Footsoar, 7-8 February Beijing

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Two days of hard foot exercise. We are now sitting in Beijing's major train station at a computer that costs 5 yuan/hour. To get here we paid 57 yuan to go 28 kilometres by taxi (suckers!)(for those of you who don't know; 1 yuan = less than 1 Swedish krona).

Yesterday we tried to get into Mao's Mausoleum (Maosoleum?) and look at his preserved corpse. Unfortunately it was closed so we went back to the hotel to get our cameras (because you're not allowed to have a camera when visiting Mao). Back on the street again we decided to get some lunch before heading out to the Forbidden City. We wanted to save some money so we took the cheapest place that we have seen yet so far this trip. After some heavy use of sign language from the very nice woman working there we got probably the only thing the served; meat-filled dumplings and hot algea broth to drink. It was surprisingly good and only cost 10 yuan. No sign of stomache disease as yet...

The Forbidden City was big...very big...huge. The experience seems much better today when we're warm and rested. There were so many palaces that we actually got tired of them. One of the things you really have to see if you're in Beijing, but definitely not the best. Especially since they were restoring the most important buildings. To enter the Forbidden City we were forced to surf the waves of a sea of little chinese people. One notices it's New Year.

Directly following the Forbidden City we went to Temple of Heaven. The park around the Temple was exactly as huge as the Forbidden City or "huger". It was quite dull though, since all the trees were of the same kind and planted in exact rows. The Temple of Heaven itself was cool but quite a bit smaller than expected.

Cold, tired and feetbroken, we got home to the hotel and collapsed on the beds, even without dinner!

Today we yet again tried to get into the Maosoleum but were once again disappointed. We caught a cab to the North Beijing Train Station looking for tickets to X'ian. Unfortunately it was small and very worn down so we didn't even try to find tickets. We ate lunch at Kentucky Fried Chicken and then took a taxi to the Summer Palace. It was easily the best sight so far. The park was a playground dream for any kid. No one would ever win if they played hide-and-seek around the hilly, stony garden palaces and temples. There were, in comparison to the Forbidden City, actually quite a few buildings with a genuine look. Flaking colours and disrepair were seen everywhere.

After uselessly trying to find the right bus home (or a chinese speaking english), we took a taxi here to the real Beijing Train station. Photos will follow as soon as possible.

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Comments

[jonathan]

Footsoar, 7-8 February Beijing
hey guys hope you are in good spirits even though your feet is soar. I hope you try some tai chi one morning with some locals. I do not know what you have eaten so far besides dumplings but I highly recommend that you order dim sum in the next reastaurant you visit. I guess there is a million of things that you have planned to do but if you find time one day I hope you hold your breath for one moment and let the spirit of china fill your lungs. I hope to hear from you soon and I really miss those pictures=) take care jd