Beijing

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Hi all we are currently in Beijing in 365 hostel. Following is copied from our journal:


12th sept 17:15 "just write 10 hours- that will do" says michael. That's the reason i am writing this journal and not him!!!
sitting on a plane waiting to take off. On our way to seats we were made to walk through first class where beautiful air hostesses handing out champagne andother gifts to posh business types. As soon as we made it past first class we were gretted by a baby crying- loudly!! It's going to be a long flight. Michael has decided/realised that he can control my T.V by pressing buttons on the arm of my chair. Its gonna be a very very long flight!!

14th sept 17:00
arrived in beijing about 11:00 and managed to negoitate the airport train and subway with out too much difficulty (having signs in english is a big help)
I should point out that i took us the wrong way on the subway- which michael took great pleasure reminding me about 10000 times. my humour ran out slighty after the 200th reminder of my error! Once we arrived at Qianmen stationand came to the surface we were greeted by smells sights and sounds and smog filled air. michael: found hostel. went for a walk. had beer. BEER IS CHEAPER THAN COFFEE OMG!!
(Katie)
Hostel 365 is really nice. Nice bar area which serves good food Chinese or Western (if feeling a little homesick or just sick of Chinese food!
Quite hot and humid outside. When I pointed out to Michael that the breeze was quite nice he stated "problem is with the breeze comes a waft of shit" from the sewerage system running close to the surface and the numerous public toilets dotted around. All the public toiltes have warning signs on stating "wear protective face mask" with a picture of a person wearing a gas mask!!
We went to the Forbidden city and Tiananmen Square today which were both very impressive. Forbidden city was not a disappointment, it was massive and majestic. We also went to a park which overlooed Forbidden city which was beautiful and peaceful.

Some noted points about China (sofar):
Chinese babies have massive heads - Michael
Chinese people smell of corned beef - Michael
Women pose like supermodels for all photographs
Everyone stares at me and other blonde women
Chinese women want to be white (we saw an advert for whitening cream on subway)


16th September 2pm

Currently sitting in the Hundred Flower Pavillion inside the Temple of Heaven Park in Beijing. It is extremely peaceful and beautiful (except for the loud shouting Chinese man). We have noticed that Chinese men and women over the age of about 50 seem to shout a lot. It's a bit cooler today and less humid which comes as a bit of a relief (maybe our clothes will last for an extra day).
Yesterday we went to the Lama Temple which was full of burning incense. Lots of different buildings with very impressive statues and lots of monks wlking around. again it was very peaceful and we really enjoyed it there. The mokns there practice Tibetan Buddhism, which is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism.

We also managed to book train tickets to Pingyao, thanks to a member of staff at our hostel writing down what we needed in Chinese and us handing it to the official at the ticket booth at the station. We will be leaving for Pingyao on Sunday evening 5.15pm Chinese time and arriving at 05.30 Chinese time.



We will write more soon, and hopefully put some pictures on, we are currently unable to upload photos on this computer.

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Comments

[Pat Miller]

Fantastic photos! Love the haircut Michael. Hostel sounded good - an encouraging beginning. Look forward to further instalments.