Monday was travel day. We left Dubai for the big unkown - China. The day ended "Chinese-chaotic" with a taxi-driver who didn't speak a single word of English, didn't know the adress of the hostel when we showed it to him, drove around for about an hour and a half and seemed to drop us off in the middle of a waste dump judging by the local smell - but we ended up in the right place which is actually really beautiful with very friendly people.
So on our first day we visited the Forbidden City which is breathtaking and also very crowded (it felt like China must have been empty because all the Chinese were with us in the city). We also went to a park that is located right next to the big sight and has a little hill that you can walk up and have an amazing view over all the rooftops of the Forbidden City (the pictures can't really capture that, too much Smog).
We stayed there until late and then went to a restaurant to have our first chinese dinner, that was really good and non-fattening since it only came with Chopsticks :) Jens is a pro already, I still have to practice a lot. Our first metro ride wasn't half as challenging as the first busride (we got off a couple of stops too early and got lost in the surrounding Hutongs - lots of impressions, smells, colours and sounds to take in, my favorite place so far).
Today we first went shopping in a local mall - it's crazy, just like a market but inside and everyone keeps grabbing you and trying to sell you stuff. We went with a girl from France we met at the hostel. She speaks Chinese really well, so she did all the bargaining for us - it was very impressive :) Then we went to the Himmelstempelpark (forgot the English name) and walked around in this huge park forever, visited all the temples and had tasty chinese lunch with a less tasty starter (Hamburger chinese style).
On our way back home we visited some Hutongs again and bought the local food from the street stalls - with my blond hair and light skin I was a real eýecatcher for the locals (I am used to that by now, Jens and I became the Chinese' favorite foto-objects, everyone wants pictures with us).
Tomorrow we'll see the Summer Palace and arrange our train tickets before we'll finally see the great wall on friday.
So on our first day we visited the Forbidden City which is breathtaking and also very crowded (it felt like China must have been empty because all the Chinese were with us in the city). We also went to a park that is located right next to the big sight and has a little hill that you can walk up and have an amazing view over all the rooftops of the Forbidden City (the pictures can't really capture that, too much Smog).
We stayed there until late and then went to a restaurant to have our first chinese dinner, that was really good and non-fattening since it only came with Chopsticks :) Jens is a pro already, I still have to practice a lot. Our first metro ride wasn't half as challenging as the first busride (we got off a couple of stops too early and got lost in the surrounding Hutongs - lots of impressions, smells, colours and sounds to take in, my favorite place so far).
Today we first went shopping in a local mall - it's crazy, just like a market but inside and everyone keeps grabbing you and trying to sell you stuff. We went with a girl from France we met at the hostel. She speaks Chinese really well, so she did all the bargaining for us - it was very impressive :) Then we went to the Himmelstempelpark (forgot the English name) and walked around in this huge park forever, visited all the temples and had tasty chinese lunch with a less tasty starter (Hamburger chinese style).
On our way back home we visited some Hutongs again and bought the local food from the street stalls - with my blond hair and light skin I was a real eýecatcher for the locals (I am used to that by now, Jens and I became the Chinese' favorite foto-objects, everyone wants pictures with us).
Tomorrow we'll see the Summer Palace and arrange our train tickets before we'll finally see the great wall on friday.
Hey,
AntwortenLöschencould the two of you get sightseeing pictures performing a Swan in front of it? Say, one per country :-)
To impress people when Anna's hair isn't enough...
best regards,
Dieter
Wir arbeiten dran :) Müssen wir aber auch bald mit anfangen, sonst schwinden uns dafür die Kräfte, so ganz ohne Sport... Hoffe, alles läuft gut in der Michaelsbergstraße? Schon eingezogen?
LöschenMoinsen,mich würden die Zutaten für den China-Hamburger interessieren.Grüße von hier nach da. PNN
AntwortenLöschenDer China-Hamburg (laut Karte ohne "er")bestand aus ungebackenem Burgerbrötchen, einer dicken Scheibe frittierter Fleischwurst (zumindest hoffen wir das), etwas pappigem Salat und einer Scheibe Tomate, dazu ein wenig Ketchup und etwas mehr süße Sojasauce. Serviert wurde dieser lauwarme Gaumenschmaus in einer kleinen durchsichtigen Plastiktüte, wie die meisten Lebensmittel, die man an den Garküchen an der Straße kaufen kann, übrigens ungeachtet ihrer Temperatur.
AntwortenLöschenHeute haben wir unsere Mägen mit leckereren Garküche-Produkten verwöhnt: Gekochte Maiskolben, Melonen- und Fleischspieße und der China-Döner. Letzterer besteht aus einem leckeren Brot, das ähnlich wie ein Crepe gebraten wird, dann aber wie ein Pita befüllt wird, zum Beispiel mit Ei (das wird in den Teig beim Backen mit eingearbeitet), Saucen, ganz viel uns unbekanntem Grünzeug und undefinierbaren vorgefertigten frittierten Rechtecken, womöglich Krabbenchips oder sowas, keine Ahnung. Das meiste schmeckt sehr lecker und wenn man Abends durch die Hutongs geht, duftet alles ganz gut. Manches schauen wir uns aber lieber auch nur aus der Ferne an...
Hi Ihr Zwei,
AntwortenLöschenEuer Blog ist super! Da fühlt man sich ein bisschen, als wäre man wirklich dabei! ;-)
Wünsche Euch noch ganz viel Spaß, tolle Momente und grandiose Erlebnisse!
Fühlt Euch gedrückt!
Kathi