Day 3 - Finding my way around Beijing

The sky is like being home in England.

Day 3 - 26th June

Still can't believe I'm here. Still can't believe I made it. Still can't believe no one was honest and told me I had no hope of being a back packer!

So I woke up, refreshed, a little hot and sticky (Not one of those dreams, it's the humidity) and ready to explore.

I reconfirmed with Will where was the best spot to get some breakfast. 'End of the street, turn left, you can't miss it. Lots of Westerners down there. If you can't see them, you've gone to far.'

I went too far! I walked to he very end of the street, all the way to the edge of Tian'anmen Square, took a left. It was a long walk down the street, but delirious and sweating AGAIN, I stumbled across a supermarket. My first experience of a real interaction with Chinese people in every day life.

I bought the essentials: toothpaste, water, jam sponges, BBQ crisps (a key essential) and a coke. It came to a whopping 47 Yuan or £4.70 to those not familiar with the exchange rate of pounds to Yuan. 

When returning to the hostel, Will immediately knew I'd gone too far. We laughed about it and I told him I was going off sight seeing but I wanted to join him and Dan for that beer in the bar which I should have taken up the previous evening.

Beijing has a maze of underground walkways that get you across the busy streets in the main city. With the walkways come security checks similar to that at an airport. Eventually, when I navigated my way through, I reached the edge of Tian'anmen Square. I was making head way... oh no wait, I'm in the wrong place I'm told by a guard. I move onto the next walkway and come out to a mass of Chinese people shuffling me forward. Being five inches taller makes all the difference. I felt like Gru in Despicable Me! After dodging the wave, I managed to spot three westerners, Americans. I asked them how to get into the Forbidden City. They basically told me follow the crowd.

Once inside, I managed to wangle a 66% discount on the ticket price, from 60 Yuan down to 20. Feeling confident, I made my way to the Meridian Gate, the main entrance to the City. I thought I'd make sure 'Xie Xie' was thank you in Chinese with the security guards. It turns out all five of them thought I was hilarious and just waved me onwards, talking between themselves, probably about how dumb I was.

The Forbidden City was amazing, both in it's architecture and it's history. It's incredible to think that it housed a number of Emporers and their family's and the scale of the job they did there. My particular highlights were the Imperial Gardens and the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The architecture, the detail and the general atmosphere around the place is something to behold. At this point, I realised why China had such a vast superiority on the rest of the world at certain periods throughout history.

Also, I found myself to be alone in a sea of Chinese people, which I know sounds kind of dumb (actually, that is a dumb thing to say) but I was expecting to see more tourists. Nope, not one in sight. I was approached by a number of women asking for a photo. Taking their camera to take a picture of them with their boyfriends quickly made them laugh. It was when they put their arms around me and gave the peace sign whilst their boyfriends stood idly by, with a little too excited smile on their faces, that I realised they thought of me like Prince William (their words, not mine). I'll let you decide...

I don't see it.

On my way back to the hostel, I stopped in Tian'anmen Square for photos, both for my collection and those of several Chinese families as Mum, Dad, junior, Nan and even Uncle Wan jumped in with me for one for the family mantelpiece in the Hutong. It felt like being a celebrity!

My feet were throbbing so I headed back for my bed. When I arrived, Will had set me up on a guy date with a Dutch guy, Robbin to go to the Temple of Heaven Park. A twenty minute walk with him made me realise that he was heavily into politics, talking about the Illuminati style organisations in control of governments and how much he liked McDonalds over the Beijing food. In summary, I liked the guy. He was funny.

The Temple and surrounding gardens were exceptional, many picturesque viewing points and with the sun and a gentle breeze surrounding us, I was content with ignoring the pain in my feet.

This and the many others was well earned!

Shortly after, my pain was reduced in my feet when I sat down and had authentic Beijing duck for 148 Yuan. It was pricey for just two plates of duck and pancakes but worth the experience.

On to the Long Bar, we had beers and met two Irish girls, Alice and Oregon and two English girls, Anya and Hannah. Will, Robbin, our Danish companion, Amanda and I played drinking games. Will's forfeits for losing was to snort pepper and drink Korean vodka whilst I had to strip and run the street in my boxers! The locals were dazed and confused as I saluted them and ran for my life. It brought everyone some laughs so I was content.

The night finished in style with more beer at Hostel Leo and street dumplings - well worth a try if you ever visit the Beijing Hutongs!

All in all, a successful first full day in China.