And I swear I've encountered half of them.
It has also taken me 15 minutes to figure out hose to post because everything is written in Chinese. Ah Well. Also - I will post pictures later. I will never be as good at this as Gene et al.
Day One -
Could be summed up with just one thing - me being sick. Seriously.
I got off the plane, got to my hostel and felt sick. I didn't have to time to eat or drink anything in China and I spent the night vomitting and wearing 5 layers of clothing in a hostel room heated to 30 degrees. Nice starting image for you all.
There are others aspects of this story I can't be bothered going into but needless to say, I didn't have any tissues (Wanda should chime in about now), there was a squat toilet in the restaurant and vommitting from a great height should be avoided.
Got up the next morning and went to the Great Wall. Very cool. Couldn't climb all of it due to aforementioned sickness. At this point I would like to say that the wall is built on a VERY big hill, or many big hills, and the sheer size of the mountains would be sufficient to put me off if I were a hoarde. We went to a part of the Great Wall about 230km out of Beijing and some of what I saw was intense. Some farms etc look like they belong in history books!
Also - the Drivers in Beijing...very interesting. They use their horns a lot - usually to tell you that they are about to do something illegal.
Today - went to Silk Markets (where I got better at bargaining as I went along but am absolutely sure I got ripped on the t-shirt I bought first. Actually probably got ripped on everything, but I can live with that). Cool stuff, very cheap. Wish I was here last to shop!
Went to The Forbidden City - HUGE - and Tiannamen Square where I almost bought a Mao watch but the guy trying to sell it to me got accosted by a policeman. Rode the Beijing subway. Very interesting. Tiannamen is amazing! It really is just a big flat pad of concrete but what surrounds it makes it feel like you are in the centre of something great. And the People's Monument is cool. Although the people aren't actually allowed anywhere near it.
I could write more but I have a feeling this is long enough already. We leave for Mongolia at 6:30am tomorrow.
The other thing I should have mentioned was the surreal mometn when I was at a bar in Beijing and, after playing Fiddy Cent and The Black Eyed Peas all night, they suddenly played Belle and Sebastian.
Weird.
And Chinese Beer is about 50cents for a 600ml bottle.
And Jon - Coke tastes different in China.
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3 comments:
Hello my Big Sister, I can't believe you were sick! I hope you're feeling much better now, still reading my book about the cultural revolution in China! Mao is one crazy cookie! Went out for Wanda's birthday tonight (brown bra this time :) ) Was a great night, but strange and unusual that you weren't there. Love you to pieces. Stay safe and warm!
Hey - glad you enjoyed Beijing - it really is a fascinating city. I'm going to assume by virtue of it not being mentioned that you followed all my taxi-taking instructions and made it to the hostel for less than 100RMB? And also, be assured you most certainly got ripped off at the Silk Market (I know this simply because of your Western appearance) and personal experience!
I am safe and warm! When I am inside anyway! The temperature here is totally wacky. For example, in our Ger tent the temp got to 32 degrees when it was -5 outside. The trains are also quite hot. They don't really seem to have any concept of a middle ground.
Totally got ripped off at the silk markets. But I still didn't spend that much. If that makes nay sense at all. I am also loving the head band Sarah M gave me before I left. Stupid no showers on the train.
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