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Published: August 9th 2012
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Beijing, China
We were very excited about China given the ball ache it was to get our visa and we were pleased to come somewhere really culturally different from Vietnam which had a heavy western influence, particularly in the south. The subway is excellent and we had no worries finding our hostel - 365 hostel - which is fantastic and highly recommended for anyone visiting Beijing!
That first night was the Olympic opening ceremony and we were damned if we were gonna miss it, so we went to bed at 10 and set alarms for 3 am to catch it. We absolutely loved watching it (despite all commentary being in Chinese!!!) but we were able to read the BBC feeds to understand what was going on. We were both swelling with pride and thought it was a brilliant, unique and thrilling ceremony. Olympic rings in space - who would have thought?! Shame about Macca though (Tash hates him - so does her mum) but even so, we were singing along to hey Jude. And the torch - just fantastic! It was after this that we both admitted that we missed home and couldn't wait to get back to see
our friends and family and revel in the Olympic atmosphere... Sad, but true!!
The next couple of days were spent visiting Tiananmen Square, forbidden city etc. Truly HUGE!!! The size of all the buildings beggars belief - just massive!!! T square was cool, massive and an interesting place to go given its checkered history but there is a sense of being watched there which is true - you are - but it's quite an ominous feeling.
We headed to the night food market and saw people selling and eating the grossest food in the world - well in sight anyway - we didn't have the bottle to try any of it so couldn't possibly comment on taste... What with Tasha's delicate stomach, it was never gonna happen. All the food was on large kebab sticks and included: snake, snake skin, starfish, squid (ok, not so bad), silk worms, lizards, massive black spiders, scorpions (many of which were still alive and wriggling their legs), centipedes, seahorses, baby sharks, cicadas and locusts... Wowser! They also sold cooked chicken/duck foetuses - poor things boiled alive a few weeks before hatching!!! Can't see sainsburys stocking any of that any time soon. We
did however eat the expected Peking duck which was delicious but dare I say it, we preferred the crispy duck from the local Chinese in st Albans!!! The menu was again full of vile looking food including lots of tripe, intestines, gut lining, sea slugs, heart, lungs, spine - the lot.. Yummy.
Next day, in the rain, we visited the Beijing Olympic park. The subway there was dead easy and the sheer scale of the park was impressive - the walkways alone were just huge!!! We had a good look at the Birds nest and olympic torch before heading into the stadium. People were whizzing around the track on segways which was cool and they were showing excerpts from the 2008 opening ceremony and Olympics. The stadium is awesome it has to be said. The water cube was cool too - a big square bubble which now hosts a water park. Very exciting and made us very excited to get home to visit our very own Olympic park!! Sydney - done, Beijing - done, London - doing!
Beijing is a great place and the people are friendly and don't hassle you for cab rides or selling their stuff
anywhere near as much as elsewhere in Asia. The shopping was fun too - they would quote 130 yen (13 quid) for something, we would offer 20 yen, they would accept 30 (3 quid). Take the piss or what with that opening price!!! Trace is a true northerner with her bargaining skills!!
we certainly won't miss the heavily restricted Internet here though - no Facebook, no twitter, no web access to any sites that refer to the Tiananmen square massacre or to anything deemed unsuitable by the communist web guardians!! So frustrating!!! We have managed to follow the Olympics but mainly through BBC live feeds as the TV here ONLY shows the Chinese athletes - so much so that they would film the Chinese gymnasts getting changed for their next rotation for FIVE minutes rather than show the other countries performing!!! What?! Admittedly we are slightly jealous that they are doing so well, but share the TV coverage please!!
We visited the Great Wall in Yinshaling on our penultimate day in Beijing which is much less touristy and busy than most other great wall sites. We drove for three hours to the mountains and countryside to get there
and got a cable car up to the wall. It was a lovely hot day so we knew we would see for miles and we did!!! It was awesome and you can see the wall stretch over the hilly ridges for miles and miles and miles... A truly remarkable piece of building despite the many deaths of the workers building it. It was stunning and awe inspiring that it stretched for such a huge distance to protect china from invasion. We walked along the wall to the flower tower up some really steep steps and pathways that were not renovated and in their original condition. It was hard work but amazing. We then headed back past the cable car to the shaoling pass which we trekked down back to the bus. Aaaammmmaaaazzzziiiinnnngggg. Definitely the best bit of Beijing and a must if ever you are in Beijing.
All in all, Beijing has been an experience and it is truly a remarkable, monolithic place. One thing that Tash definitely will not miss though is the men who hawk up and spit ALL THE TIME - on the street, in restaurants - everywhere. It took an iron will for Tash to
not gag and be sick when hearing and seeing this (that sensitive stomach of hers) but it is truly disgusting and shocking how many people do it here. The amount of dirty looks and loud 'that is disgusting' comments Tash made very nearly got her in trouble... It's just vile though and should be illegal!!!
The end....So there we have it.... Four months of traveling done and dusted and back to the Old Blighty for a month before work starts again! Boy has it gone quick but what an amazing, awesome and unforgettable experience we have both had. It's been emotional, it's been brilliant and we have loved it... Thanks for following. Xx
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