... And we're back:) ... so yes, as I was saying, I was in Beijing... Our tour officially ended after a day and a half in Beijing... then Kate and Anna went and flew to Japan and I had to down grade my room for the twin private room which was just for me (organised by VodkaTrain), to a 4 person dorm... but that had it's plus-side as I shared the room there with three girls from the other VodkaTrain group of 24... there was Emma the Norwegian who had her heart set on going to Tibet, and Mickalea and Mary (two girls from Birmingham, one of which bought a pair of straighteners with her on the trans-siberian (I joke but they were both really nice... as was Emma))... so I started to travel around the city on my own and occasionally meet up with them in the evening for a meal ... ... ... that reminds me, the food!!! I love the food... I know this will sound stupid, but it's just like the food in Chinese restraunts in England! ... well, quite specialised with stuff like duck heart, sea cucumber, and chicken feet on the menu... but I was really reminded of the Mayflower restraunt in Bristol... it was lovely and bloody cheap:) ... They can seem quite rude in the restraunt, with shouts of "Fooya" to grab the waiter/ess's attention, but everything seems organised and according to somekind of unspoken convention... ... ... the only real negative about China is the spitting... they spit and hock back the flem like it's going out of fashion... I don't have an especially weak stomach but when I was feeling a bit ill on the train in China after the Mongolian boarder the sound almost stimulated involuentary regurgetation on my part.
... also during this time in Beijing I met two Swedish girls who were also from the VodkaTrain group of 24 (yes Joe, two Swedish girls)... (Well actually, at one point another 6 Swedish girls arrived at the hotel and I was forced to question the reality of my surroundings;) ... but anyway, they were nice and I may infact meet up with them in Hong Kong (I leave on the 6pm night train tomorrow... unfortunatly my place is named 'hard-sleeper' in a cabin of 6! ... I'm not expecting much sleep!) as we are probably going to end up in the same hostel... anyway, these girls are 19, fresh from college and have shown themselves a bit susceptible to a scam (no, I didn't scam them in some lude manner... the locals just had a bit of practice for when the oppertunity comes to take candy from a baby... ... ... I will feel bad if they read this because they were and are lovley girls) ... in the silk market (cheap fake or knocked off market) they bought so much stuff they had to send 16 Kg of stuff back to Sweden! ... but they got approached from someone selling an iPhone (I wasn't with them but I got the same kind of approach)...
"You wanna iphone?"
"How much?"
"900Y... but I have one for 300Y!"
"Shit me, that sounds too good to be true... we'll have two please!!" (I don't think those were their actual words)
... needless to say, they are pieces of crap (the iphones)... then later, when in another shopping mall (it seems like that was the only place they went) they got befriended by some Chinese girls... they then went to grab some tea at the Chinese girls' suggestion... sat in a lovley private room of the tea house quaffing down the tea and talking with the Chinese girls... then the bill comes, 1000Y (admittedly only 100 pounds but still...) and who gets stiffed paying for it... the Swedish girls... the Chinese girls then asked them if they wanted to go for dinner! ... ... ... ... Actually, I need to add a little side point here. Although there does seem to be people out there trying to get a few extra notes out of tourists (and who could blame them), China is certianly the safest place I've been so far... It feels incredibly safe... maybe the heavy hand of the law is especially heavy here but nonetheless it feels very safe in Beijing and Shanghai.
... Ok this is my second installment in quick succession and I'm feeling fatigued... I'll have to put off my writings on Mongolia till a later date, yet again... today I tried to make the most of my one full day in Shanghai but it's been pissing it down all day... it's not incredibly cold but it is rather moist out... I tried my best to see all the sights and even took in the cities Science and Technology museam (I'm such a wild bugger) but I called it a day early and came back to write all this crap... my impression of Shanghai is that it was probably Jaw-droppingly impressive 10 years ago... now, it's running in the mill with every other sky scrapered city... the ageing of the place really struck me in the museam... in the section about computers about 50% of the displays are avaliable on the DS or as a bloody iPhone app... not that impressive... and I guess this city is just suffering a bit from how quickly the world advances... everything ages from the moment it is built, maybe it even ages from the moment it's designed... and that seems very true here... although it has the slight feel of one of those fictional si-fi cities, it's old school si-fi... we've got bloody Avatar now, get with the times Shanghai! ... I'm glad I came, but also glad I'm not staying too long.
But anyway, I'm gonna go read more about Rooney to help me get to sleep tonight... keep well people:)
No comments:
Post a Comment