Beijing, Bicycles and Bird's Nest....

Foreigners are fairly easy to spot. Just look out for the 'blonde' hair, the big noses and the windmilling arms (of the non-aggressive variety) as people gesticulate madly, frown with almost tangible pain in the effort to be understood. Even if you think you have the most basic grasp of Mandarin, you always get thrown by the tones. There are four in Mandarin, meaning a word that to our western ears sounds the same, can have four different meanings depending on the tone used. To the untrained ear and tongue it's really hard at times to make yourself understood. You might think you are saying, "Does that come with rice?" when in fact your probably sprouting some rubbish about how the clouds do maths bubbling chocolate. So the windmilling arms come in handy but at times it can be just plain frustrating.

For example, trying to find the bus that the guidebook recommends you take from the main western railway station in Beijing to the main central railway station. We found a police officer and started to wave our hands around and point and act out our best Thomas the Tank engine impression to try and show where we were trying to get to - you can imagine how difficult and exhausting this is whilst carrying your rucksack and hand luggage. You can probably imagine too how plain silly we looked! But even with the most serious concentration, willing with every fibre in your being that the the police officer has seen Thomas the Tank Engine and understands you actually want to go the another railway station by bus, there comes a time when you just have to stand back and laugh at yourself. It's good fun - just hard when the last thing you want is to be stranded at some railway station, miles from your accommodation. Although I'm pretty sure our policeman had never seen the famed Engine, he eventually did seem to get the gist of what we wanted and gave us, in return windmilling furrowed brow style, the exact directions to the bus we needed.

We settled into our youth hostel opposite the railway station - the main central railway station that is. And by the way, the bus that the guidebook recommends doesn't exist. Anyway, as I was saying, in our youth hostel, to our surprise, we found the heating was on. Here in China, you do have central heating to keep the cold at bay, but it is not the kind of central heating you have much, if any, control over. Instead, on November 15 the heating is switched on and lasts for four months. It is not necessarily correlated to the outside temperature, that is there is no thermostatic control, but instead it is simply on. And so our sauna of a youth hostel was perfect for washing and drying clothes, just a bit of a thirsty job trying to sleep at night.

Talking of clothes, my ego has taken a bit of a battering recently. The short snap of cold weather we've been experiencing necessitated purchasing a few extra items to keep us going. I was in need of a second pair of trousers; living in shorts at zero degrees is not good for your health and would be too much of a culture shock for the local populace! I found a pair of trousers for an absolute bargain. They just about fitted ok, maybe a little long in the leg, but otherwise not a bad buy. The only downside came when I looked at the label inside the trousers. I had jumped from a medium in the UK to XXL in China. Clearly I do not have the average Chinese physique!



Early on in our stay in Beijing we visited the National Olympic Stadium, affectionately known as the Bird's Nest, given it's complex exoskeleton that resembles interwoven branches and twigs - or for those of you with a sweeter tooth, a bit like a meringue nest. As you climb out of the subway, and catch your first glimpse of this structure, you realise just how impressive it is. Within the stadium, tier after tier of seats rise above you and you can easily imagine the energy of excitement in this place as Bolt charged down the track to take gold and set two new world records in the 100m and 200m. It is an inspiring place! As the last of the evening light faded to black, the Bird's Nest was internally lit up, bright red and orange, looking like some massive UFO just landed with the afterburners glowing! Directly opposite lies the National Aquatic Stadium. This crazy looking cuboid structure was lit up intense blue, causing a barrage of flash cameras to be set off as people marvelled.


Tian'anmen Square looked beautiful on the day we visited. The sky was clear and the sun shining in the crisp morning. But it wasn't just the cool morning that sent shivers down the spine. This Square has a rich history, even in my short lifetime. It was quite a solemn experience.



One of the main reasons for heading to Beijing was to see the Great Wall. It meant an early start, and for anyone who knows Beth, you'll know what that means! Even before the main rush of traffic into Beijing, the roads were packed, the usual rush of bikes, cars, lorries and people. And there are loads of bikes - millions swarming their way round the city.

On the way to the Wall we had to visit the obligatory jade factories. Here you'll see amazing ornaments and jewellery carved from the various types of jade. One particular treasure for the Chinese carved out of jade would be a cabbage, the traditional meal eaten in the New Year. To the Chinese, the humble cabbage represents 'good luck', the roots of which should point inwards towards the shop or home for constant success. I must admit, we weren't taken too much with the carved cabbage - I'd rather have the real thing stir fried where it belongs!!


90km or so north of Beijing lay our destination, the Great Wall at Mutianyu. It takes about 20 minutes steady uphill walking from the entrance to reach the Great Wall, and it is worth every single step. The wall somehow clings to the ridges that form a part of an impressive mountain range, weaving back and forth, disappearing into hidden valleys and reappearing, always climbing up and away as far as the eye can see. It is certainly a testament to man's engineering skill, but also to the brutality that cost 1.5million people their lives to complete this massive work. We blew a few gig's worth of photos here, everywhere you looked you just wanted to take more and more photographs. The light, the almost unnatural, gravity defying angles of the wall and the amazing scenery all combined to make a simply stunning vista. We were not disappointed.



Our last touristy trip in Beijing was out to the Summer Palace. Just on the north-western outskirts of the city, the Summer Palace is another marvel of design and engineering, with colossal lakes, beautifully planted walkways and classic Chinese architecture. We spent a leisurely day strolling around the quiet, peaceful scenery. The evening light was even more awesome than anything at the Olympic Park, a fantastic range of reds and oranges, setting the interlocking valleys in the far distance into fading spurs of rich purple.


Beijing was for us a much more pleasant city than Shanghai. Despite the size, there was always a homely little restaurant tucked away somewhere, with characterful staff working away over a simple steaming hob, cooking fantastic noodle dishes or rice at a fraction of the cost of the main restaurants. Even with our limited language skills, and by now, improving charades skills, it was still relatively easy to make yourself understood. A generous smile gets you a long way!



Just another 12 hour trip back to Shanghai for a few days before heading on to New Zealand.

And some more photos (left to right):

1. It can get cold - and Beth felt it
2. The seventeen arched bridge at the summer palace
3. Inside the stadium
4. Beth on one of the incredible bridges in the summer palace
5. Matt and Beth on the Great Wall
6. Matt demonstrating some of the finer experiences of dining on a budget

China

It was our first real rain in fifty days as we touched down at Padong International, Shanghai, and decidedly cooler. It must have been a strange sight for the immigration officials to see foreigners still wearing flip flops at the end of October; a time when the general temperature is descending towards a toe numbing 10 degrees Celsius. But we were excited to be in China at last – despite the slightly numb extremities.

Our first challenge was to get from the airport to Shanghai, some thirty kilometres west. And for this challenge we made use of the Maglev – which I’m guessing stands for something like ‘magnetic levitation,’ seeing that chunky magnets sit under the train. The Maglev is quick. It glides out of the station at Padong airport under constant acceleration up to its cruising speed of 300 km/h, though this increases to 430 km/h during the busier periods of the day! A little under 8 minutes and we had reached our destination. It’s the quickest I’ve ever travelled whilst still on the ground (though technically I suppose we were not actually on the ground).

We then took the metro across Shanghai, an experience we shall not forget. I don’t know if you have ever had the experience of being winded or having your breathe suddenly taken away. Well if you can remember or imagine that happening slowly, then you’ll get the idea of the metro in Shanghai at rush hour on a Friday. With our bulky rucksacks providing at least some moderate protection for the rib cage, we stepped onto the metro to travel a mere six stops. At the first station more people crammed into an already crowded carriage, it seemed ridiculous that any more people could possible get on – yet they did. At the second station we were staggered as another fifteen or so people pushed and wriggled their way onto the metro. And so this game continued. You soon realise that in a city with so many millions of people your personal space is not a given, and it is common practice to have your face jammed into the back of someone’s head, or worse, sharing your personal space with an armpit or two! Getting off is simple – you just need to forget the whole English politeness thing, grimace and grunt a little, and then employ a few of the old rugby skills. Drop your right shoulder and barge you way through. Taking a few people with you earns you bonus points. If you still have your rucksack with you – you’re a winner.

We had a few days in Shanghai, wandering the streets, taking in the sights and sounds. Shanghai is a big city, with an energy about it like London, but there are also areas that are tucked away off the main streets that have a more town feel about them. Everywhere you go people are eager to sell you random bits and pieces. Although sometimes you have to laugh at peoples’ eagerness! As we trudged the streets, trying to find our youth hostel, laden down with our rucksacks and other baggage we seem to have accumulated on the way, one lady approached us trying to sell roller skate wheels that come in pairs. These clip to the back of your shoes so you can wheel yourself along the streets – how did she possibly think we were going to wear those contraptions whilst having a hefty sack on our backs?!

The following Monday we headed west, towards central China, to visit our friend who is teaching at a university. The train journey was a mere 17 hours, so we were very pleased to have a sleeper carriage. What we hadn’t banked on was being on the third tier of beds right at the top of the carriage. Thankfully our climbing skills came in very handy as we delicately climbed up the beds, trying not to wake the gently sleeping family, topping out by the air conditioning unit. Surprisingly, we slept really well. In fact, Beth slept so well the ticket attendant had to wake her!

Our first cultural surprise came in the form of clear plastic flasks that appeared to contain nothing else than black tadpoles gently swimming around. We thought that the Chinese must be caring very much for the environment, and everyone was getting involved saving some endangered frogs spawn - odd that they should do this on a train journey. To our surprise, people kept topping up their clear plastic flasks with boiling water - the poor little fellas are going to be cooking in that hot water - quick someone stop them! But then people were noted drinking from the flasks! What could be going through peoples minds to do such a thing. It was the next morning that we realised that the 'tadpoles' were in fact tea leaves cunningly cut to resemble the little black suckers. Beth and I now know green tea as 'tadpole tea'.

Our second cultural shock was with queueing. English people have a particular awareness of when exactly they joined a queue, and therefore, when they should next be served. If someone jumps the queue English people generally perceive this as being rude and either murmur and grumble or grab the offender and let them know they have somehow overlooked the other participants in the queue. You especially get this on English roads. But here in China - well queues are there for jumping. Just barge on through! It takes a bit of getting used to, but after a while it can be fun - as long as you have a bit of a cheeky smile on your face!

We spent just over a week in central China, learning a few words of Mandarin, and how to use chopsticks! The food was fantastic – some very different from home, some similar. Street food is well worth trying! But we also had the chance to help teach English at the university – not something every traveller gets to do!

The students we met at the university were very friendly, inviting us along to play table tennis (ping-pong) of which they proudly remind you China is the best. I can believe it – the ball was a blur most of the time as my grinning opponents blasted it around the table with as much power as they could muster. I spent most of the time collecting the ball from the floor and wishing I could just get one ball across the net to wipe that smile away! It wasn’t to be!

What really amazed us was the work rate of these students. If you ask them what their hobbies are you’re likely to get the response ‘sleeping’ somewhere in the conversation. Students sit outside in the cold evenings, using the light from street lights dotted around campus, studying and learning, sometimes reading out loud, sometimes quietly mouthing the words as they commit to memory their work. So sleeping really is a hobby – to get a lie in is a real treat. I look at my own university days and am amazed at the contrast.

We were treated to some of the local music one of the nights. Just wandering aimlessly around town we came across these ladies playing the drums and doing a dance. They were a dedicated bunch, each lady hitting the drum as hard as she could whilst the older members of the group played the cymbals and the triangle, despite the biting cold. We stayed for about ten minutes - but we soon realised that we were becoming entranced!

Too soon it was zai jian (goodbye) as we headed east towards the Olympic city, another mere 13 hour overnighter!

Some more photos including our trip to see the terracotta warriors and a quick tour of Xian:

1) A sunset over the fields

2) One of the towers along the walls at Xian

3) Some of the terracotta warriors

4) Terracotta horses

5) Matt and Beth enjoying some street food

Singapore

You queue in a neat line for a taxi. The man on duty hails one taxi at a time into its allocated position. You wait a moment in the air conditioned booth, awaiting the nod from the attendant to acknowledge your taxi has stopped and it is safe to proceed. As you wheel out your luggage on a trolley, the boot of the car opens and a smiling driver lifts your luggage up for you. As you turn to push your empty trolley into the terminal you notice another smiling man has already appeared from nowhere and silently removed the trolley and guided it efficiently to its appointed place.
This is Singapore. It's clean, it's tidy, it's slick.

We had four days in this haven. A good chance to catch up on sleep, e-mails, blogs and washing. The main attraction in Singapore seems to be the shopping centres, loads of them that never seem to close. Beth was pretty happy!

There are a number of districts within Singapore derived from various groups who have immigrated - the names speak for themselves - Little India, Little China, Arab Quarter and so on. Wherever you go you notice how neat everything is, nothing seems out of place. And what is particularly impressive is the lack of monkeys.

Feeling withdrawl symptoms from those furry creatures we took a trip out of the main urban area to see the Night Safari, annexed to the zoo. The idea is that the nocturnal animals come out to play and you have a chance to marvel at these wonderful creatures of the night. However, the animals were clearly in on this game and decided that it was far better to mock the tourists craning for a glimpse of the beasts by staying asleep. They probably lie around until 11 o'clock, when the Night Safari shuts up shop, and then come out to play. Grr.

We did, however, have a close encounter with a leopard. When I say close encounter, I mean she was lying on her back the other side of a thick pane of glass enjoying a snooze. It was still very impressive to see the size of one of these big cats. We were also spooked by some large bats. A bit like those 3D 'magic eye' pictures, just as your eyes got accustomed to the gloom, a batman type figure suddenly appeared right next to you. This wasn't so bad until the bats opened their wings, a good half meter span at least; and those eyes.......!

On the last full day, we journeyed on the monorail shuttle across to Sentosa , a well laid out, if not too touristy (and therefore criminally expensive)

island annexed to Singapore. From the air you can see the man made beaches as three small crescents (get Google Earthing). These try and block the view out to sea where huge volumes of tankers are at anchor or are heading into the docks. Still, the views away from the tankers were fabulous and with the beautifully warm weather it really felt like a tropical island.

We left Singapore thoroughly impressed. It is an amazing place. But we were glad to get going too - it's not the cheapest place on the planet and we still have a few more months of travelling to go!

Last Stop in India

Our final day in India was back at Delhi, back to the chaos. On recommendation from a friend, we tried the Grand Hotel, which from the outside looked like a normal hotel frontage, but inside proved to be the most luxurious place we have yet visited on our trip! The marble floors and spiral staircase, the large room with air con, widescreen TV (with Premiership football showing!), push button room service and a separate bathroom, all spotlessly clean. What a treat!




We managed a trip out to the Red Fort, located in Old Delhi. This is a magnificent structure of immense size, even by today's standards. Built over 400 years ago for the ruling emperors of the time, it would have made a big impression on those having an audience with the emperor.
The gateway into the Red Fort is colossal, causing you to strain you neck backwards just to try and see the top of the carved sandstone walls.

Unfortunately, many of the older parts within this walled palace have been razed to the ground and much of the original grandeur has gone. Instead of gold covered walls with the splendour of jewels and ivory, the bare wooden carved paneling is exposed, with parrots using cracks in woodwork to form their nests. Ironic really.

But if you stop and look long enough, you can imagine the enormity of the pomp and grandeur of this place. It's almost inconceivable to think this was used as a British barracks until 1949, until you see the ugly coarse brick and concrete structures in the middle of the grounds!

And so closed our short time in India, a country of such contrasts, so very different and diverse from quiet Shrewsbury. And yet despite all the chaos, the dust and the dirt, the smells, the crowding - despite all the shocking contrasts, it is a country with a magnetic appeal.