Arrival in the Middle Kingdom

Our journey into China started with an early rise: up at 4am for a 4.50 departure from our ger. The frosted grass scrunched under our feet, with a brilliant starry sky above as we carried our packs groggily to our car. We had a convoy of two vehicles heading for the train and with a small delay getting everyone together, we just leant back and looked up at the sky, the Milky Way seemingly in touching distance.

We drove for 20 minutes through pitch black along bumpy desert roads, hoping that our driver knew which way the road went, and then we were back on the outskirts of a sleeping Ulaan Baatar. We were early at the station and sat in the warmth of the car until we needed to go, watching people whom we recognised from our last train arriving.

On board we found ourself in the middle of the 'vodka train' group - a dozen young, boisterous, hard-drinking Aussie and British guys who had been doing the Trans-Siberian in rather different style to us! Somehow, our compartment ended up being the vodka train's card playing compartment. Poor Sue ended up taking refuge on the upper bunk and watched the scenery go by whilst plugged into her iPod, whilst the card school went on below. Fortunately, they turned out to be a decent bunch and the time on the train went by smoothly as we headed along to the Chinese border.

The border crossing turned out to be another extended affair, with multiple passport checks from both sides, with the added necessity of 'changing our bogies'. A little known fact, is that the Russians were so worried about being invaded in the late 19th century that they decided to make their railway gauge a few inches wider then the convention in Europe and the rest of the world and the Mongolians,wanting to improve relations with Russia, followed suit - clever at the time, but infuriating for future generations of travellers!

So, at the border, we pulled into a huge warehouse, populated by a uniformed work-force in bright red and yellow hard hats. Each carriage was detached, hoisted onto hydraulic jacks, bogies unbolted, rolled away and replaced with a new narrower version. All this and we never left the train!

We woke in the morning and immediately it felt different. From the sparsely populated Mongolia, we were now in much more industrial and populated landscapes. As we passed through stations, officials stood starchily to attention on pristine stations. The train was due due in Beijing mid afternoon and from late morning, we climbed into dramatic mountain scenery, passing through a series of tunnels for more than an hour, emerging each time onto track carved along a ledge on the rock, with peaks rising high above us and sparkling rivers and streams below us on the valley floors. At one point, we rounded a corner and caught our brief first glimpses of The Great Wall, majestically riding the contours of the hillside.

In Beijing, we waved goodbye to our 'vodka buddies' and everyone dispersed into the throng. Arriving in Beijing is daunting, with the big noisy crowds and the alien signs, which leave us with little clue as to their meaning (though for those interested, see a short lecture by Shao Lan: learn to read Chinese...with ease on www.ted.com - also very funny). Our hotel, was close to the station, which was a relief, but getting around was difficult - we had to abandon a dinner reservation on our first night, because we couldn't find the restaurant!

Beijing has been an interesting if sometimes stressful experience and we have emerged a little confused by the seemingly paradoxical nature of so many things here, uncertain if we have even scratched the service of understanding it. There seems to be a tug of war between ancient and modern, for example. We were probably most interested in the historical sites and the Forbidden City, Great Wall and the Summer Palace in particular were each awe inspiring in their different ways. But just as remarkable were the broad avenues and great modern buildings that dominate at least the centre of the city, many of which would not look out of place in Western cities, whilst others have touches of older, oriental influence, such as the towering Beijing West Station, which is crowned by ornate, traditional gilded roofing. These have clearly sprung up incredibly quickly, leaving only small pockets of the old 'hutongs' guiltily hidden away off side streets when least expected. These tend now to be preserved mainly for tourists, otherwise they would surely disappear altogether.

Oh and then there is the pollution! On the one hand, the streets are dotted with neatly manicured gardens, colourful flower displays and there is no graffiti in sight anywhere, on the other, the air is so dirty that it stings the back of the throat, choaks the lungs and casts everything in a murky shroud with the sun struggling to shine through, even on a sunny day.

The people have generally been very friendly here and with their industrious nature, it is easy to see why the economy is thriving: also helped by a voracious appetite for consuming and an intense brand awareness, which at least matches what we have in the UK. But under the surface, there is also a sense of restraint. It has been the National Day Holiday whilst we have been here and thousands of people have been on the street, particularly around Tiananmen Square. But the crowds were watched closely by hundreds of police and army officials, who seemed to be on every corner. It was also evident that internet usage is carefully restricted and we have had great difficulty continuing to post this blog: having to subscribe to a VPN to allow us to do so, as Google is generally blocked.

For much of the time here, we have been a source of much curiosity and amusement to the locals. On several occasions, we were approached at tourist sites with a polite request for someone to have their photograph taken with us. And how the Chinese love to have their photographs taken: in front of every monument and viewpoint there is a throng of locals posing theatrically for pictures, accompanied by a hubbub of instructions on how to optimise the shot.

Restaurants have been another place where we have attracted much attention. Basically because we have usually been clueless about what we have been ordering and sadly lacking in chopstick skills and etiquette (though thankfully, we have avoided the faux pas of leaving our chopsticks stuck into the rice, which can apparently confer severe misfortune on the restauranteur!). Even with this ordering in the dark, we have generally eaten well and cheaply in Beijing and have even succeeded on occasion in using said chopsticks to transport food from bowl to mouth!

In summary, it has felt like a great privilege to have been in Beijing in times of such great change. It is clear even from being here for just a few days, that China is destined to be the great power of the 21st century, but it will be most interesting to see how it's society continues to change in the coming years and how it will influence and be influenced by prevailing Western culture.

We now move onto Xi'an, the ancient capital of China and then on into more of the rural heartlands of China, which will no doubt give us a very different perspective. We hope that we will be able to maintain the blog whilst we are travelling these paths over the next few weeks, but it is possible that posts may become a little more sporadic.

In the meantime, here are some photos from our 3 days in Beijing.

Welcome to Beijing - our point of arrival at the Central Station

National Day crowds on Tiananmen Square (note how the air quality limits visibility)

A guard in front of the Forbidden City

A noisy throng in front of the Gate of Heavenly Peace in the Forbidden City

Us on the Great Wall (thanks Ken!)

The Great Wall at Mutiyanyu

Buddhist temples on Longevity Hill in the grounds of the Summer Palace

And finally, the obvious thing to put on a beautiful lake, dotted with ancient temples and pagodas, is a 20 foot high inflatable yellow duck!

And finally, finally...no comment required!