Day 27–Homeward Bound

Sarah here folks for the last blog of this holiday.  I hope those who have read it have enjoyed it.  I doubt Alan will have anything to comment, he’s in mourning over the end of another holiday. No, I’m in a lot of pain. After having precious little sleep for the last 2 days, I played soccer today and got a knee in my back. I’m not moving well. At least 4 weeks of over indulgence at the dinner table didn’t decide to show itself again when I ran around.

We woke up to a sunny, clear and extremely windy Beijing morning, just what you want on the last day of the holiday when all you have planned is going home.  The wind obviously had blown away all the smog and haze and left us with a beautiful day, although it was fairly cool.

We managed to get ourselves going, got packed and left the hotel by 12.30pm.  The hotel got a taxi for us and we were wondering whether we’d ever get to the airport.  What sort of taxi driver has so much crap in his boot that he can barely take two suitcases?  After much fussing around, mostly by Alan, two cases were in the boot, one in the front seat along with my carry on and Dad and Alan’s carry on was on their laps. 

The trip to the airport was a little dicey, not just from the driver but the wind was blowing a gale. 

We were a little early for the check-in but 30 minutes later we were all done, with hopefully our suitcases making it all the way to Sydney.  Dad left us to go and find the business class lounge and Alan and I hit Kenny Rogers’ Roasters for some breakfast/lunch.  We’d eaten in a few of them in Malaysia including having a couple of great milkshakes.  Alas, like everywhere else we had been in China, no milkshakes were to be seen. I ordered a steak and chips and Alan ordered a salmon steak.  I always wonder about the places that require you to pay before you get your meal.  They don’t seem to care about service.  I received my meal (well part of it anyway) about 15 minutes before Alan and when Alan’s arrived we needed to chase up the coleslaw.  At least the meal was enjoyable.

Alan contemplated a dessert but managed to resist and we made our way through towards immigration and where our plane was.  We were required to get on a terminal train which took about 8 minutes to get to the gate.  That was a really long journey with a number of tight bends.

From there we were subjected to a temperature check where we had to walk slowly.  I would have thought China were happy for sick people to leave.  I don’t remember getting a temperature check on the way in.

We then went through immigration where they took our departure cards, checked our passports and boarding passes.  Then immediately we went through another check where they again checked our passports and boarding passes and then through the security check.  I understand security but this is a little overkill.

The Chinese always queue up long before the boarding of a plane gets called and this time, we were one of those people.  We’d been stuck with our carry on luggage under our feet for the last two flights and we didn’t want to be in the same situation this time.  We were lucky as a lot of people had gotten on before us that we did find two bins, one over our seat and one on the row across from us, still empty.

The flight was supposed to leave at 4.40pm and arrive in around 11.20pm with our connecting flight to Sydney at 12.45am.  We were therefore not very impressed when the Captain came on 4.45pm and said, due to congestion we were required to stay put for 25 minutes.  It would appear some passenger was missing who appeared to have given in his boarding card and not made it so his correct seat.  This delayed us and made us miss our departure slot.  We were therefore made to wait to queue up on the arrival runway and we, in fact didn’t end up taking off until 5:55pm.  You can imagine how impressed we were at that with a tight connection in Singapore.

Takeoff was pretty scary as we hit some of the worst turbulence I’ve ever experienced with several times we felt like we were dropping out of the sky.  Thankfully it was over in less than two minutes but that was two very scary minutes.  Doesn’t help that Alan had on the TV, the night before, an Air Crash Investigation episode.  Seriously, Alan, why before flying do you make us watch this stuff? I like to know what the problem might be when the plane starts falling from the sky.

Our plan was to stay awake for this flight and sleep on the next so we both watched some movies. We were very grateful that the pilot was able to catch up on some of the time lost.  We arrived safely in Singapore at 11.45pm giving us an hour before our next flight and the departure gate was only two gates away.  I felt for those connecting on a Brisbane flight.  They only had 20 minutes and their gate was in another part of the terminal.  I later checked on their flight and they ended up leaving 15 minutes late so it would appear Singapore Airlines waited for them.

We were on the A380 on the way home and Singapore Airlines are the only airline that has some economy seats upstairs.  It was nice.  There were rows of two (of which we were sitting in), much nicer seats on the flight we had just gotten off, loads of extra storage down the side and better entertainment units.  Plus being a small cabin, we got fed very quickly.  The only problem is there are only two toilets upstairs for us (we aren’t allowed behind the curtain to use the toilets for business class) and towards the end of the flight, both were pretty disgusting; someone has peed on the floor in one and someone had been sick in the other.

We started to watch a movie as soon as we took off, knowing that we were going to be fed fairly soon.  However, the movie took forever and by the time we were finished, we only had about 3 hours before breakfast would be served so very little sleep was had. 

We arrived in Sydney 45 minutes early but another plane was at our gate and we had to wait.  The airport was quiet and we were through immigration quickly and as we waited for our bags, I kept an eye out for the customs official.  Often they walk around the arrival hall and check off your cards making it easy to get out of the airport.  Quickly I spotted him, waved him over and got him to okay the box the Chinese tea set was in I had gotten from Seabourn.  Some silly woman on the ship told me that we wouldn’t get it through customs and, sure enough, he waved it through no problem.  I wonder if hers arrived home in pristine condition like mine!!

The limo was waiting for us and soon we were on our way home, dropping Dad first. 

The fluffies were glad to see us as we were them.

So, that’s it for this trip.  As usual, we have plans to keep travelling and, of course, keep blogging about it.  It will be helpful for Alan to read it back later as his memory continues to fade.  Did we go on a trip? It seems so long ago. My back hurts. I need a lie down. Good night people!

Day 26 – Holiday almost over

Alan is writing the blog although we’ve done very little today, so it won’t be a long one.

Today was our last full day here in Beijing before we fly back home. I can’t believe the last 4 weeks have gone by so quickly. It’s always the way when you’re on holiday. Having said that though, I think the 3 of us will all be happy to leave China behind. We enjoyed our time in Shanghai, but Xian and Beijing really have not been to our liking. The people are just so rude and selfish that it leaves something of a bad taste in your mouth. When we’re getting off a train, having to fight our way through people who simply refuse to move to the side of the doors while they wait to get on, is annoying. As it is when we’re standing in a queue at a shop, or buying tickets somewhere, and someone just pushes in front of us. And why they all feel the need to spit everywhere is beyond me. I fully realise this is all the way they’re brought up and their nature, but that doesn’t make it ok. All right then, rant over.  I did get groped by a Chinese man twice in the subway. Not sure whether I should be upset or flattered.

We had no plans for today, so the toss up was whether to go to the Forbidden City, or the Olympic venue. We settled on the Forbidden City. Outvoted again, the bastards!!!! We had made the long walk there 3 days ago but didn’t go inside. This time, however, we caught the train there. The subway here is easy to use. There’s a station just near our apartment and we just have to go 1 station, change to another line, and go another 3 stations and we’re at Tiananmen Square and the entrance to the Forbidden City.

It was about 7 degrees when we went out this morning, so quite a bit warmer than when we walked here on that bitterly cold day. We walked through the crowds up to the ticket office, all the way being approached by dodgy locals offering us tours. We’ve learned over the past few days to simply say no and continue walking. One guy thought we were Americans and had something derogatory to say about them.

Once inside, we found it was much the same as the area leading into it; very large paved courtyard areas surrounded by buildings. On and on we went, with the crowds, through gates, up and down stairs and ramps, seemingly never getting anywhere and being shoved out of the way by rabid locals whenever there was anything of note to look at.

We did some Chinese military type personnel running through exercises.

We could see a pagoda high on a hill in the distance. We didn’t fancy walking all the way up to that, see we headed back. On the way we looked in some of the many side rooms which house relics from past dynasties. There’s some pretty neat stuff in there to look at. Apparently the Forbidden City contains over 8000 rooms. I think we probably walked through about half of them today.

 

 

We exited through the east gate and were happy to find a little cart to transport us back to the main entrance. It actually only took us back to the ticket office, saving us maybe a minute or two of walking. So we wandered back to the subway station and caught the train. We went into the shopping centre next door to our apartment building to find some lunch. We decided on a Chinese place and had a decent feed. It does seem rather difficult to get a Coke around here. Today when I asked for one, they brought me an orange juice instead.

We came back to our room and had a rest after lunch. We thought we may get to the Olympic site this afternoon, but that didn’t happen. When we woke up, Sarah was very dizzy and her head was spinning. I think she was dehydrated. Our room was too hot while we were sleeping, plus she was under the doona.

After she recovered, Sarah and I went out tonight scouting for a suitable restaurant for our last dinner here. We had 3 options and when we returned to our room, the 3 of us decided on Japanese. It was a pretty good meal, like the ones Sarah and I had enjoyed when we were in Kyoto 3 years ago.

Back in our room now and preparing for a long day of travelling ahead. We check out of here at around midday or just after, so we’ll probably head to the airport then and wait for our flight which is due to leave at, I believe, 4.40 pm. We fly to Singapore and if all goes according to plan we’ll be just in time for our connecting flight to Sydney, (if the flight arrives on time, we will have about 80 minutes between flights) which should see us home at lunch time on Saturday. There are 4 cute little fuzzballs who will no doubt be happy to see us, although they may punish us for a little while for having left them again.

Well that’s about it. Sarah will do one last blog to wrap things up some time on the weekend after we’re home.

Day 25 – Zoo Day

I, Sarah, lost the toss today and instead of going to see the Olympic site, The Bird’s Nest and Water Cube, we went to Alan’s choice, Beijing Zoo. Somehow, however, I have to write the blog on the place I didn’t particularly want to visit.  Not sure how that works.  I’m sure Alan will try and explain it. No explanation needed. I win. You lose. I’m the king of the castle.

This morning we had a slow start mainly because we slept in but mostly because some of us aren’t moving too well after walking so much the last two days.  Dad opted to stay in today and after a couple of Nurofen, I was ready to make a move. 

We found the nearby subway station which is called Beijing Railway Station just to be confusing.  Each ticket is RMB2 no matter where you go (about 30 cents Aus) and the machines all have English buttons.  The only problem is they don’t seem to like Alan too much and like to reject his notes and coins.  The machine times out on him and we have to input all the information again and finally get our tickets.

Thankfully the train wasn’t too packed today and we even got a seat.  After 4 stops we changed trains and 7 stops later we were at the zoo.  The price is ridiculous, at A$2.30 and that included seeing the giant pandas.  They have a large aquarium which is a lot more expensive at A$20 so we opted not to do that. 

As suspected, the zoo was a little sad.  I had heard that most of the animals live in concrete jungles and, right now, it looks so much worse as everything is still dormant from winter.  It might look a lot different in spring and summer. It’s actually Spring here now, Sarah. Sorry, my mistake.  The way you keep complaining about the cold I thought it must have been the middle of winter.

We first went into the giant panda section and saw a sleeping panda in the dark in a concrete box which was very sad.  The next panda we saw was just waking up and was near the glass.  His enclosure wasn’t too bad and we were able to get some nice pictures. He woke up, rolled over, yawned, and had a poop right there in front of us. Lovely!

 

The next panda enclosure was large with a couple of youngsters having a sleep but had plenty of toys to play with. 

There were two others sleeping in separate enclosures as well.

We saw your regular animals; lions and tigers and bears (oh my).  The bears were in a very large concrete enclosure without any water.  One found a tiny puddle of water and was splashing in it obviously wishing for more . They have what appears to be a space for water but I suspect it has been emptied for the winter.  Many of the lakes around the zoo still had ice on them.

We stopped for lunch when we saw Cafe – Australia Style.

However, there was nothing Australian about it.  The menu had about 8 pages of drinks and one page for food which consisted of a New York strip steak, some beef stir-fry and spaghetti bolognaise. We opted for the bolognaise but, I ask you, do you know how hard it is to eat it with chopsticks? We could just about get the noodles in our mouths with the chopsticks, but trying to do the same with very sloppy pork bolognaise sauce was thoroughly impossible.

  

We went into the elephant enclosure but left immediately.  They were in tiny boxes with glass and visitors banging on them.  It was heartbreaking.

As we made our way to the exit, we came across some zebras which I was able to touch (feels like horse) and of course we had to visit the giraffes. Every time Sarah touched the zebra on it’s noggin, it tried to bite her.

We made our way to the exit expecting to purchase a Beijing Zoo magnet for our collection but,surprisingly, there was no souvenir shop.  How weird.

Getting back on the train was easy and before coming back to the hotel, we wanted to check out the Japanese Restaurant across the road to see if it was suitable for dinner.  We found the sign, entered the door but didn’t find the restaurant.  Not sure where it was hiding.

Back in the room we had a nice two hour nap and then the three of us headed into the shopping centre in this building and went to Hong Kong Old Restaurant.  Huge menu, mostly strange seafood like sea cucumber which Alan wouldn’t try.  We had a BBQ plate of pork and duck followed by a beef and tofu dish and a fried rice. Sarah and her dad wouldn’t let me order the donkey jelly. And what sort of strange restaurant has no soft drinks!!!

Then it was back to the room to watch TV and plan our last full day of our trip for tomorrow.  I still don’t think I’m going to get to see the Bird’s Nest.

Day 24 – I see a wall

Sarah is being a lazy bones today, so as usual it’s up to Alan to write the blog. :-P

After our exertions of walking miles and miles and miles yesterday we weren’t really looking forward to a big day today. However, we already had a tour booked so another long, tiring day was on the cards. We started off with some rice bubbles which we had bought in the supermarket last night before going down to the lobby at 10 am to meet Jerry, our tour guide.

He was there waiting for us, so he showed us to our car and driver, who like our previous drivers, didn’t speak a word of English. We took to the streets and began our long drive to a remote, less popular section of the Great Wall. We were going to this particular section because it is much less crowded and in relatively good condition compared with a lot of other parts of the wall. Plus it supposedly has the easiest access. If that was easy access, I wonder what the other sections are like.

After about 90 minutes of driving we pulled into the parking area and started to walk up a rather steep cobblestone path to the cable car which carries people to the top of the mountain. We climbed to stairs to the cable car and clambered in and soon enough we were at the other end.

Once again, we had to climb more staircases until finally we were at the foot of the wall. All that was left now was to negotiate the stone staircase leading onto the wall itself. Easier said than done. The risers on these very steep stairs were huge. It was darn hard to climb but thankfully there were only about a dozen stairs. I was concerned that I’d get up them and not get down and be stuck up there forever.  Thankfully I did get back down again.

Sarah’s dad had opted not to make this last little climb, but in hindsight there is no way he could have made it up or back down those stone stairs. Sarah and I did it and bingo, we were on the Great Wall of China.

    

Naturally, being situated on the top of a mountain, the view was magnificent. I’m sure the colours would be prettier in Autumn, but it was still spectacular. We had to be very careful when near the edge of the wall looking over the side, because there was still some ice leftover from Winter on there and it was extremely hard and slippery.

We could see people walking up an extremely steep section of the wall far in the distance. That looked like very hard work and we were finding the going difficult enough just on the much less steep area that we were on, so we didn’t wander too far in that direction.

The other direction went down a lot of steep stairs. I went down about halfway before returning to Sarah at the top. A few more photos and we were ready to say goodbye to the wall. Back onto the cable car and soon we were back at the bottom. The walk back to the carpark was through the little market stalls. Every time we passed by one, the woman selling stuff would block the path, holding shirts and saying $1 each. That’s too expensive for us so we didn’t buy any.

Our next destination was lunch, at a restaurant just down the road. I suspect a lot of tourist groups get brought here. We had the option of going fishing to catch our own trout for lunch, but we declined. If I wanted to fish I could do it at home.

Jerry did the ordering for us and we ended up with a very tasty sweet and sour trout, pork ribs covered in grass or seaweed or something like that, and beef with green beans, although I’m almost certain that the beans were actually green chillies. A couple of fried rices as well and overall it was a delicious meal.

Back in the car for another hour drive through the deserted mountain roads until we arrived at the Ming Tombs. Also known as the underground palace, this is a tomb built some 600 years ago for some emperor dude and rediscovered in 1956. There’s a long walk from the carpark and then down a heck of a lot of stairs to get into the tomb. There are 3 huge thrones for the emperor and his 2 empresses plus re-creations of the coffins. The originals were destroyed when exposed to the air when the tomb was opened. Wasn’t really interesting to see but Jerry’s stories around the gate and inside the tomb about how the guides talk the very superstitious Chinese into giving money was funny.

   

Another climb out of the tomb and then we wandered back to the car. On the way, 3 elderly mean asked Jerry something. Apparently one of them had never seen a white man before and wanted to have his photo taken with Sarah’s dad. Either that, or they thought he was Happy Buddha.

We had already chosen not to do the shopping section of our tour. We’re really not big shoppers. We collect magnets and I buy the odd shirt here and there, but that’s about all really.

Our last stop on the way back here was at a place called Sacred Way. It’s a long walkway near the main road lined by huge 600 year old stone statues of military guys and animals. There were probably about 40 statues in all, I’d say. Some of the animals were real, some mythical, and they were in great condition for being so old and exposed to the elements.

  

So that was the end of our sightseeing for today. We had another hours drive back to our apartment through the heavy Beijing traffic.

On the way back, Jerry handed each of us a questionnaire to fill out rating how good the tour was etc. One question asked “How did you hear about China Guide”, to which Alan answered “My wife found it on the internet”. Very good, Alan. The next question was “Why did you choose China Guide?” To this he answered “I do whatever my wife says or else she beats me with a stick.” Honestly!!!! Jerry did have a good laugh about it though. Not sure whether whoever else reads it will understand his humour.

That was all for today. We’re all rather tired after 2 days of solid walking so we stayed in tonight. We have nothing planned for tomorrow yet and I suspect Sarah’s dad may spend the day here. Sarah and I will probably head out and do some Beijing sightseeing on our own. We have the Olympic site to explore, plus there might be an amusement park nearby worth visiting. But we’ll see in the morning what we feel like doing and also how cold it is. Luckily, today was warm compared to yesterday. Even at the top of the mountain was not unpleasantly cold.

Day 23 – Staggering through Beijing

Sarah here updating you all the goings on for the day.  Alan will complain it was cold. Not just cold. Ridiculously cold!

We had a slow start to the day but that was what we had planned.  After having a very long day in Xian we wanted to have a sleep in and get some washing done.

About midday we left the room with information from the Hotel that Tiananmen Square was 15 minutes walk and my sister saying it was 10.  Me, I wanted to get the subway but was outvoted by the other two so walking we did, for about 90 minutes. It was bitterly cold. Our ears and lips were numb. With the crossing of some pretty hairy roads and then opting to take the stairs down and then up again on the other side, we were pretty tired as we approached the Square.  We were ‘picked up’ by a couple who wanted to be our friends and were interested in us coming to see their work in an art gallery.  We knew it was a scam, this wasn’t our first Chinese couple to do this to us (Alex & Tina in Shanghai).  They did however lead us through a very beautiful park which would have been so much nicer in summer. 

At the next corner I was ready to ditch them only to discover Dad walking further ahead and, you guessed it, right into the gallery.  Guess what, it wasn’t an exhibition of their work at all.  We were quickly out the door and walking back to the Square. Not before I made us walk about half a kilometre down some back street looking for a side entrance. A couple of locals told us to go down here, so why wouldn’t I believe them? At this stage we were on the wrong side of the 6 lane road but outside the Forbidden City.  We went with the crowd and went in and walked and walked and walked until we reached the museum section which required an entrance fee so we dragged our butts out of there again. 

We then went across the street into Tiananmen Square.  Yep, it’s a big square and not much else. It was still cold.

By this stage it was coming on 3 hours since we left the hotel so we decided to start walking back with the hope of finding a taxi. It is RMB10 (about A$1.60) to go 3kms but the first and only taxi we found wanted to charge us RMB50.  We said no but, in hindsight, should have said yes.  So, we opted for the subway which was all well and good but because we hadn’t caught the subway up to the square, we didn’t know exactly what station we needed.  I thought I knew, then decided I didn’t so we went too far and had to catch the subway back one stop. We still had a reasonable walk back to the hotel. We saw a sign in the shopping centre next door to the hotel for Pizza Hut so we went in which was now 4pm and had a couple of pizzas.  Alan and I made a mistake in ordering our drinks and ended up with a jug of soft drink each.  We were so waterlogged by the time we were finished.  

We returned to the room to find our washing had not yet dried.  It is a washer/dryer in one with no instructions so it’s taking a little to get used to.

We weren’t hungry but Alan and I decided to hit the supermarket in the shopping centre.  Now that was an experience. It was like Walmart in America; a supermarket combined with a department store where you can buy just about anything. We found the beer for Dad easily, found some water.  Then found some breakfast cereal, followed by some sugar and then some soft drink.  The last thing we wanted was milk which turned out to be a real challenge.  We found yoghurt, flavoured milk and something we can only assume was cream but no milk and none of the people working in the supermarket spoke English.  We have been told by a few people now that they are taught English from middle school through high school and then University but no one speaks it, until you say something they don’t like and then, miraculously, they speak English. When you speak to someone here in China who doesn’t understand English, they just stare at you with this blank look on their face, not saying a word. When we were in Japan, at least they laughed at us and continued talking in Japanese. After striking out with a number of staff, a young girl offered to help whose English was very basic.  She then spoke, in Chinese, with one of the workers we had addressed and discovered there is no such thing as fresh milk in China, only the long life stuff.  So we took it off the shelf and thanked the worker who then said ‘you’re welcome’.  She knew English, just didn’t want to help us.

When we got to the checkout, a lady pushed right in front of us.  Alan said something to her and she moved back out of the queue and behind us.  However, she then started pushing us.  Really makes it hard to like the place when people act like that. As we’ve well and truly discovered now, the people here are very rude and pushy and selfish.

Tomorrow we are off on a private tour to the Wall and Ming Tombs.  Hopefully it will be a nice tour. And hopefully a little warmer.

Day 22 - Warriors

Alan is being forced to write the blog today, but it may not be the usual length as we’re a bit short of time. Forced? It was your turn.  Suck it up.

We awoke from our one night in Xian to a smoggy morning. Not quite as bad as when we arrived the night before, but still very smoggy. Room service brought us breakfast to our rooms, although none of us were particularly hungry.

We had a pre-arranged tour booked for the day, so we checked out of our hotel at 8.30 am and met our tour guide and driver. We had discovered the night before how crazy the drivers are in this city, so we all buckled up and hung on for dear life. There is a really good reason why you can’t, as a foreign, hire a car.

We drove through the city to the ancient wall. It was built about 600 years ago to protect inner Xian from invading forces and is still in remarkably good condition today. We paid the fee and climbed the 75 stairs up onto the wall. Apparently they hold a marathon on top of the wall once a year (3 times around is approximately 42 kilometres), but the runners would have to be very careful not to trip over or twist an ankle on the uneven stone surface.

   

Next, we drove to the Wild Goose Pagoda. We were given our own personal tour guide in the pagoda grounds and he was very thorough, taking through all the different areas and explaining all the stuff we needed to know. He wrote our names in Chinese characters on rice paper for us, although this was more an attempt to make us interested in buying paintings or jewellery from their gift shop. We didn’t walk up the 268 stair, 7 storey pagoda. I don’t think any of us were keen on climbing the narrow, steep stone staircase.

 

After that, we were driven to the terracotta workshop, where they make new terracotta figures. Once again, it was more or less just trying to get us to buy stuff. We did have an opportunity to take photos as terracotta warriors, though. That was good fun.

Finally, it was time to do what we had come to Xian for, to see the terracotta warriors. They drove us to the site and we walked in. In fact we walked in, got on an electric car thingy to take us to the pits.  However, they won’t bring you back, wanting you to walk through the markets.  Our guide knew a shortcut to avoid the markets and cut the return walk time down to 10 minutes. Thankfully it’s off season here at the moment so the crowds weren’t too bad. We went in pit 1 first, which is the biggest of the 3 pits. There are some 6,000 terracotta figures in there. The size of the place is amazing.

The terracotta warriors were ordered built by Emperor Qin, 2200 years ago, to protect him in his afterlife. They were placed in battle formation in rows under the ground and then covered by a wooden roof and earth on top. Some time afterwards, a rival army found them and smashed them to pieces, so when they were rediscovered by accident in 1974, there was pretty much nothing but a jumble of broken terracotta pieces. The last 38 years has seen a painstaking job of reconstructing them to the way they once were. Of the 6,000 figures in pit 1, around 2,000 have been restored. Some of them have been covered by earth once again to try to preserve their painted colours from oxidisation, as they lose their brilliant colours shortly after being exposed to air. All of the wooden chariots have long since been destroyed, but there is one section where you can see the imprint of a wooden chariot wheel in the earth.

 

Next, we went into pit 3, which houses only 68 figures. These are different though, in that they are not in battle formation. It’s almost like the warriors are facing each other, talking.

Pit 2 was only opened to the public a few years ago. It contains over 1,000 pieces, but most are still covered by earth. In a glass cabinet in pit 2 is proudly housed the one and only terracotta warrior to be found perfectly intact. They call him Mr Perfect. There are also iron and bronze weapons which were found buried with the warriors.

It was something which we’ve wanted to see for a long time, and it was well worth the trip to Xian. Pictures are great, but you have to see it in person to really appreciate it.

By now we were thinking it might be time to head to the airport. They drove us the hour or so there and we checked in for our flight to Beijing. Once through security, we had a late lunch in a cafe and waited as many flights were either delayed or cancelled due to poor weather conditions. I think that’s their way of saying that the smog is too thick to see anything at the moment. As with yesterday, the smog was now very, very thick. Maybe it gets worse as the day goes on.

We had to get a shuttle bus to our plane and then board on the tarmac. It was very windy and I held on to my boarding pass tightly.  We did see one flying down the tarmac. We took off half an hour late, but at least we didn’t get cancelled. 90 minutes and one pretty dodgy meal later, we were landing in Beijing. It was darn cold!

We’ve been warned about not getting into a fake taxi here, so when a guy beckoned for us to come over and get in his minivan, we said no. We got in a real taxi, which were in plentiful supply and gave him the directions to our apartment. He didn’t speak any English and didn’t know where he was going, but after making a phone call he found the place.

We’re staying in a very nice serviced apartment. The 2 guys downstairs on the front desk spoke no English at all, but they got Sarah’s contact on the phone to translate for us. This place is nice and warm and spacious.

   

It was 9.30 pm and Sarah and I went outside to try to find something to drink. It was absolutely freezing so we didn’t want to go far. We walked up a dark alley and around a corner and found a McDonalds. The lady there didn’t speak any English either, but we managed to order something. Strawberry passionfruit shakes. Ok then. It was pretty good.

Tomorrow we’ll be off to explore Beijing.