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Published: August 27th 2008
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Ready to go!
Me all packed and ready the night before travel! Day 1 The Journey Begins Hey everyone 😊
My names Luke Pickerill and this blog will concern my trip to Siping City Shao Lin Martial Arts Academy in Northern China, the website for the acadamy is http://www.shaolins.com but i wouldnt judge too much by that url as its fairly inaccurate (i dont think its been updated in 5 years+). The first part will contain the details of my trip there, mostly full of jibberish but hopefully with some interesting content! Ill also apologise for my spelling as theres no spell checker on this computer, or built-in on this webpage so im sure alot of it will be incorrect but hopefully its close enough to get the jist!
Gatwick->Dubai->Beijing Upon the morning of travel I was eager and buzzing waking up before my set alarm after a suprisingly good sleep! (Normally im somewhat restless with a busy day ahead) Mumsie was very kind and took me to the airport, with a short detour home after forgetting my ipod (clearly essential travel gear). The first foul-up of the journey came when after planning ahead and buying an economist in the airport, they gave them out for free at
Beijing Station
Just took a quick snap of the train as it was loading up! the gate! (Typical luck and hopefully not an omen for the trip) At least they didnt have the free facts and figures book that came with the shop version, I know exciting stuff! Ill have to ensure I flash my facts and figures book at other economist readers and I maybe rewarded with glares of envy!
The flight itself was fairly uneventful however I did manage to squeeze in 3 films, which in a 6hr flight was quite impressive! The films of choice were 21, Vantage Point and Prince Caspian; chosen from an extensive selection including classics such as Dumbo and Fantasia! Strangely there was a very large Bollywood film selection, which was clearly well recieved by the majority of the plane as I appeared to be the only one in my area not enjoying the delights however I did passively absorb the majority of the plot, not that it was too hard as it appeared to consist mostly of sordid dancing in bright clothes combined with older men leering at younger women. No criticism intended as it genuinely appeared more entertaining than my dour choices!
Dubai airport was highly unexciting but very clean and efficient. The only
Train
This is the corridor of the train, see looks Poirotish! thing of real note was the obsene amount of prayer rooms, which seemed to outnumber toilets! Obviously there were hundreds of people sleeping on the floor, while unusual watching sleeping people tends to provide little entertainment.
The Dubai-Beijing flight was another good 7hrs, most of which i spent attempting to sleep and failing miserably. Managed to watch Lions for Lambs at one point which wasnt bad but rather disjointed. Eventually managed to get 2hrs odd sleep and also stole afew goodies including a cookie, muffin and a chicken sandwich (which i now regret as its still sitting in my bag sweating) However it does highlight how concerned I was about the food I would be recieving in the future, that I would consider plane-food worthy of stashing for later.
Beijing -> SiPing Beijing airport was very clean and efficient, certainly putting the English airports to shame. Getting around was easy and clearly sign-posted, discovering the shuttle buses was a doddle and at just over a pound was a bargain for a 45min journey to the station. For some strange reason our bus driver was feeling slightly vindictive as he dropped us off with a good
Train Cabin
Slightly wobbly picture, but you get the jist! Not too shabby eh? 500m togo, but fortunately everyone was going to the same place as me so was easy enough to follow them all.
Beijing itself was impressively clean, whether that was temporary for the Olympics or not is guess-work but im sure ill get a peek at it on the way back. Man-power seems to be in abundance with numerous gardners pruning the same hedge into perfection, in what appeared a daily task as there was a very small difference from the pre-hedgetrim. Nearly every billboard was advertising the Oympics and the strange Chinese Olympic tellytubby things are everywhere!
Beijing train station definately proved the toughest party of the trp with near zero signs in English and no English speakers that I found. Fortunately I had a good 5hr wait for my train so had plenty of time to find tyhe right platform. Aparently my ticket was first class, a fact nobody had mentioned to me and certainly wasnt what id requested at the ticket booth! Admitedly i was suprised at the price of the ticket at the time, near double what id expected to pay but at the time was happy to have a train ticket resembling the right
Train Mills
Again since its a moving shot from the train, not the best! But the scenery on the trip was pretty awesome! Lots of windmills, which dont look too bad with the sunrise, this picture doesnt quite capture the essence of it but it was very impressive! train/direction/time. However due to me being unaware of the status of my ticket I went off to the standard waiting area, aka the chicken hatch, which smelt distinctly unpleasant. It was only later - upon asking numerous train staff to confirm it was the right platform, I discovered that id been sitting in the wrong room for 3hrs and at the end of the platform there was a different world where one spent their time sipping spirits in high oak chairs! (a ritual i clearly didnt partake in)
The platform itself I only saw by night but appeared futuristic (Johnny Pnemonic style) packed with people and the train itself appearing endless, making finding my specially assigned seat a significany task. After asking 10+ ticket collectors (none of whom spoke a word of English but conversed in pointing and screaming in Chinese). I Finally found my way to the allocated seat, which to my suprise was a private room with 'en-suite' bathroom! It greatly reminded me of Poirot's Orient Express, it seems that 'soft sleeper' means a private room while hard sleeper is more open plan bunkbeds. Nevertheless I was very pleased with the added security and privacy it offered,
Weapons!
Those weapons belong to Ivan, my room mate! Im in the bed on the right just out of shot. Sadly the laptop and the fan are Ivans too, hes here for the year so has come well equiped! however as the return trip is in the daytime ill opt for the hard sleeper then.
Having now spoken to other students here I can strongly reccomend the train ride to Siping over the alternative of flying to Changchun and getting a taxi. Many people appear to have had 6hr+ taxi rides from Changchun as while the drivers insist they know the way - often this is a lie! Also if the trip from Beijing to Siping is overnight, or if your concerned for your belongings, then the added price of a soft-sleeper isnt outrageous. Fortunately since id had no delays on the journey, the acadamy had a driver waiting for me at the station - which was a welcome suprise un unfamiliar surroundings. The driver however was somewhat eccentric and honked at everything he saw!
One thing thats impressed me greatly about China is the high level of infrastructure and public transport. The roads in particular are devoid of potholes of which i had been expecting many! If it wasnt for the insane amount of dusty moterbikes - looking like something straight out of MaxMax (and obviously the Chinese eccentricities such as a high goat count on the road) It would be very similar to, if not better, than the majority of English roads.
Hopefully the next entry will be more exciting as it will contain information about my time spent at the acadamy itself!
~ Lukey
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Lukey
Luke Pickerill
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