A couple of wonderous days in China later and there is so much to tell. So here are some experiences we'd like to share.
When we visited the Summer Palace last Thursday, we found the most beautiful park in Beijing. We didn't go into the palace itself but ambled through the park and found quite places with no people (scarce in Beijing), little rivers and lakes, watched old Chinese play chess and cards, played with some kids and climbed rough mountainous walls. In this park, we also met Dolce and Gabba who brought along their friends Daisy Dick and Monkey House, just to name a few - these guys are a fun crowd to watch while sitting on top of the mountain, enjyoing an icecream and posing for the occasional pictures with Cantonese Tourists.
The Great Wall was on the list for last Friday. Once you get there, you find yourself in a lack of words to describe just how grand and monumental it is. We went to the Jingshanling section which is about 120 km north of Beijing and therefore much less touristed than closer sections. In fact, there were very little people and often we had whole parts for ourselfs. In Jinshanling, the wall is not restored but in its original state, so both, your adrenalin and your sweating levels, go up quickly. Very steep slopes, very little good steps, often no rails - this is not for those afraid of hights. We loved it.
When we got back from the trip it was rush hour in Beijing. We took the Metro. Let's just say, this is what you should call "extremely loud and incredibly close". The food and drink we went out for that night really compensated for that, though. We went with a local girl we met at the hostel, Sue, and an Australian friend we met there, Lindsay. Sue showed us to the best dumpling-place around and ordered for us, everything was so tasty. I had a drink that is very popular around here, Bean-juice. They just press the beans, boil the juice and cool it down. It tastes exactly like you probably imagine it now. But it was so fun to try it all.
Saturday was travel day. We went from Beijing to Datong, which is about 230 km to the west from the capital. We took a train. The train took 6.5 hours. There is not much more to say.
Sunday we woke up in Datong and there were blue skies that we hadn't seen for over a week and it gave us new energy. We went to the Yungang Grottoes that are located just outside of Datong. Very early buddhists have carved temples into the caves, the earliest about 300 A.D. They are breathtaking, so much detail is still there to see, many colours, huge and very small Buddhas, Pagodas, animals and people are depicted in many different styles - we enjoyed it a lot.
Also, the first time we got a student-discount, we used the local busses when no other foreigner did, we had weird food at the street stalls that we couldn't really tell what it was before it was fried but just ate it anyways, we made our own food in the hostel (Ramen-noodles, we have a water boiler...today we even bought some instant coffee, Jens is soo happy) and bought bus tickets. For the last one to happen, something - or rather someone (so far very typical) - had to happen: the friendly Chinese. We asked someone at the local bus station where we were dropped off after the grottoes how to get to the southern bus station where we could buy the tickets. This woman didn't speak English but just took us with her on her bus. Before she got off, she told her seating neighbour where we wanted to go and to let us know where we had to get off. That guy had to get off before us as well. So he told another one to tell us where to get off. This chain went on a couple of more people. None of them spoke a single word English but they all saw to it that we would arrive safetly at our destination (yes, they even helped us crossing the street, get into the right building and find the right counter to buy tickets). Everyone was really helpful so far.
Yesterday night we met two American girls, Lee and Erin, who have travelled the world quite extensively and have so many great stories to tell. We decided to share a taxi to the Hanging Monastery and Andrea, an Italian, also joined in. It was a fun ride and the Hanging Monastery really is pretty neat, but compared to what we have seen so far, it was a little overpriced to get in. Also, it is an hour and a half outside of Datong, so when we got there and were done with the whole thing after only 45 minutes or so, it was a little dissapointing.
But since we were back early, we had enough time to share a great street vendor's lunch in Datong and Jens and I could go buy some train tickets, do some shopping etc. Now it is time for some dinner and then we'll have to get packed because we will have an early start tomorrow to get to Wutai Shan.
