After two and half years of being in China I finally made to
it Beijing much to the amusement of my Chinese co-workers who couldn’t believe
I still hadn’t been. People say that if you haven’t been to the Great Wall of
China “you’re not a man” as ridiculous as this saying is I’m relieved that I
can finally say I’ve been to stop the sniggering. Meandering through the hill
tops into the distance on the outskirts of Beijing The Great Wall of China is a
breath-taking site and lived up to my expectations. My only slight complaint would be the Subway
fast food restaurant at the base of the wall, the faint scent of a meatball sub
taking away that authenticity that makes the Wall so fantastic. I visited the Mu Tian Yu part of the wall
which has both a cable cart and toboggan for getting up and down however I
opted to walk up which wasn’t as strenuous as our tour guide suggested. He was
adamant the cable cart was the only feasible route up…pretty sure he was
working on commission (Beware of things like this, it happens a lot). Beijing
is known for its poor air quality and smog, if you mention Beijing to people in
other parts of China its one of the first thing they’ll comment on. However I
was very fortunate during my visit to have clear blue skies meaning my view of
the scenery from the watchtower on the wall of the surrounding landscape was
stunning.
Wuhan being one of the larger cities in China has well
connected transport links, you can reach Beijing in less than 5 hours by
high-speed rail. It’s a fast very comfortable journey which matches trains in
Europe in terms of reliability and comfort. You can also fly to Beijing in
about 2 hours from Wuhan but with all the waiting around at either end the train
takes a similar amount of time for a cheaper price. Even though Beijing has
more foreigners compared to Wuhan English is still not really spoken so the
city can be difficult to navigate if you don’t have any language skills.
Fortunately many of the hotels and hostels understand the necessity to cater
for foreign visitors and offer assistance for tourists who want to organize day
trips or find authentic restaurants to eat in.
One thing I was excited to try during my visit was the
worldwide famous Beijing roast duck of which I’d heard mixed reviews before
trying it for myself. Having searched on the internet and talked with the staff
at the hostel we finally decided on a place to go from the many restaurants
that offer this dish. The chef brought a whole cooked duck to our table and skilfully
sliced it on front of us, although the meat is quite fatty the sauce and
pancakes were delicious and completely different to anything I’ve tasted before
in Chinese restaurants in England. The sauce was very rich but I thoroughly
enjoyed it and the next time I go back to Beijing I will definitely go back to
the same restaurant!! I’ve put a link below if anyone visits Beijing and wants
to see for themselves.
Beijing has a lot to offer and is well worth a trip for the
weekend or during the many holidays foreign teachers get throughout a school
year.
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