Beijing

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Friday 30/3 - Yangshuo to Guilin to Beijing

After spending most of Friday on the computer at the Yangshuo hotel - updating the blog and checking and sending emails - and having lunch cooked for us by our hotel proprietor, Lily, we heave on the backpacks at 3pm and walk with Lily to flag down the bus to Guilin...  all okay apart from the fact that the driver decided to do a u-turn just before leaving Yangshuo and went back to the bus station, just in case he could pick up any more paying passengers, as you do!  An uneventful bus ride except that Jan forgot to grab our "goodies-food bag" when we hurriedly left the bus - so we guess that the same driver took home a bonus of Snickers bar, bananas and other treats!  Not to worry - Jan can be forgiven for this slip-up at this end of the holiday...!

Taxi to the airport bus depot, 5.30pm bus takes off for Guilin airport - check-in fine with yet another e-ticket... give the thought of a A$4 coffee a miss at the airport and sit and read and wait for scheduled 7.45 flight to the big smoke of Beijing.  Constant PA announcements at all Chinese airports - a frenzy of people, noise, loud talking and yelling - and among that we hear that our flight will be delayed due to "aircraft relocation" (well it's much better than aircraft  MALFUNCTION, we muse) - and passengers should "take a rest" in the departure hall - okay, chill out... we strike up conversation with a young woman from Chicago, Kerry, who's also travelling to Beijing - maybe we can share the cost of the taxi at the other end. 

After a delay of over an hour we take off - this time a smooth flight without the turbulence and shaky take-offs and landings we've become accustomed to - landing at midnight and a long wait for baggage to show up.  At last 1.00am we are out to find that blessed sign "Mr Dunn - Zhong An Hotel" - unfortunately we cannot convince the cabbie to drop Kerry off - too far out of his way, so she goes it independently.  We pay an extortionate 200Y ($33) for the short trip at that time of the morning but are very thankful to slip into the taxi and be taken to the hotel - the cabbie carries the bags up 2 flights of stairs for us.  Bed around 2.30am after sipping on green tea to calm the mind and body before sleep.

Sat 31/3

A slow start - go in search of breakfast at the hotel restaurant around 10.30am to be told that brekkie is served between 7.00-9.00 only and that coffee is not available after that timeslot!  Oh dear!  We navigate waitresses with minimal English language and order scrambled eggs and tomatoes (turns out to be delicious) and juice.  Hotel tour desk - again no one who can understand our English - and no free map or helpful directions to Tiananmen Square or anywhere...  we wonder how this hotel which was booked for us through our travel agent will cope with foreigners during the Olympics, as we seem to find inflexibility and not-too-pleasant manners wherever we turn - August 2008 could be a steep learning curve for Beijing and/or foreigners - or are we just becoming travel-weary?!

The formal hotel entry faces onto many alleyways and we find our way up the main drag and head to Tiananmen Square.  It is a cold and very windy day - temp may be around 12 degrees C - wind chill factor about zero!  As well as souvenir sellers we are approached by younger people who may be : (1) wanting to practise their English or (2) sell us something or (3) both, so unfortunately we are wary of answering the  usual question of, "Where are you from?"  After walking through the square we retreat to a shopping mall to escape the cool weather, then walk to the Wangfujing Dajie area for window-shopping, dinner and a look at St Joseph's Roman Catholic Cathedral.  Walk onto find a cinema and are offered discount movie vouchers by a couple waiting near the queue - not sure what we are seeing until the movie starts - it is "Babel" with Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt...  interesting that there are no credits or movie title shown...  9pm finish and subway trains back to hotel.  We are a little frustrated that there are very few tourist information places around - makes it difficult to research and/or book onto day tours.

Sun 1/4

We experience a little more frustration with the hotel reception people and are helped out with some English-Chinese translation by Francine who has excellent language skills - she is from Mauritius, married to a Pom and has lived in Germany for 26 years - quite a combination!  She helps us to sort things out with the hotel then invites us to tag along with her to the Xiashui Silk Market... what a "world" of shopping...  Six levels of anything your heart could desire or need!  We spend an hour walking around then we buy Francine lunch at the in-house restaurant.  She is off to catch a train so we say farewell, and we stay on til 6pm or so "shopping til we drop".  Mark enjoys the cut and thrust of bargaining but by the end of it we are tired from the constant yelling, coaxing and pawing from the sellers.  It definitely is a very different world!

We indulge at the supermarket in potato chips, yoghurt and juice and Mark gets a few cans of beer at about 30 cents each (cheaper than bottled water)...  Back at the hotel we meet a young woman on the tour desk who speaks good English and is keen to practise with us - we book onto a trip to The Wall and Ming Tombs the next day.

We've paid an extra $6 day for the luxury of a laptop in our hotel room so we are able to check emails and catch up on news from The Age - and to see that Collingwood defeated the Kangaroos in Round 1 AFL - by 3 points!  So our team is off to another good start...(not!)

Mon 2/4

6.30am alarm - early start for our trip to The Wall etc.  Our tour guide Melinda meets us in the hotel foyer as well as fellow Aussie, Scott, who's also at the hotel.  Scott's from Cairns, working in HR for the Education Department - he kindly agrees to shoot us some digital photos during the day (we owe you one Scott).  Eleven passengers - 2 Texans, 2 Danes, 1 Swede, 1 Brit, 2 locals plus us raucous Aussies. 

We had hoped to book a tour exclusively to The Wall but due to lack of information and tour offices, we end up on one which goes to the Wall plus Ming Tombs, jade factory, chinese medicine clinic... ah well, you get that!  First stop to jade factory - a bangle starts at $400 so we give it all a miss - once more there are hot and cold running shop assistants breathing down our necks!  A rushed stop at one of the Ming tombs then to medicine centre where we are ushered into the "waiting room"...  two "professors" in white coats and accompanying interpreters come out, ready to diagnose everyone's health - and then make up relevant medication!  Mark is told that he is alive, fit and well!

At last after lunch we head to the Badaling section of The Wall - forewarned by the Lonely Planet that this is a more commercial operation and often crowded.  This is true - aggressive souvenir sellers - plus the sight of bears going stir-crazy in concrete enclosures... not a happy thought.  We keep company with Scott and enjoy walking the Wall in sunshine although the wind is brisk and freezing.  The yak and Nepalese hats and red coat get a good workout today.  Whilst it has been a rushed day we are very glad to see something of the majesty and construction of The Wall.

We opt to be dropped off in the centre of the city and explore the Foreign Language Bookstore - we buy up on some English tuition books and CDs so that we can send them to Li Jiang at the Naxi Family Guesthouse - we promised him we'd try and send him this as he was so keen to learn and practise his English skills.  We meet Scott back at the hotel and walk to a local restaurant and enjoy a delicious meal at total of $15 - sizzling beef, chicken and nuts, fried rice and egg, beers and coke.  Back to hotel for emails, journal, internet catchup.

Tue 3/4

Pack up this morning, have another wrangle with hotel reception about this and that and then arrange to leave our luggage there while we go out for the day.  This time to the Forbidden City - we hire an English audio guide which is well worthwhile.  About four hours at the F/City enjoying the buildings, courtyards, halls and gardens.  Some of it is undergoing renovation/restoration but they are obviously careful to close off only small sections at a time.

Back to hotel mid-afternoon and we phone Linda at the Australian Embassy compound to advise we are on our way - we are having two nights with Linda and Graeme Tinney (a "3rd cousin" of Mark's) and their family - Sid, Harry and Ella.  Graeme works with the Australian Consulate and they live on-site.  Graeme's main responsibility seems to be helping to sort out Australians who get into trouble whilst travelling China - we are glad we didn't have to contact him for that purpose!!  We taxi to the Embassy where two armed guards make us stand behind the security fence - until we show them our passports.  Linda comes to greet us and shows us around their spacious apartment, one of about 35 on site.

Sid, Harry and Ella are delightful children - all musically talented, with great social skills and interaction.  We enjoy our first real coffee for quite sometime and home-made cake - yum!  We are given a guided tour of the on-site pool, squash tennis and basketball courts, sauna, social club bar (our taxes at work!) - however realise that such facilities must be welcome when working and living in such an environment.  Graeme joins us for dinner but returns to work afterwards as Alexander Downer, Minister for Foreign Affairs, ard his entourage are in town.  We are glad of the warm welcome from the Tinney family and the opportunity to share with other Australians during our last few days in China.

Wed 4/4

9.30am we left the apartment to find the local post office and mail off the English books to Li Jiang - hope they reach him okay.  We then catch a taxi to the Temple of Heaven - wonderful example of Ming dynasty architecture, set in a 267 hectare park with a huge gate at each compass point.  The original function was for conducting solemn religious rites, and features a Round Altar, Echo Wall, Imperial Vault of Heaven and Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests (first built 1420).  The latter is the dominant feature - on a three tiered marble terrace - the wooden pillars of the hall support the ceiling without nails or cement.

We hire an audio guide once more - worth the $6 each for the interesting information.  Cool and overcast weather today - all the locals said how fortunate we'd been to have clear blue and sunny skies in the previous days.  We enjoy walking through and around the buildings then through the park areas.

Exit via the east gate and over the road to KFC for clean toilets/snack then next door to the Pearl Market - more bartering, noise, yelling - "Madam you buy...", "Come and look..." etc - we spend a few hours buying up on a "Gucci" watch or two, shirts etc.  By 4pm we've had enough and head back to the Tinneys by taxi - Mark tries out the swimming pool before dinner.  After dinner Linda and Graeme do their story-telling and bedtime routine with the children while we remember how to wash up in a kitchen (first time for 3 months!).

This is the last evening in China before flying out tomorrow for Singapore, then Melbourne.