Beijing
In Beijing I used couchsurfing once again. I was Lesley and Malcolm, an Australian couple, hosted me for almost four days. I began my stay in Beijing, as in most other cities, with getting food and purchasing tickets in Beijing’s western railway station. After I had done these important things I tried to find someone, who could tell me the best way from the western train station to my place to sleep. After some time I found a well hidden tourist information and was provided with the bus number.
My bus stop was north east of the second ring road of Beijing; from there it was a short walk to my accommodation. Upon arrival I was greeted warmly by Lesley. When Malcolm came back from work the warm welcome was repeated. In the evening the two had no time for me, but they suggested me to feel like home. After I had jumped from one mode of transport to another for most of my stay in China, an evening on the sofa with an extensive DVD collection was very welcome.
On the second day I started doing the tourist program. I drove to Tianmensquare and realized that the spontaneous idea to visit Mao's mausoleum, would not be as easy to realize as I expected. The queue was incredibly long and as much as I would have liked to see this drollery, a long wait was not worth it. In the morning I visited parts of the Forbidden City. Later in the afternoon I went to see the temple of heaven. Both places were impressive. However, if I would live in Beijing, I would visit these places in the early morning to avoid the plethora of tour groups. After a long day of sightseeing, I enjoyed a relaxing evening with Lesley and Malcolm. Who would have thought that playing Domino could be fun?
The next morning I was on the edge of manhood, if you believe Mao. I wanted to climb the Great Wall. With the help of my hosts, I had managed to get to the wall on my own. The last kilometers I had to use a taxi. During the ride, the driver gave me a brochure of the section that I wanted to visit. These contained images, alongside pictures of guard towers, there was also a cable car and a toboggan run. During the taxi ride I thought on how to criticize that in my blog. After I bought my ticket, which didn’t include cable car and toboggan run, I had realized my bigotry. The cable car was there for a good reason; the climb to the wall was steep and longer than expected. I am still not sure about the toboggan run on the Great Wall though. After my arduous climb, I spent two hours on the wall.
In the evening I met Andrii, whom I had sent a request on couchsurfing. We had dinner in a nice place. Later I went to have a couple of beers in Beijing's nightlife. I ended in an Irish pub, that evening. However I had to end the evening at 1 am due to acute tiredness.
My last day in Beijing was different due to the abstinence of sightseeing. I spent some money, took the subway back and forth across the city and in the early evening arrived back at Lesley and Malcolm's apartment. In the late evening my train from Beijing’s west train station was going to Zhengzhou. Unfortunately, I had the wrong departure time in mind. A combination of incorrect departure time, an everlasting signature procedure with the porter and waiting for a bus, that wasn’t going at this time anymore, let to a taxi ride across the city. Ten minutes before the train was going to leave I arrived at my seat.
In Beijing I used couchsurfing once again. I was Lesley and Malcolm, an Australian couple, hosted me for almost four days. I began my stay in Beijing, as in most other cities, with getting food and purchasing tickets in Beijing’s western railway station. After I had done these important things I tried to find someone, who could tell me the best way from the western train station to my place to sleep. After some time I found a well hidden tourist information and was provided with the bus number.
My bus stop was north east of the second ring road of Beijing; from there it was a short walk to my accommodation. Upon arrival I was greeted warmly by Lesley. When Malcolm came back from work the warm welcome was repeated. In the evening the two had no time for me, but they suggested me to feel like home. After I had jumped from one mode of transport to another for most of my stay in China, an evening on the sofa with an extensive DVD collection was very welcome.
On the second day I started doing the tourist program. I drove to Tianmensquare and realized that the spontaneous idea to visit Mao's mausoleum, would not be as easy to realize as I expected. The queue was incredibly long and as much as I would have liked to see this drollery, a long wait was not worth it. In the morning I visited parts of the Forbidden City. Later in the afternoon I went to see the temple of heaven. Both places were impressive. However, if I would live in Beijing, I would visit these places in the early morning to avoid the plethora of tour groups. After a long day of sightseeing, I enjoyed a relaxing evening with Lesley and Malcolm. Who would have thought that playing Domino could be fun?
The next morning I was on the edge of manhood, if you believe Mao. I wanted to climb the Great Wall. With the help of my hosts, I had managed to get to the wall on my own. The last kilometers I had to use a taxi. During the ride, the driver gave me a brochure of the section that I wanted to visit. These contained images, alongside pictures of guard towers, there was also a cable car and a toboggan run. During the taxi ride I thought on how to criticize that in my blog. After I bought my ticket, which didn’t include cable car and toboggan run, I had realized my bigotry. The cable car was there for a good reason; the climb to the wall was steep and longer than expected. I am still not sure about the toboggan run on the Great Wall though. After my arduous climb, I spent two hours on the wall.
In the evening I met Andrii, whom I had sent a request on couchsurfing. We had dinner in a nice place. Later I went to have a couple of beers in Beijing's nightlife. I ended in an Irish pub, that evening. However I had to end the evening at 1 am due to acute tiredness.
My last day in Beijing was different due to the abstinence of sightseeing. I spent some money, took the subway back and forth across the city and in the early evening arrived back at Lesley and Malcolm's apartment. In the late evening my train from Beijing’s west train station was going to Zhengzhou. Unfortunately, I had the wrong departure time in mind. A combination of incorrect departure time, an everlasting signature procedure with the porter and waiting for a bus, that wasn’t going at this time anymore, let to a taxi ride across the city. Ten minutes before the train was going to leave I arrived at my seat.
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