Beijing

So, we took a night train from Ulaan Bator to Erlian, on the chinese side of the border and then, after our first chinese lunch descended towards Beijing in a sleeperbus.


Met this belgian guy Pieter on the bus we´d encountered earlier while in Terelj on horseback. The bus was in Beijing 4 o´clock next morning. We decided to take a cab to this district where Ile had pinpointed "Poachers guesthouse" a place a french girl living in Beijing had recommended and drawn a map of to help us find it.. Well, turned out that the map pointed to a completely different district than where the guesthouse actually was! After some wandering around and a growing amount of frustration we decided to stop for some breakfast at a place that was just opening up beside us. The owner understood a bit of english and was kind enough to tell us, that we were´nt even close to where we wanted to be and gave us instructions on how we could take a bus going the guesthouse located in the middle of a partydistrict called Sanlitun.

We did´nt really like the place that much, so decided to stay for only one night and take advantage of the free laundry service.. Wandering around that day we found a nice place to stay just east of of the forbidden city called Xi Hua Hotel -or just plain Jade Youth Hostel as we´ve come to know it. for a 4 person dorm we pay 60 yuan(~6€)We´ve been staying there and making tours around the city ever since.

rented a boat at a park:

Some perspectives from around the town:




I just love bonzais:


Pete decided to fly home to his girlfriend last sunday. I´ll miss this guy a lot, but then again we all have our own paths. Besides I have a feeling I´ve gained a dear friend. All the best for him. May he find what he´s looking for.


Beijing is a lot about shopping and making good deals.

I went to the silk market one evening to fing some silky nightgowns for my sis and mom. Pete and Ile decided to stay at the hotel, so I went haggling on my own. I actually made a quite good deal on them I heard later on. I also visited a flea market.. Nothing with clothes though, but lots of stuff. I bought this old Mahjong made of bone and wood. Maybe somebody had died and they sold it away. Made a good deal on it too. Made my best deal yet at the Pearl market buying an 8Gb memorystick for only 50y(5,25€)..
I have to say that Beijing is usually full of smog. You can seldom see the sun:

Visited the forbidden city, which turned out to be a bit of a dissappointment compared to lots of beautyfull stuff you can see for almost free(for example the park on the northern end(2y):







Seen also some nice pieces of art:


Climbed the great wall the other day too, but took so many pictures I have´nt edited them yet.. Hope to be able to publish some soon.
Meanwhile, we´ve been planning on heading west. Let´s see where we end up..

Later