Monday, 21 January 2013

Beijing - On A Semester Break

1st August 2011

Well, I've finally decided to spend a semester break in China: an opportunity to see more of this interesting and historic country.

I've often regarded travelling as having to endure a certain amount of pain, in order to have an enjoyable holiday. My feelings proved to be correct right from the outset, on Monday 25th of July: my agent changed my requested 10:15am Dalian to Beijing booking to a 7:55am flight via Qindao (bad)! To compensate, they gave me 1st-class tickets at an economy rate (good)!. However, the weather conditions at Dalian airport caused the flight to be delayed 6 hours (bad!), but 1st-class tickets meant waiting in comfort at the VIP lounge (good)! I was finally given a different flight with vague instructions as to which gate to board. After waiting a further hour in sweltering airport heat (non-VIP) with thousands of stranded passengers, being shunted from one gate to another, we were finally taken on a minibus to an airoplane on the tarmac where we queued up (in the rain) waiting to board (bad)! When on board I had seat 1A, one of only eight 1st-class, comfortable seats (good)! At Qindao my connecting flight was also delayed 6 hours (very bad)! Having finally arrived at the hotel, 12 hours after leaving home (not the expected 2-3 hours), I was pleased to find that the hotel was very nice and comfortable, with a great big shower (very good)!

Sightseeing commenced the next morning. After a short walk from the hotel to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City I felt a bit lost as to where to go and what to see first. Fortunately, I met up with a Swiss girl who was travel savy and we spent the day touring together. Thanks to her suggestion we went to Olympic Square in the evening, experiencing the Beijing subway, to see the impressive, lit-up "Bird's Nest". To continue my pain/fun theme, although it was an enjoyable sunny day and warm evening, at about 9pm (according to my mobile phone, as my watch battery finally died after four years) there was an incredibly-sudden downpour which caught everyone by utter surprise. We got totally drenched as we scurried for the underground railway. Having bought a $1.50 umbrella from an enterprising salesman at the railway station, my 30-minute walk home was against a fierce wind and ankle-deep water - a vacant taxi is hard to find at the best of times, let alone under these weather conditions. To make the misery complete, the straps of the only sandals I had packed broke while slushing through the flooded streets. The only thing that kept me going, rather than finding shelter for an unknown amount of time, was the thought of an inviting hot shower waiting for me.



Wednesday was a rest day, pondering what to do about my watch and my favourite sandals. As the sandals are very comfortable, I did not want to throw them away. Fortunately, the friendly staff at the hotel came to my rescue. They pointed me to a watch repairer on the famed Wangfujing Street where they could deal with my Tissot watch. For a mere 200 RMB (!) they replaced my battery and all was well; one hotel staff then walked to a nearby street cobbler who had been operating there for 30 years! He fixed my broken sandal and reinforced my other one for 30 RMB. Hence, a successful and happy day for me.

On Thursday I ventured to the Great Wall. Although I could have taken the easy way - by hotel car tour (for 500 RMB!), I chose a self transport and tour (for a total of 51 RMB, haha). I picked a less "touristry" spot of the wall. After 3 hours of countless climbs and descends (with a young French couple) we took a sled ride down the mountain. The only disappointment was that it was a rather misty day.



Early Friday morning there was another humungous downpour, which made big TV news, but I was very clever - I stayed in bed! Late morning I ventured out, with umbrella in hand, to the Summer Palace. In many ways I found it more picturesque and interesting than the Forbidden City. That night I packed my bags for the second leg of my trip - Xi'an.



All in all, I enjoyed my stay in Beijing even though I mainly did the tourist things. It was interesting to compare the little I saw of Beijing with my six-month stay in Shanghai: Beijing appears more stately with lots of history, whereas Shanghai is more modern and vibrant. I wonder what ancient Xi'an has in store for me.....

I hope all is well with you all... Renzo Marco Polo



No comments:

Post a Comment