Beijing

Trevor and I had made plans to take the bus to Beijing and spend three days touring, then I would take a plane home and he would take the bus back to Taian. Unfortunately, two days before we were supposed to go, the school "made a decision" and it included having Trevor work that week. So, I had to completely change my plans.

At 3:30 am Thursday morning, I caught a train out of Taian. What I wasn't told until a few hours before leaving) is that there wouldn't be any seats on this train. That was the understatement of the year. There was barely any room to stand! So for six hours, I stood on the train to Beijing, rather than getting any sleep. I arrived in Beijing at 9:30 am and had an hour to get to my hotel to meet the friend of a friend who was going to take me to the Great Wall. I made it with ten minutes to spare after getting gouged by a taxi driver taking advantage of a foreigner.

Getting to the Great Wall was an adventure in itself. My guide asked me how I wanted to get there: taxi, train, or bus. A taxi would cost a lot of money and I just got off a train so I thought we should try the bus. We got to the bus station but my guide was having a hard time finding which bus we should get on. I was very grateful to have her because if it was difficult for someone who spoke Chinese, it would have been impossible for me! While we were searching, we ran into a couple from the south of China who were also looking for the bus. When we finally found the right place, a man was there who told us there would be no busses because it was off tourist season. He, however, was a taxi driver and he would take us out to the Wall for an enormous sum. We started negotiating with him and while we were doing so, a giant of a man from Germany and his small Chinese companion came by, also looking for a way to the Great Wall. Finally the six of us managed to negotiate a price that was still high but acceptable with the driver and we all piled into his car like a bunch of clowns in the circus.

It took us about an hour to get to the Wall. I was dozing on the way but couldn't really sleep in the cramped conditions. The Wall, which has the highway running though it, was an awesome thing to see. Granted, it was winter so everything was a dull color and it was cold and windy. The climb was challenging though I think it was easier than my experience at Qian Shan. I got a kick out of the German guy who was drinking a beer as he climbed. I was very grateful to get back to the hotel that afternoon though I still didn't sleep well that night since the bed was typical for a Chinese bed: just slightly softer than granite.

The next day, I walked to the Forbidden City. The history and art found here is just incredible! It is a maze of courtyards, gates, halls, thrones, stairs, bridges, and gardens. The detail that went into it is astounding from the vibrant-colored, intricate paintings to the carvings on the stairs and even the door hinges! I walked around for about four hours and still didn't see it all!

I'll let the videos do the rest of the talking.