Decided to take a tour today to the Great Wall and Ming Tombs as we were very short of time. It cost us 180 yuan to book through the Hostel. The other people paid 350 yuan through their big hotels!

Jade Sculpture Factory

First we went to a jade sculpture factory, which was interesting but aimed towards tour groups, with a big shop at the back with over priced jewellery and sculptures. Although the guide did teach us how to tell the difference between real and fake jade and cheap and expensive stuff.

The tour then took us to a Chinese traditional medicine clinic where a trained doctor diagnosed us by feeling our pulse on both wrists at the same time. Fi and I both bought some traditional Chinese medication just out of interest. I have to take 15 pills twice a day and Fi is taking more! They are really tiny ‘though … look like ball bearings. It is all natural ingredients.

We visited The Ming Tombs which was again interesing, but quite similar to other places we had been.

Great Wall In The Mist

In the afternoon we went to the Great Wall. It was a lot steeper than I expected and narrower. Totally crammed with tourists, which was a bit of a shame, but the higher you got the less people there were as it was quite a hike. Got some quite cool pictures ‘though it was very foggy. I have been told its all due to the pollution. It’s worse in Beijing than Shanghai, when we blew our noses it was black ….. nice eh! We felt like as big a tourist attraction as the wall itself. Lost count of the number of random Chinese tourists asking to take pictures of them standing beside us, hugging us and doing the peace sign.

Got back fairly early so hopped on the metro (not as nice as Shanghai’s, but brill all the same) and found a nice restaurant in a huge shopping mall! They served us unlimited free green tea and the food was very reasonable. Went shopping a few times over the three days, definitely better than Shanghai. I even found trousers long enough for me, cheap too! It was like paradise for Fi as she is petite, think she spent a fortune, though still saved loads as it is good prices.

Got to Beijing, had a rough idea of a few Hostels to try. Couldn’t find the one at the top of our list so went to The Beijing International Hotel/Hostel, only to find their hostel was closed. So they sent us to another one, the JADE hostel. We got a twin room there, it was so old and musty! The shower cutain had mouldy stains on it, but at least the shower worked! We left that hostel next morning to look for our original one ….. turns out it was right across from the train station where we had got off the night before, just round the corner, hadn’t noticed it from all the people waving boards with Chinese writing in our faces, or shouting Hullo! Hotel! DVD! Taxi! and various other unrecognisable phrases as we left the station.

We got a room at Beijing City Central International Youth Hostel. It was new, clean, comfy beds (we had a four bedroom dorm to ourslelves) and right next to the main train station and subway station. Only 60 yuan a night (about 4 pounds). Had Beijing duck that night. The restaurant that we wanted to eat in had just stopped serving duck as we arrived. However, just as we were leaving, one of the managers of the restaurant who had just finished work offered to take us to another branch of their restaurant which was quite close by. So that was lucky. Slightly disappointing as it was really greasy, but nice all the same.

Missed our train to Beijing last night! It was kind of hilarious looking back on it, we arrived at the station about an hour early, thought great lets just chill out outside for a bit. About half an hour before our train leaves we went to the waiting room. Everyone was just sitting about not making much effort to move so we just waited too. 5 Mins before our train was due to leave we started to worry and went up to the woman at the gate for another train who looks at our tickets, shows it to the guy next to her who looks worried and runs away, indicating for us to follow. So we ran through most of the train station, along waiting rooms, along platforms where another official guy would shake his head, up and down lots of stairs, two white girls with millions of bags and eventually he stopped and we realised none of the trains to Beijing were going to let us on.

Soldiers Marching in the Subway

There were no more trains to Beijing that night so we bought Soft Sleeper tickets to Ji Nan which is halfway between Beijing and Shanghai. Soft Sleeper is the most comfortable and expensive option, we tried to get Hard Sleep (not as bad as it sounds) but they were always sold out. We suspect that they assume because we are foreign we have money and so tell us Soft Sleeper are the only tickets left, though Hard Sleeper is popular and maybe sells out quicker.

Anyway, we arrived nine hours later in Ji Nan. Journey was fairly comfortable. More typical Chinese town than what we were used to …. our credit cards didnt work, and the people spoke virtually no English. Spent the day at a palace gardens/temple/ fairground centred round a lake, called Daming Hu ( Big Brilliant Lake). Went on a huge Ferris wheel. They also had a rollercoaster, but the whole place was pretty deserted. Took a Trishaw there, cost 10 yuan (about 66p) for a 20 min journey. Baragin. Much more fun than a taxi.

Bought Hard Seat tickets for the 5 hour journey up to Beijing that evening. I dont think you can book seats on a hard seat journey. As soon as the gate opened it was a mad dash to get the few precious seats on the train. Fi and I somehow managed to wangle a seat between us, though Fi opted to sit on the dirty floor for the 5 hours, thats how comfy the seat was.

I am off to Beijing for a few days. Should have plenty to say when I get back.

Ming Tombs, Beijing

Misty Shanghai

Been at the East Century School now for three weeks, the Primary school in the campus is called the Orient. We’ve just had our computer up and running a few days, sorry about the lack of blogging. This school is quite a bit out of town so we’ve been sussing out the buses and Metro with the help of Aileen, another foreign teacher in the Primary school here. The Metro is really easy to use, quick and cheap. Don’t know what we would have done without her when we first arrived. Our flat had absolutely nothing, no plates, cutlery, towels or anything. She is teaching me to cook. I made a tuna omelette the other day (80% me, 20% Aileen) and we are building up to her speciality fish dish from her hometown in the Philippines …. Mum you would love it.

Fi and I bought bicycles the other day from the Metro (a kind of upper-class supermarket/cash and carry, which we only got cards for because we are foreign) for a tenner each! We had no way of getting them back to the school so we cycled home ….. took about an hour but it was all good. Its great for even just around the School Campus as its huge, takes about 8 mins to walk from one end to the other.

Had a massage with one of Shanghai’s famous blind masseuses. I think it’s more therapeutic than relaxing, judging by how sore it was! But felt great afterwards. You don’t take your clothes off or anything, they just put a sheet over you fully clothed and go about their work. The woman I had was pulling my legs and arms in all directions, making my back crack like I’d never heard before! Really enjoyed the head massage. We had one hour body and one hour foot. The foot massage was nice you can just tell them if it’s too hard at times (tong!!!!!) The whole two hours cost 105 RMB which is about 7 pounds. Bargain!

Overall I like it better here as we have more independence and free time, but the teaching is really getting Fi and I down. The grade 1 and 2 classes have very little English so it is hard to communicate with them, and as they are about 6, 7 years old its hard enough to hold their attention!