The Indian Contractor visits Vietnam and China on a Shoestring

We woke up a bit earlier next day and the chat continued. Although I managed to catch only a few glimpses of China from the train, I could see that everything was big here. The farms. The factories. The bridges. They were huge. Land was not going to be a problem here. We reached Beijing well ahead of schedule, at about one in the afternoon I think.

We arrived at Beijing west station, not Beijing station. Our hostel was near Beijing Station. So while we figured out which mode of transport we were gonna take, the porters came and started taking our bags and loading them on trollies! We were taken aback as they did not even bother asking if we needed their services. My buddy asked them where were they taking our bags. The guy replied that it was a long walk to the exit. Then she asked the million dollar question. How much? the reply was RMB50. I intended to carry my bag all the way anyway, so we took our bags from the trolley and walked off. Once we came out my friend made enquiries on which bus to take for Beijing station.

Bus 5 and 54 apparently went to our place. But the driver of bus 5 told us to take 54. So there we were. 5 foreigners with Huge bags battling it out with the locals toget into the bus. Queues were unheard of here. We boarded the bus the local way, ie. letting the people around us determine our direction of motion. The bus was very modern and the we decided to stand all the way as taking off our bags would be too laborious. We hung on for dear life as the bus jolted into action. About halfway through the journey, the conductor came and collected the fare. RMB 1 per person. We got off at tiananmen square. This was near Johns hotel. And nowhere near ours. We bought a map along the way for 10rmb over the actual price (8RMB, our first rip off!). This is where I fathomed the size of Beijing the first.

Theoretically, or according to the map, our hostel was only 2 subway stations away and it was less than 4 buildings on the map. But in reality, these 4 buildings were each the size of a few football fields and with our 20 kg backpack and near empty stomachs, it would be suicidal to attempt to walk.

We took the subway train instead.

We got off at Beijing station and booked our onward ticket to Huangshan. We found our hostel after passing by it twice without realising we were walking under it(another problem when you walk under big buildings).

Unlike Vietnam where hotel staff take your passports as collateral, hostels in China charge two days advance payment as a collateral. So I went Forex hunting. The bank wont change my VND. I asked the clerk where I could get them changed and his reply was clear,"No way in China!".

I went ATM hunting after that and withdrew my first of many Chinese Yuan.

We payed up the advance and threw our bags in our room before going out for lunch and sightseeing. We had macdonalds fries and burger(without the patty for me). The guy taking the order gave us a bemused look when we said we wanted one chicken burger without the patty!

Following our late lunch, we took the subway train to Tiananmen west. From there we walked to the Mau Mausoleum. Our timing could not have been worse. All the famous places were closed for the day. So we just took pictures of the exteriors.

Now as the title of this entry says, Beijing is HUGE! Everything in Beijing is huge too! The roads are 8 laned. add to that another two lanes for bicycles and an 8 lane sidewalk! My beard grew longer by the time I finished walking past a building!

Then all of a sudden you'll see this platoon of soldiers marching from somewhere to nowhere!

Then there were these long garrisons of soldiers who just stood still. Just stood on the side walk and stared into oblivion! What a job! I guess since the anniversary of the Tiananmen square massacre had just passed, the government were a bit paranoid. I cant find the picture of the long standing garrison of soldiers.

A note about the pictures in Beijing: If they appear a bit hazy, its nothing to do with my camera or the climate. Its the pollution. Yeah, thats smog you're seeing!

As we walked past tiananmen square, I recieved my first positive welcome in China. A girl wanted to have her picture taken with me. I complied and she put her arms around me and let her boyfried(brother?) click away. That brought a smile to my face.

We went inside forbidden city but the subsequent entrances were closed. So we just clicked a few pictures and walked away. We crossed the road to the Tiananmen square.

When we visited the Tiananmen square, a chinese lady and her nephew smiled and started talking to us. First ofcourse, she mentioned that she liked my hair(two positive comments already!).

Then, after introductory formalities were over, told us that the great wall(which we told her were visiting the next day) at Bada Ling was way too crowded and that a better place to see the wall would be Mu Tian Yu (Stay away from Badaling as I hear the crowds there will bring down that part of the great wall soon!). So we asked her which bus can bring us there. Then came the dreaded reply. She said the only way to reach there was by a tour. MY heart sank. The tour at Bac Ha was bad enough. I did not want another tour on my itenary. But she told us there was no other way to access that part of the wall. So we walked with her to the tour office and she helped us book the tour for RMB250/ person. She was not a tout because she too was taking the tour another day.

Its funny, because a while before we met them I was just telling my buddy how funny the guided tour people looked with their flags and caps walking around in large groups. And here I was taking a group tour. Ours was better because we would have no flags and we were only paying for the transport(we were told it included lunch, but after we boarded the bus the guide told us that this was a non meal tour!). The guide would only follow us to the base of the wall. But it came with the time constraints and some snobbish people too.

So we took the train back to the main Beijing station. We settled for dinner at a restaurant opposite our hotel, at henderson shopping centre. The noodles and salad were mediocre, lacking the richness of the Vietnamese Pho. But I was famished so I gobbled it down.

Then we were back to the old routine. Shower, Sleep.