Beijing in 4 days: The hunt for the Great Wall and the almighty Peking -Day 1

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Our train to Beijing doesn’t leave until 6pm, so for once we can get up at a leisurely time and not have to rush around whilst still half asleep (resulting in the possibility of forgetting vital documents, or ending up travelling in the wrong direction- not like that's something that has ever happened to us before....). I’m really excited for the trip, but also really nervous about the 21 hour train journey, sharing a carriage with 2 strangers who might be complete nutters. And that’s after we even manage to get on the right train. But unlike our trip to Guilin, this time we have proper allocated seat numbers, and trains tend to run much more efficiently than buses without the need to stop at disgusting service stations. And at the risk of sounding judgemental, the people who use the trains tend to be a bit more ‘highbrow’ than some of the people we have encountered on the buses! (i.e- they have all their teeth, they don’t stare at you and they don’t spit into bins at every opportunity). The biggest issue we face today is the fact that it is the national May Day holidays, so it is quite likely there will be lots of other people also travelling and stations will be mobbed.



For once luck is on our side and we after 5 minutes we manage to get a taxi to the train station which is a good start. Unfortunately my worst suspicions have been confirmed and the trains are all full meaning the next available train to Guangzhou isn’t for another 3 hours from now. We have no choice but to get a taxi instead, but it’s like battling through a taxi assault course as we step outside. We are jumped on from all angles and Greg almost has a mini meltdown as they start shouting at him and he has to tell them all to shut up for a second while he thinks. I’m actually laughing at his discomfort but then decide to just grab the bull by the horns and choose the nearest taxi to take us to the train station. He tells us it will be 100 yuan (abut 10 quid), which is a little overpriced but we are not really in a position to argue as either way we need to get there and the taxi driver knows this, plus I can’t be bothered haggling over the sake of about 2 quid. Greg is less amused about a potential saving (do I even need to mention that last statement?) but he doesn't actually moan too much and before long we’re at the station.



We’re hungry by the time we reach the train station (surprise, surprise, the unexpected hits you between the eyes) so go on a mission to try and find some food- quite a difficult task in places in China you don’t know (as not many people speak english to direct you, and any restaurants don’t tend to have english menus or even pictures of food to choose from). After a quick check around the station (and an attempt to ask where a Walmart is which doesn’t result in a constructive or helpful answer) we have to choose one of the only viable options seemingly available – Starbucks, McDonalds or KFC. I wish my Cantonese was better! It’s frustrating we have to rely on these fast food places as they represent many things we are opposed to, but we have to make do on this occasion. We choose what we believe is the slightly less evil of the 3 and end up in KFC. They actually have a chicken and rice option that appears to be the healthiest of them all, and it is quite tasty and fills a hole, although once again we can see the eyes of local people on us thinking 'how typical'. On the way back to the station, we spot a woman at the side of the road selling some fruit, including bananas, so we go over to buy some until it transpires she wants 5 yuan (50p) a banana. 50p? I hear you say- that’s quite reasonable my good man, but not when you usually pay 10p! She’s definitely at it and assumes we are unsuspecting tourists but we’re not, so Greg tells her to bolt and we continue past, banana free but 50p richer.



Even though the train station is quite old and really big, we manage to find our way to the correct terminal for our train, and after a short wait, we plough onto the train with everyone else. It’s quite satisfying walking by all the hard sleeper carriages to reach our seemingly luxurious soft sleeper abode. We did our research online before booking our tickets, and debated whether to do the soft or hard sleeper option. The hard sleeper is cheaper and we weren’t sure what the difference was between the two, but after a look at the pictures between soft and hard sleeper, it told us everything we needed to know. The hard sleepers have 6 beds in a carriage as opposed to 4, and they are also smaller and you cannot sit up in them. And the space in the room between the beds is only about 1 foot as opposed to 3 foot in the soft sleeper. And the cabins don’t have doors on them. The final difference (and quite an important one) is the soft sleepers have western toilets at the end of the carriages as opposed to just squatting toilets (I don’t fancy my chances in a moving carriage while trying to hover over an open hole in the ground…). And with that image…. J



Our carriage is going to be shared with a young family who have a little kid about 3 years old. We are quite sick at the sight of kids at the moment so aren’t really overly enamoured when we see him, but in the end it turns out the kids is quite sweet and well behaved, and most importantly, he doesn’t just stare at us. And his parents are also really nice- they speak a little english and offer us some fruit they have brought, including a thing called a ‘peepa’ (not sure how to spell it) which looks like a small mango and tastes really sour but sweet at the same time. Our little cabin is sweet and bigger and comfier than initially expected. We even have our own free slippers to wear. We’re impressed and feel quite relaxed and expectant that the journey will pass trouble free.



After a few hours we’re really hungry (yes, really) so take a walk along to the food cart. They have a good selection of (pretty normal food) options available, and we opt for king pao chicken (not spicy enough for my liking) and hot chilli beef, which lives up to its name more and is really tasty. We wash it all down with a Tibetan beer (who would have known they even produce beer). Sleeping is slightly awkward when you’re sharing a cabin full of strangers and it is also extremely hot in the room. I don’t want to strip off for fear of exposing myself in the morning (I have a tendency to throw the covers off and the sight of my chalk white bum would be enough to frighten anyone) so try to sleep with all my clothes on instead, which isn’t helping my core temperature. My bladder has also decided to go into overdrive meaning I need to get up and down to the toilet about 6 times in the space of a few hours. Just as well I’m not in the top bunk! Greg on the other hand is snoring away merrily- I swear he was Chinese in his past life and could sleep anywhere.

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Photos

Better than your average train food
Kung Po Chicken and Spicy Chilli Beef