Fri 7th - We arrived by overnight train from Hong Kong into Beijing West Train Station and took the subway to our hostel The Peking Yard Hostel. It was a nightmare on the subway as it was so busy and there was security everywhere but once on it was okay and we were able to reach the hostel okay.
Beijing was just full of people, all the time, everywhere. That is the thing I disliked most about Beijing. The people were also not so helpful and quite rude. But that is the way it is.
Food was difficult for a vegetarian. I tried the bakery, these kind of flat bread things, apparently a Beijing speciality. A bit plain but very cheap.
The Wednesday we arrived in the afternoon so just walked around in the evening and had dinner in McDonalds. Had popcorn from a little man near the hostel.
Sat 8th - went to the Great Wall at Bagalang by bus. It was quite difficult to get the right bus at the station and there were so many peoople. The Great Wall however was amazing. Wish could have seen a differerent area and walked further. In the afternoon we got back and walked around Jingshan Park then got a sweet potato for tea.
Sun 9th - early start to get to the Forbidden City. Was massive, walked right through the centre. After this went to the park at the back and then walked back to Tiannamen Square. We then walked to Beijing Station to see what it was like as this is where we would be taking the train to Ulan Bator.
Mon 10th - Got up early to do a run. Ran for about 50 minutes along a long strip of narrow park that was close to the hostel and ran parallel to the Forbidden City. After this got a shoulder and back massage and then got a train to the Summer Gardens. Again loads of people. It was quite pretty, had noodles for lunch. After this we tried to go to see the Birds Nest Stadium however the APEC summit was on and all the stations and roads around the area were closed so unfortunately we couldn't go. We went back to the hostel and just walked around the local area, we wore face masks for the first time as pollution factor was quite high.
Tue 11th - Another early start. Went back to Tiannamen Square to queue up to see Chairman Mao's mausoleum. The queue for a change was orderly but very long. Once it opened at 8am however it moved very quickly. Saw Mao. He looked unreal, like a waxwork! We walked back towards the hostel after and down a craft street and bought a small Chinese doll. Put in some clothes to get washed at the hostel and walked further down a main street close ot the hostel and saw the hotels that the APEC representatives were staying at. Had dinner in the hostel.
Wed 12th - Today we left Beijing. We wanted to take the subway to the station so got up really, really early and arrived at the station at about 6.30am so as to miss all the peak hour traffic. The station was actually really nice. We had Starbucks for breakfast then had an early McDonalds lunch before the Train T3 departed for Ulan Bator at 11.22am. The train ride was pretty spectucular on the way out of Beijing, passing through some mountains and some impressive rivers. We had a free lunch and dnner on the train. The cabin was a bit small but generally okay. There were only 2 of us in the cabin. The hard part was when it reached the Mongolian border around 10pm. We were there around 4 hours and it was really hard to sleep as we had customs and immigration come on board plus they changed the bogies which was very noisy.
Likes about Beijing
- history - loads of it
- weather - dry, bright and no rain
- hostel was clean
- Beijing bread - really cheap and interesting taste
- Dove chocolate - chocolate was so difficult to find! The only chocolate sold was Dove and Twix. A bit strange.
- toilets everywhere
- Li Ning sports wear - should have bought the sport top I saw at the outlet mall :-(
Not so like about Beijing
- people everywhere, all the teime
- people generally quite rude
- little information in the hostel and could not find a tourist information anywhere
- no chocolate
