My return to China was less of a culture shock this time around, but I still was second guessing my return to China before I even touched down. As I got on the plane to Beijing, I had to fight for my seat in the cabin with a Chinese man that wanted the window seat in return for me being stuck in the middle of a row.

I arrived at Beijing Capital Airport – familiar territory to me as I few in here almost exactly 5 months earlier. As I watched the pushy Chinese crowd around the baggage carrousel I realised how little I have on my round the world trip – just one pack (almost 20kg tho) and my camera bag/day pack. I was watching people pull off suitcase after suitcase and pile them high up on trolleys.

A few metro rides later and I had arrived at the Peking Yard hostel. As soon as I walked through the front door I instantly felt at home. It is well furnished in a homely but still Chinese theme and the atmosphere of fellow travellers sitting around on the couches reading/talking/drinking.

One thing I was immediately aware of was how much I was put off by some of the habits of the Chinese. As I was having dinner that night at a small restaurant around the corner from the hostel that evening, I was confronted by another diner clear his sinus, throat and then spit the contents of his mouth on the floor of the restaurant. I was appalled. It wasn’t the first or last time I would see this – on the streets or even in the metro stations. I later saw a shop owner walk out to the front steps of his store and clear his nose onto the steps, and walk back inside. Needless to say I didn’t care to shop there.

I went for a walk around the ‘hudongs’ in the part of town I was living in. Wandering down these streets and you start to get a real feel for the Beijing of the past. The houses are all one story high, with usually only a wall and door. But life spills out on to the streets and you can get a peek at life inside thru the many open doorways you walk past. The smells are an interesting part of the experience too. You can be walking down the street, and in a few steps smell the aroma of freshly cooked pork buns, followed by the odour of sewage and then the fragrance of fresh flowers.

I ended up walking a few ‘blocks’ which in Beijing are about 4 times the size of other cities, and began to realise exactly how large the city actually is. The city is completely flat, and this means that from the ground it is impossible to judge how large it is.

Thanks to Facebook, I knew that a couple I had met in Japan was in town, and I met up with Paul and Joss for dinner at Hoihai Lake. We wandered around the area which is full of bars and karaoke joints all abutting the lake, before finding a nice restaurant for dinner. Together we shared a huge chinese meal and a few local beers too. I was a good night trading stories – especially about the Trans-Siberian which they were about to depart on.

The next morning was an early one for me – a trip to Simatai to take a walk along a greatly famous wall. The tour was organised by the hostel and it was a long and boring 3 hour drive out of Beijing and into the Chinese countryside. The Great Wall was amazing. The part we went to wound up mountain spurs and down into valleys. The wall was almost exactly as I had pictured in in my head, but it was nice that some segments we had walked along had been restored, and others left in their original state. It was a decent 3 hour hike along the wall in the sun, and we were accompanied by a few Mongolian ladies trying to sell souvenirs and cold drinks. At the beginning the were extremely friendly and helpful – trying to gain out trust and maybe make a few Yuan from being tour guides. At the end however, they were pushing us to buy t-shirts, postcards and beer. The irony of the wall originally being built to keep the Mongolians out of China was not lost on me at this time.

The weather changed and the sunny warm Beijing turned dark and wet. I decided this was the perfect time to check out the ’798 Art District’ in an outer suburb of Beijing. I had heard about this place many many years ago on a TV documentary. The area is huge – and I didn’t realise this before I had walked past and into at least a dozen little studio spaces. The deeper I dug into the area – the greater the rewards. I found a huge empty warehouse for exhibitions; a courtyard filled with bronze statues of snarling wolves; a darkened exhibition space where performers were mingling with the public; a studio full that looked as though it was being renovated sans the inflatable creatures set up there. As I was leaving I walked past a caricature artist and I sat for my own portrait.

Although there was still heaps to see in Beijing – the Summer Palace, the Forbidden City – I decided to avoid the huge crowds of mostly Chinese tourists and pick just one – the Temple of Heaven. There is a huge park that surrounds the actual temple complex, and you need a ticket for the park and another for the temple. In the park there were heaps of things going on – people relaxing, exercising, playing and even a huge sing-a-long.

The Temple itself was pretty amazing. The detail on the temple was crazy and it was in really good condition. The temple is part of a series of buildings that make up the ‘Temple of Heaven’. I was just looking around and reading the little plaques without a tour guide, so I missed the bigger picture of the worshipping that happened there. Still it was a nice place to visit and a lot more relaxing than I thought thanks to the big recreational park around it.

That evening I headed to Beijing Train Station to catch an overnight train – but not before being invited to a tea house (a well known tourist scam).

The morning I returned from Shanghai, I took advantage of the fact I was up so early and headed down to Tian’anmen Square to see the embalmed body of the Communist Leader Mao. I was in the line for about 45 minutes which is pretty good considering. Everyone was searched before entering the building, and it was single file past the very waxy body of the leader. I was in the room for less than 20 seconds.

Apart from taking the opportunity to vote at the Australian Embassy in Beijing, there wasn’t much else I did there. I spent some much needed time relaxing and trying to get up-to-date on blog posts before my next adventures.

After spending a total of 10 days in China this time, I can certainly say that I appreciated it a lot more. The weather was much better and I saw more of what I wanted to see. Having said that, I’m still not sold on China. I have no intention to return to either Beijing or Shanghai and I still find the general population to be pushy, rude, selfish and uncivilised.

This post is tagged Beijing, China, Great Wall