In Shanghai |
The Great Wall of China |
So far so good - our flight was called on time and we boarded the plane and settled down for our 9.5 hour flight to Beijing. Plenty of time to watch some films; both of us watched 'The shape of water' and 'Paddington 2'. Two films that were poles apart in so many ways and yet both very enjoyable. Mike also watched Justice League. Mike finds it diffciult to sleep on planes so continually watches the screen whilst I do try and get some rest although actually sleep is hard to come by.
Getting out of the airport took quite a while and then we
were hit by the smog that Beijing is infamous for. It is early in the season to get such a
climate but this week is unseasonably hot and there has been a sand storm
creating the conditions we experienced today.
However we have been promised blue skies for tomorrow. First impressions of Beijing - a very busy city, lots of traffic and people.
And so we arrive at our hotel in Beijing nearly 24 hours after getting up in England.
Sculpture in Tiannamen Square |
At the hotel the whole group went to their rooms and got
about three hours sleep before we met for a pre supper drink in our tour manager’s
room. David had bought some duty free wine and we all gathered in his bedroom –
yes all 39 of us, before we went to the restaurant for supper. Previous to this Mike and I had also had a
further explore of the hotel and had located the swimming pool. There was a sign there that allowed me to pull Mike's leg and make us both laugh. The entrance contained
a notice warning that children under 10 years and those over 60 should be
accompanied by a family member. I must
be getting older as 60 seems ludicrously early to impose such advice.
For supper we shared food at tables of 10- all being of a ‘lazy
susan’ set up. Dish after dish then came from the kitchen and was shared
amongst us all washed down with plentiful amounts of beer. We had a spicy
noodle dish, beef and chicken dishes, two different dumpling dishes, cabbage
and pork, an aubergine dish plus salad, green beans and broccoli dishes plus
the obligatory egg fired rice. It was
quite a banquet that was drawn out a little as we all got used to using chopsticks. The main issue for me is how to cut up large pieces of meat with a chop stick.
The Forbidden City from Tiannamen Square |
A few of us went out to stretch our legs outside the hotel
and then came back for a coffee before departing for the night. Mike and I had intended to upload our blog each day but had forgotten that China have complete ban on all things related to google so no messenger, whats app etc etc. Already we have realised how much we use google in our daily lives eg for checking facts and keeping in touch. I am not sure how I will cope with not keeping an eye on my work emails but I am sure it will be good for me. Tomorrow we have a busy day as we are visiting Tiannamen Square, The
Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven as our main attractions. So we are both hoping for
a good nights sleep to get rid of any jet lag and good weather for our trip.
We are therefore going to have to upload our blog when we get back but still intend to make daily posts - just a fortnight behind time.
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