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I have to say, I was a little uncertain of what to expect in China. Mostly because we’d been told by several Brits and Aussies that we could expect a plethora of unsanitary toilets, pushy and obnoxious people, and horrible trains.

I really have to wonder what on Earth these people saw that was so bad?

So far, we’ve had excellent experiences, even walking into alleyways that are likely more local than tourist. The bathrooms have been clean (mostly, some do have a fairly powerful odour), the food has been mostly outstanding, the people very friendly (”art students” aside, we’ve had a number of people who do just want to talk, even if Amy doesn’t dig the whole “practise my English” thing), and the pushy lines are no worse than trying to get into Future Shop on Boxing Day.

Mind you, we’ve only just started China, but so far, I have little to complain about. Beijing is also a fairly modern city, which is a nice thing to see amidst all the old buildings, hutongs, and styles that make this metropolis up. I’ll be very interested to see how Shanghai is…

Chalk up another notch on the Dead Communist Leader Tour.

Today, Amy and I decided to keep things light, since our train leaves tonight for Shanghai. On the list of things to hit: Mao Ze Dong’s Mausoleum, and the Lama Temple. But first, the House of Mao…

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About the only thing Amy and I had on tap today was the Summer Palace. For this, we took three subways and a (decent) taxi to the location. Total cost: about 30 yuan, and about 30 minutes. The palace entrance was crowed with about half the population of Beijing, it seemed. High for a weekday, but we soon realized why…

There’ve been storms here the last few days. Big ones. I haven’t heard a good thunderstorm in a long time. The rains, it seems, have washed away the all the haze and pollution that’s been hovering around the area for the last few days. (We should have gone to the Wall today, but c’est la vie.) This made The Summer Palace near perfect for visiting today. It wasn’t too hot, there was a great breeze (almost to the point of calling it “windy”) and the sky was actually blue (instead of the usual white with a blue tinge).

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So Amy and I decided to take a taxi back from the Summer Palace to our hotel. Partly because the walk around the Palace grounds (which are huge) wore us out, and partly because we couldn’t figure out how to get back to the subway station we’d taken the taxi from in the first place.

A warning, which will likely be universally understood by many travellers, some taxi drivers in Beijing are con artists. Well, more like would-be con artists, as to be a proper artist, you have to be accepted for your ability. The a-hole who decided to dupe us really didn’t come off that way.

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My calf muscles are killing me. I don’t know how many stairs Noah, Justin, and I climbed yesterday, but I swear my calves have never received such a workout in their existences. And now they’re taking their revenge on me. Even small stairs hurt … a lot. They’re rocks attached to the backs of my legs. They don’t flex, they pulse. Forget the Stairmaster, folks! If you want a great workout, spend the money on a trip to China, then visit three different sections and walk as much of it as you can. Your legs will be cut out of stone in days.

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Today was errand day. Today, we decided to get our train tickets sorted out, and make plans for an excursion to the Great Wall. Inadvertantly, some things happened along the way…

First off, we hopped the subway down to Qianmen station (which is Tiananmen Square, but we weren’t headed there) to search through the hutong neighbourhoods. After a little dive in, we were diverted due to biological reasons (namely self-preservation having not to use the toilets in the back alleys). Out back on the main street, the decision was made to skip ahead to the Grand Hyatt Hotel for two reasons: exchange traveller’s cheques and see if they can handle tour bookings a little more easily.

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I woke up at the Datong station. I’d slept about seven hours, but decided that I wasn’t going to miss crossing this part of China. I was in a new country, and be darned if I’m not going to witness this!

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