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Published: June 26th 2017
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Geo: 39.9056, 116.396
This trip had been planned originally as an add-on to a Lecture course Fletcher was asked to conduct on Sprints and Hurdles for the RDC Beijing. We got the request in December and thought it too good not to use. However, once we had booked a tour to Xian and Shanghai the course was postponed due to a lack of participants at this time. Not being able to obtain a refund and having already paid for our Chinese visas we decided to go ahead.
The office in Beijing booked a room for us in the Swisshotel at a very discounted price and also offered to pick us up from the airport. So with a week of 40 degree heat in Adelaide it was quite attractive to be going somewhere very cold for 12 days!
We flew Qantas to Sydney then Sydney to Shanghai. I had requested an upgrade to Business using points but when Fletcher tried he was unable to. So the irony was that I got to fly Business for a change while he was back in Economy😞however, he had two seats to himself and was only 4 rows behind me). I did send him back a decent glass of
red wine to soothe the soul.
It was a 9 hour flight to Shanghai losing 3 hours in time difference. Once there we made our way through customs to the other Terminal and checked in for our flight to Beijing. We had missed the dinner service on the plane due to turbulence over Hong Kong so settled for a quick bite at a coffee shop in the waiting area. Pretty ordinary.
The flight to Beijing on Chinese East airlines was uneventful and unfoodful with only one drink given in he 2 hours it took. We had a long wait for our bags but then it was out to be greeted by Zhang Yingbo, a colleague of Fletcher's from here who enthusiastically met us and drove us into our hotel.
By this time it was past midnight local time and though I had slept for a while on the planes I was glad to see a comfortable bed and pleasant room.
Wednesday morning we woke to clear skies and a huge orange sun appearing over the buildings at about 8am. It was rather smoggy but fine. After a huge breakfast in the hotel we set out about 10-30am. With the cold weather
here the best times to be out and about seem to be between 10-30am and 3-30pm. On the map it did not seem too far to walk to Tian'amen square but that was very deceptive. Though Fletcher's knee is fine he has a sore Achilles tendon and walking a long way did not help that. We eventually found an Underground station and ventured in. We bought a 2 day travel card and caught the train to the Square.
There is so much security around the square now. They weren't so interested in us but most Chinese visitors were being scrutinised and there were security checks on anyone entering. Fences surround the place and it is hard to work out how to get in and out. We took the obligatory photos then wandered to the opposite end to the Forbidden city to see Mao's tomb and the magnificent Zhengyangmen gate. This was built in 1419 and still guards the northern entrance to the square. It was once the north gate of the old city. Behind this is a great area where they have preserved many of the old buildings and it is now a Mall and shopping area with restaurants, cloisonne stores
and silks available. We found a place to eat here and the food was good though we ordered too much.( Nice to see they have preserved some of the old things as the rest of the city is high rise buildings, common in any modern city.)
This whole area is worth further exploring so we will return when Fletcher's foot settles down as there is a subway station right at the entrance directly on the line we need for our hotel. By 3 o'clock it was starting to get chilly with the sun low in the sky so we hopped on the train and returned to the hotel.
Tonight we are being taken out for dinner by the staff from the RDC as well as our friend Feng who is the coach of the Chinese Olympic Athletics team. Should be fun.
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