On the way to the Great Wall - Mutianyu section. Met Lily, our honcho, at the station yesterday. She's been living in Beijing for five years, and is a full time tour guide, with a flag and all!
Rooming with Dom again, which suits us both. Went for dinner in a local restaurant - lots of duck. Then seven of us headed to the bar district. We had one round of atrocious mojitos, before finding a Jamaican bar with cheap drinks and a shish. After a couple of rounds there we went to find somewhere with some dancing music, but the only likely venue was charging €6 for a beer. Back to the Jamaican bar!
Got news yesterday that Tomo, S's father, passed away. He had a minor heart attack and went into a coma on Sunday, lost the fight on Thursday. Emailed S my condolences, which seems so impersonal, but there wasn't much else I could do. Tried to call house, but nobody answered. Tried Claire and Laura as well, eventually managed after the very nice girl at the reception let me use her computer to by credit.
Talking to Laura only made me homesick really. No big news at home - Eimear got engaged. Conor has his Java exam coming up, Laura's back in class. Didn't even mention Tomo in the end. The memory of sitting on his balcony sharing beer and peach schnapps with apple will always be a great one. Such a friendly man.
Chinese people are super friendly. Even now on the bus, a military man in the car next to us is waving and making funny gestures.
Beijing is obviously a metropolis, with a bustle similar to London or New York. The bar area last night was very busy and traffic right now is bumper to bumper as far as the eye can see. There doesn't appear to be any obvious symptoms of socialism - capitalism has a free rein. No Facebook though.
On the way back from the Great Wall, everyone is a little tuckered out. There's no conversing, apart from Lily and the driver. Jake is reading, everyone else is asleep or listening to music. Had a little doze myself. Didn't expect there to be so much work involved in seeing the Great Wall! Everyone seems to have lapsed into a puddle of sweat, bar Regine, who has a healthy tolerance for the heat. Walked up 1200 steps (allegedly), and along through watchtowers 10-14, before turning and coming back to tower six to get a toboggan slide back down to the bottom. The views from the top were amazing, and to the north one could see further sections of the wall, the towers like sentinels along the ridge of the next set of mountains. It truly is a great wonder. The amount of effort, man hours and indeed lives it must've cost to build are unimaginable.
Had another taste of haggling, something I'm going to have to get used to I guess. I was considering buying a lampshade hat. Started at 380RMB (~€45), and she dropped to 20RMB by the end, but I had lost interest at that stage. Dom told me it's considered offensive to start haggling and not buy when the price is dropped to the agreed rate, and he's dead right.
Myself and Hollie had a conversation with a friendly guy in the toboggan queue. US by birth, he had fluent Russian, and some Chinese. He provided us with quite a few tips from his time working in Beijing. His wife is ill with cancer, and it was obviously weighing heavily on him. Must make sure to email him.
http://domcheeseman.blogspot.ie/2011/10/day-114-beijing.html
Rooming with Dom again, which suits us both. Went for dinner in a local restaurant - lots of duck. Then seven of us headed to the bar district. We had one round of atrocious mojitos, before finding a Jamaican bar with cheap drinks and a shish. After a couple of rounds there we went to find somewhere with some dancing music, but the only likely venue was charging €6 for a beer. Back to the Jamaican bar!
***
Got news yesterday that Tomo, S's father, passed away. He had a minor heart attack and went into a coma on Sunday, lost the fight on Thursday. Emailed S my condolences, which seems so impersonal, but there wasn't much else I could do. Tried to call house, but nobody answered. Tried Claire and Laura as well, eventually managed after the very nice girl at the reception let me use her computer to by credit.
Talking to Laura only made me homesick really. No big news at home - Eimear got engaged. Conor has his Java exam coming up, Laura's back in class. Didn't even mention Tomo in the end. The memory of sitting on his balcony sharing beer and peach schnapps with apple will always be a great one. Such a friendly man.
***
Chinese people are super friendly. Even now on the bus, a military man in the car next to us is waving and making funny gestures.
 |
| Pancake at the Great Wall |
***
Beijing is obviously a metropolis, with a bustle similar to London or New York. The bar area last night was very busy and traffic right now is bumper to bumper as far as the eye can see. There doesn't appear to be any obvious symptoms of socialism - capitalism has a free rein. No Facebook though.
***
On the way back from the Great Wall, everyone is a little tuckered out. There's no conversing, apart from Lily and the driver. Jake is reading, everyone else is asleep or listening to music. Had a little doze myself. Didn't expect there to be so much work involved in seeing the Great Wall! Everyone seems to have lapsed into a puddle of sweat, bar Regine, who has a healthy tolerance for the heat. Walked up 1200 steps (allegedly), and along through watchtowers 10-14, before turning and coming back to tower six to get a toboggan slide back down to the bottom. The views from the top were amazing, and to the north one could see further sections of the wall, the towers like sentinels along the ridge of the next set of mountains. It truly is a great wonder. The amount of effort, man hours and indeed lives it must've cost to build are unimaginable.
 |
| Dom doing Rocky up the steps |
 |
| Andy and Jake's kung fu shot |
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| Group shot! |
Had another taste of haggling, something I'm going to have to get used to I guess. I was considering buying a lampshade hat. Started at 380RMB (~€45), and she dropped to 20RMB by the end, but I had lost interest at that stage. Dom told me it's considered offensive to start haggling and not buy when the price is dropped to the agreed rate, and he's dead right.
 |
| Seb and Nicci, with Kim behind |
Myself and Hollie had a conversation with a friendly guy in the toboggan queue. US by birth, he had fluent Russian, and some Chinese. He provided us with quite a few tips from his time working in Beijing. His wife is ill with cancer, and it was obviously weighing heavily on him. Must make sure to email him.
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| Hollie, you're a tiger! |
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| whee! |
***
http://domcheeseman.blogspot.ie/2011/10/day-114-beijing.html
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