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At the Olympic Bird's Nest
Rather large space making Roman look rather small4
thMay the beginning of our trip:
We arrived at the airport at 6 am in the morning only to find that our flight was delayed for 3 hours by bad weather in Guangzhou. So after wandering around and having some brekkie courtesy of the CSA (China Southern Airways) and being bored witless, we left at 11.30am. Flight was uneventful, movies were limited to one English and one Chinese for the whole trip (8 hours). All looked ok until we circled Guangzhou airport for a few times and the pilot announced that due to bad weather we were diverting to Shenzhen. Great! So arriving at Shenzhen airport tarmac ( only a few minutes away – near Hong Kong) we remained there for an hour or so until G airport was clear enough for us to have another go. Some people had connecting flights to Europe and were pretty keen to get there on time. Well we got there ok but then a shambles ensued at the airport and we had to go through immigration etc before reboarding our flight. BUT, the bad weather wasn’t going to let us go – as we went from the bus to the plane
we had a torrential rainstorm, we got soaked and the plane was grounded some more. We ate another meal on the tarmac as we waited for the weather to lift. Finally got to Beijing airport (we were the only flight to arrive and the place was deserted) at 3.40 am. We were supposed to arrive at 9.15 pm the previous night. What a debacle. Finally arrived at Harmony hotel in Beijing at 5 am and in bed by 5.30.
Of course it was impossible to sleep for long and we were up again at 8.30, so we went walk about to see where we were and the neighbourhood. Later explored the metro by going to Tiananmen Square for a quick looksee and returned to the hotel for dinner – which seemed to have lots of offal dishes – seems common here, the meal was delicious even though we had no idea what we ate. We met one of our fellow travellers eating alongside, Jethro who is Australian Chinese (Cantonese) and we organised an excursion the following day to the Summer Palace together.
Sunday: This time,
our metro training was quite complex, though we managed with ease – 2 Yuan gets you from anywhere to anywhere in Beijing (that’s about 30c worth). The summer palace was quite beautiful and extensive – we walked around for about 4 hours and also took a boat from one side of the large Kunming Lake to the other, and finally took a break before wending our way home to the meeting with our group.
We went to dinner at a restaurant and the bill which included Peking duck etc, and comprised countless dishes was 64 Y per person - $10. Lots of things I’ve never tasted and very Beijing apparently.
Monday: This morning we breakfasted at a hutong (alley) around the corner from the hotel for 4 Y each for a dim sum type brekkie – very nice too!!
And we toured the Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City – very large and lots and lots of people!!!!! Lunch as usual was very tasty, lots of dishes not tried before (except they brought out sweet and sour pork just for us – tourists) and that cost 28
Kunming Lake
At the Summer Palace each – by the way, each meal was accompanied by the local tasty beer and soft drinks and Chinese tea. This is the last time I will mention the food prices, though you can see that they are very cheap!
Tuesday the 8th May: The Great Wall of China: Early morning start at the hutong around the corner for brekkie - steamed buns and porridge and then we were off - 3 1/2 hours later we arrived at Jinshaling ready for our walk. It was a wonderful experience, though it was very hot ( we were walking the wall in the middle of the day)and the bits of borken wall were much to experience at times. The sheer magnitude of the wall is inspiring to see ( and walk!!). Again, the trip back took us longer than walking the wall ( especially in Beijing peak hour traffic). A very quick noodle slops dinner - one of our moe expensive meals and not up to the remainder-before heading for bed.
Wednesday:: Off to the Huiling ( a place for disabled adults over 16 and under 40) where we were entertained by the people with a performance of
Roman and Chinese Child
She wanted a picture with me ( a foreigner, so I asked for hers with Roman dance and songs before trying our hand at calligraphy, chinese style and finally a dumpling and spring rolls lunch - excellently cooked by the people there who were learning skills. We are checking out tonight and off on our first train trip to Xi'an at 8.30 pm.
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Elizabeth
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Thanks
Hey you two, Thanks for the insight into your travels in China, sounds like you are having a lovely time. Looking forward to the next leg of your travels.