DAY 58 - Beijing, China

The train from Ulaan Baator to Beijing promised so much but delivered so little. On boarding we found a modern, clean car with three toilets, a shower and even little TVs above each berth. In practice, none of this mattered because we had the most unhelpful, bad tempered, awkward, evil cabin attendant in all train-dom. She kept two of the toilets permanently locked and only opened the other for a half hour at a time at random points on the trip causing massive queues. She kept turning the TVs off mid film and refused to put the air con on for much of the trip. The cow. We were sharing our cabin with two Norwegian girls. She particularly didn't like them because they were better looking than her and could manage a smile occasionally.

I was last in Beijing in 2001 and found the place quite intimidating. There was no English anywhere and i had to count to dots on the subway map to try and work out where to get off. How things have changed. Apparently there's some sort of sporting event going on here. You wouldn't know if it wasn't for every billboard and every lamppost being draped in banners stating "Beijing 2008"; if it wasn't for speakers blurting out the official Olympic theme at top volume in every public park, square and space; if it wasn't for all the little ladies rushing up to help you every time you stop moving for more than 5 seconds. Actually, after Russia, everyone here has been fantastically helpful. Half the population appears to have been on an English course (although most of the official written translations, e.g. in museums, are still rubbish). And best of all on only 14 occasions has someone rolled up some phlegm in the back of their throats and spat in front on me. Compared to last time, that's nothing.


The food here has been very interesting with a huge choice, although we haven't strayed too far into the erm, really different stuff. The Peking duck was ok if a little fatty, but we skipped on the sheep's testicles and donkey dumplings. The night market had the most exotic dishes but the best meal was at a Manchurian restaurant today with massive portions and beer for all under a fiver. The food was very similar to the stuff you'd get in a takeaway back home (except everything didn't taste of fish).

On the first day we had a long walk through the main sights. It was raining most of the day with a particularly heavy downpour in the morning. It was good to see the Forbidden City again outside of a tour, which in 2001 went straight through the middle of the complex with barely a minutes rest to take a breath. We spent the evening in a rather garish bar area by the side of a lake supping the local brew and watching drunks paddle in duck boats. No fatalities witnessed.

I've a particular aversion to Chinese tours as they tend to spend most of the time taking you to shops for a hard sell, but it was the only way for us to get to the Great Wall given our Mandarin is a bit limited. So yesterday we decided to go to the Mutainyu section of the wall rather than the usual Balading section as it was supposed to be quieter. The weather had improved no end, but as expected we had an hour and a half of the "day" tour at the wall and then two shops for the rest of the day. The silk factory was particularly mind-numbing.

For our final day here we went to the Temple of Heaven. The sun was really strong and by 14:00 we'd had enough. We had an early lunch, some beer and and early night. Got a morning flight tomorrow to Seoul...

Rich.