Advertisement
And it is nowhere more obvious than in Beijing. Everything about it screams ‘I'm big, I’m important and I’m here, right here’. The buildings are HUGE, all of them, the roads are ridiculously wide and there is empty space everywhere. For those who are unfamilia with China it can seem to exude a my back garden is bigger than yours, I’m better than you kind of attitude. It’s loud, proud, and arrogant and is coming to take over the world!
The same can be said of the people, they spit on the floor in front of you, they shout all the time and they are rude. Or at least that it how it can seem to the foreigner. Of course it could be ignorance of the Chinese culture and language that makes these things seem rude. Maybe it is isnt rude? Maybe it is but its still done? I dont know enough about China and the Chinese people to form a judgement.
The first few days in Beijing were a nightmare. Our pre organised air port pick up didn’t turn up. After an hour and a half or searching for a sign with our name on we called the
Tiananmen Square
where the 89 riots took place. picture of Mao Zedong, the first comunist leader of China who is the national hero despite exploiting poor people. youth hostel only to be told that they had cancelled our reservation a couple of weeks ago. Not only had the not bothered to tell us this but they didn’t reply to our email last week confirming all of the flight details again! So with no where to stay, no guide book and no internet access we had to use the hotel sales desk at the airport and book into a zero star hotel. We stayed for one night and then moved to a really nice youth hostel on the other side of town.
We have found it ridiculously difficult to do anything here (doesn’t help that we don’t have a guide book). Everything takes at least an hour or two longer than it should. We keep getting lost every time we go out. Hardly anyone can speak English. The bus routes are only in Chinese so it’s impossible to know how many stations you have to go. When you do pull into a bus stop we have to hang out of the window and try and read the tiny sign that is written in English. And that’s if its still there! Even trying to find the major tourist
attractions has been hard. After getting of the bus at the station for the Summer Palace we were walking around for half an hour trying to find the entrance! (And that was when we were hot and stressed after taking the wrong bus and missing a stop). To think that in only 3 months the Olympics will be here is quite shocking. Beijing is no where near ready to welcome the world. The infrastructure is hard to use and nothing is finished (including the Olympic village). China is a third world country so you have to expect difficulties, but the Olympics are coming! And you can’t have thousands of tourists getting lost and stuck!
So during our week here we have been to Tiananmen Square, the Summer Palace, a Chinese acrobatics show and to the Great Wall of China. The highlight was predicably the Great Wall. We walked the 10km from Jinshanling to Simatai. Jinshanling is the best preserved part of the Great Wall with many original features and it is absolutely awesome. It really is a sight to behold (despite the smog and pollution from Beijing restricts the visibility somewhat). It was a tough walk. 10km might not
Enjoying a feast
all of this food came to less than a fiver! and it was from a pretty fancy resaurant! seems far, but when you are going up and down steep steep slopes the whole way, scrambling over rubble in the blistering heat it feels more like 100! The last section, despite being repaved, was the worst. We thought the bus was leaving to take us back to Beijing at 2.30pm so with half an hour to go and a good stretch of wall we started running. By the last climb I was sweating buckets, my legs were shaking like jelly and I sounded like I was in labour I was breathing so hard. Everyone was staring at me, but it didn’t matter, we couldn’t miss the bus. We made it to the pick up point at about 2.45 and luckily it was still there. Actually it was still there at 5pm! God only knows why they told us to be back at 2.30! Still I learnt an important lesson; I am no where near fit enough to go trekking in South America! I will have to cut down on the ice-creams!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.067s; Tpl: 0.018s; cc: 8; qc: 28; dbt: 0.0383s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
deleted_45905
deleted_45905
Welcome to China
As any experienced China-hand will say - welcome to China. Don't worry, it doesn't get any better the longer you're here.