Beijing - Taiyuan

27/08/11

I had a good last evening in Beijing. It was nothing overly exciting. I ate some food with Sabrina, had 2  beers and played chess with my Yankee friend Chance. I had bought a Tibetan music CD earlier in the day and let Jungpung hear it. He taught me the words to the songs then we meditated, doing the chants at the same time for about 1 minute on the balcony then it started pouring down with rain. I couldn’t help myself but burst out laughing that Jungpung was still up for meditating during a deluge. I felt it would be rude to stop after he’d spent 15 minutes teaching me the words. I tried to keep on going but the more I tried to take it seriously the more I wanted to laugh. After about 30 seconds of me rolling around the floor, I was relieved to hear Jungpung say ‘wo men zao’ (let’s go) before I got totally drenched, he wasn’t offended.

I got up bright and early today. Showered, packed my stuff and checked out. I gave my Tibetan CD to Jungpung as I had ripped the CD to my laptop as soon as I got it. I’m Yours by Jason Mraz was playing as I left the hostel. I burst into song as I said my good byes to the staff and residents that I’ve become friends with. I couldn’t help myself. I was chuffed. My Italian friend Fabio was getting the subway to Tiananmen Square, so myself, Jungpung and Fabio headed off. Fabio insisted on paying my subway ticket. It’s only 20p but it was still really nice of him. Although I’ve improved in my Chinese I would have struggled at the station without Johnny K. We arrived at the station early and got some food. It was awesome. I had fish for the first time since I arrived here. The flavour was immense, loads of herbs and spices but there were far too many bones. I ate it like a westerner to begin with but due to lack of progress I got into the swing of the Chinese way, sticking a big chunk in your mouth and spitting the bones onto the table. I still need more practice at this. We also had really spicy Sichuan noodles. According to Jungpung they are mild by Sichuan standards. JP found it hilarious that the spicy food made my nose run. Whatever floats your boat. Accompanied with this was my personal favourite - Yangzhou koufan. It’s just egg fried rice with extremely finely cut bits of pork, cucumber, chives and carrot. It’s fantastic. JP insisted on paying. He helped me with my bags and told he’ll miss me, bless him. It has been educational for both of us and we’ve had a good laugh together.

Me and Jungpung (Johnny K)

Myself and Fabio

The bus trip was interesting. I was sitting right at the front. The driver had a Mao Zedong haircut so from behind his brain looked square shaped. There was a young woman who collected the tickets and to my surprise she stayed on the bus after it departed. She spent the next 5 ½ hours either chatting to the driver, playing on her mobile phone, sleeping or swatting flies. I reckon she spent more time swatting flies than anything else. I despise glorified job titles. Someone who cleans toilets is a toilet cleaner not an Environmental Health co-ordinator. Pretentious names like that really annoy me. However, on this occasion I really hope this pretty young fly swatter was given some sort of title which allows her some dignity, I don’t know, maybe Environmental Health co-ordinator or something. She killed those flies with such enthusiasm that she deserves some recognition.

It took about 2 hours to get out of Beijing. We passed the CCTV building and the great wall heaps of times once we got out of the metropolis. The countryside in Hebei Province was nice but not the most spectacular I’ve seen. I fell asleep a bit, but got woken up every time we overtook a lorry full of pigs. The driver thought it was really funny to peep the horn continuously to make them panic. I didn’t share his sense of humour but I guess it’s funnier than meditating in a downpour, or seeing someone’s spice induced snot. Chinese horns are really loud though. The best part of the journey was the music. There’s one Chinese pop song that I really like. I’ve heard it several times in various places where they’ve been playing the radio. The next time I hear it I’m going to ask someone to write down the name of it in Pinyin. It’s really cheesy, if Britney Spears ever overdosed on soy sauce this is what she’d sound like. It’s a catchy song though and reminds me of my time here so far. Chinese people also play western music. I’ve heard Michael Jackson loads of times, Dido several times, West-life several times and the Titanic theme tune with panpipes once or twice. That’s about the extent to which they delve into western music.  I saw several coal mines and many huge freight trains, Datong is the coal capital of China and therefore possibly the world. From about 100km from Datong, every second vehicle was an identical Lilac lorry carrying coal. It was dark by the time we got to Datong. It’s hard to say if it’s polluted because it’s been hazy all day today, even in the countryside. The first couple of miles of Datong is nothing but power plants.

I had nowhere booked for tonight. We arrived at 8pm and my target was either to get somewhere by 10pm then if I got nothing in 2 hours, find somewhere safe to sleep rough. As soon as I got out the bus I was swarmed by taxi drivers and curious onlookers. I would have regarded myself as being at the high end of beginners Chinese but I would now say I don’t speak Chinese. At least I managed to communicate that I wanted somewhere to stay and would not pay more than 40 yuan/kuai (although if push came to shove I would have paid 80). When they spoke to me everything went in one ear and out the other. I was getting persuaded to go to a hotel that was 250. Unfortunately Datong has no hostels. A driver agreed to get me a room for 50 and take me there for 10 yuan (£1, E1). He failed to get me a room for 50 but we tried more places and he eventually got me somewhere for 64. He was really helpful and because he took ages to find me somewhere I decided to tip him and gave him about 16 kuai (£1.60). I never normally tip. I’m as tight as they come regarding tipping. Judging by what I saw from the taxi, Datong is a nice enough city but there are road works and pavements dug up all over the place.

I have a room to myself for the first time in I don’t know how long. It’s not pretty but I was so chuffed to have a double bed in my own room that I decided to take a photo. I even have a t.v. There’s no internet here and Datong doesn’t have much in the way of night life hence I’m staying in my wee double room (that’s all mine) writing lots of things before I forget what’s been happening. Although I’ve been doing my blog quite a lot, there is so much I’ve missed and you could write an essay on every meal you have here. The food is amazing. Even the occasional bad dish is still interesting.

Unfortunately my room has mosquitos, quite a lot of them in fact. Where’s an Environmental Health Co-ordinator when you need one. I’ve got a suspicion that I might be staying in a brothel. There are massage brochures lying about my room. I’m half expecting a scantily clad Celine Dion wannabe knocking on my door at 2am looking for love. I’m going to get up early tomorrow to visit either the Yungang grottoes or the hanging monastery. I’ll wait until tomorrow morning before I decide if I want to stay here tomorrow night. Then from Datong it’s off to Taiyuan then Pingyao. I’m going to get out of here and find some Yangzhou Kaofan.

28/08/11

Every second shop is a restaurant in BJ. I reckon Beijing has a restaurant for every 25 people that live there. Datong’s a bit different. I was in a shop for a while last night saying how hungry I was and trying to get directions for somewhere open that sold cooked food. I was chatting to the owner’s daughters who were both adamant I was from New Zealand. The shop owner offered to drive me to a restaurant because he knew I was hungry. I declined and bought some sugar puff biscuits from him instead. My first impressions of Datong were that it was dirty but people were much friendlier than in Beijing (not that Beijingers are unfriendly) but no Beijing shopkeeper would offer to take me for a meal just because I told him I was hungry. Datong has big wide Avenues just like Beijing but not the congestion. There doesn’t seem to be much in terms of bins and collecting rubbish. The pavements are really dusty and the tiles are usually broken or non-existent. There’s not the army of street sweepers like there is in the capital.  I eventually found my fried rice last night. It took me a while. I found a restaurant that sold my favourite dish for 30p and was given a box of matches as a gift from a young guy who could speak a few sentences of English.

I didn’t get woken by ladies of the night so booked another night in whatever this place is that I’m staying in, the construction outside and the 3 radios all blasting out different music woke me up though. I stashed my laptop under the bed just in case it is a brothel or place with dodgy characters. I’ve been moved to another room which has a computer. I went to Yungang grottoes in the morning and really enjoyed it. It’s a huge complex of Buddhist caves which date from several different dynasties. As Datong is on the old Silk Road the carvings have influences from the various traders who passed through the city. There are Indian styled Buddha’s with the red thing on their foreheads, Arabian and Turkic influence as well as Chinese. I got my photo taken with at least 20 Chinese people here. I only saw 1 other westerner in the grottoes so I was treated like a celebrity. I guess the bright yellow t-shirt and afro helped. There were a group of small children who only knew how to say hello and nothing else. They were really chuffed every time they bumped into me and shouted hello, hello, hello. I saw them as I was leaving and their parents let me take a picture of them. They were hilarious. On the way out I walked through the park instead of back where I came along the cliff face where all the buddha’s are. The Chinese have a strange habit of supporting the trees by chopping down 3 others. It seems pointless. Surely if the trees evolved in that climate they can support themselves. Maybe there is a logical explanation. They did the same at Jinshanling and the Temple of Heaven.

 This dude is 17m tall and older than Bruce Forsyth

 You've got to love those manboobs

 The builders kindly gave the Buddha's holes to enjoy the views.....

 ....of coal mines and skyscraper cranes.

 New Balance - The essential footwear for the long and troublesome road to nirvana.

 Pure weirdness

This is the home page at the hotel

As I left the grottoes a taxi driver wanted me to pay 250 for a 15km journey back to DT. He settled for 40 which is still a rip off. Although I like travelling alone, it’s not economical getting taxi’s or paying for bedrooms. I got dropped off at Datong bus station to go see the Hanging monastery 60 odd km away. In many ways Datong is more similar to an African city than it is to Beijing. There is rubble lying about, it appears unorganised to people not familiar with the city and it has a crazy bus station in which busses don’t have signs saying where they are going. The journey to the Monastery was really interesting. The outskirts of the south of Datong contain the biggest construction projects I’ve ever seen. There are several square miles of indistinguishable 30 story buildings being erected. Cranes are dotted all over the skyline. It looks post-apocalyptic. The landscape around here reminds me of Spain. Not quite arid but certainly not lush either. There are cypress trees everywhere and the land is eroding all over the place. There are loads of deep gullies where the top soil has been washed away. The countryside in Shanxi also reminds me of Africa. Along the road are countless fruit sellers who all sell identical produce and don’t seem to have any customers but still manage to eke out a living. There are also small buildings that look like they’ll fall apart and are decorated with advertisements for mobile phone companies. The motorbikes stacked with astronomical amounts of goods for market are also Africanesque (that last word I typed is so wrong it doesn’t even offer me an alternative spelling suggestion). Even though China is the world’s second biggest economy, I definitely feel like I’m in a developing country when seeing things that remind me of Africa, and I like words that don’t exist but make perfect sense. I’m sure a lot of Chinese would be offended if their country was compared to something Africanesque but I disagree, it’s nice and even though this country is changing at an incomprehendable rate, many aspects of it have the illusion of appearing timeless. The mountains about 20 miles from Datong have loads of caves. I later read that at one time a quarter of the population of Shanxi lived in caves and that 3 million still do.

I got a bit annoyed with myself when I was in the bus and realised I’d lost my phrasebook and booklet with email addresses and the address of the place I’m staying in. I was sure I had packed them in the morning and assumed I’d left them in a taxi. I was confident I would find my way home and was more annoyed at losing my friends email addresses. The phrasebook has been really helpful in my learning. `I searched the floor under my seat before jumping into a taxi for the last 5km to the hanging monastery. I’d normally walk but because I was cramming in things today I spent money on a taxi. It’s cheaper than doing things slowly and staying here an extra night. The monastery was cool. The things that draw tourists to China certainly don’t disappoint. Nothings done by halves here, past nor present. I got another 20 odd pictures taken with locals and decided to take a few of my own just to show them how weird it is.

 As is often the case in China, Where there is stunning history, modern construction is never far away.

 I won't lie to make me sound tough, I didn't enjoy walking along this.

I bumped into a polish couple as I was trying to negotiate a price to get back to the city. We shared a taxi to the village bus station 5km away which suited us all. They couldn’t speak Chinese, the drivers couldn’t speak English and I got to share the fee with two other people. On the way home we chatted about the usual things travelling people talk about… where they’ve just came from, where they’re going next and a bit about their own culture back home. I’ve got into a habit of not talking about myself too much. It means I learn more about others and also prevents me from having to tell the same stories over and over again. They couldn’t understand why I like Datong nor did they think the city was interesting. It is by no means a pretty city, but I think it’s really intriguing. I like seeing people step over the piles of rubble by the side of the road like it’s a normal thing to do and that nobody bats an eyelid when a young toddler decides to piss on the street. The 3 wheeled lorry’s and all the decaying vehicles and crumbling buildings give the place character and even though it’s got about 2 million it doesn’t feel too big. If a western city had the appearance of Datong, I can imagine it would be a crime infested, drug infested midden and even though taxi drivers try and rip you off and people barge in front of you in cues, people are really friendly if you smile and say ni hao (hello). I’ve heard a lot of foreigners saying that the Chinese are really rude and disrespectful. They appear rude because their etiquette is different from ours but I don’t believe they are disrespectful, quite the opposite, I like them, even when they pull something from the depths of their throats and spit on the slab I’m about to walk on.

So we got back to Datong just before sunset and I thought I knew where I was going. I got completely lost. I had no address of the place I was staying in and only very basic Chinese. Because the Hotel didn’t have Latin lettering I didn’t know what it was called. I knew it was beside the main park and the cinema. I wasn’t too bothered. I intended to never pay for accommodation once I left Peterhead and I haven’t slept rough once so far, a night in Datong Park would maybe have been a pleasant experience. I eventually managed to get someone who could translate cinema using an app on his phone and I started asking for directions to the nearest cinema. Initially people thought I wanted to see a movie. I drew in quite a crowd whenever I stopped someone trying to explain my scenario. I eventually found a group of school kids who spoke English and were really eager to help me out. I told them all the landmarks I knew from my walk last night and they walked about a mile with me before telling me that Datong has hundreds of cinemas. I told them the cinema was across the road from a shopping mall that it was dirty and the street had rubble all over it. That didn’t help. When all seemed like a lost cause I remembered that I had a receipt from the hotel in my back pocket. Quite a crowd gathered as all 5 of us frantically tried to wave down taxi’s, the first 7 or 8 that stopped didn’t know where my hotel was. I’m really glad I met those guys. They were unbelievable helpful. Eventually I got a taxi that dropped me off at my door and the driver tried to give me 6yuan change from a 50yuan note instead of 46. I’ve found Chinese people really fun to be around despite the language barrier and putting up with dodgy taxi drivers is just a small problem. All I had to do was count my change, explain how much he owed me and he quite happily gave me my money. Even the chancers are harmless enough. I reckon it would be more annoying for me if I couldn’t count in Chinese and had to use hand signals to get my money but the ‘misunderstanding’ passed quickly enough.

The really helpful school kids

I reckon I’ll check out of here tomorrow, have a wander around the city then go to Taiyuan in the afternoon. I can’t remember exactly why I want to go there but I’m sure I’ll remember once I get there. Maybe I just mapped it out on my computer as a staging post to get to Pingyao. A lot of people like Night trains or busses because it gives you a night’s accommodation. I think a bus journey is just as or more interesting than a day’s sightseeing around temples or whatever else so I’m quite happy travelling by day. I missed a lot of the glorious views of the European countryside because I was out my face on DF.

If anyone’s thinking of opening a hostel in China there is a niche in the market at Datong.

It’s been a long day, it’s Yangzhou Kaofan then bed for me. My phrasebook and notebook are safe and well in my room by the way.

29/08/11

I checked out about 11 and had a wander about the city then got lunch on the way to the Bus Station. A young guy offered me a lift to the bus station as I was munching on my oh so fine noodles in a spicy vinegar sauce. He and his girlfriend went into the bus station with me and I found out my bus didn’t leave from that station and they drove me all the way to the North bus station (about 15 minutes drive) and gave me an iced tea drink for the journey. I’m being humbled far too often. The generosity of others is putting me to shame. I don’t like iced tea by the way but that’s not the point. The journey to Taiyuan was largely uneventful. It was through a flat part of Shanxi province. There were the usual Shanxi sites all the way. Cyprus trees, Power stations and eroding soil. I don’t know if the cypress trees have been planted to prevent more erosion. It would make sense. Taiyuan has a population of 5 million I’ve been told. Even though it’s not that much bigger than Datong it feels like I’m in a big city again. It’s greener than Datong and has more humidity in the air. I checked into the cheapest hotel in town and went off to find what Lonely planet regards as the best place to eat in the whole of Shanxi province. I didn’t find it but had really good noodle soup in an open air restaurant on the side of the road. The noodles in Shanxi are almost identical to Tagliatelle. I can’t tell the difference. The dogs here are much bigger than in Beijing. I think they are all more or less strays. They feed off the things that people spit out such as claws from the scorpions and shrimps and the non-edible bits of grubs. Every dog in Beijing is the size of a domestic cat or smaller. I like Taiyuan. They sell cigarettes for 20p a packet, they have lots of trees and they have bins for putting waste in. When I first arrived in China I was slightly annoyed that no-one bothered to separate their non-recyclable stuff from their recyclables even though the bins are clearly marked which things go where. After being in Datong I’m just pleased to see bins and that they are getting used at all. Tomorrow I will go to what might possibly be the only free museum in China then head off to Pingyao. I’ve managed to get a room there for £1.79 a night. I reckon I’ll stay there for at least 3 nights and do some laundry on my first night. I never did buy a red t-shirt, it slipped my mind. I have 3 white t-shirts and it’s really difficult to wash them. Eating soup with chopsticks makes them difficult to keep clean. I reckon Pingyao’s small enough that I can walk out into the countryside and do a couple of day’s voluntary farm labour and get a sun tan while I’m at it. The peasant lifestyle appeals to me. The next door neighbour is playing that song that I really like. I’m not banging on his or her door at midnight, damn. I’ve not really spoken English in over two days but didn’t feel I’ve picked up much Chinese either. But I’ve just had a 10 minute chat with the boss of this place and only said wo bu mingbai about 6 times. I’m well chuffed with myself for understanding him when he told me he was the manager. We had a good laugh.  Like the older men in China. They've always got time on their hands to either play games or just sit on the streets on their little stools and chat.  

 The kind young man who gave up his spare time to help me out

 The hazy Taiyuan skyline. 

Here’s a list of all the things I lost since I left Peterhead.

·         One black Pokerstars t-shirt.

·         One Chinese dictionary.

·         At least two pairs of socks.

·         At least two pairs of boxers.

·         One pair of glasses (I need to wear shades if I want to see).

·         One camera.

·         One camera battery charger, (lost at a different time from my camera)

·         At least 10 bottles of water (I have a rest, have a drink then leave the bottle behind).

·         At least 6 lighters.

·         One shoe (I binned the other then found the shoe I lost, I ended up binning that too).

·         One bottle of mouthwash.

·         Two bottles full of dihydra-codeine.

·         Possibly several things that I’ve not even noticed are gone.

Never mind. Wan an.

I'm leaving the Mega-City

25/08/11

Shops are overstaffed, one person does the transaction three other people watch. In hospitals it;s a different story. It's pure chaos. Luckily I had my Chinese friend Jung Pung (or Johnny K as he likes to be called) to help me out. After an hour or so I eventually got to see a doctor. Unfortunately he was a bone specialist. Acupuncture is only done in the morning so I'll have to go tomorrow, bright and early. On the positive side, we got excellent food from a street vendor. I filled myself up for 60p and acupuncture is 15 times less expensive here than in Edinburgh. Unfortunately Full Tilt is still shut down, I'm in the mood to make some money.

26/08/11

My camera is fixed. I'm off to Datong tomorrow for two nights then head to either Hohhot in Inner Mongolia to stay in a Mongol tent (a yurt) and ride horses or go to the walled city of Pingyao or Taiyuan. It's only 5 hours on the bus. I slept in for the acupuncture. I heard thunder and torrential rain when my alarm went off and thought I'd stay in bed instead. Myself, Jung Pung and an Italian dude went to hear live Tibetan music down some alleyway in a hutong last night. I really enjoyed it.

I'm really looking forward to getting out of Beijing. Datong is a coal producing city. It is really polluted. I look forward to seeing the industrial heart of China and I'll be visiting monasteries built into the side of cliffs and caves with thousands of Buddhist rock carvings.

I think I'll take Sabrina and Jung Pung out to have some Peking Duck tonight. I'm really glad I met them. Johnny K is a legend. His English has improved as much as my Chinese in the past few days.

Photos from a wander around a hutong

Ciao

In Limbo

I'm Stuck

My camera didn't run out of batteries, it broke. I'm getting it fixed for free but it will take about a week. They'll email me when its fixed which is a pain in the ass because I need to book my trains 5 days in advance and I was hoping to book my transport out of Beijing tomorrow. The staff at the hostel have been a great help. They did all the phoning and gave me directions on how to get to the nearest Sony repair shop. The repair shop was worryingly busy. You'd never get that many people in a repair shop in the U.K. I reckon that even though my camera is a genuine Sony, it is substandard in comparison to the ones they export to the west. I tried to get acupuncture or a massage as well today as there was a massage shop next to the repair shop. I needed English for that as my Chinese dictionary didn't have the word for sciatica nor trapped nerve. I tried to describe a nerve so used the word electricity. They thought I wanted them to give me electric shocks. With the help of Baidu (the Chinese equivalent of Google) they eventually understood what I mean't and the pretty young girls explained to me that they only did 'relaxation' massages and that I needed to see a doctor for that. I then bought myself a pair of shoes for £4/E4/$6. I wouldn't say I'm bored in the Bay of Jing but I do want to head to Datong. Two weeks in a city of 15 million is a bit much and I have little else around here I want to see. It's nearly September and I've spent one day outside Beijing. If I want to see all the places I've mapped out (see below) then I need to get my ass in gear as we'd say in Peterheid.

I want to be in Shanghai by the 13th September, a month after I arrived in China.

On the positive side I have barely used English at all lately and got a good lesson from a German guy who has been studying it for 4 years. I can't wait until I learn more pronouns so i can have free-flowing conversations with people. My accent is improving heaps. You learn the accent without even trying here just by overhearing other people speak. I used to over exaggerate the tones but I'm doing it o.k now. Most Chinese people are surprised when I tell them I've been in China for 10 days and don't have a proper teacher. I got a good lesson from a guy in my dorm who's English is not that better than my Chinese. We sat on the balcony till 3am just talking about the things we could see, taxi's, public telephones, pylons etc. I spent the mext day on the balcony revising my Chinese vocabulary and getting grammar advice from a Scouser who's been studying it for 4 years. I've really enjoyed it. The Chinese guy in my dorm has been socialising with me and it's been a really good laugh even with the limited conversation. We stayed outside teaching each other until mosquito o'clock then came inside. Yesterday I went outside for a cigarette and played with the tiny little puppy named doodoo, who lives on the balcony. As I was pulling my smokes out my pocket one fell out on the ground and wee doodoo picked it up with his mouth and started running around. It was more amusing than it sounds. One of the girls took a photo and if she's still staying here I'll ask her for a copy. It was a nightmare trying to get it out. I was worried he'd eat it and it would make him ill.

A Random Wee Story

I spent some time one evening in a park where Chinese women do dancing. They dance to a mix of Chinese pop and really cheezy western pop. The young girls don't dance it's always women over 35 and up to 80 I would guess. All the dances are choreographed and everyone seems to know all the moves. I stayed there for about 5 songs and every dance was different and everyone knew every move to every song. No-one stands at the front to lead them, they just all stand in line and remember. No limit by 2 unlimited was a particular favourite of mine. It got the grannies going.

Tibet

It's been interesting listening to the Chinese people talk about Tibet. The guy at the hostel who organises tours and sorts out every problem you might ever come across was telling myself and an American archaeologist that I met about why the Chinese government banned tourists from visiting Tibet for 3 and a half months. The guy is by no means a subservient sheep but his views wholeheartedly reflect the government stance. I've chosen not to engage in conversations about Tibet or Taiwan. The Chinese people have been very welcoming to me and I don't want to offend anyone nor get myself needlessly into bother. It's interesting to hear their world view and in true Taoist fashion, make no effort to change their views.

Some More Random things.........

* According to my Lonely Planet phrasebook, a good pick up line in chinese translates as 'you look like some cousin of mine'. Don't think I'll be using that one somehow.
* I'm pleased to be reading about the fall of Qaddafi.
* A good coffee in China is even harder to find than a man who can grow a decent beard.
* I spent an hour washing my clothes in the shower then it rains for the first time in 4 days.
* I'm going to try and get either Acupuncture or a therapeutic massage today and book my escape route.
* My skin on my shoulder has peeled after going to the great wall topless. It's not badly burned though.
* I am highly skilled in the art of not doing much.

Au revoir comrades and friends.

Life in The Bay of Jing

In General

I'm doing really well now. My stomach can handle three meals a day of Chinese food and the weathers been fantastic. I'm really coming on with my Chinese. I don't need to use any English in shops any more or the subway. I can also have a 1 minute conversation with random people before I am forced to say 'wo bu mingbai' (I don't understand). The first minute is usually the same - hello, how are you followed by either where are you from or which country are you from. After that comes either how long are you here for or do you like it here. I can improvise basic sentences and I'm getting much better at following conversations even if there are several words I don't understand. My tones are also improving, however, I asked to borrow a pen and the guy was offended (not majorly). He told me the correct tone for pen but was too embarrassed to tell me what I had asked him for. Wo bu mingbai is still my most used phrase but I'm getting there. 

I'm going to sunbathe tomorrow and go through all the words I've written down. I also need to book transport out of Beijing well in advance because touts snap them up and sell them for far too much.

The Great Wall

Loved my day out. It was an early start and my back was pretty bad at the start of the day. I've spent too much time in the past few days sitting on hard seats practising Chinese and playing board games, it's done me no favours. Anyway, me and the american who lives above me got up at 5:50 after getting to sleep at about 2:30. We had dumplings then got on the bus. Chinese bus seats are tiny. There were only two seats not taken and I was one of the lucky ones who got to sprawl out. Speaking about sprawling, today was the first time I've left Beijing since I got here and have always used the subway (which is over 20 times cheaper than the tube in London). I had no idea how sprawling and dense the city is. Prior to coming here, Bangkok was probably the most densely populated city I've been in, it's nothing compared to here.

The countryside around Beijing is nothing to write home about. There's loads of medium rise construction projects going on even an hour out of the city centre with small farms in between. Most of the designs are of average quality but I did see a few eco towns spring up. They are building a high speed rail link from Beijing to Chengde parallel to the road and that blocked a lot of views. After a couple of hours driving the flat terrain very suddenly becomes the mountainous, postcard scenery that China is famous for. Unfortunately I fell asleep asleep after 5 minutes and woke up just as we were approaching the great wall. We took the hard route up rather than pay 30 kuai for the cable car. It was very enjoyable. The part of the wall we were at is called Jinshanling. It's unknown to the vast majority of chinese people and therefore very quiet. Unlike the popular, overly crowded Badaling which has been rebuilt 7 times, Jinshanling hasn't had a refurbishment in 600 years. We were joined by an American named Warren who teaches English in Chengdu and spent the next 4 hours hiking up and down long steep flights of steps and rubble. It's hard work but the views are stunning.

Far too hot for clothing

A well earned cigarette

Unfortunately my camera doesn't show hazy parts in the distance very clearly. You can see watchtowers for miles in both directions as the wall snakes around the mountain tops. The weather was stunning as well, 30 Celsius with high humidity. I spoke to people when we got back to the hostel who had visited Badaling. Based on their accounts and my own experiences, it's definitely worth paying a bit extra and getting up early to visit Jinshanling. Remember that if you ever intend to go. Definitely in one of the top 3 places I've been too. A recent poll at skyscrapercity.com placed the colliseum as more stunning than the great wall. I've now been to both and the great wall wins hands down in my ever humble opinion. Here's a video I made from the highest possible point that we could visit.

Unfortunately A large section of the wall at Simatai is blocked off and we later found out from an overpriced cold drinks seller that the area is patrolled by the army and being done up with expensive hotels and cable cars. That's a shame. Even though it's only 3 hours from the capital it really is an unspoilt part of China, for now. I'm assuming those soldiers are about the only ones manning the wall. As intended by the planners of the great wall, the soldiers are there to keep out foreigners. Some things never change. On the other hand, what was built to keep out foreigners is now a top reason why foreign people choose to visit China.

Other Things.....

Today I went to the central business district for a gander. Beijing has some weird modern architecture. I forgot to charge my camera batteries. here's a picture I downloaded of the CCTV building. I can't say I like the architect Rem Koolhas that much but this building looks like it's defying gravity.

I also went to the temple of heaven, the 3rd Unesco world heritage site I've visited in 5 days. It was pretty dull to be honest. I did like one bit called the whisper chamber. The building is shaped in a perfect circle and if you whisper someone at the other end standing exactly half way round can hear you clearly. It's weird but with the Chinese being Chinese, no-one whispered, I had no-one to whisper with anyway so I wasn't bothered. They also have a bit where you can hear your voice echo once, move to the next bit of the temple and you hear yourself twice then a little bit on and you clearly hear yourself three times. Strange phenomena. I found the park surrounding the temples more interesting. There was an opera band doing a rehearsal so I joined some chinese people next to them for a game of keepie up. It's the same as doing it with a football but you kick a giant shuttle cock. I was o.k at it. One of the people I was playing with was a woman who must have been in her sixties but could do side flicks and kick it when it was half way up her body height. She was far better at it than me. I really enjoyed playing with them. They don't grow old without a fight here.

The vast majority of people I've met since I left Scotland have been both nice and interesting, some have been a bit boring but nice nevertheless. The only twat I've met was the guy who stole my camera but even he had a bit of charisma, a cheeky smile and I admire people who show initiative. However, there is one guy in my hostel who is quite possibly the most boring guy I've ever met. The dude is 17, he's possibly the least streetwise person I've come across but he thinks he knows it all. He is xenophobic and glorifies in war. All he talks about is life in Serbia and martial arts. What's annoying is the way he dominates conversations and doesn't shut up even when it's blatant that nobody is listening to him. He just cannot take a hint. Myself and a guy from Denmark placed a bet on the amount of time he would go without starting a conversation with 'In Serbia.....'. I thought he could go 3 minutes. Unfortunately he said it twice in 30 seconds so I'm owe the Dane an ice cream. To top it all off, he wears jogging trousers that practically touch his nipples. nightmare. He refers to me as his Scotland friend.

The good has far outweighed the bad. I've had enjoyable games of pick up sticks with a Nigerian, and playing a game similar to othello, but the object of the game is to connect 5, its called oo-tsi-chee (probably spelled wuciqi). I've played this with a german guy and his girlfriend. I lost most times but improved and started to win sometimes just before they headed to Tianjin. I've met a really nice French girl named Olivia. She's possibly the most free spirited person I've ever met. She's 26 and has either been squatting (as in living illegally in unoccupied buildings) or travelling for the past 9 years. She doesn't work for money if possible but works here and there if there is something that she believes is worthwhile. She's extremely intelligent in an unorthodox way, taoist ways of thinking comes naturally to her. She's currently travelling around the north of China with her uber cool mum for 3 weeks then she's on her own to explore the South. I told her about my hopes to learn traditional Chinese construction techniques doing voluntary labour in the south before heading to Laos and then heading off somewhere to build myself a tree house using the skills I've learned sometime in the distant future. She thinks it's a cool idea. We've exchanged emails address and it would be really cool to meet up in the south, hitch hike around little villages on the back of ox driven carts doing casual labour or whatever else, but who knows, China's a big place and she's not the sort of girl who'll be checking her emails every 2nd day so it's probably unlikely we'll meet up again. Olivia and her mum headed to Xi'an today.

Random additional things

* In China you can buy corn in a cob flavoured ice lollies. I haven't tried one yet.

* In China if you overhear someone say that the bus journey from x to y is 'only' 15 hours, they aren't being sarcastic.

* Life is good.