After the total write off day we did a bit of sightseeing. We went and looked at different things as it is good to have a bit of time to yourself when you are travelling in a pair...and even more so when you are a couple. Mike headed off to Tiannamen Square and I went to the Summer Palace. It was lovely. Although I would recommend going when it isn't a Chinese National Holiday!!! I think I was the only milky white broad there! It was packed with people old and young and took forever to walk anywhere due to crowds- it made me realise it is handy to have a 6ft male around in situations like this- I just got engulfed into the crowd- damn being short! Due to the crowds, I only managed to do half of the Summer Palace. It is spread out over a massive area. The Summer Palace on the World Heritage List. It has been declared that the Summer Palace is "a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design. The natural landscape of hills and open water is combined with artificial features such as pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges to form a harmonious ensemble of outstanding aesthetic value." It certainly does all of the above. I just wish it wasn't so busy. If for no other reason than for the fact that here in China it seems they haven't heard of the little dittie 'Coughs and sneezes spread diseases'. I wish I knew what 'Cover your mouth' was in Cantonese and Mandarin. I have been coughed and sneezed on so many times it was only a matter of time before I got ill. Again. Also, spitting is not a problem here. I don't mean normal townie/chav/pleb/asbo spitting like in England, but full on blobs of yellow/brown phlegm with the that delightful 'hocking up' noise to go with it, then plod, it lands just next to your exposed flip flop covered feet. So gross. Everyone seems to be ill in China at the moment so due to the complete lack of regard for other peoples health and personal space.....I am now ill. Really ill. Again. I started with a fever, temperature, sore throat, chesty cough etc etc etc. Not great when you are in an amazing city with so much to do and see.
Anywho- after I visited the Summer Palace, I decided to go on the hunt for a Chinese sim card seen as though I am here for a while. I find a shop and for a card it was 200RMB (about £2). I had 170RMB and tried to tell them I would come back with cash. They didn't speak English and were reluctant to let me go without a sale, and my card wasn't working in their shop. The next thing I know I am being led out of the shop by a very persistent man, and he wouldn't let me go. I nearly had a dirty protest when I saw him pull out a scooter. He didn't understand 'No no, i'll walk' and made me get on the back of his scooter- without a helmet, in a skirt which doesn't have much elasticity. I clung onto his waste as he took me along the chinese roads, full of crazy drivers. We nearly had a collision which sent my nails that need cutting into his flesh- which I felt bad about but at the same time gave me some sort of satisfaction as he was putting me through hell for a £2 sale! I know it isn't very daredevil of me but all I could think about whilst on the back of the moped was 'What if I fell off or crashed now and died? How would Mike find out? etc' It made me realise how stupid I was and how I should have just walked away, even if it is considered rude. My safety comes first and here I was hopping on the back of a strangers moped, who probably doesn't have a license, going to god knows where, with no helmet etc. I then thought it was so irresponsible of me as if I had have crashed, my poor family and friends would have to go through hell again, and after seeing the damage and hurt such reckless actions produce before, I am never going to potentially put them through that again. Especially not for a sim card! However, I am safe and well and it has been done now. A crazy experience I won't forget but I learnt from it. On a lighter note, isn't it funny how the man nderstands 'No, i'll walk back' once I gave him the money from the ATM. Hmmmmmm.
Later when I met up with Mike, we decided to head out for dinner- an early one as my temperature was high. We walked through a side street to the main shopping street, which always has interesting sights and smells such as weird animals battered on skewers, pots and pans filled with all sort of flesh eating odours that will knock you out with a slight whiff. All sorts of tat stalls, which I love. We arrived onto the main shopping street and went into a fancy chopstick shop and bought a set for home when we are back, because I am mega sad and like to plan for things such as Chinese themed dinner parties, but we will now have authentic chopsticks----wahooooo. I was good though and let Mike choose them. His skill with the chopsticks is improving everyday and he practices moving things from one side of the plate to the other. We then find a 'Beijing Duck Restaurant' and obviously we want to eat there. It was down a back alley and we were 2 out of the 4 westerners there, so it was a non-tourist one. We sat outside in the alleyway, I was seated next to a dirty mop and bucket, and a broken down car, standard. We ordered a whole duck for about £14 which is quite pricey in China but we were in Beijing. It was brought out on a plate shaped like a duck, how apt. I know that would put some people off but I found it quite comical. Unfortunately the duck was quite average but it was still nice, and you couldn't beat the experience.
The next day we got up early, despite being woken up over and over by illness and the other couple in our hostel who were so noisy and inconsiderate. The man actually blocked the toilet whilst we were out (his girlfriend had also been out all day so we know it was him), and came back to an over-stuffed toilet that wouldn't flush. We thought he would sort it but instead he added a huge heap of s**t to it and then had the cheek to tell his girlfriend he didn't know what had happened to the toilet. I had started using the communal toilet on th 6th floor when he first intially blocked it which annoyed me further as it was just a hole in the ground. Anyway, we got up at 6.30am, me feeling and looking like death, with a temperature the same as hell to match, and got onto the coach to head to a section of 'The Great Wall of China', our second wonder of the world on this trip. The part we went to was called 'Mutianyu'. We got a cable cart to the wall and I managed to do 6 towers, Mike did 8. It is so hard physically to do, so steep! I had to keep resting due to the fever and letting Mike go off and doing bits on his own. I was impressed I got out of bed to be honest. It was an amazing experience and some of the facts are amazing. Again, it was packed as it is a National holiday in China. I would recommend for everybody to go- just make sure you aren't ill as it really affects your ability to do it. Some facts about the wall (I won't bore you with the history too much); it took 2 million people to build and rebuild the wall. The wall is 2000 years old but some areas have been rebuilt. Men were made to carve their name in every brick they made and laid so if it needed repairing the government would know who to punish for the bad quality work- seems a little harsh and that arounf 1 million men have died whilst building or repairing the wall so their bodies were just built within the wall instead of disposing of them properly. This is why it is also known as the longest graveyard in the world. When we had finished our 3 1/2 hour walk (more of a climb to be honest) we headed back down to the village through means of a massive toboggan run!!!! So much fun! We went for lunch with our tour group to a local place in the village called 'Mr Yangs', which was delicious! It was awkward though as the other Europeans weren't interested in talking to the Brits. Still- delicious food.
The named bricks
We headed back to the hostel, had a chill and I had a snooze for illness reasons before heading our for dinner to a local restaurant called 'Restaurant' it was spelled incorrectly but I can't remember how. It was very local, we were the only westerners, thank god it was a picture menu. Our friend recommended it to us from our hostel though so we thought we would give it a go. It was DELICIOUS- it has been my favourite meal in China so far. I had chilli ramen (a soup packed with veg, noodles and a meat- not sure which one, could be rat for all I know) and Mike tried beef curry ramen. Both were dirt cheap and just really tasty. After this we had an early night as it ws about 10pm and we were up at 5.30 to get up and go to the airport to fly to Xi'an, which is where we are now for 3 nights.
Anywho- after I visited the Summer Palace, I decided to go on the hunt for a Chinese sim card seen as though I am here for a while. I find a shop and for a card it was 200RMB (about £2). I had 170RMB and tried to tell them I would come back with cash. They didn't speak English and were reluctant to let me go without a sale, and my card wasn't working in their shop. The next thing I know I am being led out of the shop by a very persistent man, and he wouldn't let me go. I nearly had a dirty protest when I saw him pull out a scooter. He didn't understand 'No no, i'll walk' and made me get on the back of his scooter- without a helmet, in a skirt which doesn't have much elasticity. I clung onto his waste as he took me along the chinese roads, full of crazy drivers. We nearly had a collision which sent my nails that need cutting into his flesh- which I felt bad about but at the same time gave me some sort of satisfaction as he was putting me through hell for a £2 sale! I know it isn't very daredevil of me but all I could think about whilst on the back of the moped was 'What if I fell off or crashed now and died? How would Mike find out? etc' It made me realise how stupid I was and how I should have just walked away, even if it is considered rude. My safety comes first and here I was hopping on the back of a strangers moped, who probably doesn't have a license, going to god knows where, with no helmet etc. I then thought it was so irresponsible of me as if I had have crashed, my poor family and friends would have to go through hell again, and after seeing the damage and hurt such reckless actions produce before, I am never going to potentially put them through that again. Especially not for a sim card! However, I am safe and well and it has been done now. A crazy experience I won't forget but I learnt from it. On a lighter note, isn't it funny how the man nderstands 'No, i'll walk back' once I gave him the money from the ATM. Hmmmmmm.
Later when I met up with Mike, we decided to head out for dinner- an early one as my temperature was high. We walked through a side street to the main shopping street, which always has interesting sights and smells such as weird animals battered on skewers, pots and pans filled with all sort of flesh eating odours that will knock you out with a slight whiff. All sorts of tat stalls, which I love. We arrived onto the main shopping street and went into a fancy chopstick shop and bought a set for home when we are back, because I am mega sad and like to plan for things such as Chinese themed dinner parties, but we will now have authentic chopsticks----wahooooo. I was good though and let Mike choose them. His skill with the chopsticks is improving everyday and he practices moving things from one side of the plate to the other. We then find a 'Beijing Duck Restaurant' and obviously we want to eat there. It was down a back alley and we were 2 out of the 4 westerners there, so it was a non-tourist one. We sat outside in the alleyway, I was seated next to a dirty mop and bucket, and a broken down car, standard. We ordered a whole duck for about £14 which is quite pricey in China but we were in Beijing. It was brought out on a plate shaped like a duck, how apt. I know that would put some people off but I found it quite comical. Unfortunately the duck was quite average but it was still nice, and you couldn't beat the experience.
The next day we got up early, despite being woken up over and over by illness and the other couple in our hostel who were so noisy and inconsiderate. The man actually blocked the toilet whilst we were out (his girlfriend had also been out all day so we know it was him), and came back to an over-stuffed toilet that wouldn't flush. We thought he would sort it but instead he added a huge heap of s**t to it and then had the cheek to tell his girlfriend he didn't know what had happened to the toilet. I had started using the communal toilet on th 6th floor when he first intially blocked it which annoyed me further as it was just a hole in the ground. Anyway, we got up at 6.30am, me feeling and looking like death, with a temperature the same as hell to match, and got onto the coach to head to a section of 'The Great Wall of China', our second wonder of the world on this trip. The part we went to was called 'Mutianyu'. We got a cable cart to the wall and I managed to do 6 towers, Mike did 8. It is so hard physically to do, so steep! I had to keep resting due to the fever and letting Mike go off and doing bits on his own. I was impressed I got out of bed to be honest. It was an amazing experience and some of the facts are amazing. Again, it was packed as it is a National holiday in China. I would recommend for everybody to go- just make sure you aren't ill as it really affects your ability to do it. Some facts about the wall (I won't bore you with the history too much); it took 2 million people to build and rebuild the wall. The wall is 2000 years old but some areas have been rebuilt. Men were made to carve their name in every brick they made and laid so if it needed repairing the government would know who to punish for the bad quality work- seems a little harsh and that arounf 1 million men have died whilst building or repairing the wall so their bodies were just built within the wall instead of disposing of them properly. This is why it is also known as the longest graveyard in the world. When we had finished our 3 1/2 hour walk (more of a climb to be honest) we headed back down to the village through means of a massive toboggan run!!!! So much fun! We went for lunch with our tour group to a local place in the village called 'Mr Yangs', which was delicious! It was awkward though as the other Europeans weren't interested in talking to the Brits. Still- delicious food.
The named bricks
We headed back to the hostel, had a chill and I had a snooze for illness reasons before heading our for dinner to a local restaurant called 'Restaurant' it was spelled incorrectly but I can't remember how. It was very local, we were the only westerners, thank god it was a picture menu. Our friend recommended it to us from our hostel though so we thought we would give it a go. It was DELICIOUS- it has been my favourite meal in China so far. I had chilli ramen (a soup packed with veg, noodles and a meat- not sure which one, could be rat for all I know) and Mike tried beef curry ramen. Both were dirt cheap and just really tasty. After this we had an early night as it ws about 10pm and we were up at 5.30 to get up and go to the airport to fly to Xi'an, which is where we are now for 3 nights.
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