Wakeup call at 5.30am this morning, really need more sleep. At the airport by 8am, Plane left at 9am. All of our flights have been on time in China. I remember them always being on time in Vietnam when we were there. Wonder if that is a Communist country thing or if we have been lucky.
Flight was under 2 hours. We were at a restaurant for lunch by 12pm. It was pleasing to see the restaurant full of Chinese people, knew that meant we would get a good feed. The food was delicious. Lots of different dishes to share, just way to much food.
Next we headed to the old part of Beijing for a tour, some buildings dated back to the 13C. We enjoyed wandering around, then we had a Rickshaw ride that was terrific and a visit to a ladies home, Miss Wang she served us Jasmine tea and biscuits while she told us about her family history. Our Tour guide translated. Miss Wang was very proud that Michael Phelps and Leonardo de Caprio had visited her house. I enjoyed taking lots of photos around the street she lived on.
Our Rickshaw driver
Miss Wong’s kitchen
Around 5pm we arrived at our hotel. We were both exhausted. We were going to put 10 items of clothing into the laundry but at $10 a piece decided to do it ourselves. So once more we have a bit of a Chinese laundry happening in our room.
After a cuppa and a bit of a relax we headed out to find a small, simple meal. We were told there was a whole floor of restaurants at a nearby shopping centre. This is the first one we have been in, (and they are everywhere) it would not have been out of place in any major city in the world. Full of designer shops and looked very sparkly and new. It took us ages to find a restaurant that would serve small simple food. Eventually we came across one. There was a very young couple stood outside reading the menu. I asked if they spoke English. She did and was very happy to help us to work out what to have. We asked her for one spicy dish. She very kindly helped us order. We ended up with a beef and rice dish and a little bit spicy pork and rice dish, that one was our favourite. Dinner cost $10.00 for both dishes, we were happy.
The Chinese are very warm and friendly people, I have smiled at so many of them and always get a big, beaming smile back. They happily interact with you. I think that will be my lasting impression of China.
We were back in our room about 8pm, hoping to get to sleep well before midnight tonight. We are back on the bus at 7.45am tomorrow. Off to see the Great Wall of China. Can’t wait, feel lucky.
- Greg felt a bit better today, body still aches. Has a big bruise ?. Will be fine by the time we get home ??
we never found out why there was cake in our room last night, no one else had one and our tour guide knew nothing
35 million trees were planted in Beijing before the 2008 Olympics. (To help with pollution) There are ring roads around the city and they are all lined with rose bushes and trees. It looks lovely. More plants here than any other city we have visited
Beijing has won the right to hold the 2022 Winter Olympics, the only city to host both. No doubt there will be many more improvements made to the city.
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