Hindsight is a wonderful thing. My previous post was written after a whisky fuelled, good old fashioned, sulk as I thought I had just made one of the biggest mistakes of my life. A mere twenty minutes after posting my blog I went to brush my teeth, passed the bar and heard some voices, more to the point, some English voices. I brushed my teeth and formulated a plan as to how I would make conversation without looking like some drunken wonewy English loser. (I may be thousands of miles from home but I still have my pride!) This all went out the window when I went over I think I may have said something like “Thank God you’re British I’m all alone and scared.” Nevertheless, it worked and my thoughts and worries about my big move disappeared as we threw back the Beijing beers and exchanged our initial experiences of China. All of a sudden things seemed so less overwhelming the fact that hours earlier I was trying to dodge spit, accustom myself to the squatting toilets and attempting to communicate using my near non-existent Mandarin was no longer an issue. “China is going to be a breeze” I thought to myself and if things couldn’t get any better I’d found ‘proper’ toilets.
The following evening I heard more English voices whilst I was in my room. I darted out and used the same bumbling tactic that had put me in good stead the previous night. “Are you English?” Sure enough they were and this is where A and O enter my story. (They wish to remain anonymous as they are on their own blog. This is, no doubt, due to the dirty little escapades they have got up to whilst travelling the world such as, getting leeches stuck to their lady gardens and meeting frivolous men in Jordan.)
The picture to the right that you can see is the main entrance to the Forbidden City known as Tiananmen gate or the gate of heavenly peace. The portrait is of Chairman Mao who declared the founding of the People’s Republic of China. The photos I took really do not give justice to the grandeur and sheer scale of the Forbidden City it truly was awesome. The city was built in 1419 and was the residence of the Emperor. Locals were denied entry and until very recently the whole city lay abandoned slowly falling into disrepair. A little bit of history for you there which I'm sure shall continue its way throughout the postings of my blogs.
Tiananmen Square was next on our list. I have managed to refrain from crudely inserting a tank next to any pictures of myself. You cant't help but feel dwarfed due to the sheer size of the Communist architecture. There wasn't much to visit when we arrived. Parliament was holding congress so we were not alowed in, the Mao Zedong Mausoleum was also shut and the Museum of China is shut until 2010. Still a must see though and I shall return to visit them all.
The following evening I heard more English voices whilst I was in my room. I darted out and used the same bumbling tactic that had put me in good stead the previous night. “Are you English?” Sure enough they were and this is where A and O enter my story. (They wish to remain anonymous as they are on their own blog. This is, no doubt, due to the dirty little escapades they have got up to whilst travelling the world such as, getting leeches stuck to their lady gardens and meeting frivolous men in Jordan.)
The first impression I gave them couldn’t have been worse. After my desperate greeting I turned round and smashed my head on an Asian friendly, but alas not Western friendly low ceiling. It would seem this making-a-fool-out-of-myself-to-make-new-friends manouvere was working quite well. We headed to the bar, red wine in tow and chatted the night away. Drunkenly stumbling back to my room I got into bed. Moments later William, my as of yet, first room mate walked in. I clambered out of bed just in my boxers and insisted we drink more Whisky and that he come with me, A and O to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square the next day. Another great first Impression to add to the list.
The picture to the right that you can see is the main entrance to the Forbidden City known as Tiananmen gate or the gate of heavenly peace. The portrait is of Chairman Mao who declared the founding of the People’s Republic of China. The photos I took really do not give justice to the grandeur and sheer scale of the Forbidden City it truly was awesome. The city was built in 1419 and was the residence of the Emperor. Locals were denied entry and until very recently the whole city lay abandoned slowly falling into disrepair. A little bit of history for you there which I'm sure shall continue its way throughout the postings of my blogs.
Tiananmen Square was next on our list. I have managed to refrain from crudely inserting a tank next to any pictures of myself. You cant't help but feel dwarfed due to the sheer size of the Communist architecture. There wasn't much to visit when we arrived. Parliament was holding congress so we were not alowed in, the Mao Zedong Mausoleum was also shut and the Museum of China is shut until 2010. Still a must see though and I shall return to visit them all.
That evening me, William and A and O gandered down to the famous Night Market otherwise known colloquially as: "Digusting assortment of things on sticks Market." Where else could you get worms, lamb testicles, scorpions, locusts, snake and strawberries all on one stall? My stomach wasnt as brave as I thought it would be and it seemed that the insects were off limits. The goo that oozed out of the worm cocoons looked thoroughly disgusting and in no way appetising so I gave that a miss but I did try some lambs ball and snake....Lets just say I don't think they will be coming to a Tescos Express anytime soon. There is a really funny video of us sampling the local delicacies on my Facebook page if you desire to watch us in action. An early night followed as the following day was the greatly anticipated Great Wall Trek...And there for now is where I shall leave it as I really should start to do some studying for my course. It seems in hindsight I may have been a little too impatient with China but I am starting to feel like I have made one of the best decisions of my life!
I'll leave you with a pictures of some of the items on offer at the Night Market and a very confusing sign outside the Forbidden Temple.
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