So we arrived in Beijing. The whole Heathrow thing went very smoothly which is a first for me.
We finally touched down in China on the Monday morning of the 22nd October. We managed to navigate the coach and subway trains without too much difficulty and finally arrived at out Hotel, which is hidden down an ancient looking alleyway in the heart of Beijings poorer district.
It is such a fascinating place. Unfortunately looking like an 'alien' it's very difficult to blend in. Walking down the streets it's only a matter of minutes before someone tries to sell us something or take us on a tour of some kind. But it's not too much of a problem as everyone seems so polite here.
On the Monday evening we met a couple of students who wanted to practise their english with us. They were very nice people, and wanted to come for a drink with us. Before we knew it they had shown us to a back room of this tea house where an entire tea ritual was performed in front of us by a beautiful Chinese girl. She spent an hour with us letting us sample loads of different Chinese teas. It was more fun then it sounds as everyone was so nice. Then they showed us the bill which was 3000 Yuan (about 200 quid!) Bloody expensive tea that, and how could we refuse as everyone was so poilite! We could have done much better things with that money and beautiful Chinese girls then having a cuppa... The students wouldnt split the bill with us either as they were far too broke...
Today was spent exploring the Forbidden city which was fascinating. Avoiding the street hawkers is becoming an Art form. I swear I saw one of the Chinese students from yesterday trying to convince a couple of dumb looking Westerners to come have a nice cup of Cha with them.
Anyway I must stop for now, I am off to a Kung Fu demonstration and the walking ten kilometres along the great wall tomorrow. Just have time for some good old PG Tips
Talk soon,
Phil
1 comment:
HA! pwned!
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