Showing posts with label Beijing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beijing. Show all posts
Feb 4, 2011
Oct 21, 2010
The Great Wall of China - Day 15
We think these are the pics from the Great Wall...?
Had so many good ones, choosing was hard, and YES, Hanna is wearing the ultimate tourist t-shirt, and proud of it.
So the part of the wall we visited was Huang Hue (?) and we strongly recomend it!
The wall was quite 'small' compared to the mountains surrounding it, but the view from it was majestetic, no matter the fog/mist/cloud.
It was a lot steeper then I thought it would be, and we litterally CLIMBED the Great Wall of China.
As we wrote earlier we had the wall pretty much to ourselves, which was amazing. Since we had to cross the local people's land, we had to pay 2 yuang (20 cents) to some of the locals whose land we crossed while climbing up to the wall.
Our entire trip cost about 650 yuang all in all, since we 'rented' a car and a driver to take us anywhere we wanted. After reading about the different parts of the wall, Huang Hue, which is unrestored and a bit 'dangerous for Chinese tuorists', seemed like the place for us, and then we got to walk freely for about 4 hours until we retourned to our waiting chauffeur. It was definitely the most suitable option for us, and for me, Hanna, the wall was definitely the highlight in China so far.
Thanks again Kira!
Tack & Hej,
Kira
P.s. Jag saknar er ♥
Had so many good ones, choosing was hard, and YES, Hanna is wearing the ultimate tourist t-shirt, and proud of it.
So the part of the wall we visited was Huang Hue (?) and we strongly recomend it!
The wall was quite 'small' compared to the mountains surrounding it, but the view from it was majestetic, no matter the fog/mist/cloud.
It was a lot steeper then I thought it would be, and we litterally CLIMBED the Great Wall of China.
As we wrote earlier we had the wall pretty much to ourselves, which was amazing. Since we had to cross the local people's land, we had to pay 2 yuang (20 cents) to some of the locals whose land we crossed while climbing up to the wall.
Our entire trip cost about 650 yuang all in all, since we 'rented' a car and a driver to take us anywhere we wanted. After reading about the different parts of the wall, Huang Hue, which is unrestored and a bit 'dangerous for Chinese tuorists', seemed like the place for us, and then we got to walk freely for about 4 hours until we retourned to our waiting chauffeur. It was definitely the most suitable option for us, and for me, Hanna, the wall was definitely the highlight in China so far.
Thanks again Kira!
Tack & Hej,
Kira
P.s. Jag saknar er ♥
The Olympic Stadium - Day 14
Nihao, the following pictures are posted by our number one blog reader, Kira!
Sadly we can not see the pictures, but we think these are the ones from the Olympic Stadium in Beijing?
So that's how cool we looked while riding our Segways, and how excited Hanna was seeing the Stadium. (if these are indeed those pics)
A special 'nihao' and a 'ha-ha' to Hanna's bro Niki, who watched the Beijing 2008 Olympics 24/7.
HA DE BÄST HANNA FIA OCH RUUT! :-*
//Kira
P.s. Jag är lite avundsjuk på att ni har fått åka segways!
Sadly we can not see the pictures, but we think these are the ones from the Olympic Stadium in Beijing?
So that's how cool we looked while riding our Segways, and how excited Hanna was seeing the Stadium. (if these are indeed those pics)
A special 'nihao' and a 'ha-ha' to Hanna's bro Niki, who watched the Beijing 2008 Olympics 24/7.
HA DE BÄST HANNA FIA OCH RUUT! :-*
//Kira
P.s. Jag är lite avundsjuk på att ni har fått åka segways!
Our day so far - Day 16
This morning we saw Mao, for about sixty seconds... But before seeing him we had to que with hudreds of Chinese tourists, and since they don't que, it was mostly a war fought between us and them on who were pushing themselves forward the most. The old couple we thought we'd easily get pass, somehow managed to keep up such a good speed that we were left far behind. If we are to manage in China, we need to forget every thought of civil queing.
Since then we've been camped up in our favorite restaurant, eating loads and writing postcards. This time we'll have to double check in which postbox we put them because it seems like no one has gotten our cards from Moscow yet...
We just checked the weather in Nanjing. It's sunny...until tomorrow when we arrive. Then a heavy rain cloud covers the city for days. What's up with this? We want some sunshine!
-Sophia
Since then we've been camped up in our favorite restaurant, eating loads and writing postcards. This time we'll have to double check in which postbox we put them because it seems like no one has gotten our cards from Moscow yet...
We just checked the weather in Nanjing. It's sunny...until tomorrow when we arrive. Then a heavy rain cloud covers the city for days. What's up with this? We want some sunshine!
-Sophia
Oct 20, 2010
The Great Wall of China - Day 15
Just a quick update before we hit our bunks:
-climbed a part of the wall today, wasn't easy, but definitly worth it! More of this later on...
-saw a bit of Beijing's suburbs, and the 'countryside' around Beijing. Through a cab window, but still.
-finally visited the Buddhist Temple that lays right by our hostel.
-played with our hostel dog, Moumou. Watching Moumou jump and bite our driver's arse is always enertaining.
-decided to be cultural, and saw a Chinese acrobatic performance. Impressing, although we mostly had fun watching Chinese audience. And we felt a tad under-dressed in our hiking gear.
- learned that taxis are ridic cheap. 20 cents for a subway ride anywhere is not bad, but neither is 3 euros for a 20 min taxi drive.
Last day in Beijing tomorrow, let's hope we finally escape the cold weather... g'night!
//H
-climbed a part of the wall today, wasn't easy, but definitly worth it! More of this later on...
-saw a bit of Beijing's suburbs, and the 'countryside' around Beijing. Through a cab window, but still.
-finally visited the Buddhist Temple that lays right by our hostel.
-played with our hostel dog, Moumou. Watching Moumou jump and bite our driver's arse is always enertaining.
-decided to be cultural, and saw a Chinese acrobatic performance. Impressing, although we mostly had fun watching Chinese audience. And we felt a tad under-dressed in our hiking gear.
- learned that taxis are ridic cheap. 20 cents for a subway ride anywhere is not bad, but neither is 3 euros for a 20 min taxi drive.
Last day in Beijing tomorrow, let's hope we finally escape the cold weather... g'night!
//H
Oct 19, 2010
Expensive tea parties - Day 14
Our plan for today was to get up at dawn and go buy our train tickets for Nanjing...well, around nine o'clock we dragged ourselves out from the hostel towards Beijing train station, rubbing our sleepy eyes and cursing the weatherman for the false promise of sunshine (it's still cloudy and windy, but at least it's stopped raining...).
We easily bought train tickets at window nr. 10 (not nr. 26 as is said in LP). Luckily foreigners have a window of their own, since we still are too polite to survive the "queing" system in China = first come, first serve. Tickets for Train T65 cost 150 yuan/person, hard seats (we'll see how that goes...)
We spotted a vegetarian restaurant on our way to the Science&Technology Museum (I finally got to eat my long craved sweet&sour vegan pork dish!) but we won't return since Hanna's food turned out to be a no show. And standing outside where the museum was supposed to be we were informed that it had been moved...in 2008, so our LP from 2009 is badly outdated.
After a two-block walk we arrived at the Olympic Park. Hanna was extatic. After paying a 50 yuan entrance fee (pretty pricey) Hanna and I sat in the front row, trying to relive the Olympics. We also hired a couple of segways to ride around with on the tracks (150 yuan each, we still think it was worth it). Some film footage might be posted where we look very "white and nerdy" alongside all the Chinese business men. All this while Ruut was being attacked by hordes of Chinese tourists wanting her to pose on pictures. Which she did, for almost half an hour, she's far too nice for her own good... Finally she escaped to a nearby toilet where the cleaning ladies in turn compared skin colour and hair with her. After this lack of privacy it's no wonder she looked fed up when we were reunited outside the stadium.
Without having learnt our lesson we then travelled across Beijing to see Mao without checking when the mausoleum closes. There's something about dead dudes that make us forget to check the facts...
While sitting on some stairs at Tianamen square, wondering what to do next, two Chinese people approached us. When we leart they weren't art students we joined them for a walk. An hour later we received our bill at a nice little teahouse in an old hutong district, 220 yuan/person... Huups, that's what you get for not checking what you order. 800 yuan for a pot of tea and 100 yuan for friggin grapes (with SEEDS!) and some nasty BEEF biscuits that we didn't even EAT! We were sooo RIPPED OFF. The tea house wasn't even THAT nice... For a bill totalling 1100 yuan you'd think we'd even get to photograph the tea pouring routine, but no!
But our new Chinese friends are not to be blamed. They were as shocked as we and immediately payed their share and even offered to help with ours. But since their budget was even tighter than ours we politely declined, but still ended up with a 100 yuan package of jasmine tea each (as a parting gift). They told us much about the Chinese way of life and talking to them was very interesting.
Since our favorite restaurant already had closed and our budget wouldn't have held any more expenses we headed home. We somehow ended up buying loads of food at the local supermarket, but we had to, you know for the Wall trip tommorrow... Let's hope for nice weather!
-Sophia
We easily bought train tickets at window nr. 10 (not nr. 26 as is said in LP). Luckily foreigners have a window of their own, since we still are too polite to survive the "queing" system in China = first come, first serve. Tickets for Train T65 cost 150 yuan/person, hard seats (we'll see how that goes...)
We spotted a vegetarian restaurant on our way to the Science&Technology Museum (I finally got to eat my long craved sweet&sour vegan pork dish!) but we won't return since Hanna's food turned out to be a no show. And standing outside where the museum was supposed to be we were informed that it had been moved...in 2008, so our LP from 2009 is badly outdated.
After a two-block walk we arrived at the Olympic Park. Hanna was extatic. After paying a 50 yuan entrance fee (pretty pricey) Hanna and I sat in the front row, trying to relive the Olympics. We also hired a couple of segways to ride around with on the tracks (150 yuan each, we still think it was worth it). Some film footage might be posted where we look very "white and nerdy" alongside all the Chinese business men. All this while Ruut was being attacked by hordes of Chinese tourists wanting her to pose on pictures. Which she did, for almost half an hour, she's far too nice for her own good... Finally she escaped to a nearby toilet where the cleaning ladies in turn compared skin colour and hair with her. After this lack of privacy it's no wonder she looked fed up when we were reunited outside the stadium.
Without having learnt our lesson we then travelled across Beijing to see Mao without checking when the mausoleum closes. There's something about dead dudes that make us forget to check the facts...
While sitting on some stairs at Tianamen square, wondering what to do next, two Chinese people approached us. When we leart they weren't art students we joined them for a walk. An hour later we received our bill at a nice little teahouse in an old hutong district, 220 yuan/person... Huups, that's what you get for not checking what you order. 800 yuan for a pot of tea and 100 yuan for friggin grapes (with SEEDS!) and some nasty BEEF biscuits that we didn't even EAT! We were sooo RIPPED OFF. The tea house wasn't even THAT nice... For a bill totalling 1100 yuan you'd think we'd even get to photograph the tea pouring routine, but no!
But our new Chinese friends are not to be blamed. They were as shocked as we and immediately payed their share and even offered to help with ours. But since their budget was even tighter than ours we politely declined, but still ended up with a 100 yuan package of jasmine tea each (as a parting gift). They told us much about the Chinese way of life and talking to them was very interesting.
Since our favorite restaurant already had closed and our budget wouldn't have held any more expenses we headed home. We somehow ended up buying loads of food at the local supermarket, but we had to, you know for the Wall trip tommorrow... Let's hope for nice weather!
-Sophia
Oct 18, 2010
Pictures!
The pictures seem to be up and running, THANK YOU MOM!
Can you guys see them?
Because we sure can't.
//H
Can you guys see them?
Because we sure can't.
//H
The Subway
In Moscow the subway station was rather easy to use, just go to the lady in the ticket booth, show with your fingers how many tickets you'd like, and show the ticket to the gate thing to get through (this wasn't quite this is easy for one of the swedes, as he apparently got hit by the gate everytime he tried to pass. Rather painful, you've been warned) then all you have to know is what line you want to take and the next stop's name in Russian (so you gotta be able to read it!) then read on the signs where you have to stand. Quite simple, right?
Well, in Beijing it's even simpler. Go to the ticket selling machine, click on 'English' and ta da. Choose what line you're gonna take and to what station you're headed, give the machine 2 yuan (only likes nice and tidy bills though) and you've got your ticket.
Show it to the gate (nobody's gotten stuck here, what we know of, at least) and then just follow the coloured lines (line 1 red, line four green-ish, and so on...) to your platform. There are several maps everywhere as well. And signs which point in what direction the subway is going. And everything is in English as well.
Getting on the subway can be quite the nervwrecking procedure though, especially with a rinkka. (Wait for the videos, wait for the videos...) But once inside, happily pressed against a couple Chinese, there is a map showing the stations you've been to (blinking in green) the one you're headed for (yellow) and where you're yet to go (red). Oh, and don't forget the voice saying what station you are on, what's next, and when you should start prepairing to get off (aka elbow to the door). And all of this in English.
The only thing we actually had problems with was getting of the subway station... well, just let the gate swallow your ticket, and you're out.
Okay, enough "Beijing Subway system for Dummies".
I apologize for all the spelling errors, and all incorrect facts. This is only my perception of things! Now off to bed, early start tomorrow, since we try to be like the Chinese(6.40 am... we'll see how that goes... )
G'night!
//Hanna
Well, in Beijing it's even simpler. Go to the ticket selling machine, click on 'English' and ta da. Choose what line you're gonna take and to what station you're headed, give the machine 2 yuan (only likes nice and tidy bills though) and you've got your ticket.
Show it to the gate (nobody's gotten stuck here, what we know of, at least) and then just follow the coloured lines (line 1 red, line four green-ish, and so on...) to your platform. There are several maps everywhere as well. And signs which point in what direction the subway is going. And everything is in English as well.
Getting on the subway can be quite the nervwrecking procedure though, especially with a rinkka. (Wait for the videos, wait for the videos...) But once inside, happily pressed against a couple Chinese, there is a map showing the stations you've been to (blinking in green) the one you're headed for (yellow) and where you're yet to go (red). Oh, and don't forget the voice saying what station you are on, what's next, and when you should start prepairing to get off (aka elbow to the door). And all of this in English.
The only thing we actually had problems with was getting of the subway station... well, just let the gate swallow your ticket, and you're out.
Okay, enough "Beijing Subway system for Dummies".
I apologize for all the spelling errors, and all incorrect facts. This is only my perception of things! Now off to bed, early start tomorrow, since we try to be like the Chinese(6.40 am... we'll see how that goes... )
G'night!
//Hanna
The City
As we've written earlier, Jinshan park and the temple on the hill, is a much for anyone visiting Beijing. From there you can really see Beijing in all it's diversity, and in all directions.
Closest lay the old Hutong areas(The Hutong area we live in at the moment is 600 years old) and the Forbidden City in all it's impressive mightiness. There are green patches (parks, trees along the roads etc) here and there.
Then, the further away you look, the taller the buildings become, until they become huge modern skyscrapers in various forms.
And finally, (you probably only see this on a clear day, we were lucky) blue mountains surrounding Beijing on all sides.
After seeing Moscow in all it's asphalt mightiness. (Even Gorky PARK was mostly just an open asphalt field), Beijing feels small scaled, green and rather cozy.
In Moscow we didn't have any problems finding places, since we can read the Russian alphabet (to most parts) but we figured all of this would change when arriving in Beijing. On the contrary, it got even easier!*
All the big roads here run in north south direction (Bei to Nan, the name of the road often changes halfway) while small alleys and Hutongs run in east west direction, connecting the bigger streets. Finally there are a couple of ring roads around Beijing, which help mark the "center of Beijing".
And of course, the one fact that helps us from not living up to the name of this blog - all the bigger road signs are in English as well. THANK YOU BEIJING.
*Why we still didn't find our Hostel yesterday, if it is so damn easy?
Well, Hutong streets aren't marked on maps. Any maps. Not even taxis find anything in these mazes. But if you want to walk straight through, like we've done in the dark earlier, it's easy.
Closest lay the old Hutong areas(The Hutong area we live in at the moment is 600 years old) and the Forbidden City in all it's impressive mightiness. There are green patches (parks, trees along the roads etc) here and there.
Then, the further away you look, the taller the buildings become, until they become huge modern skyscrapers in various forms.
And finally, (you probably only see this on a clear day, we were lucky) blue mountains surrounding Beijing on all sides.
After seeing Moscow in all it's asphalt mightiness. (Even Gorky PARK was mostly just an open asphalt field), Beijing feels small scaled, green and rather cozy.
In Moscow we didn't have any problems finding places, since we can read the Russian alphabet (to most parts) but we figured all of this would change when arriving in Beijing. On the contrary, it got even easier!*
All the big roads here run in north south direction (Bei to Nan, the name of the road often changes halfway) while small alleys and Hutongs run in east west direction, connecting the bigger streets. Finally there are a couple of ring roads around Beijing, which help mark the "center of Beijing".
And of course, the one fact that helps us from not living up to the name of this blog - all the bigger road signs are in English as well. THANK YOU BEIJING.
*Why we still didn't find our Hostel yesterday, if it is so damn easy?
Well, Hutong streets aren't marked on maps. Any maps. Not even taxis find anything in these mazes. But if you want to walk straight through, like we've done in the dark earlier, it's easy.
The People
The first thing we reacted on when crossing the boarder between Russia and China was how much the people changed. A couple hours earlier stern Russian boarder controll officials had scared the crap out of us, and now suddenly these Chinese girls (aka boarder controll officials) sat on Ruut's bed, playing with our magnetic-cube toy, reading Ruut's anatomy book and smiling. Shock.
(This did however not stop them from finding our hidden copy of the Lonely Planet: China, and make us rip out the map... Taiwan and Tibet weren't marked as parts of China)
The people in Beijing are also really okay with themselves, and not ashamed of anything, down to every bodily function.
It's okay to stare as openly as you please or to spit, burp or cough in anyone's face. For kids, wearing special pants which are open between the legs (they use this instead of diapers, so the kids get potty trained faster) it's even okay to do what ever needs to be done wherever and whenever, as we wrote earlier.
All of this is in one way really relieving: you don't have to stress if it's okay to do so or so, just do it. Stare back, poke at anything you like, be yourself. Well, to some extenct. I think Sophia and Ruut will stop me before I start spitting on our dorm floor.
Since Finland is a rather empty country when it comes to people, we are all really keen of our personal space. And we usually have a lot of personal space. Well, in Beijing there live about.. 18 million people, and here nobody seems to have any personal space, nor does anyone seem to need any personal space. So most of the time, when walking on the streets, the Chinese will just walk into you, even though they could have avoided doing so. The first day this was weird, "stop touching me", but now we rarely notice. Bumping into everyone is the norm.
Something that we haven't got quite as used to, is that if you're standing maybe half a meter away from a sign, reading it, the Chinese have no problem to all just go stand infront of you(or putting their head on your shoulder to read it). Apparently you weren't standing close enough, but luckily we can see over the heads of most people, giants, as we are.
All in all the people are extreemly laidback, see little difference between 'public' and 'private' (a good example of this is the fact that not many Beijing-ers have a toilet, so public toilets are everywhere, and for many people public toilets are their only toilets, when at least in Finland we all enjoy having our own 'private toilets') never rush (they walk so slowly!) friendly and helpfull.
If they've seemed unfriendly it's only because they do not speak English, everyone who does speak English has always been exteeemly keen on helping. And when one starts helping, everybody wants to help. So ask for directions - soon three strangers will stand infront of you talking to each other as if they were best friends, all doing their best to help you. Or be offered a seat in the metro but decline since your rinkka is too big to fit the seat... and all the passangers on the subway will soon laugh and joke about it as if they all knew each other.
In southern Finland everyone is always minding their "own business" and not doing so is seen as rude. I could imagine situations like this happening in Northern Karelia though... but this is a huge capital city, and people all act like relatives and friends!
The friendliest people are however the "art students". We had been warned about "English students", but Art students are the real pest. They approach you on the street, speak English very well, and seem genuinly interested in you. This means you have to have a long conversation with them everytime (what do you study, what are you doing here, where are you from) until they get to the point (I'm an art student, come see our art, in that building, for free) Apparently it's most definitely not free, and if you don't pay in the end, they threaten with the police. Thank god we were always in a hurry and declined even before reading the warning text about "art students" on our hostel wall.
We haven't once felt unsafe walking the streets of Beijing. It gets dark really early (6 pm'ish. At 7 it's already dark) and all the sights and activities close at 4.30 or 5.30 pm. But even though we somehow always end up walking the streets in the dark (yesterday night being an extreme example of this, but even just normally... looking for a dinner place, returning from the internet cafe, shopping, taking a walk..) we don't feel unsafe or threatened, everyone has so far left us alone, and we haven't even felt the need to fear the opposite.
We haven't gotten pickpocketed either, even though I admit testing this when in the Forbidden City and it's surroundings, by keeping a couple bills quite visible. But no, nothing was stolen.
As we read in the Lonely Planet, there aren't that many beggers, except some arm- or footless cripples around popular tuorist traps. Why are they missing an arm/foot? What can I do to help them? Gosh, I admit, although I feel bad doing so, that I'm happy we aren't headed to India. I honestly feel like crying everytime.
(This did however not stop them from finding our hidden copy of the Lonely Planet: China, and make us rip out the map... Taiwan and Tibet weren't marked as parts of China)
The people in Beijing are also really okay with themselves, and not ashamed of anything, down to every bodily function.
It's okay to stare as openly as you please or to spit, burp or cough in anyone's face. For kids, wearing special pants which are open between the legs (they use this instead of diapers, so the kids get potty trained faster) it's even okay to do what ever needs to be done wherever and whenever, as we wrote earlier.
All of this is in one way really relieving: you don't have to stress if it's okay to do so or so, just do it. Stare back, poke at anything you like, be yourself. Well, to some extenct. I think Sophia and Ruut will stop me before I start spitting on our dorm floor.
Since Finland is a rather empty country when it comes to people, we are all really keen of our personal space. And we usually have a lot of personal space. Well, in Beijing there live about.. 18 million people, and here nobody seems to have any personal space, nor does anyone seem to need any personal space. So most of the time, when walking on the streets, the Chinese will just walk into you, even though they could have avoided doing so. The first day this was weird, "stop touching me", but now we rarely notice. Bumping into everyone is the norm.
Something that we haven't got quite as used to, is that if you're standing maybe half a meter away from a sign, reading it, the Chinese have no problem to all just go stand infront of you(or putting their head on your shoulder to read it). Apparently you weren't standing close enough, but luckily we can see over the heads of most people, giants, as we are.
All in all the people are extreemly laidback, see little difference between 'public' and 'private' (a good example of this is the fact that not many Beijing-ers have a toilet, so public toilets are everywhere, and for many people public toilets are their only toilets, when at least in Finland we all enjoy having our own 'private toilets') never rush (they walk so slowly!) friendly and helpfull.
If they've seemed unfriendly it's only because they do not speak English, everyone who does speak English has always been exteeemly keen on helping. And when one starts helping, everybody wants to help. So ask for directions - soon three strangers will stand infront of you talking to each other as if they were best friends, all doing their best to help you. Or be offered a seat in the metro but decline since your rinkka is too big to fit the seat... and all the passangers on the subway will soon laugh and joke about it as if they all knew each other.
In southern Finland everyone is always minding their "own business" and not doing so is seen as rude. I could imagine situations like this happening in Northern Karelia though... but this is a huge capital city, and people all act like relatives and friends!
The friendliest people are however the "art students". We had been warned about "English students", but Art students are the real pest. They approach you on the street, speak English very well, and seem genuinly interested in you. This means you have to have a long conversation with them everytime (what do you study, what are you doing here, where are you from) until they get to the point (I'm an art student, come see our art, in that building, for free) Apparently it's most definitely not free, and if you don't pay in the end, they threaten with the police. Thank god we were always in a hurry and declined even before reading the warning text about "art students" on our hostel wall.
We haven't once felt unsafe walking the streets of Beijing. It gets dark really early (6 pm'ish. At 7 it's already dark) and all the sights and activities close at 4.30 or 5.30 pm. But even though we somehow always end up walking the streets in the dark (yesterday night being an extreme example of this, but even just normally... looking for a dinner place, returning from the internet cafe, shopping, taking a walk..) we don't feel unsafe or threatened, everyone has so far left us alone, and we haven't even felt the need to fear the opposite.
We haven't gotten pickpocketed either, even though I admit testing this when in the Forbidden City and it's surroundings, by keeping a couple bills quite visible. But no, nothing was stolen.
As we read in the Lonely Planet, there aren't that many beggers, except some arm- or footless cripples around popular tuorist traps. Why are they missing an arm/foot? What can I do to help them? Gosh, I admit, although I feel bad doing so, that I'm happy we aren't headed to India. I honestly feel like crying everytime.
Being in Beijing - Day 13
Sophia and I followed Ruut's tip, and walked a couple Hutongs away, knocked on a window to a hairsalon, and asked (using some sort of sign language, as usual) the two ladies inside watching TV, if they could give us a massage, even though that wasn't actually their profession.
But boy, could they.
For 1 euro each (10 yuang) Sophia and I got the best massages we ever have, and I am adding this hairsalon to one of the must-go places on my Beijing list, just after Jinshan park and the Vegetarian Restaurant.
After this, we walked along a larger road for a while, and actually found a larger store (a mini market in Finland, and here, I suppose, but compared the ones we mostly see... this one was large) and, once again, we went crazy, buying everything from cucumber chips (you gotta try everything, right?) to a bag of something that might be candy... (they don't really seem to have any candy in China? Excpet American Skittles) ...and a lot of oreos. We basically live on oreos, since they are vegan, like a lot of things here apparently, due to the high percentage of lactos-intolerant Chinese. We learned this from Lien, and we are forever thankful. So now we're stacked with candy and chips!
My point with all of this was, that at the moment the three of us are pretty satisfied, we've got candy, we've had a massage, and we decided earlier today to dedicate this day to utter laziness. So while Sophia and Ruut read their books and all the staff gather to watch some soapy Chinese TV-program (as they have all day) while eating their soup, I really have nothing better to do than to blog. And after not being able to use a computer for a week on the train, I think I have a lot of computer-time to make up, until my inner nerd is satisfied.
So, I figured I'd list some things about China and Bejing that we've talked about or reacted on, and sort of compare the two capitals we've been to so far: Moscow and Beijing. Not having to pay for using the computer (haven't yet, at least) and knowing me... this might be long.
(Might?! If just the intro was this long...)
Prepair yourself.
But boy, could they.
For 1 euro each (10 yuang) Sophia and I got the best massages we ever have, and I am adding this hairsalon to one of the must-go places on my Beijing list, just after Jinshan park and the Vegetarian Restaurant.
After this, we walked along a larger road for a while, and actually found a larger store (a mini market in Finland, and here, I suppose, but compared the ones we mostly see... this one was large) and, once again, we went crazy, buying everything from cucumber chips (you gotta try everything, right?) to a bag of something that might be candy... (they don't really seem to have any candy in China? Excpet American Skittles) ...and a lot of oreos. We basically live on oreos, since they are vegan, like a lot of things here apparently, due to the high percentage of lactos-intolerant Chinese. We learned this from Lien, and we are forever thankful. So now we're stacked with candy and chips!
My point with all of this was, that at the moment the three of us are pretty satisfied, we've got candy, we've had a massage, and we decided earlier today to dedicate this day to utter laziness. So while Sophia and Ruut read their books and all the staff gather to watch some soapy Chinese TV-program (as they have all day) while eating their soup, I really have nothing better to do than to blog. And after not being able to use a computer for a week on the train, I think I have a lot of computer-time to make up, until my inner nerd is satisfied.
So, I figured I'd list some things about China and Bejing that we've talked about or reacted on, and sort of compare the two capitals we've been to so far: Moscow and Beijing. Not having to pay for using the computer (haven't yet, at least) and knowing me... this might be long.
(Might?! If just the intro was this long...)
Prepair yourself.
Summing it up through pictures: Day 2 in Beijing - Day 11
One of the dangerous crossings.... here on a "shopping street" close to our hostel.
Our favorite restaurant! Been there two days in a row now... thinking there will be a third.
The gates to the Forbidden City and everybody's favorite dude, Mao.
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The neighborhood around our hostel. Food market in the mornings, clothes at night.
Our Hostel sign
bild 6
The sign we followed to find this charming internet cave, the only Chinese characters I recognize.
....and I think Sophia described the Internet "cave" we're sitting in well enough for you to get the picture, without, uh, pictures.
Hope we'll have more luck with uploading more pictures later on, we'll keep trying!
//Hanna (through her Mom.)
Summing it up through pictures: Day 1 in Beijing! - Day 10
Ruut and Sophia trying to find the way to our hostel... since it's already light in the picture, we've been walking for some time... but they found it!
Off to explore the surroundings of our hostel! Here at the morning market.
Inside the Forbidden City. Can you spot Sophia and Ruut...? It's really difficult.
The Forbidden City was very interesting. What an eye-opening experience.
The Forbidden City from above! Sophia and a great view from the temple in Jinshan park.
Lian Lian Templeside Hostel - Day 13
...is from where I am updating at the moment.
Somehow, we actually made it here yesterday, although we pretty much had abondoned all hope and were prepairing to call every hostel in Beijing/sit in a restaurant til closing time and then sleep on the street til sunrise. We managed to stay ridic positive though (maybe our swedes "det fixar sig" - attitude acutally cought on?) and in the end we had to do neither, since with our flashlight and directions in chinese from a kind passer-by, we actually found the place.
Today's tip: listen to your mom and don't start looking for your hostel after sunset (especially if your hostel is described as "located in a maze-like Hutong district". Hutong streets aren't marked on a map. And not even taxi drivers knew where our Hutong street was.)
Oh well, enough about last night, we learned our lesson, and we've got loads of hilarious video footage to post on the blog... trying to get on the subway with your rinkkas... not too easy.
Today it's been cold and raining, so after all three of us admitted to spending a lot of time in the bathroom infront of the heater pretending it's the warm sun of Thailand, we decided it's time to head south.
At the moment we're thinking Nanjing, we'll have to wake up early and head for Beijing Main Trainstation to ask for tickets tomorrow.
We haven't sat inside all day though, we did check out the surroundings of our hostel. (Spent a couple hours wandering the streets last night as well, but you don't see that much when it's pith dark..)
I camer to the conclusion I sort of miss Happy Dragon, we had EVERYTHING we could possibly ever need in the same building, or right next door and now we've basically only got rows and rows of Hutongs. Oh well, at least we get to see how most citizens of Beijing live - we are the only foreigners around. We also found a big indoor market place, where we amused the other market go-ers by not knowing any chinese and went crazy on fruit and different kind of pastries... so far China's proven out to be vegan paradise.
(All pastries under 2 yuan...!)
In Happy Dragon we had a room with beds meter wide and a toilet and shower of our own. Downstairs there where a bar and a restaurant, laundry service, several computers and english speaking staff. There where plenty of customers, mostly american.
Here we are the only customers except for an old couple, "Andy", the youngest staff member knows some English, but little else, we all share a toilet and shower and didn't get sheets nor towels.
But as said, it's more authentic, and we have the cutest "inner yard" and a rooftop terrace. And the three of us even have a 6 bed dorm all by ourselves! If it weren't so cold everywhere (there isn't really a difference between "outside" and "inside") I'd really like the place itself, just not it's location.
Still having problems with the pictures (mom's doing her best) but we're going to send the videos over to one of you unlucky volonteers as soon as we find a internet cafe... thank you so much for all your comments on this blog, we really love hearing from you! And since Facebook is off limits in China (uh, so is blogger as well... but Ninjacloak.com is a lifesavor) please keep on commenting so we know what you guys at home are up to (or send us mail!)
At the moment Ruut is out in the rain for a walk and Sophia and I are trying to find any massage place nearby.. (which, ironically enough, there where dozens of by Happy Dragon) ..walking for hours with your rinkka can really mess up your neck.
Now Ruut's back(see, no worries Ruut's mom, she's back safe and sound), and Sophia and I are starting to develop quite a craving for sugar as well, so maybe it's our turn to defy the rain in search for a massage and candy...
...so I'll stop my neverending ramble of unimportant stuff, and maybe next time will actually have something important to report.
Lots of hugs from the three of us
//Hanna
Somehow, we actually made it here yesterday, although we pretty much had abondoned all hope and were prepairing to call every hostel in Beijing/sit in a restaurant til closing time and then sleep on the street til sunrise. We managed to stay ridic positive though (maybe our swedes "det fixar sig" - attitude acutally cought on?) and in the end we had to do neither, since with our flashlight and directions in chinese from a kind passer-by, we actually found the place.
Today's tip: listen to your mom and don't start looking for your hostel after sunset (especially if your hostel is described as "located in a maze-like Hutong district". Hutong streets aren't marked on a map. And not even taxi drivers knew where our Hutong street was.)
Oh well, enough about last night, we learned our lesson, and we've got loads of hilarious video footage to post on the blog... trying to get on the subway with your rinkkas... not too easy.
Today it's been cold and raining, so after all three of us admitted to spending a lot of time in the bathroom infront of the heater pretending it's the warm sun of Thailand, we decided it's time to head south.
At the moment we're thinking Nanjing, we'll have to wake up early and head for Beijing Main Trainstation to ask for tickets tomorrow.
We haven't sat inside all day though, we did check out the surroundings of our hostel. (Spent a couple hours wandering the streets last night as well, but you don't see that much when it's pith dark..)
I camer to the conclusion I sort of miss Happy Dragon, we had EVERYTHING we could possibly ever need in the same building, or right next door and now we've basically only got rows and rows of Hutongs. Oh well, at least we get to see how most citizens of Beijing live - we are the only foreigners around. We also found a big indoor market place, where we amused the other market go-ers by not knowing any chinese and went crazy on fruit and different kind of pastries... so far China's proven out to be vegan paradise.
(All pastries under 2 yuan...!)
In Happy Dragon we had a room with beds meter wide and a toilet and shower of our own. Downstairs there where a bar and a restaurant, laundry service, several computers and english speaking staff. There where plenty of customers, mostly american.
Here we are the only customers except for an old couple, "Andy", the youngest staff member knows some English, but little else, we all share a toilet and shower and didn't get sheets nor towels.
But as said, it's more authentic, and we have the cutest "inner yard" and a rooftop terrace. And the three of us even have a 6 bed dorm all by ourselves! If it weren't so cold everywhere (there isn't really a difference between "outside" and "inside") I'd really like the place itself, just not it's location.
Still having problems with the pictures (mom's doing her best) but we're going to send the videos over to one of you unlucky volonteers as soon as we find a internet cafe... thank you so much for all your comments on this blog, we really love hearing from you! And since Facebook is off limits in China (uh, so is blogger as well... but Ninjacloak.com is a lifesavor) please keep on commenting so we know what you guys at home are up to (or send us mail!)
At the moment Ruut is out in the rain for a walk and Sophia and I are trying to find any massage place nearby.. (which, ironically enough, there where dozens of by Happy Dragon) ..walking for hours with your rinkka can really mess up your neck.
Now Ruut's back(see, no worries Ruut's mom, she's back safe and sound), and Sophia and I are starting to develop quite a craving for sugar as well, so maybe it's our turn to defy the rain in search for a massage and candy...
...so I'll stop my neverending ramble of unimportant stuff, and maybe next time will actually have something important to report.
Lots of hugs from the three of us
//Hanna
Oct 17, 2010
Last update from Happy Dragon Hostel - Day 12
All packed, fed (french toast with strawberry sause and watermelon... mmm) and checked out, we're ready to hit Beijing! Today we thought we'd check out the Lama Temple and the Drum Tower, and around four come get our rinkkas from Happy Dragon and then, by using the metro for the first time, try finding our next hostel. We'll see how that goes...
The staff at Happy Dragon Hostel is the friendliest ever, and when choosing a hostel location is key... and Happy Dragon couldn't be better located! We strongly recommend this place to anyone visiting Beijing, and we're gonna miss it. Keep your fingers crossed our next hostel will be as great, if not better.
Outside it's rather cold and cloudy today, which is a bummer, but let's hope it clears up... or at least doesn't start raining...
//Hanna
The staff at Happy Dragon Hostel is the friendliest ever, and when choosing a hostel location is key... and Happy Dragon couldn't be better located! We strongly recommend this place to anyone visiting Beijing, and we're gonna miss it. Keep your fingers crossed our next hostel will be as great, if not better.
Outside it's rather cold and cloudy today, which is a bummer, but let's hope it clears up... or at least doesn't start raining...
//Hanna
Oct 16, 2010
Photo Uploading - Day 11
Since a picture says more than a thousand words, we'd really like to save ourselves the trouble of writing so much and upload some of our pictures.
...the problem is that nothing seems to agree with us.
At our hostel the connection is too slow, at the Internet cafe(where we are at the moment) picasa speaks Chinese. The answer to that problem, you might say, is to copy-paste the characters into google translate. Sounds simple enough. Well, since google translate also seems to speak only Chinese you might say we have a bit of a problem...
Right now our solution is to send pictures (about ten, so don't get too excited) to Finland, where some unlucky person will have to put them on our blog. Any volunteers?
Let me take some time to describe the Intenet cafe where we are right now:
It's filled with Chinese men that are either playing a computer game or watching porn (all we can do is try to look the other way, for the porn part, as the games are just boring). We also seem to be the only ones who haven't brought loads of food and snacks with us. These men sit, as in a trance, staring at the screen without moving (unless to quickly, and without diverting their eyes from the screen, reach for a snack) for what seems like hours on end, only leaving their seats (very reluctantly, I might add) to go to the toilet. By the smell of the guy next to Ruut, he hasn't left this place for days. Hygene clearly isn't a priority here. Spitting on the floor, burping, smoking and throwing the stump on the floor as well as smearing grease and dirt all over the keyboard and screen is accepted here. But the seats are quite comfortable, big and soft armchairs, no hard chairs here. The only sounds you can hear are the distant noises coming from the headphones closest to you and the clattering of keys (very loudly when the games get too exciting to manage).
Let's hope we get this photo business sorted out, because this is a place we won't miss!
//Sophia
...the problem is that nothing seems to agree with us.
At our hostel the connection is too slow, at the Internet cafe(where we are at the moment) picasa speaks Chinese. The answer to that problem, you might say, is to copy-paste the characters into google translate. Sounds simple enough. Well, since google translate also seems to speak only Chinese you might say we have a bit of a problem...
Right now our solution is to send pictures (about ten, so don't get too excited) to Finland, where some unlucky person will have to put them on our blog. Any volunteers?
Let me take some time to describe the Intenet cafe where we are right now:
It's filled with Chinese men that are either playing a computer game or watching porn (all we can do is try to look the other way, for the porn part, as the games are just boring). We also seem to be the only ones who haven't brought loads of food and snacks with us. These men sit, as in a trance, staring at the screen without moving (unless to quickly, and without diverting their eyes from the screen, reach for a snack) for what seems like hours on end, only leaving their seats (very reluctantly, I might add) to go to the toilet. By the smell of the guy next to Ruut, he hasn't left this place for days. Hygene clearly isn't a priority here. Spitting on the floor, burping, smoking and throwing the stump on the floor as well as smearing grease and dirt all over the keyboard and screen is accepted here. But the seats are quite comfortable, big and soft armchairs, no hard chairs here. The only sounds you can hear are the distant noises coming from the headphones closest to you and the clattering of keys (very loudly when the games get too exciting to manage).
Let's hope we get this photo business sorted out, because this is a place we won't miss!
//Sophia
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