Stepping off the train into the crowded and chaotic Beijing train station was a world away from sparsely populated Mongolia. The sheer number of people combined with the heat was incredible – I felt we had definitely arrived in the worlds most highly populated country!
After settling into our hotel (which took all of 5 mins), we ventured out to explore our surroundings, making our way to the start of the forbidden city, sampling yummy mango and passion fruit ice cream and wandering down various hutongs (alleys), many of which have been renovated with a modern taste which I imagine has removed a lot of its previous character. That evening we all went to a local restaurant round the corner for Pecking Duck. It was ok but we the following night we went to a real traditional Pecking Duck restaurant- that was awesome!
It poured with rain the next day when we visited the Temple of Heaven, although we gained a cheap umbrella and the temperature wasn’t nearly as hot! The temple is the place where the emperor went to pray for a successful harvest, a huge central temple with the most amazing internal wooden beam architecture. The surrounding grounds were maculate – a shame it was heaving down.

We briefly went to Tiananmen square but the rain didn’t make it easy to take photos and see things, so we caught the metro to the Silk Market which is really a huge multi storied building selling everything you could imagine, made in China of course!! It was funny walking through the market and nearly being pulled into various clothes shops (Scott was identified as a North Face -looking person) by the attendants who swore they were genuine goods! Scott bargained down two Super Dry t-shirts, one from 480 yuan to 50 yuan – but he always wondered if he could’ve got it for lower! Wandering through the warm rain and exploring the hutongs on the way home was fun, watching the locals bike around in oversized ponchos and eating tasty dumplings on the way. It was awesome having my own Mandarin translator to ask where’s the toilet, how much, and can I have!! It seriously makes life much easier if you can speak some of the local language – thanks Scotty!
That evening we had a traditional pecking duck at a small restaurant down a hutong, which specialises in the local dish. We waited in the dark alley for a table while drinking beer, then when we walked in we were greeted by a view of the kitchen and hot stone oven which was cooking the ducks. The food was amazing; first they remove the skin and superficial meat which we wrapped up in pancakes with hoisin-type sauce, spring onions and cucumber – yummy! They then crisply deep-fried the remaining bones and meat which was so tasty ( and so fatty!). Taking a round-a-bout route home, we walked back to the hotel past Tiananmen square, passing people trying to sell us lasers, flying glowing bugs – just like in all the other countries we’ve been to!

Time for the Great Wall of China!! We arrived after a 2 hour bus ride, with clear blue sky and no haze – woohoo! The rain over the previous days managed to clear the skies for us! We walked up 900 stairs, greeting lots of school children on the way who were keen to practise English. The view up the top was awesome, seeing the wall wind up and down along the ridge into the distance, and imagining just how they built it all those years ago. We didn’t walk too far along the wall but it was still cool. Lunch was banana and chocolate pancakes at the bottom, with water which was bargained down by Scott from 25 yuan to 2 yuan!

On the way back into Beijing, we jumped off the bus early at the Lama Temple, which was used for teaching. The 13th Dalai Lama lived here for a while also. There were so many temples, it went on and on, a huge place! The heat that day was crazy hot, and mixed with the incense at times was intense. Somehow my watch fell off my wrist and couldn’t be found – goodbye to the first watch I ever had, you lasted a good 22 (?) years! ( I was a bit sad).

That evening we were treated to a home cooked meal by a couple our tour guide knew who lived down a hutong and owned a tea shop – the food was absolutely delicious, so much flavour and so fresh! Afterward we had a tea ceremony where we tried about ten different teas – I can now appreciate tea without milk!