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Published: October 2nd 2007
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So we took an afternoon train from Datong to Beijing on Wednesday the 26th. It was a beautiful trip - we saw small parts of the Great Wall along with beautiful country side, mountains and lakes. For some reason we were actually in a soft sleeper car rather than in coach seating, so it was an afternoon/evening of sleeping, reading and looking at the scenery.
Beijing is one big city!!! 13 or 14 Million now and I can't imagine what it will be like with the Olympics - visitors plus people that move there in the next year. There was construction everywhere! they're also building two new metro lines which should help with the traffic. I wasn't too put off by the traffic, b/c I found the 120 bus line a little quicker than everyone else - it went everywhere! including my spa on the last day - fantastic 😊
So our first full day, we had time to check out Tianamens Square and the Forbidden City which is huge and very impressive - only the Emperor and his concubines were allowed into the city and it's only opened for tourists in the last 20 or 30 years. It was a
good morning - sunny and lovely, but I think our guide, Michael was at his last rope with us (as were we all with him). As you can imagine, it was challenging to keep 15 people together listening to him all morning, and even more challenging to hear what he was talking about - but there was no asking questions once they had already been answered... I was reprimanded a couple of times 😊
A few of us also got to enjoy a lunch at Paul's Steak and Eggs diner - an "American" greasy spoon - it was so good, I had brunch there on Sunday too! I attempted to find a travel agent for a couple of hours, but unfortunately just found frustration - lots of walking and no offices where they were supposed to be. Luckily I found a place the next afternoon hidden in the Tourism Administration building - luckily there was a Chinese guy buying his own ticket and he spoke English and helped us through. I would have to say most of my frustrations with China (and possibly the guide, the food, the smoking and the hoarking/spitting) are a result of a language barrier
and/or communication issues (ie, smoking in front of signs that say no smoking... maybe they say something different in Chinese????). So it was nice to finally get something resolved with an aid in that department. And at 1/2 price to my agent in Calgary 😊
That night we checked out a Kong Fu show - which was entertaining, but not as good as the Shoalin Monks! Then Friday morning brought the Great Wall - which in a word was Great... Amazing really. It was a 2.5 hour drive outside of Beijing and we were able to make it there before the crowds - it's also a section of the wall that is not as busy as the main touristy area. We had to hours to explore and hike up the wall to get an amazing view of the mountains. I must admit - I love the mountains 😊 That morning got me really excited for Nepal!
So by Friday evening I was much more relaxed - the main sights visits and my ticket in hand to get out of China. I was able to seat back and pig out on the final dinner - Peking Duck. It was pretty
Street Market in Beijing
Life on the Wild side... it's not scorpian, but its beef on the street.... and it seemed crazy at the time :) good... but apparently they do it better in London (as per the Brits)... go figure. Unfortunately our attempt at a bar outing again turned out to be average, as the main bar street as actually Karaoke bars 😞
Luckily I had company for my additional last three days in Beijing. Jenn and Alexis stayed for two extra nights as well. Dad, I took some notes during the trip and I've learned a lot about Father/Daughter relationships - I was quite impressed how well they got along for not having a vacation together in over 20 years! We spent Saturday and Sunday wondering around the Temple of Heaven (okay, I mean it... That's the last one!!!) and the Hutong's - tiny little streets where you can take some great Lonely Planet type photos. I finally got a shot of a kid's bum... sounds creepy, I know, but I think its so funny that all these kids (up to 3 or 4 years old) have slits in their pants for ease of going to the bathroom and for clean up - it wasn't always pretty 😊
Monday October 1st was the National Holiday and unfortunately, I made the bad decision to go watch the sunrise flag raising ceremony at 5:30am... in the rain... with about 200,000 people. The coolest part of the 'show' (which on a normal day is supposed to be quite good b/c they time the flag raising with the sun rising behind an arch of the Forbidden City), was that when the flag raising started (100m away) people shouted for everyone to put down their umbrellas, and everyone actually did it... I can't see that happening at home! Luckily Jenn lives in Vancouver as is willing to ship home everything I bought to date (and some extras I brought along). So I packed and gave her a big bag - destination, Hay House... no need to be poking around things that look like gifts! But maybe pull out the beautiful Chinese dress I had made... please 😊 😊
THEN, I caught the bus with my backpack and headed to the spa. It was beautiful. There were flowers floating in water below my face while I was getting my scrub and massage and I was in a room with my own bathroom, shower and three different massage tables, so I could just move over to the next table when they were done a treatment! Fantastic. After my wonderful 3 hours, they brought me a menu for complimentary drinks and meals. As my vermicelli bowl ended up being pretty small, I snacked and then went down to the restaurant on the street and had a glass of wine, a delicious sandwich and salad - it was perfect.
It was a great way to end my Chinese holiday! Now that I'm out of the country, I can say that it wasn't as bad as I've made it sound - its really quite beautiful! It's the only countryI've visited that I've ever had such a strong desire to be able to go back in time and see what life was like in the times of Emperors and Warriors.
Sorry... Slow internet, no photos unfortunately 😞 Have a great week
Love Steph
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