen Square (the centre) for a little while and you'll attract loads of attention. Myself and Nicola were constantly asked to pose for pictures with Chinese people. Remember - China is a large country with a population of over a 1.3 Billion (yes Billion!). Many people come in from the country during the summer holidays to visit Beijing. These people have never seen, let alone met, westerners before. The tendency to stare is prevalent and many got really excited to have the chance to talk with us. If you're not asked for photos, as they may be shy to ask - be prepared to be props in the background for other peoples photos as they try and sneak a few shots!

Being the opposite to Irish girls; young Chinese women seem to be fascinated by white skin and have all the latest cosmetic skin whitening products. Umbrella's are a big business here and at the first sign of sunshine through the smog filled summer days, the umbrella's go up to to block the rays.

And what would a visit have been without going to the Great Wall of China (which contrary to the myth, isn't actually visibly from outer space! - sad but true). We completed a 10km hike on the wall no less. The section of the wall we visited was about 120km from Beijing, between Jinshanling & Simatai. No tourist bells and whistles here, thankfully; just bricks and mortar to climb. In fairness, this was tough, especially once the sun came up and the temperature soared to 30' degrees. We had several "unofficial" guides accompanying us along the way; 'The Touts' who are persistent but harmless, and were good to fill you in on all sorts of historical information regarding the wall and to show you some hidden shortcuts!

Heading to Tibet for a few days when we get a permit sorted. This may sound odd if you are from the free world, but basically to travel to Tibet (which is a special province in China) you need a "travel-to-Tibet-permit"; and then to travel within Tibet itself, you need a "travel-within-Tibet-permit". Travelling by yourself is illegal and you seem to need to be part of an official tour group. Sounds like a handy trick these guys learned from the Russians, eh? China’s relationship with Tibet is tense; - again we are NOT Google so you know where to look to find out more.

For now we are going to head down to Shanghai for a few days, perhaps onwards to Xi'an (Warrior territory), and from there get the 2 day train to Lhasa (Tibet capital) to the west of China. Then we just need to figure out how to get from Tibet to Nepal.... legally (or otherwise!).

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