That's a fact. Well, according to the song anyway, but despite that fact, and the city's population of over 15 million(!) there have been some amazing coincidences. On my second day in Beijing I was walking through reception in my hostel and I saw an Indian guy who had been staying at the same guesthouse as me in Mongolia! It was pretty strange to see him again in this huge city so we had a quick chat before I headed out for the Forbidden City. The price of entry there around 60 years ago was death, now its 40 yuan (about 3.50pounds) so its a fair bit cheaper! The architecture there was amazing, everything is designed right down to the last detail, and all in perfect symmetry so that yin and yang can coexist peacefully, side by side. At the end of the Forbidden City I heard my name and turned around and saw a Dutch couple that I had met in Irkutsk in Siberia! We went out for dinner together and exchanged email addresses as they would be travelling to South China soon, so we could maybe meet in Hong Kong.
In China it is quite easy to spot a foreigner , as nearly everyone here is Chinese. At the mausoleum of Chairman Mao, just before the entrance to the Forbidden City, I some Australian's who adopted me into their group. There was a huge line of people which moved quite quickly until we were inside the mausoleum and staring at the body of Chairman Mao, wrapped in the national flag. After out designated viewing time of three seconds, we were ushered outside again where we were told out ticket includes a lesson on Chinese medicine. One of the Australian woman was complaining that our it was included in our ticket price and she had spent 30p unnecessarily. We were then taking into a classroom with more complaints from the Australian woman, 'I'm sorry what is this? Whats going on? I don't have to put up with this!' and were given a cup of tea while someone in a white coat gave us a overview of the usage of traditional medicine. Then a doctor came in to take out pulse, examine our eyes and tongue before telling us our Yin was weak compared to our Yang, and he could write us a prescription to increase our energy and give us better skin and brighter eyes! The older people got a variation on, do you take Western medicine? Oh thyroid tablets? I can give you Chinese medicine that will work much better and less side effects etc. At this point the Australian woman stormed out, while the rest of the group were given prescriptions for our Yin's costing around 40pounds each, so we quickly left too. Then our impromptu and entrepreneurial guide who had taken us to the Chinese medicines lesson offered to show us a good restaurant. After following her a short while she took us to her 'office' where she told us we could book some tickets to a acrobatic show. This was the last straw for the Australian woman who had no difficulty speaking her mind. :-) and we eventually lost the guide and found some food with a drink for a little over 2pound (no commission necessary).
The third strange coincidence occurred on my last day in Beijing. I had booked a trip to the Great Wall of China, (about 2 hours from Beijing), and was talking to a guy from Liverpool. He looked quite familiar to a Liverpudlian who had been on my course in Essex University, when he started speaking about being a bouncer at Essex. I asked did you go to Essex Uni and he said yes and asked if I did computer science?. It turned out we were on the same course, but he had repeated the first year so I didn't see him that much, although he lived on the same road as me! Its really amazing to think that you can come all the way to China, and climb a remote part of the Great Wall, away from any other tourists, only to meet a guy who lived down the road from me in Colchester! The Wall itself was great, with amazing views of hills and valleys on either side, with the crumbling wall sloping off into the distance. The common misconception is that the wall can be seen from space, a claim that has been disputed by NASA for a long time. The first Chinese astronaut was asked if the wall could indeed by seen from space and his words? "Erm, no". Technically it is long enough, just not wide enough, (despite being made with giant stones and the dead bodies of the prisoners who collapsed whilst making it).
In the evening I got the train from Beijing to Guangzhou, the last stage in of my trip for the time being. It turned out I was sharing my compartment with three German guys from my hostel. At 21:30 all the lights were turned out, so we all moved into the corridor between the carriages and drank my supplies of Mongolian and Russian vodkas, whilst playing music through the speakers of an Ipod. This caused much surprise to any Chinese who happened to be passing through and a couple of them even joined in our impromptu party. When the train stopped at a station I had to jump off and buy some beers and Chinese rice wine to replenish our supplies. Needless to stay, our 22 hour journey passed very quickly and pleasantly! :-)
Attached our some photos of the wall, the scenery from the train to Guangzhou, and us converted the safety equipment into a party room! :-)
More to follow....
Phil :-)
In China it is quite easy to spot a foreigner , as nearly everyone here is Chinese. At the mausoleum of Chairman Mao, just before the entrance to the Forbidden City, I some Australian's who adopted me into their group. There was a huge line of people which moved quite quickly until we were inside the mausoleum and staring at the body of Chairman Mao, wrapped in the national flag. After out designated viewing time of three seconds, we were ushered outside again where we were told out ticket includes a lesson on Chinese medicine. One of the Australian woman was complaining that our it was included in our ticket price and she had spent 30p unnecessarily. We were then taking into a classroom with more complaints from the Australian woman, 'I'm sorry what is this? Whats going on? I don't have to put up with this!' and were given a cup of tea while someone in a white coat gave us a overview of the usage of traditional medicine. Then a doctor came in to take out pulse, examine our eyes and tongue before telling us our Yin was weak compared to our Yang, and he could write us a prescription to increase our energy and give us better skin and brighter eyes! The older people got a variation on, do you take Western medicine? Oh thyroid tablets? I can give you Chinese medicine that will work much better and less side effects etc. At this point the Australian woman stormed out, while the rest of the group were given prescriptions for our Yin's costing around 40pounds each, so we quickly left too. Then our impromptu and entrepreneurial guide who had taken us to the Chinese medicines lesson offered to show us a good restaurant. After following her a short while she took us to her 'office' where she told us we could book some tickets to a acrobatic show. This was the last straw for the Australian woman who had no difficulty speaking her mind. :-) and we eventually lost the guide and found some food with a drink for a little over 2pound (no commission necessary).
The third strange coincidence occurred on my last day in Beijing. I had booked a trip to the Great Wall of China, (about 2 hours from Beijing), and was talking to a guy from Liverpool. He looked quite familiar to a Liverpudlian who had been on my course in Essex University, when he started speaking about being a bouncer at Essex. I asked did you go to Essex Uni and he said yes and asked if I did computer science?. It turned out we were on the same course, but he had repeated the first year so I didn't see him that much, although he lived on the same road as me! Its really amazing to think that you can come all the way to China, and climb a remote part of the Great Wall, away from any other tourists, only to meet a guy who lived down the road from me in Colchester! The Wall itself was great, with amazing views of hills and valleys on either side, with the crumbling wall sloping off into the distance. The common misconception is that the wall can be seen from space, a claim that has been disputed by NASA for a long time. The first Chinese astronaut was asked if the wall could indeed by seen from space and his words? "Erm, no". Technically it is long enough, just not wide enough, (despite being made with giant stones and the dead bodies of the prisoners who collapsed whilst making it).
In the evening I got the train from Beijing to Guangzhou, the last stage in of my trip for the time being. It turned out I was sharing my compartment with three German guys from my hostel. At 21:30 all the lights were turned out, so we all moved into the corridor between the carriages and drank my supplies of Mongolian and Russian vodkas, whilst playing music through the speakers of an Ipod. This caused much surprise to any Chinese who happened to be passing through and a couple of them even joined in our impromptu party. When the train stopped at a station I had to jump off and buy some beers and Chinese rice wine to replenish our supplies. Needless to stay, our 22 hour journey passed very quickly and pleasantly! :-)
Attached our some photos of the wall, the scenery from the train to Guangzhou, and us converted the safety equipment into a party room! :-)
More to follow....
Phil :-)
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