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Published: November 13th 2007
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Hello folks! This is our last day in Beijing before heading down south to Hong Kong!
On our last day in Shanghai we dumped our backpacks at the train station in a locker and headed off to Luxun park, which was nearby. It was great! There were lots of chinese practicing Tai Chi, men playing card games, lots of badminton, karaoke courtesy of the locals and an outdoor style gym for the older folk - amazing - there were 70, 80, 90 year old chinese men and women lifting themselves up on monkey bars, swinging, stretching, running and all sorts - they were definitely much fitter than us!
The train up from Shanghai to Beijing was an experience. We had a cabin with 4 beds in - me and Mikey had the two low sleepers and we were sharing with a chinese couple who slept up on the high sleepers. They were nice, but they didn't speak any English and we couldn't speak chinese so our conversation was limited to say the least. The train had a restaurant car and a bar which was very nice!
Arrived at Beijing West train station after our 12 hour train journey
Luxun park - Shanghai
woolly and woof driving our boat on the lake and as we were pulling into the station they played 'a whole new world' (not the Peter and Katie version!) which was very surreal. As we walked out of the station we could see and taste the smog! It was quite bad. The weather improved a lot for the rest of the week and we had sunshine most days - not a drop of rain! We have been staying in a friend of a friends apartment (thanks Lulu!) which is near the city centre and is very plush!
Highlights in Beijing
Visited Tianamen Square which is huge! The largest public square in the world. In the middle of the square is a large mausoleum in which the body of Chairman Mao lies - we queued up too see him - very spooky! He's been dead for 30 years! Went through to the Forbidden City (home of the Emporer) which is also massive - lots of buildings, temples and alleyways - it was an amazing site and took hours to walk around. On our way out of the Forbidden City we saw soldiers practicing their march and new recruits being put through their paces. The soldiers then marched across
park gymnastics
the outdoor gym for the older folk to Tianamen Square and we watched as they lowered the national flag. This happens everyday at sunset.
The Great Wall of China was a magnificant site! We took a taxi to the Badaling section which is about 1 hours drive from town. The driver wanted to wait for us but we said no as we didn't know how long we would be - a bit of confusion due to the language barrier but we thought we had it sorted. 3 hours later, we returned and he was still there waiting! oooohh - jumped back in and the fare was still so cheap - bargain! Took a cable car up to the 1st section of the wall - wow! The wall just goes on and on as far as the eye can see - what a sight! Very steep steps and slopes along the way - and lots of people around. We just kept walking and before we knew it, we were alone - we had walked for hours! We reached the end of the section before they closed it off and we turned around to make our trek back. It was such an unbelievable sight - the entire wall
is over 3000 miles long!
We walked around the Summer Palace which was the holiday home for the Emporer and later we went to the theatre to see the chaoyang chinese acrobatic show - very entertaining. Other highlights included lunch at the 'Quan Ju De' duck restaurant which is very famous and has been open over 100 years. Plus a visit to the Olympic Park - the stadium "The Birds Nest" looks great but still a lot to do before next summer. Silk Street is a large undercover market selling loads of fake stuff - we did lots and lots and lots and lots of bartering here!
Beijing is a great city and very big. Lots and lots of traffic (including bicycle jams) and lots of uniformed personnel around - there seems to be a uniform for everything! Weathers a bit chilly but we'll soon be heading for warmer climates! Enjoyed the food and the general buzz about the place. So its off on another sleeper train tomorrow (Wednesday) for 24 hours.
bye bye Beijing and hello Hong Kong!
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Natalie Dominique
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Wow! your travels look like such fun so far! I will be in Shanghai too in 3 weeks stopping over on my way to Sydney for a month over Christmas and New Year!!!