Beijing, finally!

So, we're in China!

And finally we have been able to upload our pictures. Unfortunately, the connections are so slow that we've had to shrink them so they might be crap quality - only we can't find that out for ourselves as all blogs are banned here so we can't view the finished product. At least we think so - noone we know has been able to view their blogs, only edit them. And even that has been tricky.

Beijing is amazing, I want to live here - there is so much to buy and it is so cheap! I am in heaven! Just kidding - I don't just love it for the shopping. It's such a massive city and so much to see - we haven't stopped walking for a week.

Our hostel is in a traditional hutong (Chinese for back alley) and wandering around the chaotic network of lanes is great fun. There's so much noise and colour, everyday is exciting. You can buy and eat pretty much anything you could want, and we have become the Jedi of bargaining.

The hutong in the day...


and at night

We are staying in the same place as the most of the friends we met on our Trans-Siberian leg, and there has been much socialising and eating of wonderful Chinese food - although whatever anyone says, it's not been that different from the Chinese at home - it is nicer and it tastes healthier, less stodgy and not as MSG-fuelled, but ultimately they're the same dishes and flavours. We've been sampling all the street food - meat on sticks, corn on sticks, fruit on sticks - they even have star fish on stick. We haven't tried that one...

Our first tourist spot, the Lama Temple, was beautiful - it was our first day, the sun was shining and we weren't missing the Siberian winter in the slightest.

Thankfully we aren't yet templed out, but from past experience I know it can happen very easily so we're saving a few for when we return to Beijing in June (before our venture into Tibet). We're also saving the Forbidden City - although we have walked around the walls and it is pretty immense!

The moat around the Fobidden City

The most impressive thing we have seen, without a doubt, has to be the Great Wall. We trekked for 5 hours from Jinshangling to Simatai - a tough walk up and down very steep sections of the wall - millions of steps. I have seriously damagaed my legs, at least it feels like it - I am a cripple and Teej has been loving every minute of it. I think he has tired of my complaining though - it has been 2 days and I still can't walk down stairs!

The wall really was stunning. We went with a group of about 15, without a guide, and we all took it at our own pace. The problem with the lack of guide was that we were descended on by about 20 local farmers trying to sell us books, postcards, water.... they joined us as we got off the bus, and followed us half way along, only to withdraw in defeat. One of our group, Nat, speaks a little Chinese and he managed to get rid of a few of them early on, but they were not backing down! It was the only bad experience we have had so far - we just wanted to enjoy the wall in peace but we felt crowded and harassed.

But it didn't spoil the experience - the day was amazing. Parts of the wall were totally unrestored, so we were clambering up broken steps and by-passing dangerous gaps - although Seamus, a nutty Irish guy we met, made an impressive 1.5 metre jump across a pretty high gap - and luckily only hurt his knee. He could have tumbled down the mountain! Here we are after a particularly gruelling climb...

Yesterday we walked to Tiananmen Square and through the Gate of Heavenly Peace - that's the one under Mao's massive portrait. It's always weird visiting such a familiar sight for the first time - it's such a famous image that it took me a while to realise I hadn't been there before - and then suddenly it hit me, one more time, that I was in China...

A big red gate into the Fobidden City