After four hours on the train, this time in economy which was actually completely bearable, we arrived in Beijing, our final destination in China! And, zero pollution and blue skies! We were welcomed by my lovely friend Yao Yao and her friend Ella who was kind enough to let us stay in her beautiful new apartment for the four nights we would be there. It was so nice to be in a cosy warm apartment, Ella and Yao were the best hosts and stopped at nothing to make sure we got where we wanted to be! Our first night was a yummy Yunnan restaurant and on our way back, we stumbled across a super cool cocktail bar called Miles, a supermarket turned speak easy, just our sort of spot for a nightcap.
The Great Wall of China was undoubtedly one of our trip highlights so far. It stretches from the sea in the east to the desert in the west, 8,850km long and was built to keep all the baddies out. We were incredibly lucky with the weather, blue skies and clear views as far as the eye could see. There are several parts of the wall you can easily access from Beijing, we opted to book a driver via 'chinese Uber' (he took us there and waited for us, 600rmb round trip) to take us to Mutianyu which was reputed to be a little less Disneyfied but with some of the old charm left of the historic wall. It is a very mountainous section and for the most part there are few signs of civilisation in the surrounding vicinity. We made the right choice about timings and once again we pretty much had the place to ourselves. We walked around for three hours but could easily have stayed longer, the views were amazing and stretched as far as the eye could see. Breakfast the next day was at The Rug (another amazing Yao recco!) before we ventured to Lama Temple aka Yonghe Temple, the palace of peace and harmony. The most impressive aspect of this temple is the 26-meter tall Buddha carved out of a single piece of white sandalwood which was included in the Guinness Book of Records in 1993! We then went for a wander through the Hutong nearby which really is a must, just to see the way old Beijing used to be - little alleyways, private doorways and tangled courtyard residences. We then skipped to Jingshan Park (only 2 RMB entry) and climbed the hill to the pagoda just in time for sunset over the Forbidden City. Comments are closed.
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AuthorsRob & Charlie's travelling adventures on their long journey back to London after living in Hong Kong. Four continents, twelve countries, lots of experiences. Archives
July 2017
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Robert Ware & Charlotte Nunn |