Beijing

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Arriving in China was our first major culture shock of our trip, until then we had spent most of our time staring out of train windows at snow or living it up in the largely European style Moscow. The train station alone was massive - with waiting rooms to accomodate up to 14,000 people, the majority of which seemed to be amassed outside in a giant mob, of which were two of the most hyperactive girls I've ever met who showed us to our hostel. We were staying in an old style 'hutong' (traditional alley neighbourhood) where the atmosphere was constantly buzzing with music and street sellers (and the smells of the sweet sweet Chinese food). Having been to various Chinatowns across the world it felt strange to actually be living in the real thing where the buildings do have the pointy roofs and people eat dog for dinner. Underestimating the severity of the Beijing cold we froze our faces off, it was only slightly warmer than Moscow.

We did all the usual sights in Beijing like the forbidden city. Its scale is amazing but much of it was under scaffold for renovation and the parts that had already been restored seemed just slightly tacky. The Great wall was a highlight - we visited a far less visited section - for much of the time we were the only people in sight amongst a backdrop of endless mountains. We took the 'taboggan' down the mountain which was great fun - all the way down the chinese men were screaming at us from the bushes to 'BRAKE BRAKE!', we took no notice and Zander overturned on the last corner.

The summer palace was well worth a visit - we were able to escape the crowds and find peace at a pagoda on top of the hill and it was far less tacky than the forbidden city. Unfortunately Mao's mausoleum was closed for maintainance, but his spirit lives on in the hundreds of posters books and watches (with waving Mao arm). State policy says he's 70% good, 30% bad, but I'm still not convinced.

It seems all the bars in Beijing are located in two blocks far away from the centre of town, all situated next door to each other. It was here we were first properly exposed to the horrors of Chinese pop music, but we had a great time at the indie night at the Kai bar (if you're in Beijing - go there) - we got them to play the Smiths and Smashing Pumpkins which made our night. One of the best parts of going out was ealry morning 'bowser' - like a small meat dumpling served with chili that became staple to our stay in China. Mmmm.

The food in China was officially delicious - we became resident in one of our locals in Beijing where the owner worked as award winning photographer by day, Saddam Hussain impersonator and general madman by night. We had proper feasts until we could eat no more (for under 2 quid each), while you ate the television would scream 1970s Chinese opera, and when you leave the waiters would just scream. The menu was full of fun food such as "The Soy Sauce Explodes the Chicken Cube" and "The Mother Pounds the Meat". I ordered frog kebab by mistake from a street stall - I only realised when I noticed my meat had a head and four legs. I ate one of the frogs whole but can't reccomend it - it took aobut 5 minutes of chewing among the crunchy bones and wasnt at all tasty.

See Ross' photos here:Beijing Baldness!

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