Leaving Mongolia was a departure from the usual train travel: ahhhh, the luxury of flying after days on a train, you have no idea, I might even stop complaining about domestic air travel in the US after this. The idea was to train it all the way across the Trans-Siberian and then (technically) across the Trans-mongolian into Beijing, a journey of 9611 Km or 5972 miles, phew. In our defense, there was just one train per week and it left UB the day we arrived ergo a different mode of transport was mandatory. There would be no bogey changing in the cards. Disappointed, yes, but a girl even lowish on the princess scale can only take so much. And the toilets just did me in :(
Beijing is 15 million peeps strong, massive. It took 2 hours to get to our hostel by Tiananmen Square from the airport via train and subway. We stayed in an older, more typical hutong neighborhood near Tianemen Square, in a hostel featuring a typical Chinese courtyard. Street food vendors were everywhere: mystery meat on a stick, one vendor used a hairdryer to cook it faster. This was more culture shock than I had experienced on the trip so far, even having visited China before. Trying street food is so up my alley so baptism by fire it was. First night we ate fried eggs out of a plastic bag, egg yolk crackers, dumplings, probable liver with peppers, meat from a shoulder maybe, and a soupy dish with slimy, spicy stuff. Quickly learned to adopt the policy of not asking what you are eating in China. Of course tried Peking duck and lemme tell ya, seeing the head is not the most appetizing of ways to start a meal. Then again neither was the snake tincture of something or other shot I had. Ewwwwww.
It is impossible to visit Tiananmen Square at night, security is tight everywhere, even in the subway and before visiting the square, one must go through screening. So a venture to tourist hell was to be had instead the first night: a pedestrian street full of western shops such as Nike, Starbucks, Tiffany and Rolex amidst Chinese architecture, a strange clash of east meets west. And here my semi-blondness was desired, I was asked to take a picture with a mother and her Chinese daughter, cute!
Off to the Great Wall of China! With traffic, took ~ 3 hours from the hostel via mini bus with a fun bunch of peeps, with the exception of myself all had some sort of British accent. It was a clear but cold and windy day, lucky with the weather as the previous days it had snowed preventing any kind of view. I still managed to slip on ice, not once but twice, once breaking one of my trekking poles, yes, I am officially a dork. The Badaling remnant of the wall was impressive, so high up, used to be the border of Mongolia and China, truly a magnificent sight to see! Spent 3 hours on the wall, which was plenty, especially with my bum knee. A new travel symbol, the plastic teddy bear affectionately known as Disco B, the potential Pin E replacement, was introduced. For it's first day to travel and see the Great Wall, wow, now that'll be a feat hard to top. Maybe disco-ing at the top to Fergie and blowing bubbles with a toy gun. Huh? Yeah, brought to you by spoon man.
After a family style traditional lunch complete with Chinese beers and Disco B almost left behind, we were off. Traffic on the way back was horrendous, a true reminder of China's population enormity. But we made it back just in time for an acrobatics show of contortionists, men jumping through some very high rings and general Chinese random acts of bravery. The most impressive act was the five motorcycles spinning together in a cage, joined one by one, for the finale.
Would avoid bar street unless you don't mind getting fleeced because you are a Westerner. Beers and cocktails all cost much more than local spots with nowhere near the ambience. Although I have to admit I did get my fix of American pop culture with Gwen Stefani, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera music videos. Ok, if I must be separated from my girlfriends and traveling with an Aussie, I'm gonna need this taste of home occasionally, indulge me.
Last day in Beijing, another fast tour of a massive city at only 48 hours, I couldn't miss the Imperial Palace, or Forbidden City, which I almost passed on until I got a view of the massivity ( is this a word? My iPad thinks not) of the complex and knew I couldn't miss it. Day started late with a bike rental and since my knee was wrecked after the Great Wall, I got to sit back and semi-relax as I rode Dutch style through Tiananmen Square and environs. I would recommend this as a mode of transport, especially if one is in possession of an orange spoon, it's a great thing to wave while waiting in traffic and making the Chinese laugh! All this on the way to visiting a beautiful park, Jingshan, for an amazing view of Beijing along with the Forbidden City.
Phew! It was a quick trip but on to a more Western feeling city: Shanghai. This time via train and this was a true Chinese experience, 6 bunks in each compartment with no doors. And lemme tell you, the Chinese are not the quietest of peeps! Sleep was only had due to mr. Sleeping pill, thank you very much. We barely made the train, a mere minute later and we would've been shit out of luck, ahhh, the adrenaline. Another 12 + hour trip that if we had waited to travel in one month, could've been on the high speed line at only 4 hours. Coulda, woulda, shoulda.
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